His eyes widened, and a wicked smile split his lips. “She’s the one you spoke of?”
“She is.”
I was about a second away from eating him for dinner. I’d never had warlord before…
Thax yanked my wrist, encircling his fingers around my favorite bangle and placed my hand in the towering giant’s palm. I did my best not to roll my eyes as his roving gaze seared over me. After a few long minutes, he released his hold and turned to my cousin.
Drayax wrapped his arm around his shoulder and bent down to whisper something in his ear. Then the pair sauntered off the dancefloor.
Great, he’s probably arranging our marriage as we speak.
I shook off the dismal thought and searched the crowd for my next meal. Nothing lifted my spirits like a tasty soul. Scanning the revelers, I searched auras for a light soul. Dark was good, but light was ten times better. Being in the Underworld, they were hard to come by. Thax had been trying to convince me to take a trip to the human world, but I’d declined each time.
I may not have remembered much from the past few months, but something about taking human souls felt wrong. Perhaps it was because I was half-human. Perhaps it was something else.
“Azara, it’s time to go.” Remy appeared from a cloud of dark smoke. The old seer was a mage, among other things. I guessed when you lived for centuries you picked up new tricks.
I gave him my best pout. “But I haven’t even eaten yet.”
“I’m sure we can find you a snack at home.”
Home. The word provoked a swirl of emotion in my gut. As quickly as it came, it vanished.
“Where’s Thax?” I rose to my tiptoes to scan the crowd.
“He’ll join us later.”
“I’m not tying myself to that warlord meathead, by the way. You can tell my cousin he’s wasting his time.” The guy might have been pretty to look at, but I wasn’t binding myself to some demon to further my cousin’s political aspirations.
“You can discuss that with the dark lord later.”
“Oh, I will.”
Remy’s wrinkly fingers closed around my bicep, and a swirl of dark smoke blossomed around us. My head spun for an instant before everything went black.
Chapter Two
“Lady Azara, are you all right?”
I stopped playing with the bangle around my wrist and glanced up to meet a pair of mismatched irises through the mirror. Lumi dropped the brush she pulled through my tangled hair and swept her own tight curls behind her pointed ears, her penciled-in brow arched.
For the third time this week, I chased away slivers of images, or maybe memories, I couldn’t quite place. As hard as I tried to hold onto them, only a tiny flicker remained—of whatever they were. Something was eluding me, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure it out.
“Lady Azara?”
“Yes, Lumi. I’m fine, just bored. I don’t understand why my cousin insists I remain within the confines of this castle.” I glanced around the barren chamber, stark gray stone walls closing in on me.
Her nervous eyes dipped to the floor. “It’s for your safety, my lady.”
“Then why can’t we go back to Thax’s castle in the Underworld if it’s so unsafe for me in the Nether Lands?”
She shrugged. “The dark lord thought a change of scenery would be best under the current circumstances.” The young servant pointed at her temple and twirled her finger in a circle.
“I’m not crazy, Lumi!” I snapped. I just couldn’t remember anything before a week ago. And occasionally I blacked out. Bits and pieces of what I assumed were memories would streak across my mind and vanish just as quickly. Despite Remi and the healer’s best efforts, my memories were gone.
“I’m sorry, my lady. You’re right. It was wrong of me to tease you.”
I gave her a half-smile through the mirror. Of all the servants in Thax’s castle, she was the only one who treated me like a person, instead of a royal being to adore on a pedestal. I still didn’t understand how I could’ve tolerated that for the last ten years.
If I was being honest, there were a lot of things that didn’t make sense. Thax claimed our castle in the sixth realm had been attacked by SIA agents, and I’d nearly been killed in the chaos. It was all a case of mistaken identity, apparently, and the director of the Supernatural Intelligence Agency had apologized for the gross error. When I awoke, my dear cousin had brought me to this underground fortress to heal, a secret stronghold only his most trusted circle knew existed.
From what I’d overhead from the servants, this was the first time I’d been to the castle and yet, Thax claimed we spent a few months here every year. Then there was the story about my parents. Apparently, I’d gone on a soul-sucking bender in the human world, and they’d dropped me off to live with my grandpa, Lucifer. So how did I end up with my half-cousin? I didn’t have a clear memory of my parents, but something didn’t feel right.
I rubbed my temples as a mild headache began to form behind my eyes.
“It’s back, my lady?” Lumi’s concerned gaze met mine as she dropped the brush on the vanity, giving up on taming my wild locks.
“Yes,” I gritted out. The only thing I remembered clearly were these blasted headaches. Every damn day.
Lumi darted across the room to the bedside table where the healer’s pain potion sat. I was drinking the stuff like water, sometimes two or three times a day. Luckily, it tasted like candy.
Rushing back, she offered me a big spoonful of the pink liquid. I gulped it down, licking my lips. Leaning my head against the chair, I sighed. Within seconds, the building pain was gone. Remi might have been an arrogant old blowhard, but he knew how to pick healers. He boasted she was the best in the land, and if this concoction was any indication, he wasn’t kidding.
“Now that you’re feeling better, I’ll go fetch your dress for this evening’s dinner with the dark lord of the third realm.”
Ugh. Why was Thax in such a hurry to sell me off to the nearest warlord? I must have rolled my eyes because Lumi threw me a scowl. “Lady Azara, out of all the possible mates his lordship could have paired you with, Drayax is certainly the best option. He’s young, handsome and strong, and second in power only to your cousin. Lucifer himself couldn’t have chosen a more suitable mate.”
Lucifer, my grandfather. His name incited a swirl of emotions in my gut, but like everything else they were fleeting and disappeared before I could delve deeper.
“Whatever, Lumi.” I popped up from my chair and dragged my finger across the stone vanity. Impeccable as always but still cold and drab. My personal servant lingered by the door, her gaze boring a hole into the back of my head. “I thought you were getting my dress?” I called out over my shoulder.
“Yes, of course, my lady.” She scampered out of the room with her tail between her legs. Literally. Lumi was a denji demon. She looked almost human except for the sharp pointed ears and long barbed tail.
For the hundredth time since I awoke in this underground fortress, I trudged to the “window” to stare into the muddy soil. Why was it so necessary to hide me dozens of feet under the earth’s surface? None of it made any sense. If only I could remember…