Demon Lord 5: Silver Crown King Read Free Page B

now.  Strong wolves like Angie can take a lot of punishment and survive what would kill a human many times over. 
    Angie didn’t play these kinds of games willingly.  William knew she frequently slept with me.  This was his way of showing disapproval.  My gaze slid across the bed.  William drowsed, only at the verge of sleep.  His breathing wasn’t as deep as it could be.  He rolled toward Angie, smiled, and ran a hand along her flank, past the fading bruises on her ribs.  He pulled her closer, one hand clawing a tits.  “Mine!” he murmured. 
    Angie cringed, tears tracking her face.  “Please, not again!”
    His grip tightened.
    Her breath caught.
    Drinking in her fear, he laughed and let her go.
    Distracted by my own slow simmer of rage, it took me an extra moment to notice I wasn’t the only voyeur in the room.  Unaware of me, William’s granddaughter Sarah had come into the room and now moved to the bed.  She was a petite teenager with red hair that had come out of a box.  She wore sandals, jean shorts, and a turquoise top with the logo: GIRL’S ROCK.  Her face was pale with shock, her lips pressed into a hard, angry line.  I understood: in addition to basic humanity, Angie had raised Sarah like a daughter.  Seeing this had to hurt her deep.
    Sarah raised a trembling gun that was close to my head, but not pointed my way—William had earned that honor.  I leaned over and sniffed the weapon.  My inner dragon opened sleepy eyes in the back of my mind.  He said: Silver ammo.  Steal it.  Can’t have too much silver.  Can’t have too much of anything.
    That goes without saying, I answered. 
    Silver.  Of course, what else would a half-fey girl use to deal with a houseful of werewolves, many of them lacking full control of their inner animals?  William had probably given her the gun himself.   The idiot.  If he’d really wanted to keep her safe, he’d have sent her out of town, or let her stay with Gloria, her magic teacher.
    I understood Sarah’s need to kill, but I was here first, and I didn’t want to William’s death to be slow and relative painless.  He deserved better.  I reached out and plucked the gun from her hand.  She jumped and looked around the room.  I moved in and touched her to bring her inside the You-Don’t-See-Me effect of my demon magic.  She tensed at my grip on her wrist, then relaxed as she saw who I was.  She opened her mouth to speak.  I kissed her to shut her up.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  She melted against me and when I let her go, her gun was in my hand.  Distraction is the cheapest magic of all.
    I rolled my free hand, opened my palm, and showed her the silver egg I’d summoned from my armory.  I made a small throwing motion with it toward William, and handed the ball to Sarah.  She nodded to show she understood what I wanted.  I held up a hand to indicate she should wait a little, and moved away from her. 
    I stood by Angie, near the headboard.  I covered her mouth.  This kept her quiet as my magic bypassed her, letting her see me.  Her eyes widened.  Her body stiffened.  I put a thumb over the keyhole on her cuffs and trickled a little shadow magic inside.  The shadow stiffened, taking on a key shape, and moved as I willed.  The cuff unlocked, the sound kept quiet by my Demon Wings magic.  I removed the cuffs and pocketed them. 
    To Sarah, it would seem as if the cuffs had vanished into thin air.  She wouldn’t see me again until I touched her or dropped the spell.  I took hold of Angie’s hands, and mouthed the word: “Ready?”
    She gave me the smallest of nods, her irises going from dark pools to amber coins burning softly.  Her inner wolf roused, inflamed by the looming prospect of violence.
    I used strength born of my half-dragon heritage to ship Angie off the bed like she weighed no more than a pillow.
    This was enough to cause William to sit up, his eyes going wolf-amber as well.  “What the