Page 61 of Dancing With Demons

“Ow.”

“Shut up!” Incensed eyes burned me where I stood. “Listen up, mortal, because you won’t be told twice. Don’t you dare get ideals above the shit heap you were born in, the shit heap you lived in, and the shit heap you’ll die in. It doesn’t matter what services you were providing Ronin all last night. You’re nothing but a worthless cum bucket in a long line of worthless cum buckets,” she spat. “Ronin will never choose you to be his queen. He’s choosing me.”

“No, me,” Ursula barked, crowding on my left side.

“Nope, it’s going to be me,” Eris chimed in on my right.

“Listen to you three dumbasses,” Sauda scoffed. “It’s going to be me.”

“Wrong as usual.” Kama winked at me over Eris’s shoulder. “He’s mine.”

“But what he’ll never be,” Raven pressed, tightening her strangle-grip on my collar. “Is yours.”

If that wasn’t bad enough, their girl gang lackeys were all backing them up, completely blocking all movement in the hallway to keep me penned in. One of Kama’s girls and one of Eris’s girls each had a grip on Dora’s shoulders—making sure she didn’t intervene.

Looking into their violently enraged expressions, I burst out laughing. “Ronin will never be mine? Do you promise?” I laughed louder, putting a crack in Raven’s tough expression. “Ladies, get a damn clue, please, and get it today. I have no interest in Ronin Belphe. I just made a deal with him and that’s all. It’s a”—flashes of me screaming and writhing went through my mind and warmed the back of my neck—“business transaction,” I said firmly. “We mean nothing to each other, and he’s for damn sure not going to make me his queen.

“My sister and I are going back to the mortal realm. End of.”

Eyes narrowed, Raven leaned back—her grip slightly loosening on my dress. It was clear she didn’t know whether or not she believed me, but she was leaning toward not because the princess of wrath desperately wanted to kick my ass.

I flicked to Adora, who was looking at us with an expression that was quickly growing concerned.

My teeth clenched. The last thing I’m going to let happen again is me pinned down and helpless while my sister is attacked. I’m ending this stupid, jealous-rivals bullshit now.

“You know,” I began. “Since you were kind enough to give me advice, shall I give you some?”

Raven frowned. “What the fuck did you call me? What the hell is kind?”

“You five don’t need to fight over who’ll be the next queen of sloth,” I said, blowing past her question. “Why in the world should you... when you can all be Ronin’s queens?”

Eris snorted. “The bitch is insane as well as a slut. Normally, I’d like that about her, but you’re taking it a bit too far, don’t you think? Ronin can only have one queen, and it’s going to be me.”

I let her insults roll off my back. “Belphe can only have one queen? Why?” I asked, my voice light and innocent. “Is that some kind of rule?”

“Of course it—!” Kama cut herself off, blinking. “I mean... it’s...”

“That’s what I thought,” I pounced. “Seeing as neither one of you loves him—”

“We what’s him?”

“Love?”

“Loves?”

They passed the word, and confused glances, around the group, then looked back at their flunkeys to see if they knew. Their minions all gave them shrugs in response.

“Exactly,” I continued. “None of you want anything more from him than his power and his body, and like you just realized, there’s no rule or law saying you can’t all have it. All of you should marry Ronin,” I announced. “Equal in status and equal in power, you can unite the Houses of sloth, envy, greed, wrath, lust, and gluttony into...”

“Into?” Kama whispered, leaning in. “Into what?”

I hid a smile. “The kingdom of sin.”

They gasped.

“No,” I cried, hamming it up. “Make that the empire of sin!”

“Empire?” Ursula repeated, eyes huge.