The Cursed (League of the Black Swan) (35 page)

She was a demon. Half demon. Demoness?

She’d never been so close to losing it, and talking would be impossible, so she dug her fingers into her legs through her jeans and looked out the window. The view was incredible. She’d never flown in a plane or helicopter, or even in a balloon. The sensation was dizzying and joyous all at once, and she wanted to laugh or sing at the amazing feeling of freedom from all of her Earth-bound worries.

She couldn’t help it, and she knew it was more of the country mouse stuff, but she’d never been inside Demon Rift, she’d never ridden in a flying carriage pulled by demon steeds, and she’d certainly never been told that her brother was a prince.

A demon prince who just happened to be one of the richest men in the world.

She started laughing.

Chance, who’d been silently staring at her with those glowing yellow eyes, tilted his head in an abrupt, almost animalistic movement. Kit had a habit of tilting hers in that exact same manner.

Her . . . brother . . . frowned at her. “What is funny?”

“This entire situation is funny, don’t you think? Speaking specifically, however, I was thinking about the times I’ve had to eat macaroni and cheese for a week because bike runs were slow and I had to make the rent. If only I’d known I had Mr. Super Billionaire for a brother, I could have hit you up for a loan.”

She leaned back against the seat and then jerked forward and stared at it, suddenly hoping that it was cow leather and not some weird skins-of-my-enemies demon upholstery.

In the back of her mind, a constant refrain was pounding at her:

Luke Luke Luke Luke.

She pushed it away, determined not to let pain shatter her when she was about to enter the demon realm for the first time in her life. She needed to be on the alert for danger, not falling apart.

An expression of faint distaste crossed Chance’s handsome face too quickly for her to label it as a sneer, and she tried to remember what they’d been talking about before her traitorous emotions had tried to overwhelm her with grief.

“Naturally, I will open the appropriate bank and credit accounts for you,” he said.

Oh. Right. Her joke about hitting him up for a loan. Anger flashed hot, then died down to ash. She couldn’t take it personally. It was the way rich people usually thought about those who weren’t rich. Like the rest of the world was just lurking, waiting to ask for a handout. But just because she couldn’t take it personally didn’t mean she couldn’t correct his false impression of
her
.

“Let’s get a few things straight, Chance.”

He glared at her, but she leaned forward and started ticking items off on her fingers. “First, I’m not even sure I believe one hundred percent that we are related, and if we are, I’m pretty sure that you’re only my half brother, right?”

He nodded.

She moved on before he could start talking again and make her want to punch him. She was trying to be reasonable here, and she had a feeling that Luke was already blowing things up back at his place.

Luke Luke Luke.

A twinge of pain stabbed into her at the thought of what Luke must think of her for leaving like that—she definitely owed him an explanation, but she’d needed to know about Chance and his claims. Elisabeth needed the antidote, but Rio wasn’t necessary for that, and it was probably better that she didn’t go along, in case she started to feel the overwhelming urge to smack Merelith across the back of the head.

For now, Rio was exactly where she needed to be. The countdown clock was moving faster and faster, rushing by at the speed of magic-fueled light, and now that she had some concrete information—or at least an allegation—she was going to pursue it.

“Is there more?” Chance’s voice broke into her reverie, and she realized he’d been waiting for her to continue.

He probably hadn’t had to wait for anybody for years.

She smiled at him, enjoying the thought. “Second, if it turns out that you are my brother, I would like to get to know you.”

The condescending expression on Chance’s face was replaced by one of surprise. His slightly widened eyes and flattened lips told her that it was a cautious surprise, but it was still surprise.

“Third, you will not open any accounts for me—appropriate or inappropriate. I don’t want your money. I don’t want a job from you. I don’t want presents from you.”

Now he was scowling again. Well, too bad for him.

“Finally, and I know this is going to sound naïve, but I hope that someday you can learn to be on my side, and I can do the same for you.”

Her voice started to tremble, and she willed herself to keep it together and finish her thought. “When I was a little girl, I used to dream about having a brother. Some of the kids would come into the convent with their brothers or sisters, and I was always so desperately envious. I know we’re not kids anymore, but if you are my brother, I hope we can be friends.”

She had to stop then and look out the window, so she could try to get her voice under control and fight back the tears that were burning her eyes. It was stupidly naïve of her to even hope this, let alone say it out loud, so now he’d know exactly which weapon to use to get to her.

She knew all that.

But it was almost her birthday, and she might be able to celebrate it with a family member for the first time in her entire life. It was one of the reasons she’d stepped into this carriage in the first place.

“I have negotiated with some of the toughest businessmen and government leaders in the world,” he said, finally breaking the silence in the carriage.

Caught off guard by the randomness of the statement, Rio turned to look at him.

“I have battled my way up the hierarchy of challenge every year, in order to defend my position as prince and heir to the throne of Demon Rift,” he continued, and he drummed his fingers on the edge of the seat in a nervous gesture that looked very familiar to her.

Shock rolled over her when she realized it was familiar because it was one of her own.

“And now, here you are. Young, small, poor, and almost powerless, and yet you have disarmed me more quickly than has ever happened to me in my life.” He lifted one hand as if to touch her but then let it fall back down to his side. “I will try to be this person—this brother—for you, although I do not know how, and my instincts are screaming at me that you will betray me. Half of you is Fae princess, and they can never be trusted.”

He shook his head. “Will blood tell, and if so, which blood?”

