Page 29 of Tricky Princess
It only hissed and tried swiping her hand away, but she was so much stronger than most realized. It was hard to see any features in the darkness, but it didn’t matter. The demon faded into shadow and disappeared. “Fuck.”
She was actually surprised it had taken this long for something to attack her. Had Duhne or Florence been shielding her from them? She poked her head out of the alcove to see if anyone had seen the altercation, but the few people she’d seen before seemed to have vanished. Hiding the dagger back in her skirt, she slid into the hall and continued on her way. She kept her book tucked under her arm as her powers continued to churn under her skin. She took a steadying breath. “We are fine, this is fine,” she kept mumbling to herself. There were only two more turns until she would be near the library. She rounded the corner and ran right into someone.
“Fucking Belias,” she hissed.
“Hello, Ellea.”
She felt the color drain from her face and her lip curl. He was all pasty sharp features and boring black clothes. She had been able to avoid him this whole time, only seeing him when spying with Florence at night. But here he was, smirking and standing in front of her. Could she stab him? Was that allowed? What she’d witnessed in her spying seemed to be enough to allow it. He was shady, up to no good, and a horrible lover. The fact that the females put up with him was astounding. They still hadn’t figured out what he was up to exactly, but he was always meeting with someone, speaking in code, and arranging for things to happen.
He reached for her, and she stepped back. “You have been very hard to get a hold of.”
So he had been trying. What a creep. Two guards wearing Duhne’s emblem turned around a corner in the distance, and the sight of them settled her a little.
“Take a hint, Bel, and stay out of my way.” She said it loud enough that the guards lengthened their strides, heading straight for them.
The ass-hat eyed the two men, then gave her a shallow bow. “Until next time.”
She walked away without another look. The guards eyed her as she got closer. “I’m fine and I’m going to the library.” She figured they would relay the message to Duhne or someone who didn’t want to attack her and continued on her way.
But when she turned the last corner, she saw the twins standing outside the library doors.
“Fucking shit balls.” She escaped through the nearest door. She wasn’t frightened of them, but she was in no mood for heirs and their games. They had cornered her once before and offered to give her a tour of their side of the castle, even inviting her to dinner. Duhne had swept in and said something obscene that had Cara hissing like a cat before he led her away.
Taking in her current surroundings of simple marble walls and floors, no decor, and basic lighting, she realized these were servants quarters. She could probably make her way back to her suite without being seen. Or she hoped.
She was lost. There was no way her suite was this low in the castle. None of the windows she peeked out looked like the same scenery she saw from her room. The few demons she passed hadn’t helped either; any time she thought about asking for help, they would scurry off through the walls, doors she hadn’t seen, or puff into shadows and smoke. She could go back the way she came, but she was too stubborn to turn back now. If only she could step into the shadows like Ros and Azzy. She stopped in the middle of the hall with her hands on her hips and glared at the ceiling.
“Of all the things you could give me, you couldn’t let me portal.”
She wasn’t sure who she was talking to, but she needed to blame someone for her situation. But maybe someone was listening; she heard a shout a few doors down. Could it be a savior?
She went straight to the door and yanked it open without a thought to worry about what was on the other side. What she found wasn’t something she’d expected.
Three demons sat around a small worn table, each with cards in their hands. Two of them had claws, but there was a set of humanoid hands. Drinks, coins, and trinkets were scattered around the table. The two demons snarled at the sight of her standing in the doorway, but the human-looking demon stood and bowed. He wore gold armor with Azzy’s emblem on his chest. She was both relieved and frustrated to see him; he would probably take her right back to her room and tell Azzy that she’d been found wandering the halls unattended. But they looked like they were having fun, and she wanted in. She’d only ever played cards with her nana and uncle. The thought sent a small wave of sadness through her, so to stamp it out, she stepped into the room and shut the door.
“Princess—”
Ellea raised her hand, stopping him. “I want in.”
The demon looked amused and intrigued by new blood. She could have some fun and possibly get answers from a different sort of castle dweller.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
One of the demons said something she didn’t understand, and the guard shot it a look. She didn’t want to be dragged back to her room, and she wanted to interact with demons outside of the three she saw regularly. “I said”—she stepped further into the room and grabbed a grungy chair that was against the wall—“I want in, and I would like a drink.”
The guard grumbled under his breath before pointing to the two demons. “I’m Mythis, that is Midgy, and the ugly one is Kas.”
12
Rosier
ELEVEN DAYS WITHOUT ELLEA
Rosier knew two things as he chopped the head off of a crazed Wolven.
One, that everything up until this point had been too easy.
And two, he hated the Gods for putting a purgatory full of evil beasts in the way of saving his girlfriend.
