Page 143 of The Devil's Trials

Blake rolls his eyes, while the others snicker, and I just shake my head.

“That’s not exactly how I’d explain it,” I point out.

Harper shrugs. “Close enough.”

Francesca grins at her. “I like you already.”

Jude and Roman exchange a glance before turning their gazes to me.

“Problem?” I ask.

Jude wets her lips. “Not necessarily. However, you just took the throne. Is this, bringing a human—a skilled hunter, no less—onto your council, the first move you really want to make as king?”

“That’s a backhanded compliment if I ever heard one,” Harper mutters, crossing her arms over her chest as her heart beats faster.

Jude grants her a thin smile. “I mean no offense. I simply want to make sure our king is setting himself up for success.”

“I think that ship sailed when he brought Blake on, but whatever.”

I press my lips together to hide my amusement at Harper’s quip. She and Blake seem to have adopted a rivalry I don’t quite understand, but I can’t deny its entertainment value.

Blake smirks, his eyes locked on her. “You know being mean to me gets me hot, and that’s super unprofessional in this setting.”

She rolls her eyes. “Bite me.”

Hunger darkens his gaze. “That’s twice now. Careful, little hunter. Next time you ask, I fucking will.” He snaps his teeth at her.

I glance down at the table as they continue bickering, figuring Harper is comfortable enough to put Blake in his place. She doesn’t need me stepping in—in fact, she’d probably putmeinmyplace if I tried.

Instead, I focus my hearing on the level above us where I can hear Camille humming to herself and the sound of pencil strokes on paper. I wasn’t sure she’d use the sketchbook I left for her, but I’m glad she is. Anything to keep her distracted from the circumstances triggering her anxiety, and there are many. I can’t fix them for her immediately, as much as I wish I could, but at least I can help her manage her thoughts when they start to spiral.

“Xander,” Blake’s voice cuts into my focus, and I look at him, lifting my brows.

“You just completely zoned out,” Greer says.

“Apologies,” I say, waiting for whomever to repeat whatever I missed.

“Where’s your head at?” Roman asks.

“Probably the human upstairs,” Francesca says before I can respond. “Is she clouding your ability to focus on the matter at hand?”

Unless Blake and Harper quit their verbal ping pong and I missed when the real conversation started, I’m not sure my focus was truly required here.

“Not at all,” I say in a level tone despite the irritation prickling along my skin at being questioned. I push my chair back and stand. “While dealing with Marrick is important, there’s something else I need to attend to in the meantime.” My gaze sweeps over my council members. “I trust you. I need you to prove yourselves to me now. Prove I made the right decision bringing you onto my council and giving you my trust.”

“Of course,” Greer says in a solemn voice, then asks, “What do you need from us?”

“By the time we return topside, I want to know exactly how Marrick is turning humans into demons. Also, where and when it has potentially been done before. Anything that will help us stop Marrick from continuing to do it now.”

Roman nods, though he’s frowning. “What will you be doing?”

“I’m taking a trip home. Camille’s sister was taken to hell by the demon who took her life years ago, and she’s been trapped there since. We’re going to bring her back.”

Those words burn my tongue, coating my throat with acidic bile at the thought of Camille being in the wretched place I grew up. I know what it did to me, and considering just for a moment what it could do to her makes me desperate for another way to bring Danielle back. But even now, I don’t have the strength to refuse Camille. The power she holds over me is irrefutable. I can’t let her down—not ever again. So the thing she wants from me now puts her in the most danger she’s experienced since I waltzed into her life, and the frigid, thorny vines of fear wrapping themselves around me because of it feel like a punishment I most certainly deserve for loving her as I am.

Francesca scowls, her tone unimpressed when she says, “You’re leaving us to help your human plaything?”

A vicious growl rumbles in my chest and tears from my throat. “Watch yourself. Camille is my mate, soul or not. She is mine and I am hers. I will doanythingfor her, and if anyone in this room doesn’t approve, you are not welcome here.”

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