Red Blooded (Page 67)

Lili still couldn’t take control of Hell without my magic, combined with the Princess’s powerful heart. Without them, the power of the Underworld would not choose her and she knew it. But, with them, there was indeed a possibility that she could become the One and wreak havoc on us all.

I couldn’t let that happen. And to stop it, the first thing I needed to do was save the Princess—and I’d already figured out a way to do it when Lili had spelled me the first time. I hadn’t lied to the Prince when I’d said I had a plan. Lili had told the demon audience that the Princess wouldn’t die if her heart lived on in the clone’s body. But the Princess didn’t need her heart to bring her back—she just needed a heart. I sprang forward, shouting, “Ray, make sure the Princess’s soul is still in her body! If it’s not, find it!”

“I’m on it,” Ray answered without pause.

I moved so fast I was a blur. All the magic inside me coalesced as I raced forward, tightening and strengthening, making me faster than I’d ever been. Eudoxia had been right. I had craved this, but I’d had no idea I needed it or where to get it. As I moved toward my prey, I finally felt like the supernatural I’d been born to be. My wolf howled in agreement.

As I reached Lili, the magic snapped inside me, blooming into one multicolored sheet in my mind. I pushed it outward to protect me without thought, my wolf urging me on. I took hold of Lili by the throat, bringing her down to the ground swiftly, not even pausing to hear her words. My wolf slid into control and we both knew what had to be done.

In order for the new reign in the Underworld to begin, it had to start with Lili’s death. I was a hundred percent certain. With the new magic churning inside me, I was aware like never before and I wasn’t here to usher her into a new reign, I was here to make sure she died. Something my predecessor hadn’t been able to do for whatever reason. The Prince of Hell hadn’t sat on the Coalition for a reason, and I’d realized why as I’d watched him stare down at his bride. It wasn’t because the Prince wasn’t strong enough to have his own place as the demon representative.

It was because the Coalition was made up entirely of females.

Demonesses were rare and powerful for a reason. The Princess’s power had been eclipsed by Lili’s for the last thousand years in the Underworld, but only because Lili had been sent here by my predecessor. It was time to fix it and I was the only one who could do it. If this demon princess, the rightful heir to the throne, died, I knew everything that was supposed to happen would be lost.

In order for the Princess to become the new ruler of Hell, and take her rightful place on the Coalition, she had to gain Lili’s power—not the other way around, and once she did, a new reign would truly begin, just as the demon Scriptures predicted.

This was the reason I was here. I knew it with every part of my being. My new magic pulsed with certainty.

“Sorry to put a crimp in your plans, Lili,” I snarled down at her. “But your interpretation of the Scriptures was wrong. The new reign in the Underworld will happen, but only because we are all gathered here at the same time, and you made that happen. Your death will give the rightful heir of Hell power to rule.” My fist plunged into her chest and grabbed ahold of what it needed quickly. I was careful not to let my claws shred it. Lili began muttering a spell, struggling beneath me, but my new magic kept her out like armor.

She gritted her teeth as she fought against me. “This… is not going to work,” she panted. “I will come back. I can’t die.”

“I don’t think so,” I countered. “It’s taken me entirely too long to grasp what’s been going on here—what’s been right in front of my face the entire time. But gaining the power of five has given me the insight already. Something like this must only happen once a millennium. A female shifter is born, a demoness rules the Underworld, the fae rise—and now it will begin again, thanks to you. The Coalition is in rebirth, isn’t it?”

“You know nothing!” Lili shouted, trying to push me away, her fingernails swiping at my face. “I outlasted them all for a reason. It is I—the last one to sit on the Coalition—who will rule. It is my birthright, not yours!”

“Wrong.” I shook my head. “You’re the last, but I believe you were left here for one single reason”—my voice caught as images began to assault me out of nowhere—“you are the catalyst for the next cycle of power, and after I take your heart and give it to the Princess, it will begin—” The pictures flickered through my mind almost too fast to track.

I couldn’t focus on anything but the images. I gaped as I saw Ardat Lili locked in battle with my predecessor, who had been glorious. My breath hitched as I witnessed her strength. She had efficiently cut off Lili’s rise to power with cunning and skill. I had been right. Her hair had been dark like mine, her features softer, her expression harder. She’d lived in a far crueler world than I. Lili was true evil, and she had never been meant to sit on the Coalition. Pictures of Lili killing her sisters one by one flashed through my mind. Their grisly bodies were mutilated and left to rot. Another image made its way to the forefront. Lili locked in an epic battle with her mother. The images continued and I moaned, unable to hold them back.

Lilith knew she would lose the fight against her daughter. In the end, she willingly gave Lili her power, handed it over with glee, because she knew the Coalition would have to accept her daughter once she was gone. They had no choice, there was no witch more powerful.

But this was not what Fate had intended.

Instead Fate had been forced to shift and adapt. The road had curved once Lilith made her decision, and in order to balance the scales, and avert complete disaster, the female Lycan had been granted new skills. She had become adaptable. She took on the role of the Coalition’s Enforcer, and when the time came, and Lili challenged them all, the female Lycan sent her to Hell.

Lili’s long life in the Underworld had culminated in this very point in time.

There was no doubt about it now. The horror of what I’d just witnessed assaulted me on every level. Lili was cruel with the blackest of hearts and I couldn’t take any more. But just as I’d made my decision to end it all and rip her life-force from her body, something tried to push back, staying my hand, urging me to wait.

I fought against it, resisting.

There was no way Lili could remain alive after what I’d seen. She was too dangerous. She would bring evil to my world if she was allowed to live.