(JASPER'S POV)
My father screamed.
It wasn't the kind of sound a king made. There was no authority in it, no command, no threat meant to make others tremble. It was the sound of a man discovering that the ground beneath his feet had been a lie all along, that the glass was cracking beneath him, and that an endless darkness waited on the other side.
The Demon King had woken in a temple that reeked of blood and shadows. Two of his soldiers had propped him against the cold black wall, and for a moment, he'd seemed too disoriented to understand where he was.
Then he'd looked around.
The monstrous carving on the far wall, its face worn smooth by a thousand years of worshippers. The women in red huddled away from the blood spreading across the floor. The shattered bowls. The crimson pooling around Vera's shoes.
And beyond all of it, the crowd.
Blue's family. Blue's people. The very creatures who had stormed into his palace and knocked him out
