Read Online Prince of Demons 2: The Order of the Black Swan by Victoria Danann - Free Book Online Page A

other side was a toilet, a waist-high trough with running water and a long counter on the opposite side. The long bench that normally went under the counter was pulled out to display her own clothes, neatly laid out – cleaned or laundered as the case might be. She picked up her tights which had been both ripped and nasty.
    They looked brand new, no sign of a tear, pulls or pilling. She brought them to her nose and took in a whiff. They didn’t have a newly manufactured chemical odor, just the sweet clean smell of fresh laundry. Likewise, the boots looked brand new. No scuffs. Not even signs of caked mud or clinging plant life.
    When she had dressed herself, she brushed her teeth with a bristled instrument identical to the one Brave had stolen for her and brushed her hair with the handle brush provided. She didn’t miss any of her other toiletries because her skin felt soft and smooth as if she’d slept in a cocoon of lotion. She was thinking there must have been something in the water that made complexions glow and hair shine.
    All in all she decided that she didn’t look half bad for a person who had been through a desperate terror-filled escape and had to get ready for the day without makeup.
    Next stop breakfast. The wine had been replaced with her favorite – cranberry juice, or something very like it. Coffee would have been nice, but she promised herself that she would stop the next time she passed a Starbucks. The bread was brown instead of the white that had been served the night before and full of whole grains and nuts. She amused herself, eating alone, by imagining asking the demons for the recipe.
    On cue when she finished, almost as if they had been watching, the door opened and the demon who had “escorted” her to her chambers the night before appeared.
    “Good day, Ms. Ravin. Are you ready for your audience?”
    “Is there a choice?”
    His lips twitched. “Not really.”
    “Does the audience involve torture or beheading?”
    “As mentioned last night, you are under the protection of the Prince. No harm will come to you.”
    “Well, then. I guess I’m ready.”
    “Follow me.”
    “Dude. You totally ruined it. You were supposed to say ‘walk this way’.”
    “What?”
    “Never mind. How did you make my clothes look brand new? Is it against the rules to tell me that?”
    “The rules? What rules?”
    “Um. The rules of kidnapping a person who’s never done a thing to you, dumping them in a dungeon with a total stranger who could be psycho, chasing them through all manner of life threatening events, then telling them to bathe, eat, sleep, eat, dress, and ‘follow me’.”
    The demon stopped abruptly and turned around. “You’re stranger than most humans. Right?”
    “I suppose it depends on who you talk to.”
    The demon stared down at her for a few beats then turned abruptly and resumed leading her to the “audience”.
    The hallways were wide and covered in polished stone similar to that in the chamber where she’d slept, except that it was light in color. After a couple of turns they came to an even wider hallway that ended in two giant doors with semi-arch tops that met in the middle. The two demons outside opened the doors as they approached.
    Lana scanned the room quickly. Like her guest chamber, the ceiling was mostly skylight. The floor was large stone squares juxtaposed to create an abstract pattern. At the head of the room was a throne-like chair, definitely created to make an impression and enlarge the persona of the person who sat in it. But the only thing in the room she cared about was Brave. He was talking to several demons who towered over him.
    His face broke into a radiant smile when he looked up and saw her. He was wearing black pants that looked like soft leather tucked into knee high black boots and a light colored sleeveless shirt that was so thin it was almost sheer. All the demons were dressed in a similar manner.
    Brave held out his arms as she walked toward