Red Blooded
Page 57

Rourke leaned against the door and crossed his arms, fury was etched across his features. “This isn’t over. Whatever her end game is, she won’t win. We all lowered our guard and now we’re paying the price. But she’s not smarter than we are.”
“Selene,” I said, turning to the goddess. “Can we create a witch’s circle here?”
She shook her head. “Impossible. We would need all the right ingredients and the circle has to be dug into raw earth.”
I glanced beneath us. The ground was covered in huge stones. It would take longer than we had to get to any soil—if there was even any under there.
The crowd outside started to chant.
“I think we’re in the middle of some kind of ceremony,” Tyler said, his hands running along the walls, searching for a way out. “This doesn’t sound like another trial, Jess. The demons out there are calling for something specific. Maybe they’re going to try and steal your power or magic?”
The door burst open behind Rourke with no warning.
Before he could react, five demon guards, these in full battle regalia, with breast plates covering their all silver jumpsuits, blasted him with huge ugly-looking guns. He flew forward in a shower of sparks and crashed into the wall, falling to the ground out cold.
I knew he was alive, and that was all that mattered, but my rage was now full-blown.
Demons swarmed the doorway, forcing us all to take a step backward in the cramped space. I morphed into my Lycan form, a red film of fury cascading over my eyes. We take them all down, I told my wolf. She growled her agreement, snapping her jaws furiously.
Tyler and Ray sprang first, Tyler’s fist meeting the side of a demon guard’s face. The demon crumpled instantly. I lowered myself into a fighting stance just as I caught sight of Lili.
I rose back up to a standing position slowly.
“That’s right, take it in.” She laughed as her hair flowed out behind her. The guards in front of us parted so she could come forward. She was dressed in an incredibly detailed gold gown, decorated in demon glyphs that glittered as she moved. On top of her head sat a pure gold crown covered in gilded serpents. “You were so easy to manipulate.” She clapped her hands in glee. “But I already knew you’d be, based on your prior actions with the Prince, and your desperate need to save your dear brother. A soft-hearted female Lycan. What an embarrassment to your forebears. The last female Lycan was tough as nails. In fact, if you must know, she was the one who sent me here.” She spread her arms wide. “But enough chatter. Now it’s time for me to mete out my ultimate revenge, and by doing so I finally gain the power owed to me for these many years. It’s going to be a very good day.”
I made a move to spring and she lifted up her palm. Her hand radiated so much power it looked like she was holding a pure ball of energy. Then she aimed it at Tyler’s heart.
“One wrong move and I will kill your entire family,” she said. “Which I can do, because I’m powerful and dangerous. Just like I told you all along. If you cooperate, I might decide to let them live once I’m finished with you, but I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
“Finished with what?” I asked, my vocal cords straining, my Lycan form making it tough to be clear. “Taking my blood? Killing me? Making me your slave?”
She smiled like a shrew. “Oh, by all means I’m going to kill you. That’s what the ceremony calls for. It demands piles and piles of your blood. See, I’m going to make a clone. Something only I can do. I neglected to mention that the first time, didn’t I? And once I reanimate your clone, all your delicious power and magic will be mine to control. Then I will be crowned the new Queen of Hell. A title I’ve waited much too long for.”
“Everything the Prince did to get me here and everything that has happened since my arrival was a ruse to make you Queen?” I asked.
“Oh, no,” she answered dismissively. “The Prince acted of his own accord, but he was doing so to follow the altered Scriptures.” She leaned in like we were coconspirators and whispered, “I actually uncovered the real Scriptures a long time ago, but I changed them to my liking, and then pretended the ones I altered were the newly uncovered ones. The Prince has believed you to be the real threat, not me. The true Scriptures state that if the female wolf arrives in Hell a new reign shall begin. They think you are that reign, but of course, that’s not true—I am the new reign. You are here to ensure that I ascend to the throne, and of course, to give me your magic. It has all been fairly easy to orchestrate, but it’s taken much too long. I’ve been waiting for this day for hundreds of years, but now it’s finally here.”
It was hard to battle someone who’d had plans for your demise in place for hundreds of years. Lili had been scheming for a long time to get me here. And if she’d really encountered another female wolf, like she’d told us, Lili was older than any other supernatural I’d ever known.
And I had played right into her hands.
She was a skilled actress, I’d give her that. “So to get the Prince to play along, the Scriptures you altered must state that if I come to Hell the Prince will keep his rule—or some such thing.”
“It’s much more delicious than that,” Lili answered with obvious glee, moving methodically toward me. “They actually state that if the Prince himself leads you here, he will be the supreme ruler of Hell for all eternity. But, in order for this to work, you had to be a full Lycan. No swiping the Daughter of Cain before she shifted for the first time.” Her mouth spread wide into a grin. “And believe me, I celebrated your birth like that of none other before you.”
Breath left my body.
Lili had been behind the Cain Myth. She had wanted everyone to fear me, including the Prince of Hell, and it had worked incredibly well. She’d left me vulnerable within my Pack with very little backup.
Anger filled me. She thought I was weak.
My wolf urged us to attack, her eyes as feral as I’d ever seen them. But I had to negotiate for my family first. I didn’t believe for a second Lili would keep them alive once I was dead. I glanced over at Selene and met her dead stare. Her face was void of any emotion. This news was bigger than any war between Selene and me. If we didn’t work together, we all lost. I turned back to Lili. “Spare my family and I will come willingly,” I grated. “But do not, and I will fight.”