I waited for the sword to strike. This time it was coming for my heart, and I was certain there would be no healing from that wound. Right before the sword pierced my chest, Jude stopped. His body went completely still and so did the air around me.

“Yes, child?”

Raphael stood above me. From my vantage point the angel looked about ten feet tall. I took in a short breath, trying not to move an inch because while Jude wasn’t pressing that sword down, it was awfully close to my heart. If I lifted up for even a second, I would pierce my own flesh.

“Any way we can have this conversation without a sword pressed to my chest?” I was feeling a bit better so either my healing abilities had kicked in or the whole time-stopping thing was good for blood loss.

He tilted his head and dropped to one knee. “I’m sorry. Without proper reasoning I can’t stop this fight more than I already have. Do you have a confession to make? I will take it, child, though you should know our father already sees you.”

That was good to know. “I don’t want to confess.”

He sighed. “Then we should get on with it.”

“Whoa. I mean I do want to confess. I definitely need to confess.” If it bought me a moment of his time, we could call this whole thing a confession.

His lips quirked up and I wondered how often an archangel got to smile. “Excellent. I am listening, though you know I will have to continue this fight at some point.” He sat down on the sand, crossing his legs and looking relaxed. “But we have some time. They’ll wait for us.”

“I confess I lied to you.”

One brow rose over his right eye. “Really? We haven’t spoken much. I’m not sure what you could have lied about.”

“I lied about the king. He isn’t my master. Not even close. I serve the sword and the sword does not acknowledge the King of all Vampire.” It was a desperate play, but the only one I had. If it didn’t work, that sword was going to take out my heart and then a whole nasty set of dominoes would start to fall.

“Is that how you want to play this?” The question was asked with a hint of menace, as though my day could get worse if I didn’t answer him properly.

“I’m not playing, Raphael. I didn’t realize it until a moment ago. I call myself the Nex Apparatus, but I was forced into this job. The king is a good man, and I don’t mind working with him, but he is not my master. No man is my master.”

“Figured it out, did you?” Raphael asked, the menace gone. “I hoped you would. Will you take back your power?”

I would take back any power I possibly could. “I will.”

“Do you pledge yourself to the sword?”

To the Sword of Light? “Fuck, yeah.”

“Then do things properly this time.” Raphael stood. “I cannot fix you, child, but the Sword of Light might help to hold you together. I can merely send both you and Jude to your corners and allow you another beginning. Do you understand? And do you know what you must do?”

I did. I knew enough about history to figure it out. “Yeah, but her husbands are going to be pissed. I’ll have to take that chance.”

“I think the queen won’t mind. Well, except for the hideous pain, but then she’s known that before.” He clapped his hands.

And I found myself on my feet, yards away from Jude. Gladys hummed happily in my right hand and I kind of held myself together with my left. I watched as Jude’s sword plunged in and found only sand. I heard the confusion of the crowd and I saw Trent putting a hand on Gray’s shoulder, as though letting him know he could look again.

Jude glanced up and scowled as he saw Raphael standing beside me. “What is the meaning of this, brother?”

I kind of stood there bleeding and hoped this was going to work. If I was wrong, this time there would be no coming back.

God, I hoped I was right or I was about to put the queen through something shitty and I would die anyway.

Raphael held up a hand. “It has been pointed out that mistakes were made in the opening ritual of this battle. I seek merely to ensure there is no question of fairness and balance.”

“There was no mistake,” Jude snarled.

Raphael reached out and touched Gladys, his finger skimming over the flat of the blade. “No, there was. The Light has always refused to serve the vampires. She has done her duty, but never served her purpose. She speaks to us, brother. You can hear her, too, and you know she denies that the king is her owner.”

I saw the moment Jude hesitated. It wasn’t more than a tightening around his eyes, but I saw how that fact made him question what he was doing. He’d known I didn’t have full use of the sword. He’d known and not said a word because he didn’t want a fair fight.

He looked me over, taking in the way I was coated in my own blood. He might be able to see through my gut to the other side of the arena. I was a fucking mess.

“Do it, Raphael, and I’ll kill the abomination anyway,” he vowed.

The archangel turned toward the royals. “I’ll ask again, who does the Sword of Light answer to.”

Donovan stood but before he could speak, Zoey Donovan-Quinn was on her feet.

“She belongs to me.” The queen moved quickly. She looked down to Trent, who picked her up and lowered her to the arena floor.

Donovan and Quinn followed, but it was easy to see the queen had figured out our mistake as well. She paid them no heed as she moved toward the archangel.

