The Devil's Liege (The Mathias Saga Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

where with a sack over your head, having to pee, and your hands and feet tied together. It was just wonderful. Really. The only reason Nossy knew there was a sack over his head was that he could feel and smell the burlap. Nossy clicked his tongue behind his fangs. At least the bag hadn’t held something rotten. It could have been worse.
    If he could kick himself, he would. If only he didn’t have his weakness for pomegranates. That had been the end of it all. No more being trusting to everyone. No more Mr. Nice Bat. He’d been too nice. He’d always been too nice. He should have known better and not trusted his mother’s old advisor, Elias. But, it wasn’t like he’d had a lot of time to find someone else before he’d killed his mother. Still, though, he could have used Elias for a small while until he chose someone he knew he could trust. Instead, he’d been lazy.
    But, Elias had seemed fine after her death. Maybe he’d wanted his revenge for Lilith’s death, or maybe all along he wanted the seat for himself. It was possible. He’d been a hell of an actor. Plus, Nossy had to admit because of his laziness, he hadn’t bothered to really look at Elias too hard. He’d chosen not to look because it had been easier.
    “Damn Pomegranates.” He’d never look at them the same again.
    He adjusted his legs as best he could. His wings were broken; the pain radiating from his back was a minor distraction. He knew that whoever was responsible would not kill him for a while, not with an investigation going on. Also, he had to imagine that there was a ransom. Nossy just hoped someone found him before it all went to hell. Or heller. If this wasn’t a form of hell, he didn’t know what was.
    Now, he really wished he hadn’t ever invented the combination of metals and magic that prevented the blinking from working. It had been intended for keeping prisoners where they needed to be, but now, too many people knew how to use it. He adjusted his hands. Yep, he could feel the faint power of the spell. He was thoroughly and completely screwed.
    * * * * *
    As Mathias headed down the hall he found himself tired. He’d been looking for Vlad. It was hard to tell where the vamp had gone. It felt like he’d been going for hours. The castle was too damn big. Of course, the boredom and the fact that he had no idea where Vlad was probably had something to do with it too.
    He was pretty sure he could trust Vlad. Mathias just couldn’t see him doing anything to hurt his old friend. Not after all this time anyway. It just didn’t make sense. That realization put Vlad on the short list of people Mathias could trust. Sure, he was nervous about it, but he felt relatively okay about asking Vlad for names of people who stood to gain something from Nossy being gone. That was the only way they were going to be able to narrow down who was involved anyway. And, well, if he was wrong about some of them, then oh well.
    Then, he started noticing something. The more people he passed in the hallways, the more they bowed to him. This was something new. Sure, he was used to them dodging him, but bowing to him? What the fuck?
    He paused in front of a little girl wearing a frilly pink dress. “What’s going on?” he asked her. She seemed harmless enough.
    Her red hair was pulled back into a severe bun. Her blue eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Honestly, she reminded him on one of those ballet dancers in a Degas painting he’d seen in art class back when he actually went to human school. She lowered her eyes from his. “What can I help you with, my liege?”
    Mathias froze. His mind blanked out the whole “liege” thing. This was, in no way, what he was expecting. He shook the cobwebs out of his head. “Why is everyone bowing?”
    “That is what one does in the presence of their king, my lord.”
    Oh. Fuck. Who in the hell decided this was a great idea? He forced himself to not show externally he was freaking the fuck out. Last thing he wanted