Discovery of a Queen: Chapter 6

Malick. But he…My mother, she…My mind is reeling. Malick was the archdemon my mother fought the night she died. She killed him. I had been so sure she killed him. All the reports of the battle state that he fell. Confusion wars with rage as I take a moment to attempt to reconcile what I’ve known for hundreds of years with what I’ve just learned.

“I see my brothers failed in their mission to kill all the queens.” Malick laughs, slowly clapping his hands as though he’s been given a precious gift. I still can’t see him, but I can sense him moving closer. My body starts to shake as I suppress the urge to find Malick and take him out. But I know better, I can feel the demons edging closer to our position, which means that Malick is coming to me. Caleb shifts to stand in front of me protectively. The demons begin materializing in front of us, slowly forming a loose circle around the crater we’re standing in. We are so fucked.

The wall of demons in front of us parts, allowing a stunningly handsome man, almost as tall as Caleb, through. Archdemons, unlike lower-level demons, can change much like a shifter can, between human and demon forms. Lower-level demons can only ever appear demonic with pitch-black skin, shining red eyes, and horns of various lengths, sizes, colors, and shapes atop their heads. Archdemons have all that and wings in their demonic form. Malick has changed in the four hundred years I thought he was dead. While his human form is still stunning to look at, he’s allowed his hair to grow out and he has it pulled back at the nape of his neck. He’s also rocking a five o’clock shadow where he had a full-on beard before. But just as he was four hundred years ago, he’s dressed to impress, clearly flaunting whatever wealth he’s accumulated.

He shouldn’t know who I am, just what. My mother made certain that my sisters and I were hidden, even as children, from the likes of him. I don’t know why it was so important that the three of us remained concealed, but it was. Not even our community knew we existed. We had each been given a visual memory of Malick from our mother. I need to play this delicately. I place a hand gently on Caleb’s back. He stiffens but lets me step up next to him.

“Stunning, isn’t she?” Malick’s tone is laced with heat as he runs his gaze over my body. I shiver and fight the urge to vomit. The demons around him jeer. Caleb plasters himself against the back of my body, wrapping his hands around to rest on my stomach, molding me to him. “And she has a pet! How charming.” His cheery degrading tone has me bristling. Caleb’s thumb gently strokes my stomach, stopping me from saying anything stupid.

“Now, if you would be so kind as to step away from my queen.” Malick flicks his hand and Caleb is ripped from my body, causing me to stumble back. He’s thrown into the throng of surrounding demons and they don’t hesitate to start attacking. Caleb quickly disappears in the mass of demons. “That’s much better.” Malick materializes in front of me, his eyes still glowing with heat as he once again runs his gaze along my body. Little red flags are popping up in my mind, but I’m not sure what’s wrong aside from the raging creeper vibes he’s throwing out.

“You’re going to regret that,” I singsong.

“Am I, little queen?” A grin slowly spreads across Malick’s face, reminding me of the Cheshire cat from . I’ve always hated that damn movie. Not to mention that creepy-ass cat.

“You don’t rip an alpha male from his mate.” I tsk. “I thought even demons knew that much.” I make sure that my voice is now cheerily degrading. If he wants to play the game, I’m going to win, hands down. I’m a damn attorney, and when I need to, I can absolutely make anything I want sound like I’m a condescending bitch—in the politest way possible of course.

“Ah, but he isn’t actually your mate, now is he?” Malick’s tone has changed from amused to threatening. His eyes start to darken with fury. Why the hell does he care? It’s creepy as fuck.

“He is my mate.” In a flash, Malick has both of my hands in one of his above my head, and I’m pinned to a tree on the edge of the crater. His other hand tightly grips my face as he leans his head in close. I can feel his breath fan across my face, and I wrinkle my nose at the feeling. I don’t fight his hold on me, choosing to wait this out as long as possible while Caleb fights off the group of demons he was thrown into. He’s an alpha male dragon, there’s no way he won’t thin the herd as quickly as possible. If Malick honestly thought that throwing him to those lower-level demons would kill him, he’s a bit rusty in dealing with dragons. His hand tightens on my face slightly and my gaze focuses on his.

“That’s where you’re wrong, little queen. You don’t have your mate mark, and you don’t carry his scent.” He runs his nose along my neck and breathes deeply. “You’re ripe for the picking.”