“I am the Queen of the Companions.” Her voice rang out and I saw more than one woman in the audience stand up as though backing her. Kimberly, Henri’s companion, got to her feet and watched her queen. Liv wasn’t a companion, but she stood, as did Sarah Day. Most of the women of our world stood, though they were not companions. There are so few companions left that I thought it must have felt good for the queen to know how many women stood behind her.

“That is not the proper name for your tribe, Queen Zoey,” Raphael said solemnly, “but I will forgive your ignorance. That knowledge has passed from the plane and times must change. Companion will do. Who do you choose as your champion?” He looked over at me and back to Zoey. “There is still time for you to choose another. This warrior is wounded. I will allow a substitute.”

I was going to argue against that, but Zoey didn’t hesitate.

“Kelsey Owens is now and shall always be my champion, for as long as she chooses.” She moved in front of me. She was wearing jeans and a white silk blouse that was totally going to get ruined. It was all very modern, but in that moment I could see a different Zoey. I could see a warrior queen. “Kelsey Owens, I am your queen. Will you serve me in this?”

As my father had all those years before, I answered her. “I will.”

Jude snorted. “You see how ridiculous they are, Raphael? She is offered the choice of an unwounded warrior and selects the one who is half dead already?”

The queen turned to him. “I would choose a half-dead Kelsey over a fully healed warrior every single time. Her family has always served me with courage, and above all, with faith. I give that faith back to them. She will win this battle. I know it. ”

I hoped she meant that. “That’s not the end of the ritual is it, Raphael?”

“You can’t tell her,” Jude argued.

Raphael stepped back. “I cannot tell them, but I believe the sword will. Follow your instincts. She will inform you.”

“Zoey, I have to…” I began.

The queen reached out and grabbed the blade, letting it slice her hand. Blood began to coat the blade, though Gladys drank it up quickly.

Dev started to reach for his wife, but Donovan held him back.

“Don’t.” Donovan nodded my way as though he knew what I would have to do. “This is woman’s work, Dev. Let her take back the power that was stolen. Let her be the queen she was born to be, the one we love and serve and offer up our lives to. Give this to her.”

Zoey’s eyes met mine and I saw the recognition there. “Is it true? What she’s whispering to me? What we were?”

I nodded because I believed. I believed that somehow this sword had been waiting for us. That she had been captured and kept from her true life because this moment was her purpose. Raphael was right. The truth of our beginnings had passed into legend, but the Light knew. She’d been there when our tribe was born. She’d seen us through wars, but couldn’t save us from enslavement. Zoey had done that, and Gladys was ready to serve another queen, to be the hand of another Hunter champion. “Say it, Queen Zoey. Say what we were. Say what we could be again and then I’ll do what we have to. I’ll do what the sword requires. But name us first. Let all here know our true name.”

Zoey held out her arms as though offering up her body and blood and soul to the cause. “Amazon. We were Amazon. We are Amazon.”

It was what Gladys had tried to tell me every time I held her. She’d hummed in my hand because it had been so long since she’d been fed, since she’d been lovingly fed by her queen. Now the images came fast and furious. The truth of who we’d began as hit me. I could see us training on the banks of the Thermodon, see us bowing to a queen with one breast because she sacrificed when the time came.

As my queen was going to sacrifice for me.

“Do it,” she said, her voice harsh.

“Zoey…” Even Donovan sounded nervous now.

Her eyes never left mine, her will a palpable thing in that moment. “I am your queen and I command you to do your duty. Bring us together. Unleash our power.”

I brought Gladys back and then shoved her straight through the queen’s heart. I kept going until I’d bisected her body and the hilt of the Light was planted firmly in her breast. It was a blow that would kill any human, but my queen was something more. Far more.

My mind flashed with the knowledge of how the vampires first became necessary. Before the vampires, our queen gave her life to win the battle. After we made our deal with the vampires, she didn’t need to die, but we’d made a deal with the devil because it would lead to our oppression.

Zoey looked down and when she looked back up she was grinning, a droplet of blood on the corner of her mouth. “Hold on, Kelsey. This is going to be wild.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant until the world seemed to tremble. At first I thought we were experiencing some sort of earthquake, but when I looked around no one else was moving. They were watching us, all eyes on the crazy chicks with all the blood.

Light flashed out from Zoey’s body. Golden and bright, I felt that light like a crazy, gloriously happy wave shooting into my body, flooding my veins. Gladys was happy, so fucking happy, and she was ready to release all the power she’d gained.

