Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
This wouldn’t be an issue if Lucifer kept his ass on the fucking throne. I want to blame him entirely but the circumstances seem unfair. He was sent to rule as a punishment and was never qualified for the job, so to speak.
Eamon crosses his arms and shifts his gaze to me. I look up after feeling him looking at me for a long moment.
“What?” I ask.
“You’re acting rather reckless, I must say.”
“Maybe, or maybe I’ve been not reckless enough and if I embraced my full power, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“I might have stepped into a completely different situation that I anticipated,” he starts. “But this isn’t something I haven’t seen before.”
“You’ve met another nephilim who married a vampire who was then cursed with humanity by a necromancer which enabled him to knock me up so now we have a half nephilim-half human baby that demons want to use to rule Hell but also my husband volunteered as tribute and is a Horse man of the fucking Apocalypse who’s basically out on a field trip right now with a to be determined end time?”
“Okay, fine. The similar situations I’ve seen haven’t been this…dramatic, however, they do have one thing in common.”
“And what’s that?”
“Power. Don’t forget I’ve seen that fire crown around your head but more importantly, I’ve seen how much you like wearing it.”
I shake my head, trying to convince myself more than him I don’t like it that much.
“But that’s not your issue.” Eamon pushes his hair back, tipping his head as he looks at me. “One way or another, you will the Queen of Darkness. The question is, who will be the King?”
Chapter
Fifteen
“Lucas, of course,” I answer without missing a beat. “I don’t want anyone else.”
“It’s not about who you want,” Eamon goes on. “Not when it comes to a perfectly matched pair to rule.”
“Lucas matches me well.”
“Here on earth, yes.” Eamon leans back, studying me. “I’ve been here on this planet for two thousand years and I can tell you one thing has remained the same in all that time.”
“And what is that?”
“The nature of a vampire. We are selfish and self serving creatures. We like power of course, but not if it comes with a cost. We want instant gratification and never want to pay for anything we desire.”
“Yeah, I know how narcissistic vampires can be. What is your point?”
“My point is that a vampire doesn’t want to live in Hell or the Underworld. To quote my favorite Disney princess, we want to be where the people are.”
“Ariel is your favorite—that’s besides the point.”
“Why are you surprised? There is something hot about a redheaded mermaid. But to put this simply: a vampire cannot survive in hell. Blood of the possessed goes foul and we need humans in order to survive. If you become the Queen of Hell, you’d eventually become very lonely.”
“Is this your way of trying to talk me out things?”
“Yes and no. You would make a great ruler. You have the power, power greater than any I’ve ever witnessed. The fire crown suits you and idiotic confidence that will get others to follow. I think you would make a wonderful and fitting Queen. But as someone who’s starting to feel a fondness to you, I will say I don’t know if your fragile human emotions could handle it.”
I slowly inhale. Eamon is starting to grow on me. “You’re right,” I admit. “I don’t know if I could either. Physically and magically—hell fucking yeah. But if I go down…alone…I don’t want to finish that thought. Because the few times I’ve entertained what life would be like if someone—anyone—sat on the throne, I assumed it would be a come and go situation.
But that’s not how Hell works, and we really need to figure out how to make the Gates be an entrance only kind of thing so monsters and demons stop escaping.
“Why are you helping us?” I ask rather suddenly. “You were threatening to kill me not that long ago.”
“I was. But I can’t wage war on the humans if demons have killed them all.”
“That is a good point. So you want to help me save the world so you can then destroy it?”
“When you put it like that it sounds a little silly.”
I turn, looking at Eamon curiously. “What is your end game? Like, how exactly did you see this going? You defeat the humans and then what? You keep them like cattle?”
“That doesn’t sound horrible, but no. As much as I don’t want to admit it, we need humans. The same way the planet needs bugs.”
“Wow. You know…not all humans are bad.”
“I actually agree with you. But they are inferior. Aren’t you tired of being persecuted? Don’t you want your daughter—”
“Like I said before, do not use Juliet to get me to fight in a war that doesn’t have to be waged. Raged? Whichever is right. It’s unnecessary.”