His Human Queen

Roxanne

Time passed quietly, easily in the presence of the king of hell.

It surprised me with every bite I took, with every moment of comforting silence that I found myself settling into how easy it was to be near someone who was supposed to rule demons, who was a demon himself.

I watched the beams of sun stream in over the table, watching as it lit the gold in his eyes to something even more mesmerizing.

“Are you ready?” Dante asked as I drank the last of my coffee.

“Mhm,” I answered, hoping I seemed nonchalant instead of nervous.

We walked to the foyer and stood. The expression on Dante’s face was one of expectation, as if he thought I knew the way and expected me to lead us.

Before I could ask what he wanted, he smirked, then pulled me into his arms, stealing my breath in that same shimmering darkness that brought me here, the same one I knew meant he was taking us somewhere.

I was scared to let go of him, fearful that if I did, it would mean I would plummet to my death. So, with one hand, I gripped my dagger and pulled it from its sheath at my side. When we stopped, and the darkness faded, we were in a living room, somewhere lived in, and comfortable.

A crash had the hair on the back of my neck standing on end.

A man came into the room with rage blooming in his eyes, his nostrils flaring, his cheeks flushed with the same anger that had his eyes darkening and just before he reached us, the dagger flew from my hand and into his thigh, stopping him in his tracks long enough for me to punch him in the nose so hard that not only did his nose break, but so did my hand.

I tried not to pay attention to the pain in my wrist as I pulled the other dagger, pinning it to his throat.

“Dante…” I nearly stammered as the demon king grabbed my broken hand, pulling it closer.

“Oh, Shean is fine. He is my best friend.” Dante spoke so casually, as if I hadn’t just stabbed his best friend in the leg and nearly cut his throat.

“Not anymore, you pompous prick. You can’t go missing for three days and not tell anyone where you’re going.” Shean pulled the knife from his thigh, and I gasped when the ripped skin beneath closed instantly, then his nose straightened and healed too.

“I’m-I’m sorry… I didn’t know.” I stuttered around the fresh blooming pain in my hand from Dante prodding at them, and the embarrassment from the situation.

“He heals fast, I thought it was kind of cute the way you stepped into your enforcer role.” My cheeks flushed making me pull my hand from his, and turn to Shean who only looked at Dante with a confused expression.

“My name is Maeve.” I held my purpling hand out watching Shean look at it, then at Dante before he took my hand, closed his eyes and nearly made me pass out as the bone in my wrist popped back into place and healed at the hands of the man I had nearly just killed.

“Thank you!” I sighed when he let my hand go. “That feels so much better.” I rotated my wrist, trying to sound like I wasn’t sick in my stomach just from the sound of my bone crunching alone.

“I repaired the old damage from when you fell out of the tree, too,” I gaped at the man, curious about what magic he possessed to know such things.

“It’s part of his powers,” Dante added, confirming what I assumed.

“Can we get back to the part where you disappeared and didn’t think to let anyone know you were alive and well, high lord?” Shean asked.

Dante just shrugged, grabbed me by the shoulder, and said, “I was saving a human,” then he smirked again—that damn smirk.

“Human?” Shean seemed surprised, then turned quickly, looking to the kitchen, then back to me.

“What about Roxy?” Shean asked quietly.

“Her scent is masked.” Dante answered.

“Who is Roxy, and my scent is what?” I asked, hating that they were talking about me like I wasn’t standing here.

“Roxy is a…” Shean began, only to be cut off by a seductive dark voice.

“Roxy is a what?” A woman with long black hair, porcelain skin, and ruby red lips walked in, her hips swaying, her smile spreading wide and deadly at Shean.

“Blood sucker.” Shean stated casually.

“Shean,” Dante warned, but Roxy’s eyes, mesmerizing and deadly, bore into me. I was lost in them, the color like blood-soaked honey, like sunsets and death pulling me in like a noose around the neck.

“Roxanne!” Dante’s growl barely registered with me; all I could see were those eyes. Then I felt it, Dante’s icy fire running through my veins, his heat penetrating the places her gaze had left cold. He gripped my elbow, jerking me back.

“You brought a human here?” She growled.

“She isn’t just a human, Rox. She is Malfeas’s new enforcer.” I didn’t miss the look of shock on her face. I thought it odd I hadn’t seen that same expression on Shean’s face, but I didn’t have time to dwell on the thought as she began talking again.

“Malfeas hasn’t had an enforcer since you took on the role of High Lord. You expect me to believe that after centuries, you make a human your enforcer? I call bull shit.” She snarled, but it didn’t matter. Another wave of that icy burning rage swept over me, and I grew dizzy, high on the feeling.

I wanted to step outside and get air, but some part of me decided an enforcer, whatever that may truly be, shouldn’t leave their king’s side. Friends or not, I don’t know these people, and I don’t trust them not to hurt Dante.

“Believe what you want, Rox. It’s not your decision.” Dante, ever the calm collected force, stepped toward her, his nose so close to hers that it sent a wave of hot anger through me, melting away that icy feeling of his, he looked back at me, bewilderment lacing those handsome features, before schooling them just as quickly, looking back at Roxanne and muttering something just out of my ears reach before crossing the room in three smooth strides, pulling me into his arms, and making us disappear in a cloud of darkness.