Millennia of power shot into my soul, filling me to the point that I couldn’t contain a scream. It was too much, far too much, but I held on. Zoey reached out even as her body must have been on the verge of death. She reached out and completed the circle our tribe had formed long before on that ancient river. Queen and champion and sword all sworn to protect and defend. We were the warriors of the Earth plane. All that history flooded through me, so much I couldn’t possibly understand it all.

Our history and the blood history that Gladys had gathered. She’d soaked up blood and in doing so, she had taken in the power of those she’d tasted. She didn’t have to kill a being to soak in its strength. Ancient power flowed through my veins and I had hints of monstrous beings. They came from all the planes. Visions of mighty frost giants and an army of red-capped Fae played in my brain. This sword had fought demons and angels and vampires back when they were monsters who frightened everyone who caught sight of them. She’d fought armies of men.

I felt the moment the king’s power struck me. He’d nicked himself once and Gladys had sucked it all down. That tiny bit of blood showed me how damn good it must feel to be Daniel Donovan.

And then I felt him. My wolf. Trent’s easy power rushed over me and I could feel something else. I felt his passion, his devotion. It was there in his blood, or it had somehow transferred through the long hours he’d spent with the blade in his side.

Trent was with me not because Donovan had required it. I wasn’t a job to him. I was his mate and he would die for me.

That meant I was damn straight going to live for him.

A final blast of pure energy hit me, shoving me back away from the queen. The sword came out of her body, somehow staying in my grasp even though I swear I’d lost control of my grip during that moment. Gladys stayed with me and I watched the queen begin to fall back.

She didn’t hit the sand. Donovan was there in the blink of an eye, lifting his wife up and hauling her close. Devinshea ran for the stands, trying to keep up as Donovan rushed toward his box. Before I could take another breath, he had the queen on his lap, feeding her the rich blood that would fix all that damage I’d done.

“It doesn’t matter, abomination. I will still triumph.”

Yeah, fucking Jude was still there, but I wasn’t afraid of him anymore. I was still bleeding, still covered in it, though now the queen’s blood mingled with my own. None of it mattered because I glowed with power. I could see it coming off my skin. It pulsed through me. The only question was which power I should use, which one would win the battle quickly so I could go back to real life.

“Now we are set,” Raphael said. “You may resume your trial, brother.”

He was gone and Jude was obviously not playing anymore. He sideswiped me with that massive wing of his, knocking me over. I turned into a roll, using his own motion against him. He couldn’t shift that wing on a dime and it allowed me access to his back.

I kicked up, wincing and praying my guts stayed where they were supposed to. Something way harder and more insistent than adrenaline was riding me now. The sword moved my hand. I twirled her in a way that would have had my weapons teacher panting. I didn’t have to think. I gave over and let the part of me that fought instinctively merge with Gladys. It was good and right to do it.

This was what I’d been born to do. I wasn’t merely the demon hunter the vamps had turned my kind into. I guarded this plane from all comers. You want to disrupt the balance here, you gotta go through me and my kind.

I kicked out, trying to force him off balance. My foot met the small of his back and I got him to stumble. He hit his knees and I charged. He swept back, his wing catching me again, and then he was in the air.

Fucker. I tried to track him, but he was fast. He soared up to the highest point in the arena and then he was a bullet coming my way. He tucked his wings in and dove. I ran, trying to make myself a harder target, but when I was sure he would hit the ground, he unfurled those wings and caught me up in them. The whole world went white and soft and then I felt that claw scratch deep across my face and I saw blood.

I dropped down and avoided him slitting my throat.

So much blood. Despite all that power, I was getting woozy. My time was going to be up soon.

I held on to Gladys with everything I had.

Jude floated above me, an arrogant look on his face. “I think I only have to wait here for that body of yours to give in. The bodies on this plane are as weak as the souls. You weren’t ready for all that power were you, abomination?”

I was still shaking from it, but my mind was racing. It wasn’t mere power and strength I’d gotten. It was so much more, but there was too much. Too many different sources to pull from. It was a storm in my brain.

It didn’t take long to realize that I would die here if I didn’t think of something. I let it flow over me, trying to figure out what to do, what power to choose. Donovan’s strength meant nothing if I couldn’t get my hands on Jude. It whispered through my brain that Donovan could fly and that meant I could for now, but that seemed super risky. I needed power and strength that I could control with little learning curve. If I fell again, I was probably done for.

A storm. It was like a storm in my brain.

The Ala. She was here. Gladys hummed her assent, approving of my choice.

