Page 1 of The Demon King's Unruly Mate

PROLOGUE

KAZ

The hellfire pendant dangled from Rava’s fingers. Her face twisted with disgust as she commanded our tormentor to his knees. My little sister, wielding the very power that had violated us, using it to end this nightmare.

“You will confess your crimes,” she said, her voice shaking with the effort of control. “You will submit to judgment for what you’ve done to everyone you hurt.”

Javed howled and fought against her control like a rabid animal. Even on his knees, the bastard wouldn’t yield. The pendant flickered in Rava’s palm, her grip weakening as the relic’s magic pushed back.

“Nowhere... will be safe,” he spat, golden eyes burning with hatred. “I’ll find you. Make you... pay.”

Red smoke began swirling around him—teleporting. Escaping.Again.

Time slowed. I snatched the ax from the air as Malak’s throw sent it tumbling toward me, the worn handle settling into my palm like it belonged there. My body moved with practiced coordination, muscles responding to years of training ratherthan the lingering echo of Javed’s commands that still buzzed beneath my skin.

The ax felt light in my grip, my arm strong despite the bone-deep ache from hours spent beating the orc under Javed’s control.

The orc.Rava’s mate. Another debt I couldn’t repay.

Javed’s teleportation cloud thickened, his form already beginning to dissolve. Not fast enough. I swung the blade into the center of the crimson haze and felt a sickening resistance as it connected.

The prince stumbled backward. Flickered. Half of him materialized inside the ornate chair he’d claimed as his throne. Wood and flesh fused together in a grotesque sculpture, a fitting monument to his twisted reign. His scream pierced the air, high and desperate.

I didn’t hesitate. The ax came down again, cleaving through chair and prince alike.

Blood sprayed across my face. Hot. Metallic. The sound—gods, thesound—of blade separating flesh from wood and bone echoed in the sudden silence of our family hall.

Javed’s head rolled to a stop at my feet, golden eyes wide with shock, mouth frozen in a final scream.

I killed the prince.

The thought hit me like a punch to the gut and stole the breath from my lungs. The ax slipped from my fingers. Clattered against the stone floor. Blood pooled around my boots, seeping into the cracks between the tiles.

For days, I’d been nothing but a weapon in Javed’s hand. A blade he wielded against my own family. My brothers. My sister. The violation of it burned like acid in my veins.

And now I’d become exactly what he made me: a killer.

Only this time, the choice had been mine.

The room tilted around me as I stared at what remained of Prince Javed Fitsum. Heir to the throne. Son to the king. The man who’d been promised my sister’s hand in marriage to finally bring our disputed family lines together.

Fuck.

Malak appeared at my side, his hand gripping my shoulder. “Kaz.” His voice seemed to come from far away. “Kaz, look at me.”

I tore my gaze from the corpse, meeting my brother’s eyes. Blood streaked his face, but his expression was clear, focused. Free of Javed’s control.

“It’s done,” he said firmly.

My tail lashed behind me, betraying the panic building beneath my ribs. “I killed the prince.”

“You killed a monster,” Malak corrected. His fingers dug into my shoulder. “One who tortured his siblings to death. Who would have done the same to Rava.”

I shook my head, unable to process the magnitude of what I’d done. What I’d done to my family. My clan. “The king?—”

“Will understand when we present the evidence.” Malak’s voice was steady. “The relics alone are proof enough of his treason.”

The relics. I darted a panicked look to where Rava had dropped the pendant, then where Javed’s ring lay discarded on the floor. I expected pulsing, malevolent lights and whispering voices from the fires below.

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