She stumbled back from me, then turned to hurry to the kitchen.
Shit. Was that what my id was like under all my repression? Did I have an evil side?
When I turned back to Orion, he was studying me closely. “Mortana, you really haven’t changed at all.”
I leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, “I like being back.”
He raised his wine to me in a toast. “To the most malignant, evil demon to ever grace this city.”
Every time I looked around, I realized people were craning their necks, trying to listen in.
I sighed, looking out across the Acheron River to the south bank. “The Elysian Fields. I do remember them fondly. Is it true that during your Infernal Rite, you slaughtered fifty demons?”
He twirled the stem of his wineglass between his fingertips, and the crimson liquid glinted in the sunlight. “Well, I don’t like to brag—”
“Liar.”
Amusement curled his lips. “Fine. I love to brag. Yes, I killed fifty demons. And yes, I think the others find me terrifying.”
Did the king find him terrifying, too?
I sighed, trying to get into my role. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen King Nergal.”
“Don’t worry.” He flashed me a dazzling smile. “You will see his head soon. But now you have unwavering loyalty to the new king, don’t you? You know how it is here. Vae Victis.”
Woe to the vanquished. Expect brutal treatment at the hands of the victors. Another reminder that I couldn’t fall into enemy hands here.
I lifted my wineglass, smiling, and repeated, “Vae Victis.”
Chapter 16
When we finished eating, the tour continued—one ward after another of honey-colored stone. The walls wrapped around the city’s borders, punctuated by towers that looked out over Osborne.
I was thrilled I’d had the foresight to choose the most comfortable boots, because we walked for miles—through the Belphagor Ward with its Hall of Guilds, and the old Parliament by the river. We saw the haunted prisons in the Sathanas Ward, and the gallows outside where executions took place. A three-headed guard dog snarled at us outside its iron gates. It must have been the magic of the place, but the city was far more enormous than it appeared from the outside.
I noticed that the fashion looked slightly different in each ward. In the Luciferian Ward, there had been a lot of silk dresses and large belts with plunging necklines. In Sathanas, I saw bustiers and men in suits with thin ties.
But the Asmodean Ward was something altogether different. Here, canals flowed through the city instead of roads, and deserted boats floated in turquoise water. The streets were narrow and deserted, occasionally opening up onto squares with faded grandeur. Classical buildings were adorned with columns and tall windows, and the faded stone looked like it had once been painted bright colors. Many of the fa?ades were crumbling, the windows boarded up. An empty fountain stood in the center, carved with statues whose faces had been smashed.
My heart clenched. Sadness permeated the air here like a dark miasma. I felt the loss of this place viscerally.
Across from us stood a palatial building with arched, mullioned windows. A canal flowed on one side of it. Workers were rushing in and out, carrying furniture inside and replacing broken windowpanes.
Orion pointed to it. “There. That’s your home for now. No one has lived in the Asmodean Ward in centuries, but they’re making sure it’s fit for Mortana.”
I turned to look behind me, unnerved to find that three female demons had followed us into the abandoned ward. There was nothing for them here—no restaurants, no shops. No one lived here. They were simply watching us, and they didn’t seem to care about being subtle.
A tall, brunette demon with sapphire eyes and black horns was glaring at me, arms folded. The look in her eyes was pure wrath, sending shivers through my bones. In her leather shorts and corset, she looked as sexy as she was terrifying. Two blondes flanked the horned one, all of them statuesque. But the most interesting thing about this trio was that the horned one had tattoos of flames on her arms. Did she have fire magic?
I needed to know how common flames were among demons.
Moving closer to Orion, I wrapped my arms around his neck, and I shot a smug smile at the trio. In response, Orion wrapped his hands around my waist. His intense magic sizzled over my body, heating me.
I reached up and pulled his head down closer to my mouth. “Orion,” I whispered, “I can see that people want to kill me already. I need to know what their powers are like.”