Red Blooded

They yanked her out from behind the wall of seats. Her face was covered with some kind of cloth. Once she rounded the end of the gallery she stilled. Her head went up. “You!” she screamed. “You will die for what you did to me!”

The Prince put his hands together. “Goddess, you will remain quiet and answer the questions directed at you. Nod if you understand my directions.”

I noticed for the first time that her hands were bound with some kind of black string. It almost looked like dried tar. I’d been right, she must be a hard-to-handle prisoner. The thought made me smile. I hoped she was getting her ass handed to her a regular intervals.

Selene remained still, unmoving.

“Goddess, you must answer the question or you will be punished. Severely. Do you understand my orders?”

One slow nod came down.

“Good,” the Prince continued. “Then we shall proceed.”

“Wait just a minute,” I sputtered. “If Selene is going to testify against me, I want my brother to testify in my favor. He was a witness to this altercation. You can’t bring in one without the other.”

“We will do no such—”

“We will allow it.” The voice behind me was clear and certain.

All the Demon Lords’ faces took on strained looks and they shifted in their seats. The voice had come from one of the chairs behind me. I turned my head, trying not to show my surprise.

“But, Your Highness, this is unprecedented,” the Prince reasoned. “We cannot allow our laws to be manipulated by this being. If we do so, we are setting a precedent we cannot support.”

Your Highness? Was that his wife?

I gaped because I couldn’t help it. Things had just turned in our favor in about seventeen different ways. Relief flooded through me. If the Prince had a Princess, and Lily on the side, this soap opera had just gotten incredibly interesting.

Now I understood the wink.

This demoness was going to use me to her advantage and I was going to let her. She can use us like an old wet rag for all I care, I told my wolf. All we need to do is pay careful attention. My wolf yipped her agreement, her eyes pinned on the demoness in question.

“You will not argue my ruling,” the demoness stated confidently. She sat in the middle of all the others and definitely held a queenly air. Her English was better than most of demons I’d heard. I the demons I’d encountered had understood me, which meant they must have been forced to learn English at some point. “What this wolf has stated is all correct according to High Law as we know it. She is no demon. And you have brought in”—she gestured toward Selene—“an unusual guest to this trial. Our court has never received a guest, so it is you who has made this unprecedented.” The demoness inclined her head at the Prince in a very small challenge. “We all understand the intent, but I am curious to hear from… another who was witness to the events if we are indeed to decide this wolf’s fate today.”

The Prince ground his sharp teeth together, his glamour flickering.

I was utterly astonished. If the Princess could overrule the Prince, the demonesses must be cherished in a way I didn’t quite understand. The Prince was clearly the ruler in Hell. His signature was more powerful than that of any of the demonesses, including his Princess, yet she held sway over him.

My eyes ran over the all the other demonesses. None of them had moved or spoken. But they would stand with their Princess, I had no doubt. Maybe the Underworld was preparing itself for a little women’s lib? And maybe the Prince didn’t want to agree to try me in front of such a huge demon audience, but had no choice?

“Bring out the male wolf,” the Prince bellowed. “But keep him in his chains.”

In the time it took to retrieve Tyler, I studied Selene. She hadn’t rebelled, but I sensed her power. It was so low it almost didn’t register. That was surprising. They must be muting it somehow. We can’t ignore Selene, even though the Prince seems to be, I told my wolf. She’s been here for at least a year, maybe two, and there’s no way she hasn’t been plotting her revenge. Me being here is too delicious for her to pass up and she’ll strike as soon as she gets a chance.

There was a loud commotion and Tyler was hustled around the side. “What is he tied in?” I demanded. Tyler appeared to be wrapped in a horde of rail-thin snakes. They were moving and hissing.

“Those are our chains,” the Prince said, his distaste over my ignorance very clear. “They are spelled to keep any supe’s powers at bay, and if he rebels, they will bite him. And it will hurt.”

“I’m not in chains.” I held my arms up. “And clearly I’m the biggest threat in the room. So why don’t you be a sport and take them off of my brother.”

“We will not. This wolf has caused too damage already. He will remain in chains for the duration of this court session. Consider yourself lucky he is in here at all.” The Prince ended on a hard edge. He wasn’t going to discuss this further.

I turned toward my brother. Are you okay? I asked Tyler. What happened?

Nothing.

The chains must keep all his abilities constrained. He nodded at me, inclining his head slightly, letting me know he sensed me, but couldn’t respond. He was fine, but looked tired.

“I trust you are satisfied.” The Prince nodded toward the demoness. “The wolf is here and we will continue as planned—”

A shrill scream hit my ears right as Selene broke free of her captors, and then the best three words I’d ever heard rang loud and clear through the auditorium.

“Jessica!” Rourke yelled. “We’re here!”

14

The entire proceedings were thrown into immediate chaos. Selene launched herself at me right as Rourke’s bellow filled the arena. As Selene raced forward, the cloth covering her tore free, revealing her face.

I was too stunned to react for a split second.

She was completely bald. But that wasn’t the worst of it. An ugly network of scars lined her face. Some were deep, others were fresh. Supernaturals did not scar. “See what they’ve done to me! I’m going to make you suffer for this.” She was almost to me when my brother turned and rammed his foot into her side, sending her flying into the bench, causing the Demon Lords to jump up in unison.

She crumpled to the ground and stayed there.

The Prince of Hell was furious at the double intrusion, but his shouts went unheeded as panicked demons started to race everywhere. They flooded down from the seats in a distressed mess, shouting in both Demonish and English.