The Demon’s Queen (A Deal With A Demon)

Watching Eve unfurl the farther we get from the castle makes my chest hurt. I knew she was unhappy, but it’s so easy to justify the cost when I’m not the one paying it. We could have portaled directly to the village in question, but I chose a spot about an hour’s walk away. My reasons weren’t entirely altruistic—I wanted more time with her—but now I’m even gladder I made that choice.

She walks down the wide dirt path with her head tilted back and her face to the sun. Today, she’s wearing a loose shirt and a long skirt, looking just as beautiful as she always does.

“Tell me about this village,” she says without looking over.

A nice, neutral topic. “The city takes up a decent portion of our territory, but there are dozens of villages in the surrounding area. Most of them have a heavy focus in agriculture and trade agreements with the city to sell whatever they produce that their community won’t need. Those agreements are generous, which benefits both the city and the villages.”

“Hmmm.” She glances at me. “Who put those agreements into place?”

Heat spreads beneath my skin. I keep my gaze forward. “There have been trade agreements since the founding of the territory.”

“I’m sure. But not these agreements.” Eve is still speaking as if feeling out her reasoning. “Are the terms of the agreement another thing Brosh is furious about?”

The heat in my skin gets more uncomfortable. “Without farming villages like the one we’re visiting today, the city starves. We have plenty of stores saved up, and there are gardens within the city proper, so it wouldn’t happen quickly, but eventually it would happen.”

Eve laughs a little, the sound strained. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Fine,” I snap. “Yes, I changed the terms when I took over. It’s shortsighted to rule by fear and even more shortsighted to take instead of paying fair prices. And they always took more than the villages could afford to lose. The moment communities start starving, the seed for violence takes root. Yes, the city pays through the nose for that food, but the amount is still less than we pay in trade agreements with other territories.”

She doesn’t say anything for several long minutes. The day is pleasant, warm without being hot, with just enough clouds in the sky to prevent the sun from feeling overbearing. I hardly notice it.

Especially when Eve sighs. “You know, you’re making it very hard to hate you, Azazel.”

I don’t know what to say to that, what answer won’t cause this strange moment between us to fracture. So I say nothing at all. I simply walk next to Eve and slowly, after a while, start pointing out the birds and small animals that flutter and scurry across our path. It’s . . . nice.

I pause right before the path turns into the descent that will take us to the village. This is always the hard part for me. I lead because it’s the right thing to do, because Caesarea was my aunt and so many other members of my family contributed to the harm done under her rule. I decided I didn’t want to live in a world like the one they’d fostered. It would have been easy to say I wanted change and then sit back and do nothing, but that’s not how I’m formed. I had power to change things, had support to make it happen, and so I did. The battle for my territory’s people is one I’ll be fighting for the rest of my life.

This part, though? There’s a reason I delegated the village visits to Ramanu. I inhale slowly and exhale just as slowly. Then I do it again a few more times. I’m aware of Eve watching me, but she asks no questions, and I’m not in the mood to explain myself. Not about this.

It’s so foolish. There’s no reason to be so dramatic. Nothing bad is going to happen, and it won’t kill me to be uncomfortable for a short period of time. “Let’s go.” I start walking again.

It takes no time at all to reach the village. As I expected—dreaded—there’s a welcoming committee. My cousin Alice is first to reach us; she’s a broad woman nearly as tall as I am, with curving horns and deep-purple skin. Her curly dark hair bounces with each step she takes, and her wide grin calms some of my nerves. “Old Man Azazel! It’s about time you came around.” She claps me on the shoulder hard enough that I have to brace myself not to stagger.

“Old Man Azazel,” Eve murmurs.

Alice turns to Eve, her dark-brown eyes lighting up with interest. “So you’re the human who has the old man in a tizzy.” She grins wider. “Can’t say I blame him. Look at you!”

To my shock, Eve’s cheeks turn pink, and she stammers a little. “I, uh, I . . . I’m Eve.”

“Pleasure.” Alice takes Eve’s hand and bends over it, then places a lingering kiss on her knuckles. I don’t realize I’m growling until Alice gives me a cheeky grin and bounces to her feet. “I’m just playing. You know I’d never step on your toes like that. You’re family, after all.”

Eve sputters out a shocked laugh. “Did you just say family?”

“Alice is another one of my cousins.” As the baby of the bunch, nearly thirty years younger than me, she’s seemed to take it as her mission in life to loosen the rest of us up.

“That’s right. Youngest of seven, gods bless my saintly mother.” Alice loops her arm through Eve’s and turns her easily to start heading deeper into the village.

Saintly mother is one way to put it. Alice’s mother was the strong right hand of Caesarea. She was greatly favored to become the next leader, and although she wasn’t as bad as Caesarea, she had facilitated the monster’s actions and policies. Fear of that, more than anything, is what made me challenge our leader for the position.

I don’t like to think of that battle. I don’t like to think about how it cost me half my family, how it created a divide that I’m not sure will ever be resolved. Before. After. The old way. The new.

Alice doesn’t seem to hold any of it against me, but I still feel awkward whenever I’m required to come out here and interact with her and her people. She leads us to the village square, which currently contains three massive tables piled high with food.

She catches me looking and grins. “Come now, old man. I know this was supposed to be a generic check-in on the community, but you never come out this way these days. I had to make an event of it.”

Of course she did.

I open my mouth to remind my cousin that we’re not staying long, but the words stall in my throat when I catch sight of Eve’s interest as she takes in the sight before us. This may be a little slice of torment for me, but I can endure it if it will make her happy. “Alice, give us a moment.”

She shrugs. “Sure thing. I’m going to see about the band.”

