Red Blooded

“He is not in attendance.”

“How do I know he hasn’t been harmed?” I asked. “Am I supposed to take your word for it?”

Instead of giving an answer they prodded me down the steps.

We began to descend the massive stairway. As I placed a foot on the first step, a low hum began and every demon in the place turned to stare at me in unison.

As I continued down, I noticed the demons were split into hierarchies.

The back jumpsuited janitors sat in the back. They must be the working-class demons. In the middle were demons clad in black and silver. They looked a bit more professional. Maybe white-collar demons? They wore the same outfit as the guards, but I didn’t think they were all guards. It was a long way down, but once I was closer, I spotted what must be the upper-class demons. They all wore three-piece suits, hair slicked back, hands clasped in front, just like their big bossman.

The only surprise sat in the very front row. I landed at the bottom to find six demonesses in formal, high-backed chairs facing the court.

And they appeared nothing like Lily.

They were all clearly glamoured, each of them with identical long raven hair and hawkishly precise features, much like the Prince of Hell’s. They were dressed in black dresses with high collars and their eyes tracked me as I was escorted to a standstill in front of the high seats.

Other than the Prince himself, these demonesses were clearly the six biggest threats in the room. Incredible power zinged off each one of them. True demonesses were few and far between, as Lily had said, but I hadn’t realized how powerful they’d feel.

Fuckerdoodles. We can’t kill all these demonesses with the power we have. It’s no match for all these threats. We need to—

The Prince of Hell cleared his throat for a long moment before he spoke. “You will address the court’s questions in a clear, concise manner. Once we finish our questions, we shall decide your fate and you will accept our rulings. The High Court’s decisions are always final.”

I glanced around, making sure everyone took note of me before I spoke, which wasn’t a problem since every eye in the place was on me. “So where is my defense lawyer?” I mocked, searching the room. “Or someone who is assigned to plead my case? If this is a fair trial, by supernatural High Law, I want representation.”

“There are no lawyers in Hell,” the Prince answered, a toothy grin spreading across his pointy features. “Demons know if you tell the truth. You will answer our questions and your guilt will be determined as such.”

“As such—you mean by you? Let me guess. You’re going to ask me if I killed an imp, and I’m going to say yes. But you’re not going to ask me why.” I made eye contact with each of the Demon Lords as the crowd behind me began to murmur. “You’re not going to ask me if the imp committed a crime, or if my killing it was in defense against bodily injury or not. This is not set up to be a fair trial—if it were, you’d know that a unbiased supernatural High Law judge should be in attendance, not you, and I should not be tried by my extremely biased accuser.” I had no idea if that was true or not, but I guessed that none of the demons here knew either.

The Prince of Hell half rose from his chair, scowling, and placed his palms on the wooden platform in front of him, his skinny fingers splaying and curling out in front of him. Not a single piece of his hair moved. “We are in the Underworld. Your crimes are against us, and us alone. You will answer on our terms.” His pupils jumped. I was pissing him off and getting under his reptilian skin, as usual. I smiled. “There is no more debate.”

“Yes, I’m currently in the Underworld”—I took a step forward—“but I’m not a demon, correct?”

“No, indeed you are not.”

“Then why should demon law apply to me?” I turned to gauge the crowd. “No one would ask a demon to answer to shifter laws.” I raised my eyebrows, glancing directly into the rows behind me. “Or witch laws.” There was an increase in the whispering. “If I did break a supernatural law, I should be judged by those laws, not demon laws—because, as you just told the court, I’m no demon. As a supernatural, I am allowed to defend myself against bodily harm, as well as protect humans if we fear our secret will be exposed. Your imps were out of line. One attacked a human child in view of other humans, the other attacked me unprovoked—”

“Silence!” The Prince’s voice carried to every corner of the huge auditorium. “The imps matter not! They are but a small piece of your infractions against us. You killed our cherished pets and you took the life of a goddess who was under our protection. You will answer for those wrongs here and now!”

“I did you a favor,” I countered. “Admit it. You wanted Selene’s soul and her servitude and you didn’t want to wait an eternity to get it. And she’s the one who traded her soul for your beasts. If anyone should pay, it should be her. She allowed those beasts to roam alone in the human realm.” Audible gasps came from the crowd. “They attacked us on her command far from her home. I challenge any supernatural not to defend itself against a deadly threat. Nothing you’re accusing me of would hold up in any supernatural court except this one.”

The Prince balled his fist as he gathered his power. With supreme effort he pulled himself together. His hand wandered to his tie to readjust the perfect knot at his throat.

Behind me the demonesses grew agitated. They rocked in their chairs as their combined power whipped along my body, pricking me with its pressure. I hazarded a glance in their direction, and one of them made eye contact with me.

Did that demoness just wink at us? I asked my wolf. That can’t be right. But before I could either confirm or deny any wink, the demoness peered forward, hands clasped demurely in her lap.

The Prince’s voice was just short of a bellow. “Bring her out!”

My head snapped to the right as a struggle broke out in the corner, but I couldn’t see anything yet because the giant wood panels were in the way.

“Get your filthy hands off of me!” a voice shrieked.

Oh, good gods, I cried to my wolf. I had hoped Selene was dead due to her own stupidity. I’d imagined her contesting and fighting every order the demons gave her until they finally gave up. Maybe this is not such a bad thing. Let’s use it to our advantage. I don’t think these demons understand the saying, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” but they’re about to find out. Once Selene saw me there were going to be dramatics of the highest degree. She was going to tear this place apart with her fury alone.