Page 9 of Queen of the Wicked
She took off the backpack slung around her shoulders, pulling out a blade of her own. With a slash to her palm, they joined hands, and Erebos jumped back,hissing in pain when the fuckingburnscorched his palm. It navigated up his elbow, sizzling the flesh of his forearm with a mark to signify the pact had been made.
“Shit.” He clutched his arm, hating that he was powerless. It would have hurt a lot less if he still had his quicker healing capabilities, but even with his added power racing through her veins, she still seemed uncomfortable when she grimaced and slapped a hand over the tiny black teardrop now marred on her skin. It was in the same spot as Erebos’s mark, resembling a drop of blood.
Whoever led him to her must’ve known she was special, especially with Bastian and his lackeys hounding her here on Earth. This woman might just be why rejected souls started disappearing from the soul yard, the key to all of his unanswered problems, so until further notice, Erebos wasn’t letting her out of his fucking sight until he got some answers.
Not that she’d be able to run even if she wanted to.
They’d officially made a blood pact.
Chapter 4
Alessia
Alessia didn’t have time to wash the blood off her. Not when her mom, a seraph’s body, laydeaddownstairs. She returned to Erebos in jeans, a sweater, and a worn-down pair of boots. He impatiently leaned against the frame of the doorway, tapping his boot aggressively against the beaten hardwood floors. She didn’t think he was the kind of guy who waited around for others if he was truly the Lord of Hell, but he was powerless now, so she wasn’t concerned about making him wait.
“We have to bury her,” she whispered on a shaky exhale. “I can’t just leave her here.”
“You think we have time for that?” He arched a thick brow in her direction. “Bastian could send his forces here at any second, and we’ll be sitting ducks. Time isn’t something we can afford right now.”
Alessia stepped closer to him, holding her ground. “This is my mom,Erebos.Weneed to bury her. I refuse to leave without giving her a proper resting place.”
His onyx eyes seemed puzzled as he scanned her face, searching for something she wasn’t certain of. Eventually, he dipped his chin, surprisingly quick to agree to her extension of time. “Fine. Where would you like to bury her?”
She answered without hesitation. “Out by the willow tree.”
After an hourof digging with shovels from the shed, they finally laid Alessia’s mom to rest.
Her heart was torn knowing she couldn’t stay for a proper goodbye. She couldn’t even grieve correctly with the Lord of Hell watching her every move. He stared at her like a foreign specimen, and in a way, she was.
But she was thankful the insufferable man withheld any of his clever retorts while they dug and flung dirt over their shoulders. Perhaps he understood what it was like to grieve someone close. It was the only explanation she could provide for why he remained so silent during the burial.
There was no casket, no flowers, no speeches. Everything her mom was—her kindness that exuded from every inch of her being—was just…gone. Instantly. Alessia didn’t have time to reflect on her death when the promise of more was sure to arrive soon.
Keep moving forward, no matter the sacrifice.
Don’t look back.
Her parents' advice played on a loop with every step she took away from the gravesite, avoiding thinking ofher mom entirely if only to make it through the next few hours. Once they stopped for the night, she could cry and let it all out. Until then, she had to do whatever was possible to send Erebos on his way.
There was part of her that felt completely idiotic for suggesting the blood pact in the first place as they headed through the meadow. She didn’t knowwhyshe said it. It was a spur-of-the-moment thought, like forgetting an essential fact to a story, only to have it come to you again days later.
She’d never participated in a blood pact before, but despite bulldozing into foreign territory, she couldn’t find it within herself to regret her decision. Alessia’s mom was murdered, and her mother was nowhere to be found. If Erebos had any insight and could teach her how to wield her powers correctly, she would risk putting herself in danger.
She still wasn’t scared of him, no matter how much he warned her she should be.
“Why are we heading towards the woods?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the road. Her family lived in the middle of the country, surrounded by fields of corn, but a town was just a couple of miles away. While there certainly weren’t any taxis in the tiny village of Brunwick, they could probably hitchhike and get away a lot faster.
His jaw ticked, clearly reluctant to speak to her. “Whoever raised you and taught you the history of magic didn’t do itwell.We can’t risk being seen by humans while you’re in this…state. If anyone discovered you had powers, it would be the falling of both realms. Especially if you currently possess mine.”
Guess the nice guy who allowed her to grieve in silence was long gone.
Alessia gripped the backpack straps on her shoulders and crunched her boots loudly on top of the leaves, making Erebos more upset.Good.She'd annoy him with more questions if he wanted to throw a pity party for himself.
“So, Hell is a place? Like, with fire and everything?”
He huffed. “I’m going to continue calling you Little Mortal because you act like one.Yes, Hell is indeed real.”
“So, that makes you a sadist? You enjoy torturing people?”
