Page 1 of Once Upon a Demon's Heart
Chapter One
ALIRA
“With gilded blood,pray upon a demon’s heart, for it very well might save you.”
The orphanage house mother always told us ludicrous stories of lore. Of dragons, wisps, and forest spirits in the Eastern lands. But the one about wishing on a demon’s heart always stuck with me the most.
Half-gods bleed gold, that’s a given. We are taught this from the time we could talk, but what I couldn’t figure out, was why a demigod would even be close enough to a demon to pray to it. I’d never even seen one before. For all I knew, they were as mythical as the wisps and unicorns in her stories.
I would lay in my cold cot at night and stare at the ceiling, wondering, daydreaming of these creatures she spoke of. Letting my mind run wild with what any of it really meant.
Unfortunately, those bubbly thoughts and ideas of what the world could be beyond Alzhor were muddled for me from a young age. My first brush with a demon ended smeared in death.
Because, you see, the demons and demigods have never gotten along. Not before the war, and certainly not now. So why would a wish upon a demon’s heart save you?
I’ve wished on every evil heart I’ve plundered for this war to end.
I’ve prayed to Jupiter, the King of Gods, and all the deities above but nothing can save us now. Not after all the blood we’ve spilled. Mortal and demon alike.
The demigods are on the brink of extinction. We’ve pushed the demons too far this time, and now, only a marriage in peace between the two species will bring an end to this senseless war—A deal suggested by the Demon King of course, whom I assume will be choosing one of his high lords or dukes as a suitable groom.
I was a little surprised that the demons would be the first to offer a peace agreement. Given that they’re malicious and wicked, down to their core. Every demigod knows this. The house mother told us to never,ever, under any circumstances, trust a demon.
The wicked creatures were sent to Faultore by Pluto, God of the Underworld, himself. Perhaps it’s because the gods despise their grim brother, that their offspring naturally fight with Pluto’s creations. At least, that’s one of the assumptions.
It wasn’t shocking to any of us that King Borlin, Ruler of Alzhor’s demigods, announced that he wasn’t willing to lower to his knees without a fight. He would have thirty years of war at the expense of what remained of the demigods over an arranged marriage to one of his daughters.
I couldn’t imagine being one of the princesses and having to marry a demon duke. None of us wanted to let our freedom and dignity go that easily.
I’ve learned that nothing is effortless. Everything has a cost, magic or not.
In my unfortunate case, it would seem that magic, fate, or a horrid curse is in play.
You see, the prospect of an arranged marriage compared to the slaughter I’ve endured repeatedly would be like walking through a flower garden.
How many times have I died athishand?
I lay my hands together over my jewel encrusted sword, blood dripping from my brow, and kneeling on the disrupted gravel of my burning kingdom once more.
The thought of watching the royal family's heads being severed before my eyes again makes my stomach churn.
I lift my chin to the near seven-foot-tall knight before me. His ivory armor is bathed in the light of the crimson moon. He lowers his sword to my throat. Ittinksagainst the neck guard—something he does every time without fail before ending me. It has become a bell of death to my ears.
The Blood Knight has killed me in twenty-time loops—a cruel curse that I’ve found myself trapped in.
For some reason, my life keeps resetting to exactly one week before his raid on my kingdom.No, a wish on a demon’s heart doesn’t save you,I wish I could scold the house mother. I’ve wished for every death after the third loop to be my last. And yet, I continue to wake and face the fall of my kingdom like clockwork.
A punishment worse than death. One I rightfully deserve.
The Blood Knight is a merciless demon. I cannot defeat him no matter what I try. No techniques I spent countless hours learning. No high-end swords that I had made from the bones of dragons and the blood of unicorns.
Absolutely nothing.
He comes on the night of the war god’s moon without fail—at the exact moment the sun dips beneath the mountains behind Alzhor’s walls.
Without hesitation or a drop of pity, the Blood Knight always finds me and kills me. Four times it was my head being severedfrom my body, six times he pierced my heart with his sword, twice he snapped my neck like it was nothing more than a stick.
But in each loop, his gold-stained armor was the last thing I saw before dying.