“Your plane will run red with blood. Purification will be only the first step.” Jude was having a grand old time talking about the coming apocalypse. He was totally playing to his audience. He glanced over at the demons. “And then we shall come for the lowest plane.”

The demons didn’t like that idea, but I couldn’t think about it now. I was pulling together the Ala’s power. It was fresh and I could see how to use it. Gladys pulsed in my hand as I envisioned a mighty storm. Localized, of course. I didn’t want to rain baseball-sized hail down on anyone except my target.

“The demons shall be destroyed.” Jude’s wings flapped slowly. “You will not be needed in the new order and not tolerated for a moment more.”

 There was a mighty crack and the arena shook as the sky above Jude opened up and rained down on him. Huge chunks of ice fell from the black cloud that had formed. I concentrated on every single one hitting his ass.

Or any part of his body I could get at.

A big, nasty piece hit his wing and I heard it crack, saw the blood begin to flow, and he was falling. He managed to steer himself down, falling to his knees and protecting his head with the cover of those wings. They wound around him, sheltering him.

I couldn’t let that happen. I needed more.

Lightning flashed through the arena, striking near the angel. My aim could be better, but I did manage to get him to come out of protective mode. He drew his wings back, cradling his injured wing. His eyes stared through me and I knew what hate looked like. He hated me, hated this plane, hated everything he didn’t understand fully. Only one way would ever make sense to this version of Jude and I understood what Felicity had told me. Angels fell when their time was right. Jude wasn’t ready for an angelic existence. It was time to allow him to transform.

All my anger fled and an odd sympathy crept through me as Jude lifted his sword and ran my way. I had just figured out my place and there was comfort in that. He’d said I had no higher purpose, but I had the greatest one of all. To protect the ones I loved. To force myself to care about even those I couldn’t stand. It was my mission.

What had Donovan called it? Woman’s work. Yes. He would play the king and rule with authority, but when it came to compromising, to bending and protecting the weakest among us, it would be me and the queen who were called upon.

And I had a job to do now.

Jude charged, his face a mask of rage, and I called down a lightning strike, this time my aim proving true. That bolt of pure energy struck the top of his head, and I watched as his body shook and shook. I could hear the angels weeping and the demons cheering, but I didn’t feel triumphant. There was happiness that Felix would awaken and I could reunite a family, that Neil wouldn’t have to worry about being a crazy sleeper agent again, that we would all be safe. But I felt for him. Maybe it was Gladys or maybe I was becoming a more well-rounded assassin, but all I could think of in that moment was how much promise he’d wasted.

Raphael was suddenly at my side. “It’s time, child. It’s all right. Do your duty and have no guilt in the action.”

The lightning let him go and Jude fell to his knees. It was easy to see how spent he was. Perhaps I was bloodier, but he’d taken a shit ton of voltage and it had been imbued with Gladys’s unique energy. His wings drooped and I knew I should make it quick.

“Choose better next time.”

Gladys guided my hand as I brought her up and down and separated Jude the Faithful’s head from his body. Before his head could hit the ground, it turned to ash and was gone. His body stayed visible for a mere moment before it too turned and floated away.

I stared at the spot and hoped that like my father, he found a happier existence next time around.

Then the world started to go fuzzy again. I could hear the crowd screaming, cheering me, but it seemed to come from somewhere far away. Gladys fell from my hand and the minute I lost her, weakness sent me to my knees.

The sand was warm under me. Warm and soft and I realized why. I’d started bleeding again. The pain hit me now that I’d used the power. I was bleeding from multiple sources, each and every one aching like a motherfucker. I could feel where he’d split open a good portion of my face.

“Your friends are coming,” Raphael said, kneeling beside me. “They’ll take care of you now. I thank you for setting my brother free and for balancing out the king’s more aggressive instincts. Perhaps he will listen to you and your queen more often now that he knows where her crown truly comes from. Hold on. They’re almost here. Let Donovan know I’ll come for my brother’s sword in due time.”

He blinked away and I couldn’t even hold my head up.

“Donovan!”

Gray was shouting. He sank into the sand beside me, reaching for me. Trent knelt down and looked me over.

“Don’t worry, baby.” Trent managed something of a smile. “The king is on his way, along with the academics. There is going to be so much blood to heal you. You won’t even remember how bad it feels right now. Gray, we’re going to need to hold her skin together or I’m worried how it will heal.”

