A Kingdom of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 3)

“There was a large shake-up after that last party. A great many guards were killed, many more beaten. Several of our people are healing in their rooms… Besides, the guards who are with me, and those who are in there”—he pointed to the lava—“service the dungeons. He won’t try to call on us until the guests leave.”

He took a deep breath and then continued.

“As of now, I am a dead man walking. Everyone in this room is. If we show up alive, he will either guess we had a hand in this or punish us for not stopping it. Either way, we’d die. Our lives are now in your hands.”

“How did you know she was going tonight?” Hadriel asked. “I put most of those pieces together, but how did you know tonight would be the night?”

Govam’s smile was tight. “I know dragons. I know how they operate. I can anticipate them. Finley is a lot more mysterious than most, but I’ve been watching intently. The only reason she left the golden dragon was to save his kingdom—her kingdom. I knew she’d try to escape. I’d thought she’d hit a standstill because she couldn’t connect with the other shifters. I was trying to come up with a way to force the issue, but then…her friends showed up.” He looked at Hadriel. “And they worked miracles to open the lines of communication. I still wasn’t sure how you could bypass the officers, but I saw the look on your face”—his gaze shifted to me—“when I came to get you earlier. Between that and the vibe of the other dragons, I knew you had to have worked something out. I still didn’t know how—”

“How did you poison all the officers?” Denski said. “And how did you get everyone across this bridge? And how did you activate the faeries’ magic?”

He sounded absolutely mystified.

“It doesn’t matter,” Govam said, his eyes boring into mine. “We can hopefully discuss that when we are in the boat. You need someone to run it, Finley. You need a certain type of demon. I am that type of demon, and so are those behind me.”

“Except for me.” Sonassa raised her hand. “I lead the demons of my kind, who are stationed in a few kingdoms Dolion wishes to bring to ruin. They are trapped there, much like you were trapped, Finley. I want to free them as you are trying to free your people. They are not all in line with my way of thinking, but a great many are. If you take me on, I can give you allies on the inside. We both know I can’t affect you. I have proven this theory. You are safe from me. You know that I am not trying to get close in order to turn you to my plans.”

“Well…you are,” Hadriel said. “You’re just being up front about it.”

Her smile was sultry. “I like you.”

“I know. You said. Before you threatened me. Remember?”

“Not especially. I threaten a lot of people.”

“We have people on the inside, too,” Govam said. He glanced at the lava. “And we just killed several who weren’t in line with our thinking. It’ll thin the numbers a little, at least.”

“So…” I moved my weight from my right foot to my left. “You’re basically asking me, a prisoner, to help you, a guard, escape your own kingdom?”

“And then tear out the current regime and replace it with a more balanced faction of demons, yes,” Govam said.

I just stared for a long moment, not knowing what to say, struggling to process this turn of events and expectations.

Hadriel broke the silence. “I say we take them. There are, what, fewer than a dozen? We can kill them if they do something we don’t like.”

“If the patrolling guards can’t work the boats, we’ll need at least one of these demons to get out of here,” Hannon said, ever practical. “My plan depended on taking someone from the patrol.”

“I agree with the others,” Micah said. “But they will need to be guarded. They will trade their current supposed cell for one of a different kind.”

“I’ve seen how Finley responds to those who meet her halfway,” Govam replied. “You will treat us better than you have been treated. Probably better than we are currently treated. Until you develop trust in us, if you ever do, then I will take your deal.”

“It’s not a deal. I’m done making deals with demons.” I motioned them onward. “You have a key for the final door?”

“Ah. Is that what you came running back for?” Govam asked. “You caught me by surprise. One of many I’ve experienced when dealing with you.”

“The tools ended up in the lava.”

“Yes, I have a key.”

“Let’s go, then. Space yourself out between the dragons and the wolves. We need to move fast to get a head start on Dolion.”