Queen of the Underworld | Book 3

• fifty •

Everyone looked like they dodnt belong. They were too otherworldly, too good looking to be in the human world.

I wondered if I looked the same way to others. In a simple skirt and up-do, I probably looked like flaming garbage compared to them. And I was sure the flour I had on my features while cooking didn't help either.

Leah smiled kindly as I handed her the pan.

I shook my head as I moved to the cupboard. "I'll just stick to granola."

When my eyes looked at the top cupboard where it sat, I sighed. "Why is everyone in this house taller than me?"

I stood on my toes to reach for it when someone beat me to it.

I froze when I recognized the hand it belonged to.

He handed me the box of granola. His eyes didn't leave mine. "Good morning, Alteaza."

A chair scraped loudly across the tile and when I looked at the dining room, Julian was walking toward me. He grabbed an empty bowl and took my hand taking me back with him to the dining table. Without a word, he pulled out the chair furthest away from Asmo and motioned me to sit. He himself sat in the chair between me and Asmo.

The silence that followed was deafening. Anyone that didn't know the history of the group would still be able to feel the hostility on both sides of the room. It seemed like it was Asmo against everyone else.

I shifted in my chair uncomfortably.

Leah cleared her throat. "Would you like breakfast? I don't know what you like but we have eggs, pancakes--"

Asmo didn't change his deadpan expression. He looked incredibly bored. "I prefer the souls of children."

After a moment, Leah chuckled nervously. "Fresh out of that, sorry."

I frowned. Asmo was giving everyone exactly what they wanted.

A villain.

"We don't have time for breakfast," Asmo said instead. He looked at everyone. "Every minute we spend horsing around in the human world, the girl can plan against us." He scoffed. "Instead of making pancakes and-" he looked at Damien, "seducing girls to your bed, we should be fighting our way into the Keep and getting back the throne."

I placed the spoon on the table before I could even take my first bite. I suddenly lost my appetite.

"Well then, spy, give us your information." Julian looked at Asmo with pure hate. "What did Emylin's misery buy us?"

Asmo's lip curled. He was fighting to keep his composure.

I spoke up. "She's part demon." I frowned. "I was able to read her for a bit. See her soul, her essence. She's unhinged, for sure. Maybe it's because those demons are tearing her apart from the inside."

I swallowed looking at each of them. "They're winning. She's losing her Silvertongue ability." I looked at Asmo. "Which is a fae power."

They stayed silent.

"At the party we went to," I continued. "It was with the Nether Circles. She asked them to join her. She bribed them with money. She wouldn't have to do that if she could control them as a Silvertongue."

Asmo crossed his arms. "While we were there she had new guards."

At the mention of us together at the party, Julian tensed. His hand turned into a fist on his knee under the table.