Ruled by Steel (The Ascension Series #3) Read Online Free Page A

eyes.
    A voice boomed over the din.
    “Stop.”
    That one word cut through all of the fiends, and they instantly froze.
    Jerica jerked her knife free of a fiend and kicked it to the ground. Its blood was hot on her hand and slicked her blade. She turned to attack another—but it wasn’t even looking at her.
    All of the fiends were staring at the door to the House of Abraxas.
    A woman stood in the open doorway framed by the jagged teeth of bone adorning the entrance. She radiated with infernal glory that made her hair stream into the darkness surrounding them. Her flesh glowed with inner light. Even though Jerica had known her for years, had come to Hell at her request, she had never seen Elise Kavanagh quite like this.
    She was the Father: the face carved upon so many idols around the wastelands of Dis, the origin of the species.
    It was like glimpsing God.
    Jerica dropped to her knees reflexively, bowing her head. With her gaze lowered, she realized that there was another demon beside Elise on the stairs: a sallow-fleshed creature wearing a Steward’s raiment, chained like a hog and contained by magic. It was Belphegor, legendary right hand of the Judge, and he was unconscious.
    Which meant that Belphegor was defeated.
    Ace trotted out of the crowd, oblivious to the awe that had seized the demons. His whiplike tail swished back and forth as he mounted the steps to the House. Blood coursed down a gash on his side and cuts on his muzzle. Most of the blood on his face didn’t belong to him. He sat beside Elise, tongue lolling, ears perked.
    “Good boy,” she said with a half-smile, and then she turned to address the fiends.
    Elise lifted the hand that wasn’t holding Belphegor’s chains. Her fist danced with magical flame. Runes slithered down her forearm. It was terrifying and unnatural to see a demon with mortal magic, but the fiends were too stupid to realize how strange it was; they were cowed enough by the sight of the Father holding Belphegor hostage.
    “You’re all mine,” she said. It was so quiet that she didn’t need to raise her voice to be heard across the grounds. “Drop your weapons.”
    The fiends, of course, obeyed.
    With three demons and a dog, the House had been taken.

 
     
     
     
    Two
     
    The worst part of the slave quarters was the pristine cleanliness of them. Belphegor and Abraxas had been attentive to the needs of the mortal inhabitants of the kennels, which meant that they had been directly involved in their care. They hadn’t set the humans aside and ignored them. They had reveled in the suffering.
    Elise had been in Dis for almost a month on Earth, which felt like three days in Hell. Three days was more than enough for her to have seen the worst that the city had to offer, particularly since she had deliberately sought out the worst; she had joined the slaves sold to the House of Abraxas at the auction in the market district, walked past the butchers and the tanners, and spent a day caged as she waited for an opportunity to take Belphegor.
    Now she was out, and things were going to change.
    “Open the cages,” she told the fiend guarding the first floor of cages. The word “guarding” only applied very loosely; it was unarmed and unarmored, wearing nothing but scraps of a loincloth.
    It didn’t move at her order.
    Elise nudged it with her toe. “Hey. Open the cages.”
    Even though she had barely touched it, the fiend drew away from her and bowed its forehead to the floor. All of the fiends did that. Even though she had pulled herself together to appear human again, they wouldn’t look at her long enough to see that she wasn’t glowing with demonic glory anymore. They also weren’t responding to commands.
    She suppressed the urge to kick the fiend.
    “I’ll help free everyone,” Jerica said, sauntering into the kennels behind Elise. The nightmare was wearing body armor they had stolen from the Palace supply sheds, just like Neuma, but it was in much worse condition than