Page 9 of Wrath

“You need to get the council on board,” B said, a frown tugging at his lips.

Bash moved to stand beside Devlin. “They won’t give a rat’s ass about the kings’ crimes. They follow them like blind fuckingsheep.” He scowled. “As soon as we’re the kings, we can order an election for new representatives who would actually follow us. But we can’t be kings without the council’s approval, and we can’t choose a new council until we are. And the current council will never turn their backs on their previous monarchs. Their heads are so far up the kings’ asses, I wouldn’t be surprised if all they can smell is shit.”

HH raised a hand and cleared his throat. “That’s not necessarily true.”

“What’s not?” Bash’s brows furrowed. “That the council is tonguing the kings’ asses? Because I can assure you?—”

“No.” HH’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “I meant what you said about council approval. You don’t need their approval to take the thrones from your fathers.”

“Are you talking about murdering the kings?” Ryland asked, the shadows completely obscuring his features from view. All I could see was the silhouette of a man amongst the darkness, sharp lines surrounded by black wisps. “We could do that, yes, but it would cause an uproar amongst the citizens. We would be overthrown in days.”

“I didn’t mean that either.” The tiny human pushed up his glasses with his pointer finger and then moved towards an old book on the table. He pulled it up, and plumes of dust geysered upwards. “We’ve been going through old texts and found one that may be of interest to you.”

“What does it say?” I demanded, reaching for the book. HH handed it to me easily, and I stared at the series of scribbles and symbols I’d never seen before. “What language is this?”

“Latin.” HH rubbed at his chin absently. “I was able to translate the text. Quite fascinating, actually. They had stories about some of the first kings. Did you know that the mermaid king and vampire king from a thousand years ago used to share a wife? I wonder if they were mates or?—”

“HH. Focus.” B folded his arms over his chest with a scowl.

HH blinked, seemingly coming out of a daze, and nodded. “Right. Of course.”

“What exactly did you find?” Lupe asked, eagerly taking the book from me.

Lupe may be the largest of my mates by far—a wall of solid muscle—but he was also the smartest. He loved to read and write and lose himself in a good story. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he had studied Latin at some point.

“There’s a way for the princes to take the crowns from their fathers without any bloodshed. And the council will have no choice but to follow their rule, as will the citizens.” HH’s eyes gleamed behind his glasses.

“How?” Bash asked in disbelief.

Lupe, who had been scanning the pages of the book, glanced up, his expression carefully blank. Impassive. “By the Trials of Lilith.”

FIVE

Z

Panic seized the air in my lungs, and an icy wave of water threatened to capsize me, drown me.

That name…

Memories of a beautiful woman bombarded me. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this “Lilith” was my mother. Not my current mother, of course, but the one that I had before, in my past life.

When I had, apparently, been an angel-demon hybrid…

A shiver skated through me.

“Z?” Dair asked softly, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I offered him a reassuring smile and shook my head, eloquently telling him that we would talk about this later. I didn’t want to say anything in front of the others.

“What are the Trials of Lilith?” Devlin straightened nearly imperceptibly, hefting his chin in the air.

He may not have been wearing his form-fitting suit and cuff links, but he looked every inch the domineering, powerful prince.

Lupe’s brows scrunched together as he scanned the old book. “When the nightmares first came to be, and the ruling families were established, Lilith wanted a way to ensure her people were taken care of.”

Davia waved her hands in the air. “Wait. Wait. Wait. Back the fuck off. We’re not talking about Lilith as intheLilith, are we? The demoness from Hell?”

My heart rate tripled, and I exchanged an uneasy glance with my mates. There was a lot we’d discovered recently, and I wasn’t sure how much she knew. How much any of them knew.

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