Page 20 of Last Minion Standing
“The secret I discovered—um...” Raxnor trailed off and peered down at his feet encased in dirty work boots. He swallowed audibly. “Sally’s middle name is Dawn, and her mother was a country singer.”
I lost some of my tension and giggled. Okay, I’ll admit the fact that the woman who’d birthed me liked to croon corny western songs embarrassed me and was a fact I assiduously hid, but really, it wasn’t that big of a deal. And as for the stupid middle name, again, blame my momentarily insane father. Talk about boring revelations.
Apparently, the crowd agreed with me. They booed and jeered as the dwarf’s already ruddy face turned an even brighter shade of red. At least he didn’t cry out with fear when the trap door beneath his feet opened and he tumbled down. Rumor said the hidden chasm led to the home of the lamia—half-snake, half-women; those nasty bitches knew how to make a man scream, just not in actual pleasure.
The spectators cheered wildly. They did so love a loser.
I couldn’t help myself. Over and over, my gaze strayed to Drake, a man who’d made me feel things I never expected. Things I wasn’t sure I was ready for. I tapped my nails on the armrest on the throne, wondering what secret he would reveal, and to my chagrin, I worried it would change how I felt about him.
What went on behind his placid expression? As my glance went to him again, his eyes held mine, and I imagined he tried to convey something, but mind reading was my half-sister’s ability, not mine. Whatever secret he planned to reveal, I’d have to wait a moment longer, for the demon Dretnor approached the microphone next.
I didn’t like the nasty gleam in his eye, nor the bared teeth as he smirked. Why did I suddenly get the impression he wasn’t truly on my side? Ridiculous. If he didn’t want the job as my minion, why compete?
“My secret is one Sally the half-demon is unaware of and involves another contestant.”
My stomach tightened into a knot, and fear made me sound harsh. “How am I supposed to know you’re telling the truth and not spouting some load of garbage to try and discredit your opponent?”
“I submit myself and the secret I have to tell to the Fire of Truth.”
The crowd oohed, and even I sucked in a surprised breath. To the ignorant, the Fire of Truth was a spell cast upon a being who wished to prove the veracity of their words. It surrounded the speaker in a nimbus of flames. If they told the truth, the flames didn’t touch them. Lie, and they burned alive for the next millennium. Not exactly the most pleasant fate.
As denizens of Hell, truth wasn’t something often seen or heard of. Hence, the spell was rarely seen. The fact that Dretnor offered to submit to it meant he believed the information he’d found was sound. I hoped so for his sake because the spell didn’t care how much a being believed in what they said, or if they’d been misled. If the information imparted was false, they’d burn anyway.
Dretnor must have warned the show producers of his intention, for barely a moment passed before a cloaked figure stepped onto the dais with the demon below.
Raising his arms and chanting in a guttural tongue that made me shiver, the mage enchanted Dretnor. With a small whoosh, blue flames ignited on Dretnor’s body. Again, the crowed oohed, and my stomach drew tighter.
The mage stepped away, and Dretnor moved to the microphone, a triumphant leer on his dark demonic lips. Slowly, the crowd quieted and leaned forward in expectation, as did I.
“Drake is half-demon, half-shifter: dragonshifter.” The crowed aahed, and I sat back stunned. I’d known Drake had shifter blood, but dragon, the rarest of all types, that surprised me. But it wasn’t a big deal. Actually, it made him hotter. I wondered if he could fly. I also wondered why he hadn’t told me. Surely he didn’t think I’d kill him and skin him for his prized skin, tempting as the idea would be to some.
Drake’s face tightened, and I suddenly knew this wasn’t the only secret.
Dretnor smiled, his pointed teeth glistening. “He’s also misrepresented himself to our prospective employer. The first night he met her, he was tasked with discrediting her or, even worse, allowing her to be killed. He also, after the demon attack outside the club, made inquiries into the bounty placed on her head and offered himself up as an assassin, should the patron of the first attempt wish to pay for a second.”
I shook my head no, but the flames around Dretnor burned merrily without a sizzle or a pop. Sickening to say, I really wanted him to start screaming. I knew my heart was. And, by Satan’s horns, did it hurt.
My tear-filled eyes—damned dust—met Drake’s, and I read the truth in his eyes. “You bastard,” I whispered, a word the invisible microphones picked up and echoed around the stunned audience in the coliseum.
Dretnor, pleased with himself, stepped back and crossed his arms. It was over. He’d won. The crowd went wild.
But wait... Drake strode to the microphone and held up his arms. It took a moment for the audience to notice, and when they did, the heavy silence hung with anticipation.
“Cast the spell of truth on me.” A cacophony arose at Drake’s words.
What was he doing? Even in my pain over his betrayal, a part of me didn’t want to see him hurt, not until I’d had a chance at him, the rotten, lying jerk.
The mage stepped quickly onto the stage for the second time and cast the spell of truth. The blue flames sprung up around Drake, dancing along his tanned skin.
His eyes met mine, and I couldn’t look away. “Yes, I am a dragonshifter. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to get you used to me before I let you know of my beast. It is not easy for me to trust, knowing how my kind are hunted.” The flames burned steadily, his words truthful. But we both knew his dragon wasn’t the real issue.
My hands squeezed tightly around the armrests of the throne. “And when we met, were you there to discredit me?”
“Yes, I admit someone hired me to make you look bad or, if I had the chance, allow the soul we both hunted to kill you. And I’d planned to do it. I’m a mercenary and bounty hunter. Give me the right price and I will do just about anything. But once I saw you, I changed my mind. I couldn’t hurt you.” The flames didn’t crisp him.
But that didn’t absolve him. “You stole my bounty.” And dammit, he’d stolen my heart.
“Aah, but that didn’t actually hurt you, did it? However, it did get your attention right where I wanted it. On me.”