Page 39 of Demon Queen
“And you know that because you called them. You are weird. Do you know how to stay on one side for longer than five minutes?”
He cocked his head, a curious smile on his lips. “It’s just that you were so adorable. Perhaps it was your natural compulsion coming out. How could I fight against that?”
“Yeah, sounds really hard. Oh. I, um, sort of ate a demon. Am I going to turn into one of those slug-wart-spike things?”
He tutted. “A demon a day for a thousand years, and you can start to worry. One or two should be fine. It’s a pity because they gave up mobility for their greater compulsion powers. They were actually quite pathetic once the Zombie Queen gave me the power over their compulsion.”
“They just laid there while you slaughtered them?”
“The oldest one, your mother, was twenty feet long and almost as wide. She tried to kill me when I was cutting you out, but she was already mostly dead. It was very messy though.”
“Thanks. It’s nice to know that my birth mother didn’t want to kill me.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Actually, you’re the kind of child that she would have killed once she saw you. You’re a threat, you see.”
I blinked at him while my heart dropped into my stomach. “You couldn’t just let me think that my mother loved me? Really? I’m going to need a serious therapist after all of this is over.”
He sighed heavily, pink eyes glinting. “Tell me about it. If you find a good therapist, let me know, because I am seriously emotionally scarred.”
“You should be. You go around slaughtering people’s mothers.”
“Mothers that would have killed you.”
“And kidnap people’s babies.”
“Babies that you were absolutely not equipped to raise.”
I scowled at him. “I beg your pardon? You don’t think I would be competent at raising my own child? If I’m an angel, why couldn’t I raise a demon?”
“You’re the wrong kind of angel. I told you that.”
“Because I’m a preemie?”
“Because you’re an original, like the Zombie Queen. Your kind are killed quickly by all the other originals. Do you know who the last original was? The Grand Master, and you see how that went.”
I shrugged and slumped down. “You sound like you’re making your last confession.”
“Well, I hope so. If the Grand Master doesn’t kill me, the Zombie Queen certainly will make me wish he had.”
“Because you didn’t kill me?”
“Because I didn’t kill you.”
“But you were supposed to keep the baby alive.”
“Yes. And I did.”
I stared at him for a long time. “Where is he?” This is what I really wanted to know, what I’d give my whole soul to know.
He sniffed and for one agonizing moment I knew that he’d never tell me. “Drigo has him. One very notable thing about that particular demon is his hatred for angels. Hm. Do you smell that? Demon. Lots of demon. He must be here to break you out of the dungeon. Your love is so adorable. Your Wilkie was allowed to be taken by Drigo so that he could report to the queen. You see, your son thinks that she has you. She likes to play with love like that. Aren’t you glad I kept you out of the game? She thinks you’re dead. If she stops thinking you’re dead, you’re dead. Do you understand? Nod three times.”
I nodded twice, frowned and then nodded again. “So, I shouldn’t mention that I’m an angel even though I ate Regis.”
“Exactly. Otherwise, you’ll have to be locked up somewhere like this to stay safe from the Zombie Queen. It could be worse,” he said, frowning down at his manacles before looking up at me with melancholy eyes. “But it could be better.”
“How do I get strong enough to defeat the Zombie Queen?”
“Survive for a few thousand years then defeat her on her own turf, or unite the Vampire King, the Demon King, and the Werewolf King. Oh, and the fairies, although that sounds beyond impossible. It wouldn’t hurt to have alliances with the sorcerers and necromancers as well. Then you could do it in your lifetime. I mean, your human lifetime.”
