Page 3 of Deranged Demons

My thoughts sober as more power radiates down my spine.“Well, whatever is in there, it’s something incredibly powerful.”

Shade ruffles her feathers like she can feel it, too.“And by that, you mean something dangerous.”

“Precisely.”

Unease goes through me as I turn my back on the door and begin striding toward the exit. I’ve only made it two steps when I swear I feel a fingertip brush along the shell of my right ear. I hear the faintest whisper, the voice reminding me of the crashing waves of the ocean, but the words aren’t loud enough for me to make out.

“Did you hear that?” I ask, speaking aloud as my eyes flare wide. I spin back around, and a glimmer of light outlines the frame of the door. It’s gone again an instant later, and I’m not sure if I imagined it.

“Hear what?”Shade replies as I continue to stare.

I blink but the glowing light doesn’t reappear, and I don’t hear the voice again.Sooo I’m hearing other voices now? Great.I hope it’s something to do with my power, like how I can speak to Shade, but somethingtells me it isn’t.All I know for sure is that whatever is behind that door, I probably don’t want to find out.

I remain there until Shade questions me again, then I mumble that it was nothing and leave the vault. But even as I climb the steps, I can’t stop thinking about what’s behind the black door, and what the king has been hiding all these years.

Chapter

Two

~ Princess Blake ~

Istride over the glossy black tiles and make my way up the long corridors of the palace. When I reach the third floor, two broad armored guards are standing sentry outside the king’s private chambers. The guards are both attractive, even if they have pinched expressions like they’ve just tasted something foul. Though, I guess their stern attitude is to be expected considering they work for my father. As I approach, I take in the corded muscles on their thick arms which are easily wider than my head, and my brows rise.

“Looks like Dad upgraded his security,”I send to Shade.

“I’ll say,”she replies appreciatively.“Check out the muscular thighs on that one.”

I have to cough to stop my laughter, but my gaze slides lower on the guard standing to the right. She isn’t wrong. The male is a beast, with rippling muscles all over.“Looks like someone doesn’t skip leg day,”I muse back, and there’s a cawing sound in my head that I know is her laughter.

Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky finding Shade. I’d been in the human realm chasing down a demon when I’d entered a human dwelling and came across her cage. I’d thought she was dead, her feathered body a motionless bundle in a pile of birdseed, but when I’d reached out with my power, she’d begun speaking in my mind, pleading for help. I’d been startled as it was the first time my gift had presented, and it took me a good moment before I realized what was happening. When I came to my senses, I knew I had to do something. It’s against the rules to tamper with the human realm beyond what is necessary, but I brought her back to Seral and nursed her to health anyway. We have crows here, so it wasn’t hard to hide her origin from the king. Still, I keep dreading the day she’ll ask to return to the human realm.

“If you keep staring like that, he’s going to get the wrong idea,”Shade points out, jolting me from my thoughts, and I realize I’m still staring at the guard.

“Or the right one,”I send back, but my gaze snaps up, and I mentally remind myself of Trey, the witches,and why I’m here. Not slowing my stride, I move closer to the guards. “Stand aside, muscles, I have an urgent matter to discuss with the king,” I order. I expect them to open the double doors just as I reach them, but instead, they cross their spears in front of my path, and I damn near end up kissing the steel before I manage to stop.What the?

The stern-looking guard on the left doesn’t peer at me as he juts out his stubbled chin and speaks. “Apologies, highness, but the king wishes not to be disturbed.”

I frown. Of course, there have been times when the king hasn’t wanted to be disturbed in the past, but lately it’s as if he’s alwaysbusy. Not to mention that usually when the king wants to be left alone, he gives the guards an explanation to pass onto me. Going from the way these guards have their lips pressed tightly together, I’m guessing they’ve already given me the only explanation I’m going to get.

I think about returning later, but I can still picture Trey as he turned to ash, and the whole situation is making me uneasy.

“Did I say the word ‘urgent’?” I say rhetorically, licking my lips. “Because I’m pretty sure if my father knew why I’m here, he’d want to see me right away.”

Unsurprisingly, the guards still don’t move and remain blocking my way like huge immovable statues. With the added height of their curved horns, they tower above me, but it’s not like that makes a difference. Still, I wonder if it makes them feel foolishenough to think they can stop me. It always seems to be the largest demons who underestimate me the most.

“We have our orders, princess,” the guard on the right replies this time. There’s a scar that crosses over his lips, like someone once tried to cut down the center of his face, and my forehead creases more as I realize I’ve never seen him before. It’s not like this is the first time the king has changed his guards. There are a few guards on rotation who I see the most regularly, but every now and then, I’ll encounter someone new. Still, there’s something about these two that has me on edge. I’m not sure if it’s simply because I have the incident with Trey on my mind, or if my gut sense is trying to tell me something. Either way, a thread of panic winds through me. I know the feeling is irrational because King Dalton is the strongest demon to ever rule Seral and no one would be stupid enough to try and assassinate him, but…

Before the guards can react, I shoot my arms upward, flapping my wings to gain height as I knock their heads together with a satisfying thud. I’m careful not to use too much of my strength, just in case I’ve misread the situation, but they crumple to the floor unconscious, falling on top of one another in a tangled heap of limbs and armor.

“I did ask you to step aside,”I mutter apologetically under my breath as I snatch up one of the guard’s spears.

“Something tells me they’re going to wake with bruisedegos more than anything else,”Shade comments, peering down as I step over them.

“Unless I’m right about what’s going on here,”I reply.Because if I am, a damaged ego is going to be the least of their worries.“Get ready,”I send to Shade a split second before I open the double doors in front of me and burst into the room.

Time slows as I scan the space like a warrior scans a battlefield, ready to take down whatever threat has infiltrated the palace. I expect a witch assassin, or even one of the Drozac from the realm of the giants—trained killers who can harness their incredible strength while remaining in their smaller form—but instead of a warrior bent over my father’s body it’s…

“Ahhhh, I can’t stop staring!”Shade shouts in my mind, flapping her wings and squawking in distress.

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