The King of the Vile Read Online Free Page A

spinning and weaving, her daggers lashing out for vulnerable spots in the soldiers’ armor.
    A special girl, he thought as fire burst across his palms. She’d ruled the Ash Guild before his arrival, and if the gods were kind, they’d let her rule it long after he died. Standing behind the table, he outstretched his hands and let loose a burst of his power. Twin lances of fire shot from his palms, melting through the chestplates of the two soldiers they struck. The fire swirled within the confines of their armor, burning flesh as the men screamed. Veliana kicked one to the ground, leapt over his body, and spun before the stunned soldier behind him. Her dagger cut a line across his throat, spilling blood to the floor.
    Deathmask covered her retreat with bolts of shadow that slammed into the men like boulders. Even from a distance, he could hear their bones break from the force. Veliana summersaulted over a leg sweep, fell flat to the ground, and then rolled toward the overturned table.
    “That’s enough,” Deathmask said, his wrists connecting as he gathered his power. White light sparked like electricity before his palms, then vanished as a ball of darkness replaced it. It grew in size, sucking in howling wind. Deathmask let it loose. It rolled through the air with a sound of thunder, the men it touched screaming as their skin turned to ash, as their life force was pulled into the rotating sphere of darkness and light. When the sphere reached the door, it detonated, flinging bodies against walls hard enough to cave in armor.
    Deathmask let out the breath he’d been holding. Only ten men lay dead before him. He’d expected more.
    “Just a single patrol,” he said as Veliana stood and stretched her back. “Maybe they weren’t sure we were here.”
    Rubble blasted inward, making way for an armored angel to duck into the basement. His wings curled about him to fit through the entrance, the daylight adding a golden hue to the white feathers. The angel held aloft a long blade that must have weighed more than Veliana.
    “Deathmask of the Ash Guild,” the angel said. “You have this one chance to surrender for trial before I am forced to kill you.”
    “And you have this one chance to run away before I pluck your feathers and send you back to the castle well-cooked,” Deathmask countered. “Actually, change that. I’m going to do that no matter what you try.”
    The angel tensed, clearly not amused.
    “What about me?” Veliana asked. “Can I go free?”
    When the angel opened his mouth to answer, she leapt at him, both daggers thrusting. The angel’s speed was incredible as he twisted his enormous blade in the way of her attack. But it’d only been a feint, for she fell short, rolled, and then back-flipped away as his sword slammed the stone. Cracks ran in all directions.
    The distraction was all Deathmask needed to cast his spell, and with a bellow he unleashed his fury. Dozens of colorless spiders rose from the shadows at his feet, some scurrying along the ground, others leaping to the ceiling. They swarmed past Veliana and into the angel, whose magical blade swept side to side, failing to scatter them all. The spiders leapt upon him, sinking in their fangs. With each bite their form changed to smoke, pouring into the angel’s body through the bloody openings they created. The angel dropped his sword, tore at his skin, and screamed. The veins in his body became snaking, branching black lines, rippling beneath his flesh. His scream lost power, and with a clatter of armor, he fell dead to the ground.
    Frowning, Veliana walked over to the body and tapped it with her foot.
    “That’s a new one,” she said.
    “I don’t like to use it,” Deathmask said, clutching the table to steady himself. “One slip of concentration, and those spiders go wild, biting at anything nearby.”
    Veliana lifted her lone good eyebrow at him. “I’d prefer you not use those spells when I’m in the way of the target,” she