Red Blooded
Page 55
Selene opened her mouth and snapped it shut it.
I stepped back and she swallowed once before answering, “Fine. I’ll do what you say, but only because I want to get out of this hellhole for good and nothing more.”
I narrowed my eyes and she dropped her gaze. I knew it. Something was shifting inside that broken mind of hers. I deliberately turned my back on her and walked away. “Ray,” I called over my shoulder. “You’re in charge of her. Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid. And if she does, throw her out the door and leave her to rot.”
“Got it,” he replied. He addressed Selene as I left the room. “Listen, lady, if you so much as blink at me wrong I’ll feed you to the dead orthrus, so get your goddamn act together and start behaving like an adult.”
“As if you could,” she muttered.
I walked back into the main room. “Lili, did you get ahold of the Princess?” Lili had been on her own with Tyler the entire time we’d been in the showers.
“No,” she answered. “She was not in her rooms and I could not risk trying to track her down. That would have given our location away.”
I glanced over at Tyler and he nodded. “I’ve been thinking,” I said. “You said earlier that when the Prince left the Princess he’d call a meeting with his Council of High Demon Lords, right? What would be better than confronting the Prince’s rule in front of an audience? If the Princess can insist on gathering a demon assembly for a public announcement, in the guise of calming the masses down, we could hijack the proceedings and announce I have no intention of ruling, and support her ascension to the crown according to the Scriptures. I think doing this publicly might be the only chance we have to end this entire ordeal.”
The demoness’s eyes went wide. “That would be an elaborate hoax, something I’m not sure we could pull off on such short notice. But, yes,” she said hesitantly. “That may work.”
“I agree,” Rourke said. “If we do this publicly, in front of everyone, once and for all. That gives us the best chance.” He turned to address Lili. “But we have to do it tonight. We need to meet with the Princess as soon as she can get away, but we can’t meet her here.”
“That’s correct,” Lili said. “She cannot come here.”
“Maybe it’s best we head back to the auditorium and camp out there. That way, when she decides to call in the demons to make her announcement, we’re already located in a strategic place. I’ve mastered being in the right place at the right time over the last few hundred years.” He glanced at me and winked.
Rourke had done that exact thing the first time we’d met, effectively throwing us all off his trail. He’d gone to the bar ahead of us and slept on the roof, sneaking down without being seen or scented.
“Is there an adequate place to take cover in the arena?” Tyler asked. “It was a fairly open space. I don’t like the sound of this.”
“There is one place,” Lili said, drumming a fingertip against her lip. She seemed to be deep in thought. “The judges’ benches are hollow below.” Then she smiled like a shrew. “The space is small, but you can hide in there, and once you’re in place, I will slip out and contact the Princess. I’m sure she will be eager for our plan and come at her first opportunity.”
A little worry crept into the back of my mind, but I had to shake it off. We didn’t have a lot of options. If we couldn’t convince the Princess to call in the demons to prove to them I was no threat, there was no way we could solve this on a big scale. And we needed a big scale. “If we’re going to hide essentially be under everyone’s nose,” I said, “they’re bound to scent us or feel our power the moment they arrive.”
“That’s not a problem. I can spell the area,” Lili said. “A masking spell will make you all smell like demons.”
“You can’t possibly cover up all our power signatures,” Tyler said. “I think being that close to the action is too risky.”
“Not if the Demon Lords and the Prince come in last,” Rourke said, turning to Lili. “If the Princess is on board, she can convince them to enter last. By that time the audience will already be there and it will be too late.”
Lili nodded. “The Prince always makes his entrance last anyway, and I’m sure the Princess will agree. You are helping her bid for the throne sooner than expected, and I’m certain once she meets with you she will have some good ideas of her own. Confronting the Prince, and doing so in front of the demon population, I believe is the right decision. Without doing so, you will certainly be in Hell for a lot longer. If the demons stand convinced, he will have a hard time justifying his case against you, and will have no choice but to let you go.”
I didn’t believe it would be that easy, but it was a step in the right direction. “Okay,” I said. “That’s the best plan we’ve got. The quicker we can get settled in the auditorium the better.”
The walk to the auditorium was uneventful. We encountered no clones and no orthruses. It was almost too quiet.
“Where is everyone?” I asked as we came to a stop outside the door Lili had told us was the entrance to the bottom part of the arena. “This feels wrong. There should be some activity. The Princess couldn’t have kept all the demons occupied this long.”
Rourke growled. “I agree. I don’t like it.”
Lili’s face showed her irritation. “Throw your power out. Do you sense anything? There’s no one here. The Princess has kept the Prince well occupied, and you should be grateful.” I sent my power out, and she was right. I didn’t feel anything strange at all. “This was your plan, remember?” She stopped short of rolling her eyes. “I led you here per your request. If this doesn’t work, we will have to come up with something else, but for right now this is it. I’ll get you inside and go find the Princess.” Lili placed her hand on the door and pushed it open.
The auditorium was quiet. My wolf growled, throwing our power out to make sure. Rourke went first, scouting. “It looks okay,” he said. “How do we get under the benches?”
Lili led us in. The arena was bigger than I remembered from just a short time ago, stretching far up into the back rows. It was hard to believe it had been full of demons a few hours ago and would be again if we were lucky. “You can enter through there,” Lili gestured, ushering us to an opening at one end of the benches. “This is a small space, but you should all fit.”
