The crowd cheered and hooted at the news, satisfied for now.

She paced back up the steps, out of the circle, and reached her hand out, gesturing to one of the demonesses, who immediately moved forward and handed her an ancient-looking scroll. To my surprise, it was the Princess, and as she turned she was careful not to make eye contact with me. It made me wonder if she had a stake in all of this. She couldn’t be happy that Lili, her husband’s lover, was nabbing her rightful spot as ruler. But what did I know? Lili’s signature was stronger, so maybe the Princess had to acquiesce or die? But, honestly, losing her husband and the crown to his mistress had to suck no matter what.

The room hushed as Lili unrolled the parchment, which was covered in Demonish markings. She walked toward a stand someone had set up and hooked the roll to the top, unwinding it slowly. “For now, here they are in all their glory! The original Scriptures passed down from our forefathers for eons,” she announced to massive applause. “These are yours! For every demon to read. No more hiding, no more telling, no more inequality! The new reign starts today and begins with the truth!”

She spun around, meeting my eyes, pure satisfaction racing through them. But before she could mask it, I glimpsed a small, fleeting measure of uncertainty.

It flickered for only the briefest of seconds, but I saw it.

I grinned, my smile wide. Lili wasn’t sure if she could pull this off. That was the reason for all this pomp. She needed support from every demon in this room to ascend to the throne. I quickly scanned the rows again. There were so many demons. It would be impossible to know how many were on board with her new leadership plan and how many were not. And since every single audience member was male, it was doubtful she had full support. She was counting on their superstitions and their unflinching belief in the Scriptures to make this happen.

About ten rows up I noticed a group of demons all wearing what looked to be metallic robes. They were unglamoured and their skin was iridescent, their features sharp and hawkish. I bet those are the spell casters, I told my wolf. And they aren’t clapping. It was too early to know, but seeing Lili’s uncertainty had bolstered me immensely.

Jessica, Rourke called in my mind. Things out here are chaotic. It looks like Lili didn’t have a plan in place for everything. Demons are running all over and all the Demon Lords are missing. We took a few of the demon janitors prisoner, but we’re having a tough time convincing them to help us. They keep saying their Prince will smite them or some such crap. I have the Prince’s recent scent and we’re going to start searching now, but I want to know you’re okay first. I can’t stand the thought of leaving you in the middle of all this. It’s going against my instincts not to come and break you out.

I’m fine at the moment. Lili’s putting on quite a show, but I just discovered she has no real idea if this is going to work. But, that said, I suggest you hurry. My guess is she’s going to be picking up some sharp implements next.

He growled fiercely in my mind. Can you break out on your own if you have to?

Yes, but I’m going to be patient as long as I can. The bottom line is, I’m not sure we can win without the Prince’s help. And once we start fighting, we don’t stop until we’re all free. I paused for a minute. Rourke, I’m not sure any of us is strong enough to kill Lili. I don’t think she was lying when she said she couldn’t die. We can try to stop her, and maybe bring her down temporarily, but I don’t think we can kill her outright. She was cloaking herself before. Her signature is off the charts. I’m hoping if we act with the Prince, something can be done.

Before my wolf could correct me and tell me how wrong I was, and that we could indeed kill her, Lili plucked several tools from the table and waved them in the air, declaring to the crowd, “It’s now time to prepare for the cloning. Once I take the female wolf’s power, I shall control both the Heavens and Hells!”

At once, several demons dressed in white jumpsuits wheeled out a strange-looking gurney. It appeared to be like the ones we use on our plane, except this was ornate, made of some kind of gilded material. It was empty and they parked it right in front of the cheering crowd.

To my utter astonishment the Princess walked over and gracefully lay down, clasping her hands across her abdomen and closing her eyes.

The crowd went berserk.

But on top of the excitement, I sensed some hesitation. Fear began to permeate the room. Demon fear smells like rancid eggs, on top of already rancid eggs. It was enough to make me gag. It appeared that some of the demons were clearly worried about their beloved Princess.

Lili also interpreted the change in the crowd, because immediately, in both Demonish and English, she announced, “Have no fear, my fellow demons! This is what the Scriptures intend. The new reign shall begin. With the wolf’s power and magic, coupled with the Princess’s heart, we will become the most powerful force in the entire universe!”

There was a smattering of applause and some cheering.

Lili nodded her head at the demons manning the gurney and they skillfully lifted the contraption, along with the unmoving Princess, to the edge of the circle and walked it down the steps. They rolled her next to me, and Lili followed, easing down the steps, starting some kind of chant.

I gazed over at the Princess, but her eyes were firmly closed. Because she was clearly cooperating, the crowd calmed down and its fear eased. Everyone was waiting to see what came next, including me.

Curious about the Princess, I pushed my power out toward her, testing. She wasn’t as strong as Lili, but there was something else. Something unique that I couldn’t place.

I had no idea how cloning worked. It was obviously a transfer of power, but other than that it was baffling.

My wolf snarled. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on finding out, but aren’t you the least bit curious? She flashed a picture of us tearing Lili’s head completely from her body. I guess not as much as I am, but you have to admit none of it makes sense. Maybe we were spelled and only thought the clone looked like Selene? Before my wolf could become even more irritated with me, another gurney was wheeled out. This one had a body on it.

As it was wheeled closer, I gasped.

There was no sheet covering the unmoving form. It was lying on its back with its eyes closed.

And looked exactly like me.

“What’s going on?” I asked, alarmed. “How did you get that?”