I feel as though I’ve been dumped in ice water. Every cell in my body is screaming for me to break away from him and fight, but I need to give Caleb time to thin Malick’s herd, and I have every confidence that’s exactly what he’s doing. I can’t have Malick calling in for backup. I struggle against his hold and realize it won’t be as easy as I thought to break free when I need to. Shit.

“Regardless” —I try for haughty— “I am far from queen.” I spit the words out in disgust, letting him know just how rancid the thought truly is. Malick throws his head back and laughs, allowing himself to shift from his human form to his demon form. He’s almost ten feet tall in his demon form and doesn’t need to lift his arms to continue holding mine above my head. It looks as though pieces of armor have melded to his skin at his shoulders, pecs, forearms, and hands. He’s wearing skintight leather pants and armored boots. His hair is now free, tumbling down to his hips. Blood-red horns start at his temples and curl up and around the side of his head twice, with sharp points ending close to his ears.

“Little queen, do you even know the reason your kind was hunted to extinction?” He crouches down to bring his face closer to mine again. “Because I can promise you whatever excuse you’ve been given is a lie.”

Now it’s my turn to laugh. “That’s nice. I’m sure you tell all the queens that.” I use my best sarcastic tone, rolling my eyes for effect. My eyes then flick beyond him, straining to see how Caleb is fairing against the other demons, but I can’t see him yet, so now isn’t the time to strike. I keep trying to reach for my dragon, but she’s been pushed so far inside of me I can’t even catch a faint whisper of her. I’m not sure when the barrier’s magic will subside. I’m grateful I can still feel my magic coursing through my veins. Technically my magic and my dragon are two entirely separate entities, making situations like this more manageable. Malick runs a finger down my face, a claw gently scraping against my skin. I bite back my anger and disgust to stare him dead in the eye.

“My brothers killed your sister queens because they didn’t want me to get my hands on one. And you’ve just delivered yourself on a silver platter! How delightful.” He sounds like a kid in a candy store. His eyes sparkle with a sick glee that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. His brothers killed all the queens off because of ? That goes against everything I’ve been taught, everything the supernatural community has been led to believe for centuries. Queens were picked off because of their abilities to sense demons and destroy archdemons. They hadn’t liked that the planet was no longer theirs to do with as they pleased, so like the petulant children they are, archdemons sought revenge. Right? There’s no way it could have been solely because of Malick. No, I can’t believe that. But doubt starts to creep into me with vicious teeth that gnaw at my mind. There’s more to all of this.

“Why the hell do you want a queen?” While I need to keep him talking, I also need to get more information out of him. If he is truly the reason the other archdemons killed off queens, I need to know why. Knowing that they would go to such lengths because one of their own wanted to get his hands on a queen makes Malick far more dangerous than I’d ever thought possible. Why hadn’t they just turned on him? I realize queens were throwing off their groove, but to specifically seek out and kill all living queens because of one archdemon seems, well, excessive. There has to be more going on, and since I’m the only queen currently not in a magically induced coma or dead, I need to figure out what’s happening. Quickly.

“Tut, tut, little queen. I can’t be spoiling all the fun, now can I?” He is enjoying this far too much. It’s exceptionally annoying. My eyes flick back to the demons behind Malick. I can finally see Caleb has made a fairly large dent in their numbers. I’m up. My hands have been plastered against the rough bark of the tree while Malick talked at me, absorbing as much of the natural energy around me as possible.

Unlike Malick, I don’t need to move any part of my body to use magic. Sometimes it’s better to help me shape the magic into something useful, but I don’t need to do that to get the job done. So I merely smile up at Malick while I rip open the ground beneath him and create vines to grow at my feet and wrap tightly around his wings, pushing him into the pit. He lets go of me as he falls, a grin spreading across his face a moment before he stops falling, his wings snapping the vines. I quickly move back along the edge of the crater as he stalks my every move. He’s fast, but so am I.

“Clever little queen.” He sounds amused. “I like it when they fight back. A little spunk is so exciting.”

He sounds so rapey. Why do they have to sound rapey? Can’t villains ever threaten a woman and not sound like they’re a rapist? I should teach a class: How Not to be a Rapey Villain 101.

I slap my hands together, pulling them apart as I did with Caleb, and form an electric blue whip that crackles with energy. Malick raises an eyebrow as he stalks closer to me. I plant my feet firmly into the ground before lashing out with my whip. It wraps around his neck and he stops, his body stiff, eyes flashing with pain. I allow my magic to flow freely through the whip into Malick, watching as his body jerks with each wave of power that flows through him.

