Page 56 of Shadow & Stars
“Did you enjoy that?” the king asked the winged fucker.
It made a strange sound somewhere between a purr and a pigeon’s coo.
With no towers—because of the lack of magic—demons were free to do whatever they wanted.
Yippee.
Front doors and windows opened, the sounds of panic kicking in around the neighborhood.
Oh, God. This king and his pet were about to?—
A man ran out of the house the winged demon was perched on, and called for his family to follow. Four kids and a woman followed in their dressing gowns.
The king laughed as his pet jumped from the roof, snaring the woman in its beak. It swallowed her whole as her family screamed in terror.
I sprang into action, trying to help. Forgetting my useless self.
Fuck!
“Run!” I yelled. “Get out of here!”
But the family huddled together helplessly. Easy prey.
The demon ate them all within half a minute, leaping back onto its perch to coo at the demon king.
I retched, shaking. “Oh my God.” My headache returned, slamming my skull with a sledgehammer.
No one else came out of their homes.
“Call the ADU!” I bellowed.
Please let someone be doing it already.
The king pointed at me. “You are an easy witch to sniff out. My darling here found you in no time.”
I wiped rain from my eyes, the downpour intensifying. “What are you doing here?”
“Why do you care? You are useless now.”
“But you cared enough for your dog to sniff me out.”
That didn’t please the prick. “My darling is no dog. She is magnificent. I am here to watch you, to see what you do next.”
If only I had the means to remove those nosy eyeballs from his smug face. “And Ismael is okay with it?”
He snarled. “He does not rule me. I am king. I will always be king.”
Dissention in the ranks already. Nice. I mean, with all those monarchs believing in their right to rule, there was bound to be problems. Lots of egos, power struggles, all that crap.
Fingers crossed it caused absolute chaos.
The king lifted his arms. “This is only the beginning, Roman. My darling will feast, and I will sweep across these lands. Humanity’s days are over. You cannot stand against the might of the demons now. Arcana is long dead, and witches no longer have the power to suppress us. Say goodbye to all you have ever known.” His arrogant laugh poked the bear that was my fury.
Damn this not being able to climb up there and kick his head in.
ADU sirens came to life nearby, cutting off the chuckling.
The king looked to the right as the blue lights of the ADU vehicles flashed.