I will give it to my wolf. He’s calm in a crisis. Must have been his military training. His voice stayed even, but I knew what he was talking about. He was worried that if they didn’t hold my skin together I would heal with parts of me on the outside. That’s how broken I was.

“Give me some room.” The king strode across the sand. Zoey ran beside him, her clothes bloodied but otherwise perfectly well. That’s what vamp blood will do for you. The blood left over was the only sign Zoey had suffered at all.

“Liv, can you get Kelsey’s face? Hold it together so it heals right,” Trent asked. “Gray and I will make sure her belly heals properly and Jamie can pull the skin back over her clavicle.”

Damn, I was fucked up. I couldn’t wait until that blood started working its magic and I felt whole again. Everything hurt. My body was a massive wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding.

“No,” a dark voice said.

Gray’s head went up. “Brother?”

I forced my eyes open and Nemcox was standing there, his father at his side.

“I said no vampire blood,” the demon insisted. He stared down at me with pitch black eyes. “We agreed to it.”

“But she’s dying.” Gray smoothed my hair back. “She’s not going to last long enough for her body to heal.”

“We’ve got a couple of minutes, maybe,” Trent agreed. “There’s not even time for a healing spell to work. Vampire blood is the only thing that will save her.”

“And it will mark her as the property of Vampire and then she can’t sign a contract.” Nemcox looked me over as though academically assessing my wounds.

I felt Trent move, but I was too weak to say anything. There was a crowd around me, blocking out the light.

“Did you not see what the rest of us saw?” the king asked. “I think we can safely say Kelsey is her own person. Let me save her and we’ll talk. You can’t haul her off to Hell if she dies.”

The demon grinned and held up a piece of paper. “I can if she signs this. It gives me her soul after death. I think you’ll find there is no clause in our contracts that prevents anyone from signing away their soul after they die. All of your language is strictly to protect the living.”

Lord Sloane chuckled. “You need better lawyers, Donovan.”

Nemcox shoved a piece of paper toward me. I could bet what it would say. It would ensure my descent into Hell after my soul left my body. Which wouldn’t be long now. “Here you go, dear. You can sign now or I’ll tell my father the truth.”

“You can’t do this,” Gray said, sounding utterly horrified. “She’s mine. I make the decisions concerning her.”

“Not when you make such horrible ones,” his brother replied. “You’ll thank me later.”

I wanted to say something but I was so tired. So fucking tired. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to sign my name to the document Nemcox was holding up for me.

“Father, talk to him,” Gray begged.

Lord Sloane shook his head. “He won’t be reasonable about this and honestly, I don’t care. I think I would rather know the secret. The girl is valuable in a breeding fashion, but I think she’ll still be trouble. If I have to choose, I pick knowing her secret. And yet your brother won’t tell me.”

So my father was still safe. Nemcox hadn’t broken our deal.

“Sign, dear, and we can be done.” Nemcox started to lean over. “Or simply say the words. Say ‘I give my immortal soul to you, Lord Nemcox, and wish to dwell with you forever.’ Then you can die in peace.”

“I don’t want her to die.” Gray looked up to the king. “Do something. She’s your Nex Apparatus. Or you, Queen Zoey. Please. I need time. I can make him see reason, but not if Kelsey’s dead.”

Where was Trent?

I wanted to see him one last time. I wasn’t sure how long I had. Donovan was arguing with Lord Sloane about something and Gray was pleading with the queen. Jamie had gotten to his feet and was yelling for Marcus to come and help me and Liv was trying her hardest to say some spell that would start my healing process.

“Gray?” I tried to squeeze his hand.

He was looking up at the queen. “Talk to him. Please, you can’t let this happen.”

“I’m not going to,” Zoey was saying.

It was chaos all around me. They were all talking and arguing and nearly coming to blows.

“Say the words, Hunter.” Nemcox’s voice was a snake in my ear, slithering and tempting. “Tell me you’re mine and you can die knowing your father is safe. If you don’t, you’ll go into eternity knowing you’ll never see him again. I won’t merely kill him. I’ll annihilate his soul.”

I looked past him and saw a flash of silver and then Nemcox stiffened, his midnight eyes going wide. There was the sickening sound of flesh versus blade, and Nemcox was staring down at the hole in his chest.

He stood there for a moment and then his body turned to dust, forming a pile on the ground.

All those years of life, of evil, nothing but a pile of ash.

The world seemed still for a moment, and I wasn’t exactly certain what had happened. I heard someone shouting. It was Gray, and he wasn’t holding my hand anymore. It was Zoey Donovan-Quinn at my side.

