A BRIDE FOR THE DEMON KING

ONE: The

ding smelled like

tretch of human land. Her hands were folded neatly in her lap. Her gown shimmered in

it. She had not c

ir armor bearing her family's crest. N

he sky had sta

er. The soft pastels of twilight faded into something sharper

never seen the

she understood why no one e

hered. Covered in black moss and strange r

e horses snorted uneasil

arriage moved

Her spine was steel, eve

uld no

uld no

d of a man who had to hide

she had

e spoke of with

e dead of night-for power, for pea

passed bene

rld ch

e trees bent inward, their leaves dark as ink, their trunks weepin

ssed into

on King

new

rriage

m the earth, twisting toward the sky. A palace carved from

long st

top, a fi

ing. Cloake

once-hard-before s

iage doo

ut hesitation, her silks wh

re did n

urning faintly red from beneat

" she said, voice even. "Daughter of

said n

first step

a predator decidin

she th

underest

lans to be a