Page 1 of Speak No Evil

ChapterOne

JADE

The demon lord’s stare bores into me, icy eyes eerily calm.

Too calm. Like placid water just before the tentacled monster hiding in its cool depths breaches the surface and swallows me whole, Vrahs’s stare only promises violence.

A tiny shiver winds up my spine as his nostrils flare, jaw clenching so tight, his teeth grind.

And then he fucking charges at me.

Vrahs leaps over the kitchen island in a single swift movement, and even now, I can admit he looks damn good doing it. A lock of white-blond hair falls over his eyes as he lands in front of me and spins me to face him. He grips my shoulders hard, and I’m certain he’s about to shake me, but Thorne dashes around to my side, trying to step between us.

Vrahs doesn’t budge.

“Brother, let her go.” But Thorne’s soothing tone doesn’t hit its mark, and Vrahs’s fingers only dig in deeper.

I match his deadly stare, unblinking. Sure, he has a right to be mad. But I won’t cower in front of him. I won’t give him the satisfaction.

A growl builds in his throat and his lips curl into a snarl. “Who sent you?”

The words tighten around my chest—a barbed wire fist squeezing my heart.

Because it’s not a question.

It’s the accusation, trial, and the guilty verdict.

A kangaroo court in his words, his gaze.

“I didn’t do this,” I hiss back.

Admittedly, the order of events doesn’t really paint me in the best light.

From Vrahs’s perspective, I summoned him—a feat previously thought impossible—forced all three demons to abandon their duties to the city to find Em’s killer, stole his power, weakened Ryker and Thorne, and took advantage of their weakened states by staying in the light-tight dungeon where they couldn’t sense imminent danger.

Vrahs’s suspicion is perfectly logical.

And while all those things did happen, and my actions sort of directly led to Blackwood currently being ripped out of nullspace, that wasn’t my goal.

And that’s what matters.

“Who sent you?” he repeats, jerking me backward hard enough my head snaps.

This time, Ryker steps forward and tries, like Thorne had, to put himself between me and Vrahs. Meanwhile, Thorne’s chest vibrates with a low warning growl.

I lift a hand to keep them from stepping in further.

But am I keeping them from saving me because I know I can truly handle myself, or because, despite knowing the truth of the situation, I still think I deserve whatever Vrahs doles out?

Who the fuck knows.

“Who sent you?” His repeated words still clench my chest, and I aim a nice, solid horse kick right at his nuts.

His eyes bulge, anger turning them hard as diamond chips, before he wheezes and releases me. Vrahs doubles over, his face reddening as he grabs his man-berries.

I stare down at him, Ryker and Thorne’s light melodious chuckles next to me hardening the steel of my will.

“She got him good,” Ryker murmurs.

---