If I screwed this up, Daemos social codes might prevent them from coming to my aid.
Kassallandra reached the ritual altar and offered a curt bow to a male and female standing there. The woman wore a red robe; the man's was blue. According to Cinder, they were the Paetros and Maedras of another Daemos house and would lead the ceremony.
The murmuring of the crowd dropped to a hush. My father stopped at the edge of the crowd and knelt. I had to get close to that altar without being found out.
I glanced back at one of the unconscious hellhound men and made a quick decision. I touched the Templar armor to the hellhound's suit. The disguise enchantment switched to match the bodyguard's.
Elyssa looked me up and down. "Do you really think they'll let a hellhound get close to them?"
"It's the only choice I have." I gave her a kiss on the lips and left the protection of the garden walls. The brick wall ran along the side of the crowd wearing blue. I stayed close to it and made my way down the side, looking around as if I were patrolling the place. None of the Daemos so much as looked at me. Their arrogance offered me the perfect way to hide. The faint burnt odor of succubus pheromones tickled my senses as I passed by the crowd. The last time I'd been this close to so many Daemos had been during the Battle of Bellwood Quarry in the Gloom. It was a bit unsettling.
I watched as the female ritual leader said something to Kassallandra. My father's bride took the woman's hand and pressed it to her forehead. My gut knotted as the female ritual leader raised her face to the crowd. She said, "Are there any here of worth who denounce this unification?"
Almost there. I hurried my steps and reached the front of the crowd just as the intense odor of brimstone hit my nose. Everyone else seemed to sense it at the same time.
"I denounce this traitorous whore!" A female screamed. The garden wall to my right exploded and a demon scorpion the size of a car plowed through the crowd, sending wedding guests flying everywhere.
The last time I'd seen a scorp that size had been in Kobol Prison guarding Daelissa's Seraphim resurrection project.
Something became clear to me in that instant. Kassallandra hadn't been the one helping Daelissa. This mystery woman was the traitor.
Chapter 2
A wave of bricks whooshed past my head. I dove to avoid the scuttling legs of the massive scorp. Where claws and a stinger tail would be on a normal scorpion, this monster had giant mouths full of jagged teeth. Where the eyes should be, a human face pressed against the black chitin like someone trying to escape from a black plastic garbage bag. The face screamed and the jaw-claws snapped.
A tall, thin woman with black hair ran past the scorp and kicked the stunned ritual leaders backward off the altar. Kassallandra lay stunned under a pile of bricks. I spotted my father carrying two Daemos to safety while some ran in panic and others morphed into their half-demon forms as if preparing for a fight.
The woman gripped Kassallandra's tresses and jerked her from beneath the bricks. I heard howling and rolled on my back as a large pack of hellhounds charged down the aisle at the giant scorp. The giant scorp screeched. The face trapped beneath its chitin opened its mouth wide and a swarm of small scorps crawled down the face and piled on the ground, forming a ball of legs and black exoskeletons. The ball skittered toward the pack of hellhounds. The two forces met in an explosion of fur and screeches. I tried to pick myself up off the ground when another weakened portion of the garden wall fell. I rolled on my side, but a chunk slammed on my leg. I stifled a shout of pain.
Yelps and whines filled the air. I rose to my knees in time to see the scorps churning through the hellhounds like butter in a wood chipper. A ball of fire blazed through the air and exploded against the scorps. I spotted Elyssa and the Templars herding stunned Daemos from the courtyard while Mom
Kassallandra reached the ritual altar and offered a curt bow to a male and female standing there. The woman wore a red robe; the man's was blue. According to Cinder, they were the Paetros and Maedras of another Daemos house and would lead the ceremony.
The murmuring of the crowd dropped to a hush. My father stopped at the edge of the crowd and knelt. I had to get close to that altar without being found out.
I glanced back at one of the unconscious hellhound men and made a quick decision. I touched the Templar armor to the hellhound's suit. The disguise enchantment switched to match the bodyguard's.
Elyssa looked me up and down. "Do you really think they'll let a hellhound get close to them?"
"It's the only choice I have." I gave her a kiss on the lips and left the protection of the garden walls. The brick wall ran along the side of the crowd wearing blue. I stayed close to it and made my way down the side, looking around as if I were patrolling the place. None of the Daemos so much as looked at me. Their arrogance offered me the perfect way to hide. The faint burnt odor of succubus pheromones tickled my senses as I passed by the crowd. The last time I'd been this close to so many Daemos had been during the Battle of Bellwood Quarry in the Gloom. It was a bit unsettling.
I watched as the female ritual leader said something to Kassallandra. My father's bride took the woman's hand and pressed it to her forehead. My gut knotted as the female ritual leader raised her face to the crowd. She said, "Are there any here of worth who denounce this unification?"
Almost there. I hurried my steps and reached the front of the crowd just as the intense odor of brimstone hit my nose. Everyone else seemed to sense it at the same time.
"I denounce this traitorous whore!" A female screamed. The garden wall to my right exploded and a demon scorpion the size of a car plowed through the crowd, sending wedding guests flying everywhere.
The last time I'd seen a scorp that size had been in Kobol Prison guarding Daelissa's Seraphim resurrection project.
Something became clear to me in that instant. Kassallandra hadn't been the one helping Daelissa. This mystery woman was the traitor.
Chapter 2
A wave of bricks whooshed past my head. I dove to avoid the scuttling legs of the massive scorp. Where claws and a stinger tail would be on a normal scorpion, this monster had giant mouths full of jagged teeth. Where the eyes should be, a human face pressed against the black chitin like someone trying to escape from a black plastic garbage bag. The face screamed and the jaw-claws snapped.
A tall, thin woman with black hair ran past the scorp and kicked the stunned ritual leaders backward off the altar. Kassallandra lay stunned under a pile of bricks. I spotted my father carrying two Daemos to safety while some ran in panic and others morphed into their half-demon forms as if preparing for a fight.
The woman gripped Kassallandra's tresses and jerked her from beneath the bricks. I heard howling and rolled on my back as a large pack of hellhounds charged down the aisle at the giant scorp. The giant scorp screeched. The face trapped beneath its chitin opened its mouth wide and a swarm of small scorps crawled down the face and piled on the ground, forming a ball of legs and black exoskeletons. The ball skittered toward the pack of hellhounds. The two forces met in an explosion of fur and screeches. I tried to pick myself up off the ground when another weakened portion of the garden wall fell. I rolled on my side, but a chunk slammed on my leg. I stifled a shout of pain.
Yelps and whines filled the air. I rose to my knees in time to see the scorps churning through the hellhounds like butter in a wood chipper. A ball of fire blazed through the air and exploded against the scorps. I spotted Elyssa and the Templars herding stunned Daemos from the courtyard while Mom
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