Read Ties That Bind: A Muse Urban Fantasy (The Veil Series Book 5) for Free Online

had already admitted Jerry wanted the demons back where they belonged. I was on Team Jerry. Together, we’d figure this out. And all the humans would live happily ever after—as happy as humanity could ever be. Sounded easy. Maybe it would be. And maybe lesser demons could knit.
    I found my way to the throne room. Protective anti-elemental symbols throbbed inside walls adorned by monstrous demon-head trophies. The cathedral-like proportions swamped my puny body. Behind a vast black granite table on a raised ornately carved dais, stood two empty thrones. I’d seen this hall once before almost seventeen years ago. As a young half-blood fresh from the killing pit in the bowels of the fortress, I’d roamed the halls much as I did now, and I’d stumbled across the Dark Court in session. The Seven Princes of Hell had been engaged in a heated discussion around that very table. To my sheltered half-blood mind, they’d all been beautiful and terrifying in their demon glory. Peeking through the door, I’d seen my father for the first time. Mammon had been there. Leviathan too. How things had changed.
    When I reached out a hand, my touch sizzled against the cool stone tabletop. Below the surface, symbols bobbed out of the solid stone like hungry fish seeking food. I plucked my hand back, watched the glyphs sink into the blackness of the table, and dangled my fingers across the surface once more. Again, the swirling glyphs rose to the surface. Were they alive? Jerry had been coated from head to toe in the same symbols. On the battlefield, they’d hovered around him like armor. Like the original princes, the symbols were ageless. I didn’t understand them or how they worked to temper elemental energy. There was too much about the netherworld I didn’t understand.
    Being raised as a half-blood chew-toy hadn’t left much room for history lessons. How could I hope to stand around that very table with equally mystifying immortal demons? How was I going to convince the court I was one of them? They would never accept me no matter what Daddy dearest said. I had to prove my worth if I was going to infiltrate their inner circle. How do you prove you’re all demon? I had my theories, and all scenarios involved grotesque violence.
    I sighed, and the sound carried deeply into the empty space. I could have done with having Akil by my side. He’d have known what to do, although extracting any helpful information from him would have been like Chinese water torture. Damn, I missed that son of a bitch. Warmth pulsed in my chest and throbbed through my veins. I pressed my hand over my heart. He was in there—some part of him. His soul, his essence, whatever fuelled our dreams; it was there. I just had to get him out and remake him. It was possible. It had to be. He’d said there was a way.
    I felt the push of my father’s element as he entered the throne room. He said a single word in the old language. It sounded more like a growl than speech. I trained my gaze ahead, resisting the urge to turn. I wasn’t afraid to show him my back. We were equal now. No, not afraid.
    “The symbols,” he repeated in guttural English. “They respond favorably.” He stopped beside me, wings drawn in. “This is good.”
    Heat lapped at my skin. I fought to ignore his explorative embrace. This was just demon. It was normal. Relax, I ordered myself.I made no comment, even though I wanted to ask if the symbols were alive and what it meant if they responded to me. I would find some other demon to ask. Not my father. He had to think me strong, proud, and infallible.
    “You have learned much under Greed’s tutelage. But still, there is one remaining aspect of our blood you must control.”
    Greed’s tutelage. I didn’t need reminding that Akil had been tasked with my protection. Ryder had been my Institute babysitter, and Akil had been my demon one. He’d finally admitted it, hours before his death on the battlefield. He’d admitted a lot of things. Some