I stepped back and she swallowed once before answering, “Fine. I’ll do what you say, but only because I want to get out of this hellhole for good and nothing more.”
I narrowed my eyes and she dropped her gaze. I knew it. Something was shifting inside that broken mind of hers. I deliberately turned my back on her and walked away. “Ray,” I called over my shoulder. “You’re in charge of her. Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid. And if she does, throw her out the door and leave her to rot.”
“Got it,” he replied. He addressed Selene as I left the room. “Listen, lady, if you so much as blink at me wrong I’ll feed you to the dead orthrus, so get your goddamn act together and start behaving like an adult.”
“As if you could,” she muttered.
I walked back into the main room. “Lili, did you get ahold of the Princess?” Lili had been on her own with Tyler the entire time we’d been in the showers.
“No,” she answered. “She was not in her rooms and I could not risk trying to track her down. That would have given our location away.”
I glanced over at Tyler and he nodded. “I’ve been thinking,” I said. “You said earlier that when the Prince left the Princess he’d call a meeting with his Council of High Demon Lords, right? What would be better than confronting the Prince’s rule in front of an audience? If the Princess can insist on gathering a demon assembly for a public announcement, in the guise of calming the masses down, we could hijack the proceedings and announce I have no intention of ruling, and support her ascension to the crown according to the Scriptures. I think doing this publicly might be the only chance we have to end this entire ordeal.”
The demoness’s eyes went wide. “That would be an elaborate hoax, something I’m not sure we could pull off on such short notice. But, yes,” she said hesitantly. “That may work.”
“I agree,” Rourke said. “If we do this publicly, in front of everyone, once and for all. That gives us the best chance.” He turned to address Lili. “But we have to do it tonight. We need to meet with the Princess as soon as she can get away, but we can’t meet her here.”
“That’s correct,” Lili said. “She cannot come here.”
“Maybe it’s best we head back to the auditorium and camp out there. That way, when she decides to call in the demons to make her announcement, we’re already located in a strategic place. I’ve mastered being in the right place at the right time over the last few hundred years.” He glanced at me and winked.
Rourke had done that exact thing the first time we’d met, effectively throwing us all off his trail. He’d gone to the bar ahead of us and slept on the roof, sneaking down without being seen or scented.
“Is there an adequate place to take cover in the arena?” Tyler asked. “It was a fairly open space. I don’t like the sound of this.”
“There is one place,” Lili said, drumming a fingertip against her lip. She seemed to be deep in thought. “The judges’ benches are hollow below.” Then she smiled like a shrew. “The space is small, but you can hide in there, and once you’re in place, I will slip out and contact the Princess. I’m sure she will be eager for our plan and come at her first opportunity.”
A little worry crept into the back of my mind, but I had to shake it off. We didn’t have a lot of options. If we couldn’t convince the Princess to call in the demons to prove to them I was no threat, there was no way we could solve this on a big scale. And we needed a big scale. “If we’re going to hide essentially be under everyone’s nose,” I said, “they’re bound to scent us or feel our power the moment they arrive.”
“That’s not a problem. I can spell the area,” Lili said. “A masking spell will make you all smell like demons.”
“You can’t possibly cover up all our power signatures,” Tyler said. “I think being that close to the action is too risky.”
“Not if the Demon Lords and the Prince come in last,” Rourke said, turning to Lili. “If the Princess is on board, she can convince them to enter last. By that time the audience will already be there and it will be too late.”
Lili nodded. “The Prince always makes his entrance last anyway, and I’m sure the Princess will agree. You are helping her bid for the throne sooner than expected, and I’m certain once she meets with you she will have some good ideas of her own. Confronting the Prince, and doing so in front of the demon population, I believe is the right decision. Without doing so, you will certainly be in Hell for a lot longer. If the demons stand convinced, he will have a hard time justifying his case against you, and will have no choice but to let you go.”
I didn’t believe it would be that easy, but it was a step in the right direction. “Okay,” I said. “That’s the best plan we’ve got. The quicker we can get settled in the auditorium the better.”
The walk to the auditorium was uneventful. We encountered no clones and no orthruses. It was almost too quiet.
“Where is everyone?” I asked as we came to a stop outside the door Lili had told us was the entrance to the bottom part of the arena. “This feels wrong. There should be some activity. The Princess couldn’t have kept all the demons occupied this long.”
Rourke growled. “I agree. I don’t like it.”
Lili’s face showed her irritation. “Throw your power out. Do you sense anything? There’s no one here. The Princess has kept the Prince well occupied, and you should be grateful.” I sent my power out, and she was right. I didn’t feel anything strange at all. “This was your plan, remember?” She stopped short of rolling her eyes. “I led you here per your request. If this doesn’t work, we will have to come up with something else, but for right now this is it. I’ll get you inside and go find the Princess.” Lili placed her hand on the door and pushed it open.
The auditorium was quiet. My wolf growled, throwing our power out to make sure. Rourke went first, scouting. “It looks okay,” he said. “How do we get under the benches?”
Lili led us in. The arena was bigger than I remembered from just a short time ago, stretching far up into the back rows. It was hard to believe it had been full of demons a few hours ago and would be again if we were lucky. “You can enter through there,” Lili gestured, ushering us to an opening at one end of the benches. “This is a small space, but you should all fit.”