“Drink up, Kelsey. Do it now. I’m not taking no for an answer,” she said, nodding at her husband.

What had happened? I’d seen a glimpse of metal and I could have sworn Trent had been the one holding a sword. I’d seen a flash of his serious face right before Nemcox had started to bleed.

Only a heavenly sword could kill an immortal demon, and then only when he was in his full form.

What had Donovan done?

He was shoving his wrist at my mouth and I found myself held down. I looked up and the king was staring at me. “I know I promised, but I can’t allow you to die. I can’t. And I won’t allow you to descend.”

His blood was already flowing into my mouth and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Hell, I didn’t want to stop it. The minute I tasted that rich, dark velvet blood, all I wanted was more. Strength immediately flowed through my veins and I wasn’t lying there weakly. I was sucking it down.

“That’s right,” Donovan encouraged. “That sword Jude used on you was heavenly. The wounds are much worse than anything you’ve taken before. Take what you need.” He leaned over. “I wasn’t going to let you descend to protect my son. He needs you here. We need you here.”

He’d planned this. It hadn’t been Gladys Trent had wielded. It was worse. Nemcox might have had a shot with Gladys, since she wasn’t being used by a favored tribe member. But Trent had used the Sword of Justice. No one could survive that.

It was why Donovan had insisted on all demons coming in full form, no possessions allowed. It was why Donovan had made the trial public, to lure Nemcox to the one place where he would feel safe but be vulnerable. It was why Raphael hadn’t taken the sword immediately.

Trent had killed Nemcox.

Trent had killed Gray’s brother.

Shit.

I shoved up, able to move now. Trent had murdered a full-blooded demon in front of a mass audience of demons. They wouldn’t give a fuck that he’d done it for love. They would tear him apart, and Gray might lead the charge.

“What have you done?” I nearly shouted the question at Donovan.

“What I had to do,” he replied.

“They’ll kill him.” I scrambled, looking for Gladys. I couldn’t let them tear Trent apart.

Donovan was back on his feet and I realized with great relief that Trent wasn’t being eviscerated. A thick vine snaked around him, forming a protective circle. He stood in the middle, the Sword of Justice in his hand. Quinn stood, his back to the Council crowd as he moved the thickly thorned vine this way and that, wielding it as a weapon against the throng of demons surrounding my wolf.

“Dev can handle them for now,” Donovan promised.

Zoey shook her head. “I begged him to let someone else do it, but Trent didn’t trust anyone else.”

My heart was in my throat. I didn’t realize how terrified I could be until that moment. It was totally different to be the person in the middle of a blood-thirsty crowd than it was to be the one watching a person you love in the same position. I would have done anything to have switched places with him.

I pushed my way through the crowd and was horrified to find Gray at the front. His horns had come out, his fangs curving and claws ready to tear into his opponent’s flesh. Unfortunately, that flesh belonged to our third, and I wasn’t about to let that happen.

“What are you doing?” I pulled at Gray’s arm.

He didn’t look back. “Get out of here, Kelsey.”

Trent had caught sight of me. Some kind of slime demon put a hand on my arm and Trent started toward us.

I put up a hand. “Don’t you fucking dare leave that circle, you massive sneaky asshole.” I shoved an elbow back, catching the stinky thing in its…parts… You can almost never tell with slime demons. It could have been his balls for all I knew, but it did the trick.

“Baby, I did it for us,” Trent yelled. “Gray, forgive me. You know he wasn’t going to back down.”

“I could have talked to him,” Gray insisted. “Come out here, you coward.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Trent replied. “But she’s a different story. I really am afraid of her.”

He better be. “Stay that way. Don’t you dare step outside that circle until I find a way to fix this.”

Gray turned to me and his pain was so plain I wanted to reach out and put my arms around him. “There is no fixing this. He killed my brother.”

“Who was planning on torturing our woman,” Trent shot back. “I know you’re hurting, brother, but you have to see why I did this.”

“Never call me that,” Gray roared and surged toward Trent, but the Green Man’s vine smacked him back.

A strong hand wound around my arm, pulling me outside the fray. Lord Sloane wasn’t playing around. He dragged me until we were behind the line of fire.

“I hope you’re a truly spectacular lay because this is a fucking mess,” he snarled down at me. “You do understand that I’m in a position to require the werewolf’s head. We recently agreed to negotiate with the Council and now I have to execute the queen’s trusted bodyguard. That’s what got us into this fucking position in the fucking first place. I hope you enjoy this. I have no choice.”