Rio knew a rhetorical question when she heard one. Words alone would never convince him of anything, but she squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. “I know I sound stupid. I know we have no reason to trust each other. But if I really am your sister, then you need to know that I’m going to do everything I can to be on your side.”

The carriage tilted as it started its descent, and the moment was over, but Rio could tell by the way Chance kept staring at her that she’d given him something to think about.

A thought crossed her mind, and she grinned. “Now all my girlfriends will want to meet my brother.”

He laughed, and she could tell that she’d surprised it out of him.

“Does this mean that I also get to approve or disapprove of your boyfriends?” He leaned forward. “Because I must tell you that I am not a fan of your current choice.”

She shrugged and tried to ignore the pain that sliced through her at the thought. She also tried to ignore the hot bundle of nerves jumping around in her stomach now that they were about to land. “That depends. Are you my big brother or my little brother?”

Chance looked down and pretended to brush a speck of dust off of his impeccably clean pants. When he looked up again, his mask of arrogance was back in place.

“I’m your older brother. My mother died many years before my father disappeared with his Fae . . . mistress.”

She could tell he’d been about to use a different word—a far more derogatory word—but he’d changed it at the last minute for her sake. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or not. She knew the demons had no love for the Fae, and she had no idea how the royal family or the ruling council were going to feel about meeting a half-Fae, half-demon potential heiress to the thrones of both realms.

The world tilted sideways and started to go black, and she realized with some surprise that she was on the verge of fainting. None of this could possibly be happening to her. Not to the little unwanted orphan girl who’d been on her own, scrambling to survive, since she was fifteen years old.

Absolutely not; no way, nohow was this happening to her.

“We are here,” Chance announced, as the carriage bumped to a gentle landing.

Holy crap, this is happening to me.

Someone outside opened the carriage door, and then Chance stepped out and held out a hand to help her down. She almost stumbled and was glad he was there to catch her when she got her first view of Demon Rift.

It was absolutely spectacular.

She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but the reality was nothing like anything that her imagination might have conjured. The city was made of pale blue marble veined with gold, and it was so beautiful it looked like a Renaissance master painter had designed it.

She must have sighed or gasped or made some kind of sound, because Chance gave her a wry look. “Not the fire-blasted, postapocalyptic landscape you were expecting? You humans have an interesting prejudice against the word
demon
.”

Realization at what he’d just said dawned and then struck both of them as funny at the same time.

“Isn’t the whole reason I’m here because you want to tell me that I’m not human at all?” Rio finally said, wiping her eyes.

“Damn. I can’t use my best ‘you humans’ lines with you,” he said at the same time.

So as it turned out, two of the royal heirs to the Demon Rift throne and ruling council were laughing together like fools when the official welcoming procession met them at the gates of the palace. From the wide-eyed stares and frantic whispers that quickly surrounded them, Rio had the feeling that nothing had made Chance laugh so hard or so openly in a very long time.

A man dressed in a very formal and fancy blue-and-white uniform, carrying a long, slender horn, blew out a note and then held it for so long that Rio started to wonder if he didn’t have actual lungs. Just when she was getting a little worried about his health, he let the note trail away.

“Welcome to your home, El’andille na Kythelion na Demon Rift,” the herald said in a booming voice, disproving the no-lungs theory. He bowed low to her and then moved aside so a group of elder demons who’d been standing just behind him could approach.

Rio knew she was probably breaking all kinds of protocol, but in that exact minute, she didn’t care. She spun around to face Chance and tightly grabbed him by both hands.

“I have a name? I didn’t think to even ask you about that,” she said, laughing and crying all at once. She could taste the salt of her tears as they ran down her face and into her mouth, but she couldn’t help it.
She had a name.

Still holding Chance’s hand, she turned to face the people who claimed to be part of her family.

Her family.

“Say it again, please, sir. Tell me my name.”

The herald blinked and looked to Chance and then back at the others for permission, but when first a few, and then all of them, nodded and some even smiled a little, the demon gave a self-conscious tug to his shirt and stood even straighter.

“Your name, my lady, is El’andille na Kythelion na Demon Rift, and you are most welcome here.” He bowed again, even more elegantly than before.

“El’andille,” Rio whispered. “My name is El’andille, and I have a brother.”

The oldest demon she’d ever seen, whose beard trailed down all the way to his finely worked gold-and-silver belt, cleared his throat and harrumphed a little bit, and then he tilted his head and shot an incredulous look over Rio’s shoulder at Chance, who shrugged.

“I know,” Chance said. “She has that effect on people.”

Rio had no idea what they were talking about, but she didn’t waste time worrying about it. She stepped forward, finally releasing Chance’s hand, and then she offered her most formal bow and hoped the demon etiquette book she’d read wasn’t too outdated.

“Thank you for this welcome. I’d love a tour. I want to see
everything
.”

“El’andille na Kythelion na Demon Rift, would you care for refreshments before we begin our tour?” The old man gestured, and the crowd parted to make room for them to enter the palace. “We have a lovely batch of ale just up from the brewery.”

“I’d love that,” Rio said, thinking privately that she was probably going to be very much in need of a tall glass of ale before too much longer. “And please call me Rio.”

“Rio, then, for now,” the old demon rumbled. “We have many gifts for you, young one, to welcome you back to your home.”

Welcome her
back
? Had she ever been there in the first place? If so, why had she been kicked out? Who’d put her in that orphanage? What were her parents’ names? Rio had so many questions careening around her mind that she was making herself dizzy and not a little nauseated.