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LORD KREATON WATCHED Guild Master Onvier as their latest meeting with the Guild Masters and their guildmembers wound to a close. He noted sly looks being exchanged between Onvier and Azazel. The demon was standing in as Raum’s replacement yet again. The Demon Guild Master seemed to be called away to deal with far too many problems in the catacombs that lay beneath the city lately.
Azazel was even more difficult to look at than most hell spawn. His horned head was extraordinarily hideous. Even when he was sitting down, the black creature towered over the other Guild Masters. His large, leathery wings were wrapped around his body like a strange cloak. His long, thin tail was curled around his feet. Scarlet eyes glowed from within his face and his body was muscular and humanoid in shape.
Onvier was the complete opposite in looks. The auburn-haired elf had slightly tilted orange eyes. He was tall for his kind, at a couple of inches under six feet. He was as handsome as all fae men tended to be. He was slender, yet well-muscled. Women sighed longingly when they glanced at him. Intelligent and ambitious, the Magic Guild Master was more interested in gaining power than in conquering females.
“If no one else has anything further to add, this meeting is concluded,” Lord Graham said. The topics that they’d discussed tonight were the same as always. The citizens were poor and starving and they wanted their rulers to do something about it.
Lord Kreaton noted a tiny nod from Onvier to Azazel before everyone stood to leave. He signaled to his allies that he wanted to meet with them in private. Lord Dallinar scowled blearily, but dutifully followed him upstairs. The alpha werewolf loped ahead of them. He shoved the door to their private sitting room hard enough for it to bang against the wall. “Temper, temper,” the fairy said with a drunken titter. He already smelled strongly of whiskey fumes, but he headed straight for the alcohol that was lined up on the armoire.
Lord Graham glowered at the sot, then waited for the master vampire to close the door before he spoke. “What now?” he asked. He already had enough problems. He didn’t need something new to crop up.
“Something is going on between Onvier and Azazel,” Lord Kreaton said, getting straight to the point.
Lord Dallinar swayed on his feet and slopped whiskey on the floor. “Oops,” he said, then giggled.
“Did you hear me?” the vampire demanded. He had to resist the urge to cross the room and shake some sense into his diminutive ally.
“As far as I know, elves and demons aren’t sexually compatible,” the werewolf said. He ran a hand through his ginger hair, making it even messier. Crumbs were caught in his wild beard.
Lord Kreaton’s upper lip curled in disgust at his unkempt appearance. “I’m not talking about the pair engaging in sex,” he said.
“Who’s having sex?” the lilac-haired drunkard asked, failing to keep the envy out of his voice.
Lord Kreaton closed his eyes and counted to ten before opening them. “Have neither of you noticed that Raum has missed so many of our meetings with the Guild Masters lately?”
“I don’t pay a lot of attention to who attends the meetings,” Lord Graham said as he plopped down onto a chair.
“It isn’t as though he’s missing much,” Lord Dallinar said as he carefully made his way to a couch. He managed to spill only a little bit of his whiskey as he took a seat.
The master vampire mentally shook his head that his allies were becoming more and more unreliable with each year that passed. Soon, he would be shouldering the burden of ruling Nox alone. While the idea held some appeal, he had no wish to try to keep the Fae and Shifter Districts operational. It was bad enough having his fellow masters hounding him about the growing number of masterless fledglings. “I believe Onvier and Azazel are plotting something together,” he said.
“Maybe they’re planning to assassinate Raum,” Lord Graham said in a hopeful tone.
“We wouldn’t be that lucky,” the fae lord muttered. “Raum is too wily to allow himself to be killed by a lesser demon like Azazel.”
“Would we care if Raum was overthrown?” the alpha asked.
They both looked at Lord Kreaton for his opinion. “Do you really think a weasel like Azazel has enough power to control every denizen of the Demon District?” he asked them.
Lord Dallinar shuddered at the thought of the hell spawn without a strong leader. They would flood through the city and attack everyone they could get their filthy claws on. “It would be a disaster,” he figured.
“Maybe Raum deserves to be overthrown if he can’t control his second in charge,” Lord Graham mused.
“Aren’t either of you curious about why Onvier would become involved with a demon rebellion?” the leech asked and received two blank stares for an answer. “The Magic Guild Master already controls everyone in his guild,” he added. “He’s also taken over running the Fae District. He could be seeking even more power.”
Lord Dallinar scowled again and gulped down his whiskey. “My kind don’t need to be controlled like the rogue shifters and starving bloodsuckers do,” he said sullenly.
“If you have a point, you should get to it before I fall asleep from sheer boredom,” Lord Graham growled.
“What if Onvier isn’t content with just ruling his guild and the Fae District?” the vampire said, annoyed that they were too stupid to figure it out. “What if they’re banding together with the intention of overthrowing not just Raum, but us as well?”
“You think Azazel is one of the rebels who will try to destroy us?” the fairy lord asked, then burst into snickers at the idea. “I highly doubt he has enough intelligence to figure out how to come up with a plan. If Onvier and Raum were plotting together, that would be something to worry about.”
“Azazel might be one step up from an idiot, but the elf is smart,” Lord Graham said, taking the idea more seriously than the fairy lord was.
“Now that I’ve brought the danger to your attention, perhaps we can discuss how we’re going to deal with it,” the vampire said.
“We’ll order Malachi and Sorcha to kill them both,” Lord Dallinar said uncaringly. “Sorcha killed Beleth for us already. She should be able to eradicate Azazel easily enough.”
“It was risky to have one demon eliminated,” Lord Kreaton pointed out. “Their scouts are adept at tracking interlopers. They can remember a scent forever. I bet they’re still trying to hunt Sorcha down.”
“I told you it was a bad idea to murder that demon,” Lord Graham said smugly. “Beleth was hated by everyone, but the hell spawn are still in a frenzy that one of our assassins eliminated him. Can you imagine how crazy they’d be if we had Azazel wiped out?”
As the second in charge of the catacombs, Azazel was untouchable. The demons might hate each other and fight constantly, but they banded together when they felt threatened. Sending Sorcha into their midst again would be a terrible idea.
“We will have to keep our eyes on Onvier and Azazel,” Lord Kreaton decided. “If it appears that they’re planning to attempt to overthrow us, we will take steps to have them eliminated. For now, let’s hope they’re going to focus their attention on destroying Raum.”
“It would almost be a relief if he was eradicated,” the fairy lord said. “Making deals with demons is always tricky. It can come back to bite us when we least expect it.”
Glum silence fell at the reminder of how badly siphoning the energy from the Night Cursed population had turned out. They were terrified about making another mistake like that again. The entire city could collapse if they weren’t careful.