“You do.” My mind was whirling, but I wasn’t good at politics. “You can forgive him in an attempt to keep the balance on the plane. You know what happens when Heaven decides we’re not handling our shit.”

“Yes, and we were almost free.” Lord Sloane smoothed down his jacket. “Now, because my son can’t keep it in his pants around you, and my other son couldn’t stop plotting, we’re right back where we were. All that pain you just went through was for nothing. I can’t back down without reason. I have to look strong.”

I couldn’t allow this to happen. I couldn’t save the damn day only to lose Trent. He’d been willing to go to Hell with me. He wasn’t going to be executed. I had to find a way.

Lord Sloane put up a hand and the demons quieted immediately. Well, except for Gray. He had two men in suits—his father’s contingent—holding him back and he was still trying to get at Trent.

“You know he’s in a rage, right?” The queen stood beside me. “When demons get particularly emotional, it’s hard for them to reason. Don’t judge Gray too harshly. If he had hurt Trent, he would almost certainly have regretted it.”

Gray didn’t look like he would regret anything. “Why would you sacrifice Trent? After everything he’s done for you.”

I would plead with the queen, lay on the guilt, do anything I had to do to stop Trent from being executed.

“I have no intentions of sacrificing him,” the queen replied. “Though I don’t doubt there will be some punishment. Wait. Trust me. Please.”

“King Daniel, I request your presence.” Lord Sloane looked calm and cool, almost as though requesting justice for his son was a real drag on his day. Despite the fact that Nemcox had been a prick who’d threatened my father and me and who’d been more than willing to let me die to further his own agenda, I couldn’t help but feel for Gray. With this ass for a father, I was sure Nemcox had seemed like a loving brother. “Your animal has offended me. He killed my beloved son and has turned my other son into a raging beast. Seriously, Grayson, have some decorum.”

Donovan stepped up. Devinshea was beside him, his hand still controlling the plant he’d turned into a weapon. I’d heard a rumor that the gorgeous ivies and ferns that decorated the arena were actually there as a defense mechanism, but I hadn’t believed it until today.

“I believe you’ll find my servant was trying to protect his lover from being forced into signing a contract,” Donovan explained. The demon hoard hissed and booed. “Your son was also keeping her from receiving healing from her king, which is her right.”

“And Nemcox was an asshole.” The queen wasn’t above putting in her two cents.

“Zoey, please,” Donovan said with a sigh. “I know you came into an enormous amount of power tonight, but let me handle the politics. I’ll allow you and the Nex Apparatus to defend the Earth plane.”

Zoey stood up taller. “It’s a deal.”

It was good to know the night had worked out for someone. I attempted to step forward. “Trent was trying to protect me.”

Zoey put a hand on my arm. “No, Daniel is right. Let him handle this. All this talking and whining and complaining, that’s men’s work. And he’s totally good at it.”

I saw Donovan’s head shake but he was right back to royal in a second. “I think we can negotiate, Lord Sloane.”

Sloane’s eyes had narrowed. “I find it interesting that the wolf was able to handle the sword at all. You can call wolves, can’t you, Your Highness? You can control them.”

“It isn’t a power I use lightly,” Donovan explained. “And he was far too fast for me.”

“Somehow, I sincerely doubt that,” Sloane replied. “I demand a new trial. Unless you will agree to give me the head of the wolf who killed my precious son.”

Donovan rolled his eyes. “He was so precious to you. I can see that.”

Sloane’s fangs came out. “He was my blood and I will have vengeance.”

“I will have justice, as well, Lord Sloane,” a new voice said.

Zoey squeezed my arm and I realized they had planned this as well. So much careful preparation and I had been left out of it all. It wasn’t that I blamed them. Not truly. I just didn’t know what they were planning and I hated being left in the dark.

But I’m also a horrible actress, so I get it.

Neil Roberts stepped up, his husband at his side. “I have something to say. Demand, really. You see, if I don’t get what I want out of this, I intend to call a satan.”

Lord Sloane’s hands went to his hips, staring the wolf down. “What? Why would you need a satan? You don’t have a contract.”

“Yes,” Neil said. “That would be my point.”

Donovan nodded toward the lord of Hell. “I believe my citizen claimed the right to a satan.”

Satans are the lawyers of the demonic world. You don’t call on one if you don’t think you know they’re going to go your way. Their word is the be-all, end-all of contracts.

Lord Sloane held out a hand despite the fact that his other son was still in a state of complete insanity. Gray was fighting his keepers, howling and yelling his rage. “There’s no reason for him to call in a satan. We can deal with this here and now.”