Gods preserve me, I truly hope she did not say what I think she just said. I watch her walk away and veer from one gathered small group to the next, an easy word ready for every single one of her people. Alice may be young by our people’s standards, but she’s a natural leader, and her village has flourished since she took over.

Eve turns to me, a smile pulling at the edges of her lips. “You two could not be more different.”

“I’m aware.” No reason to resent Alice for putting the woman I love at ease when all I manage to do is hurt her. I strive to push down my irritation. “We don’t have to stay long. I just need to do the rounds.”

“Do the rounds,” she murmurs. “Tour the fields? Maybe kiss some babies?”

I’m flushing again. “Something like that.”

“Azazel . . .” She glances at the people gathered. “Could we stay? Just for a little while? It should be safe, right?”

I wouldn’t have brought her with me if I wasn’t sure that Alice ran a tight ship and held a deep hatred for Brosh and all of his ilk. “It’s safe enough.”

She surveys me. “But this makes you deeply uncomfortable. Why?”

If anyone else had asked, I would beg off answering the question. But this is Eve, and while we may hardly have a relationship as such things go, the least I can do is answer whatever question she chooses to ask me. At least she’s speaking to me at all. “I don’t think I should be praised for doing the right thing.”

Eve seems to digest that. She turns her attention to where Alice laughs with a group of children, each holding a ribbon attached to a stick. My cousin truly went all out for this ambush. Finally, Eve says, “There’s praise and there’s appreciation. If it makes you that uncomfortable, why didn’t you send someone else out today? Surely there are other people beyond Ramanu who can do this.”

“Two reasons: It may make me deeply uncomfortable to go through this song and dance, but it makes them happy, and I would have to be a monster to stomp on that.” It’s an effort not to shuffle my feet. “And I wanted an excuse to spend time with you. I knew you would say yes to leaving the castle.”

Instead of telling me she hates me again, her smile widens, blooming from a faint curve to something more real. “If you really want to leave, we can.”

I sigh. “No, we can’t. You don’t want to. And it would hurt Alice’s feelings.”

Her grin reaches her eyes. “Yep.”

“That’s a neat little trap you set for me to walk into.”

She actually laughs. Not a bitter chuckle. Not a choked, angry sound. A true laugh, loud and boisterous, tossing her head back. “You’re high-handed and aggravating, but you have a soft, gooey center, don’t you?” She leans in, her amusement drawing me close even though I know better than to believe this might truly be a turning point for us. Eve lowers her voice, practically purring. “Poor Daddy. Being perceived is deeply uncomfortable, isn’t it?”

All the blood in my body rushes south. I tense. Fuck staying here. If she’s going to speak to me in that tone of voice, I’m going to toss her over my shoulder and haul her gorgeous ass to the nearest clearing to fuck her within an inch of her life. Every thought in my head goes to how lovely she looks with lust flushing her body, how perfect her pussy is when she’s taking my cock, in . . .

Except Eve is walking away from me, a swing in her step, her skirt swishing as she glances over her shoulder and winks at me.

The little brat.

I have to turn away, have to take deep breaths and focus on the sound of my cousin’s voice braying with laughter behind me in order to get my body under control again. It takes a bare minute, but by the time I turn around again, Eve is in the midst of the villagers, chatting easily and smiling as if she’s having a great time.

“I like her.”

I jolt. I hadn’t noticed Alice closing the distance. “I do too.”

My cousin loops her arm through mine. “Let’s get the tour out of the way. Be prepared to ooh and aah over our fields!” She seems to notice that my steps are slow and raises her brows. “I know you’ve had some trouble, but she’s safe here. Every single one of my people would toss themselves on a sword for you, and we don’t undervalue the humans who are in our territory.”

There are only half a dozen or so currently in this village, two of whom are linked to Alice through contracts. “I know.” It’s still hard to walk away from Eve—and that has little to do with the ever-present danger and more to do with the fact she was flirting with me. Not in order to escape. Not out of spite. She teased me just because she could. How can I see that as anything but progress?

True to her word, Alice keeps the tour of the nearby fields short. It’s an effort to stay focused, but I’m here for a reason. I frown as we finish with the last one and turn back toward the village proper. “You’ve expanded quite a bit since last year.”

“We have.” She shrugs. “The land is doing well, and our numbers have grown. We gained three new families in the last six months alone. Not everyone is cut out for city life; they’ve slipped right into our rhythm without much friction at all.”

“Will you need supplemental help come harvest time?”

She chuckles. “We always need supplemental help during harvest time.”

I don’t know how leadership sits so easily on her shoulders. I suspect it has to do with a difference in personalities. From the moment she was born, Alice has moved through the world in a completely different way than I do. “I’ll make sure to put the word out. There are plenty of young adults who can afford to spend a season with you. The city will supplement their wages, of course.”

“Of course,” Alice says dryly. “It’s not necessary, though. We can afford the cost. Our coffers are full, thanks to your trading policies.”

“That’s why I said supplement.” I nudge her with my shoulder. “You have a lot to take pride in here, Alice. You’ve done a good job. But the city is prosperous enough to help, and so it should.”

She’s silent nearly all the way back, only speaking when she pulls me to a stop as we reach the first house. “You’re doing good work, Azazel. I know it’s a thankless task to run this territory, especially with so many of the old guard rumbling about the changes, but the changes are good. So many people who were barely getting by before are prospering. That’s important.”

I clear my throat. “Uh, thanks.”

“Yes, yes, I’ll stop praising you now.” She shakes her head and moves forward again. “I hear the music starting up. You’d better make sure you dance with your girl.” She shoots a grin over her shoulder. “Otherwise, I might beat you to the chance.”