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stop playing—time to step up and accept who and what I was. I am the Prophecy One—the Demon Queen. The thought made me uneasy. It was like admitting that I failed, but part of me longed for the peace it would bring. Accepting the prophecy meant that I’d accepted myself . I once knew who I was. I was a sister, and a daughter. I was kind and smart. But now, I had no idea. Accepting my role and accepting the fact that I’d defeat an ancient demon scared the hell out of me. But I no longer thought of it as someone else’s life. This was my life. I was surrounded by Valefar, Martis, demons, and angels. And I was getting used to it.
    Sitting down on a large stone, I grabbed my bare foot and rubbed it. Although my skin healed fast, walking through the rocky ground barefoot was ripping my feet apart. Sitting for a second would allow them to heal enough to keep moving. I glanced around me. Rust colored stone surrounded me. The sound of water dripping was louder than the screech of birds. I swallowed. Without realizing it, I was sitting on the stone where I saw Collin when he thought I was dead. I remembered the slump of his shoulders and the void in his eyes. Pressing my eyes closed, I shook my head and stood. I couldn’t ever see him again. I didn’t know how I’d keep him away, but I had to. I had to buy enough time to find Satan’s Stone. If I could find it, I could use it to heal me, and then I wouldn’t need my soul back. Collin would survive with his scrap of soul and mine. I hadn’t forgiven him for using his blood on me, and didn’t know if I could, but I couldn’t give him a demon kiss. It didn’t matter what Lorren did to me. I couldn’t.
    A lacy shadow spread over my body, slowly sliding across me like a blanket.   I looked up. My heart constricted and rose into my throat, until I realized it was the dragon-stalker that’d been following me last time I was down here. She landed next to me like a giant cat.
    “Why are you following me?” I gazed at her, but her ruby eyes held no answer. She gazed at me, as if she wanted something, but I didn’t know what.
    I looked at my bare feet and then back at her ruby-colored eyes. Riding would be far less painful. And she kept the demons and grackles away. I still didn’t understand why she followed me, but it didn’t matter right then.
    I stood and walked over to her, running my hand along her scaly face. “Why are you here? You seem to show up at strange times, and I have no idea if I’m supposed to talk to you or what…” It felt like she should be the equivalent of a cat—a really smart one—but still an animal. But something about her made me feel like she wasn’t an animal at all.  
    The dragon lowered her head, and slowly pushed at me with her maw until I climbed on her back. When I was in place, I dug my fingers around a scale to keep from falling off. It didn’t seem to hurt her. Taking a step forward, she lurched rather gracelessly and took off, much like a flying cow. “Where are you taking me?” I asked as she turned the wrong way. But she kept flying, ignoring my tugs to turn around.
    We flew past the jagged rocks below and over the unforgiving terrain. The wind rushed by, pulling at my hair like giant fingers. She slowed and landed in a part of the Underworld I’d yet to see. Darkness clung to every corner, and the rust colored rocks seemed to hum with a life of their own. Small sounds shifted through the shadows, but when I looked nothing was there.
    She took me to a different set of catacombs—a different portal out of the Underworld. When I slid off her back, I moved slowly toward the portal wondering why she took me to this exit. I asked her over my shoulder, “Why’d you take me here?” But when I turned around, she was already gone.
    The sound of sand skittering across rock made me pause. Twisting on my foot, I touched my comb to my mark and extended the deadly blades. The silver tines grew in my hand as I peered through the