“He says that because he knows what the satan would say.” Chad Thomas was dressed in his normal leather pants and white shirt. “My husband was taken without a contract. He clearly belonged to Vampire and he was taken to Hell against his will, and we can demand justice.”

I finally realized what they’d done. They had planned everything carefully, right down to how they were going to save Trent.

I was shit at politics, but Donovan and Quinn were damn fucking good.

“I was the servant of Daniel Donovan when the demon Nemcox dragged me to Hell against my will.” Neil Roberts stood tall and proud against an army of demons. “I was held in Hell for nearly thirty years, though the equivalent on the Earth plane was mere months. During those years, I aged and my life-span shortened. I have less years with my love than I should have and I demand payment. I never gave in. Not once. I was raped over and over by Lord Sloane’s precious son and because he is gone, my justice will come from his family.”

Sloane turned Neil’s way, suddenly taking him seriously. “What do you expect me to do? He’s dead. I can’t exactly hand over his balls. The wolf made sure they’re dust.”

Yes, he was aching over his loss.

“I demand reparations in the form of your servitude, Lord Sloane,” Neil replied. “You will serve the Council as I served your son. You’ll find this form of recompense is all laid out in the documents signed by your kind years ago.”

“I’m not going to serve anyone.” Sloane shook his head as though trying to comprehend what was happening. “I’m certainly not serving on the Earth plane.”

“Then I suppose I’ll call the satan and see what he has to say,” Donovan offered.

Sloane moved in close, his voice going low. “I’m not an idiot. What do you want?”

“Pardon my servant.” Donovan sprang his trap.

Yes. That was what I wanted. I would deal with Gray. If what Zoey said was the truth, then he would calm down at some point and be more reasonable. He would see that this had been the only way.

Sloane grimaced. “I can spare his life, but there must be punishment. I can’t allow this to pass without some form of punishment. I would lose my power and it will start a war on my plane to see who takes my place. Negotiate with me. Give me lead on the meeting between our planes and banish the wolf. He is to no longer be welcome in Council-held lands and we have a deal. Otherwise, call the satan and unbalance the demonic plane. See how that works for you.”

I shook my head. “No. You can’t banish Trent.”

“I’m not going to banish my servant for delivering justice,” Donovan replied.

Sloane thought for a moment and then nodded. “Call the satan. If there was no angelic interference, you will almost certainly win. If there was…well, I’ll call for a separate hearing concerning Neil Roberts. I believe Louis Marini was the head of the Council at the time. He had the power. If Neil Roberts’s contract is deemed just, then it is Hell that will ask for a trial and perhaps compensation.”

Even I knew that time was a murky part of history. Louis Marini had been the head of the Council and Donovan had been marked as an outlaw for months before he finally took over the Council. Could we win? They might not be able to drag Neil back to Hell, but they could put the king in a bad place when it came to negotiations. I’d begged him. I’d been the one who changed his mind and now it was my situation that placed the Council in harm’s way.

I saw the moment Donovan realized this wasn’t going to be perfect, but then he’d probably planned for that, too.

“And if I declare my former servant to be outcast, unknown to the Council due to his crimes, would that serve you?” Donovan would never give up his wife’s best friend. And he couldn’t go into negotiations in a submissive position. Even I knew that.

But to declare Trent an outcast? He wouldn’t be allowed on Council land. Wouldn’t be recognized by the king or his Council. He would be alone in the world. He would have to run because no one would protect him.

Sloane held out a hand. “I am the lead on the negotiations with the Earth plane and this will be done. I shall demand no vengeance but you will give the outcast no succor.”

Donovan’s eyes closed briefly and when he opened them I knew his decision, and I also knew that it sucked to be the king. “Agreed.”

He’d saved me and the plane, but Trent was outcast.

Sloane shook his hand and the deal was done.

The demons stepped back and Dev was allowed to release the vine. It slithered back underground and I ran to Trent.

His arms wound around me. Gray was still being held away from us, but I hated the look in his eyes as I hugged Trent.

“I’ll go with you.” I wasn’t going to leave him alone.

His hands came up, cupping my face. “No. I knew what would happen when I agreed to do this. Take care of Gray. Take care of that wolf inside you. She’s the strongest, bravest bitch I’ve ever known. I love you. Take those words into your soul, baby, because they won’t stop if I die. I’ll love you forever.”

They pulled him out of my arms, tears clouding my eyes, and I wondered if it was the last time I would ever see him.