Page 37 of Deranged Demons

We walk for what feels like an hour, and I’m starting to get worried at the fact we haven’t encountered any alphas when I hear the faint sound of singing on the wind. “Do you hear that?” I whisper, changing direction and heading toward the voices.

“Yes, it sounds like a wailing cat.” Prince Callan nods, his hand already resting on the hilt of his sword.

Nate’s brows pull down. “I’ll have you know a cat’s wail sounds nothing like that strange garbling. In fact, I’ll demonstrate.” He sucks in a deep breath, but I wackhim on the chest, and he doubles over as the air rushes from between his lips.

I give him a sheepish smile, realizing I hit him harder than I intended. “Sorry, but the last thing we need is to announce our location to everyone in this city.”

“Fair point,” he mutters as he straightens.

Prince Callan smirks and links his arm with mine, leading me toward the noise.

I slow our pace. “Hold on, I think we should go over some ground rules before we go any further. By now the alphas who haven’t gotten their hands on any medicine are going to be hallucinating and out of their minds.” I remember the heads Nate and Prince Callan brought to me as presents not too long ago. “Even if they don’t turn out to be my mates, you can’t just kill them all.”

Prince Callan frowns.

“Got it. Incapacitate but don’t kill,” Nate says, his eyes bright like simply the idea of a fight has improved his mood significantly.

I figure that’s a good enough response and continue walking toward the singing that’s grown even louder. Truthfully, Prince Callan’s assessment wasn’t too far off. It sounds like something between the cry of a wounded animal and the mating call of a group of demon bugs, and the closer we get, the more I start to question my life choices. Knowing my luck, I’m probably fated to whatever delightful minstrel is leading this musical disaster.

We reach a wide stretch of dirt with multiple stone paths branching off, and blackened trees that look like skeletons spread throughout the area. I can only guess it used to be a city park at one stage, going by the layout and various stone fountains erected at intervals, and I start walking again.

Shade is silent on my shoulder as she watches the trees, and I wonder if she’s thinking about the lack of birds. The park is a far cry from the beautiful nature scenes we’ve seen depicted in the paintings around the city.

“Well, they sound happy,” Nate comments, and I jerk my attention forward as we round a bend, passing a thick section of blackened trees. Up ahead, beside the largest stone fountain we’ve seen yet, I make out a group of twenty demons dancing around a roaring fire. Shadows flicker around them like creatures from the shadow realm, and their singing has been replaced by raucous laughter. They’re all shirtless, their muscles rippling in the firelight, and their tails flick as if in time to music only they can hear. Two of them I recognize as clan leaders, but the others are the sons of wealthy merchants and business owners. I grin, glad that they’re not killing each other. “At least someone’s enjoying this.”

“Yes, they seem like they’re in unusually good spirits for alphas who have been stranded in Perstalia,” Prince Callan observes. He reaches for his sword, but I pin him with a stare.

“It’s not a crime to be happy,” I tell him. “Remember, no bloodshed unless necessary.”

He smirks like I’ve just given him a challenge he can’t resist, but he removes his hand from the hilt of his sword. “Something tells me it’s going to be necessary.”

I give him an unimpressed look.“This is going to go terribly, isn’t it?”I say to Shade.

“Yum.”There’s a pause.“Oh, I mean, yup. Yup it is.”Her gaze is fixed on the demons up ahead, and I shake my head.

“Please don’t drool on my shoulder,”I tease.

“Luckily for you, birds don’t drool,”she quips back. She’s barely finished saying it when one of the demons completely undresses himself and starts dancing stark naked. She startles on my shoulder letting out a squawk of surprise, and I burst out laughing. She pecks my neck in retaliation.

“Stop!” I laugh, tucking my chin to stop her from tickling me.

“Uh, gorgeous, you might want to…” Nate trails off, and my laughter instantly dies as I straighten. The demons have stopped dancing, and they’re all facing our direction, staring straight at me.Crap.Clearing my throat, I lift my chin as my strides eat up the last of the distance between us.

The demons form up respectfully when I stop a few steps away from them, and Nate and PrinceCallan flank me.

“Our princess,” the demon closest to me slurs with a dip of his horned head. “It is good to see you well.”

I note how calm they are. A couple are unsteady on their feet, and a few are splattered with blood, but they don’t look like demons who have lost their minds.

“Blake, look,”Shade whispers, right as I spot the heads. Near the back of the fountain and shrouded in darkness are three giant hydra heads sitting in a pool of green ichor. Their fanged mouths are gaping open, their eyes wide and sightless. I’d been so distracted by the laughing demons that I hadn’t even noticed. The rest of the hydra’s body is nowhere to be seen, and I scan the area, my hand reaching for my sword.

“It’s dead,” says a familiar smooth voice that I know all too well. “The stones of the fountain shifted, taking the slain monster below. Same thing happened with the other monster at the fountain further to the west across the park.”

I lift my gaze as my own personal pain-in-the-ass steps into view. A devilish smile is molded to his face and his eyes shine iridescent blue in the firelight, his horns mimicking the color and contrasting against his midnight hair. Despite myself, my chest eases at the sight of his familiar face. “Dante,” I say the word on an exhale.

“The one and only,” he grins, his eyes traveling over me. “Nice to see you finally found us, your highness.”

“Found you? Funny, here I was thinking you might be trying to find me.”

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