He withdrew from the kiss, looking at me from under his dark eyelashes. “Rowan Morgenstern, Queen of the City of Thorns.”
I pressed the grimoire to him again. “Bring it home, Orion.”
32
ROWAN
It was a good thing that I’d left Orion when I did, because I was pretty sure Jack was getting close to the boundary—the magical turnpike that kept demons trapped.
I found him by an old stone grist mill. The trees around it burst with crimson, the colors enflamed with scarlet, marigold, and ochre. But since blood covered Jack’s clothes, it was easy to hunt him by scent. And by the time I reached him, he’d run out of energy. Jack was limping along below me, red-faced. Orion’s blood soaked him, and another hot rush of rage burst through me. I landed before him, my wings spread out.
I savored the look of fear seizing Jack’s body as he took me in and stumbled back. “Rowan. Just remember, we were friends once.”
I took a step closer. “Except we were never friends, Jack.”
“You’re not like these demons. I know you, Rowan. We grew up together.” He lifted his hands. “Remember the talent show? You did a magic show! In high school.” A wild laugh escaped him. “It was…it was…it wasn’t even good, Rowan. You fell off the stage. And now you can fly? You can incinerate people? This isn’t the Rowan I knew growing up.”
My lip curled. “Even when you’re begging for your life, you can’t stop yourself from reminding me what an asshole you are. You took a video of me falling off the stage, and you uploaded it to Instagram. Remember that?”
He looked like he was about to cry. “But you’re not like them. That’s my point. You’re just…you know. Rowan. You’re harmless.”
My hand shot out, and I lifted him by the throat, squeezing. “You hurt someone I loved. And it turns out, when that happens, I am very much like a demon. I’m not harmless anymore.”
I dropped him on the ground. He started scrambling to get away from me, and I reached for him again. This time, I let my claws out a little, piercing his skin when I lifted him above me. “I have a few questions for you. First, I want to know where the book is. The one with the Lilu names. When I release you again, I’m going to find a way to make you tell me.”
I dropped him a second time, then slammed my heel into his knee. He screamed, grabbing the broken bone. I had to wait until his cries subsided, and then he managed to choke out, “Burned.”
My teeth clenched. “You burned it?”
I brought my heel down hard into the same knee. His screams ripped through the air.
“We didn’t need it.” He rolled over, looking like was about to be sick. “It’s digitized now.”
Such a banal statement in the midst of all the carnage, but it was useful.
“Where is Shai?” I demanded. “Was she the one who turned me in?”
Even as he was shaking, he managed to smile at me. “She’s not exactly who you think she is. Even now, you don’t have any real friends, Rowan. The demons don’t care about you. I could be your friend if you let me live.”
“Where is she?”
“Back in Osborne.” He cradled his knee, tears running down his face, his features contorted. “You killed my father. You killed my brothers. And now you’re going to end me. This is why we hunt you,” he shouted. “Because you’re monsters!”
I knelt next to him. “You and me both. You nearly tortured Orion to death. What’s Shai doing in Osborne?”
“Orion isn’t who you think he is, either. He’s forever stained by his sins. Did you know he killed his mom?” Streaked with dirt and blood, Jack looked up at me from the ground. “All they had to do was put snakes in his cell, let them slide all over him until he shrieked for mercy, and he sent his mom to her own death.” A wild laugh escaped him. “Your big bad demon was scared of snakes.”
“He was five, you fucking maniac.”
“Only the blood of demons will cleanse the world of all your sins. It’s the sacred duty of the Hunters to spill it.”
I gritted my teeth. “Except you’ll all be dead soon, Jack. We’ll hunt down and wipe out every last one of you. And when that’s done, we’ll have peace between mortals and demons. Too bad you won’t be here to enjoy it.”
Jack was shaking. “You grew up among us, Rowan. What if you joined us again? No one needs to know. Your friends betrayed you. And Orion will, too. Demons aren’t loyal. They only look after themselves, like animals.” He was desperate now, white as milk. “You can’t trust the Lord of Chaos. The man is insane, Rowan. Of course he is. He condemned his own mom, and then he spent the rest of his life staring at the scene of his crime, staring at the noose that killed her. Dwelling on his sins, on how rotten he is underneath, because that’s what demons are. Abominations.” He yelled at me. “And when we carved his chest, we marked him for his sins, we spilled his blood to force him to atone, the way Cain was marked as a murderer!”