He grits his teeth, grasps onto my whip, and gives it a strong tug, causing me to stagger forward. Quickly regaining my footing, I tug back, sending additional shock waves through the whip. I open up my magic further, sending rocks pummeling into him. He snatches one out of the air and reshapes it into a spear. Awesome. In an instant, I’ve reshaped my whip into a sword. I risk a glance to see how Caleb is fairing, and it appears he’s finishing up with the last of the demons.

Malick is standing right in front of me when my eyes turn back in his direction. My body stiffens in shock before I once again go on the offensive, the years of sword combat training paying off as I hack at him. Fire rings my sword as my magic flows out of me. Malick is able to get a few well-placed jabs past my defenses, and I’m quickly covered in blood and dust.

The sound of Caleb’s pained grunt echoing across the summit has me instantly whirling in his direction. Big mistake. The spear slices through my side with amazing ease, the force sending me jerking forward. My knees collapse under me, slamming into the ground with a sickening and bone-rattling thud, and my sword disappears as my hands smash against the dirt and rocks next.

Fuck me, that hurts.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been stabbed in the torso. My vision goes hazy and my hearing fades out a bit as I battle the shock that’s trying to take control of my system. Caleb’s outraged roar is the only thing I register before I’m dragged up against a hard, searingly hot body.

“I want you to watch him die, little queen,” Malick whispers against my ear. His breath is abnormally hot against my skin, yet another sign he’s a demon. My eyes can’t focus. All my brain is registering is the alarming rate that I’m losing blood. I’m not healing as fast as I should be. What the fuck did he do to that bloody rock?

It must be moments later when my vision clears and I’m able to focus enough through the shock to understand what’s happening. While Caleb had the upper hand when I risked a glance at him earlier, he’s now being held back by two demons. He’s covered in demon blood, his own blood mixed in from multiple injuries. There’s a dagger sticking out of his ribs and his breathing is labored. I instantly start to struggle against Malick, my need to get to him almost blinding. But pain from the spear lodged in my body quickly slows any effort I make to get free.

“So you do have a connection to your little pet. How endearing.” Malick’s voice slithers through my head, making me want to vomit. “Now that you’re awake, we can get on with the show.”

Show? My head is still a little fuzzy. But I know this can’t be good. My eyes connect with Caleb’s and hold. With sick fascination, I watch as the two demons remove the dagger from Caleb’s side. He hisses as they slowly stab him in the abdomen. My body jerks as Malick does the same to me. Caleb starts struggling against the demons, but he’s lost too much blood. So have I.

“I’m going to punish you for telling me this worthless garbage is your mate.” Malick’s fury licks along my skin as he slices between my breasts. I refuse to cry out, instead, keeping my eyes locked on Caleb’s.

I’m frantically trying to think of a way out of this when my dragon comes flooding back, my wounds instantly healing. I can tell Caleb feels this as well as his own wounds start to close.

, my dragon informs me.

My shift to my dragon form floods my system. Malick is ripped from behind me, roaring with fury as I take to the sky. He tries to come after me, but Caleb snaps his mouth around him before he can reach me. My dragon releases a furious roar, turning in the air as our magic gathers in our core. But he’s gone.

Malick is gone.

Where the hell did he go?

My dragon screams her rage to the sky, Caleb’s dragon following suit. I quickly land and shift back to my human form, Caleb landing next to me. All the demons, even the dead ones, are gone.

“Where the hell did that bastard go?” Caleb’s question is laced with the threat of violence as he moves closer to me, inspecting my body for any lasting harm.

“That explains a lot,” I mutter as I look around the summit. Caleb gently grabs my face with his hands, tilting my head toward his.

“What are you talking about?” His tone is a low rumble. His eyes search mine for answers, but I’m still reeling from even the small amount of information I’ve just learned.

“Malick. How he’s still alive.” I’m so lost in my thoughts I don’t realize that Caleb has no idea about my background with the demon. “Must be nice to just pop in and out like that.”

A thunderous growl rolls through Caleb’s chest. “You know him?”

“Not personally, no.” I remove my head from his grasp, causing a snarl to rip from Caleb. His hands take hold of my hips and he drags me to him, his face burying in my neck as he inhales my scent. As shaken as I am, I take a small moment to inhale his scent as well, ensuring that he’s fine and will heal. Once my dragon is appeased, I shift myself away from him slightly. My eyes meet his again and hold.

“He’s the demon who killed my mother.”