Stroking Pride

Chapter 1

Malak

The shrill screaming that penetrated my closed window and set my jaw on edge made me sigh.

Kingsley yawned as he got to his feet and threw open the balcony doors. The screeching sound made me cringe, but before I could snap at him to close it again, his frown caught my attention.

With another sigh, I pulled myself up to join him on the balcony.

My estate sat surrounded by a large moat that led into the main throughways of the city. Because so many of the main waterways led to and from my home, it was always a busy port outside. There were many short taxis and longer public boats. Even a few historic rides that shined in the sunlight.

On the nearest bridge is where the commotion originated.

“A pridefall,” Kingsley said. “Maybe multiple. It’s hard to tell from here.”

There were several for sure. I’d like to say the pridefalls were a newer anomaly but since my damned father vanished in the night, Pride has been getting chaotic. The magic runs wild and becomes more untamed the longer I am unable to wield it.

One such effect of that is the pridefalls.

There were almost a dozen demons battling them. I counted three. Based on their colors, the sin they fell to was lust. I rolled my eyes. Shocking, for sure.

“This is getting out of hand,” Kingsley said, turning back inside.

I watched a while longer, wondering if I needed to interfere. Everything burns, after all. But I’d just finished having the last remnants of a fight scrubbed off the bridges in my view. Scorching them again would just irritate me.

“You need to do something about this, Malak,” Kingsley said when I didn’t answer him.

We’ve been through a dozen ‘queens’ and they all fail to be what I need them to be. And without my queen, I cannot control the magic. Fuck, I can’t even touch it. I can feel it running rampant and disrupting my city. But I can’t do a thing about it.

And I’ve spent a whole fucking lot of resources and time trying to. What I wouldn’t give to be able to take hold of my magic before one of my brothers handles theirs. My one consolation was that none of them were any closer than I was.

Which was fortunate. I’d be an asmodai’s ass fin before I let one of those fuckers take the reigns of Hell. Fuck that noise. Just what Hell needed was a lazy fuck like Bee on the throne commanding all of Hell. Or Sorin who can’t think of anything but sex for more than a solid minute.

And don’t get me started on the slow fuck, Tharul. By the time he made it to the throne, Hell would have frozen. At least that was a bit of a consolation. He’s not got the speed to make it there. Smart man, but that was his only saving grace.

“Malak,” Kingsley said, trying to make me pay attention to him.

I didn’t want to think of the ways I was failing right now. What kind of prince am I if I can’t get this shit together? How can I take my true throne without the magic of pride to back me up?

And seriously, I needed a fucking woman to get me there!

A hand on my lower back had the tension in my shoulders releasing. It slid up my back, following my spine, before Bael leaned against me.

“As much as he’s a pain in the ass, King’s right, Malak. We need to find your queen,” Bael said.

I sighed, leaning against the railing as I watched laraje drown one of the pridefall so the crowd only had to concentrate on two. Six per pridefall. It shouldn’t be this difficult. But a normal, unimpressive kimaris suddenly became as strong as a devourer or a nybbus when they fell from pride and into a different sin. The really curious thing was that despite what sin they fall to, they became exponentially more dangerous and powerful. Running on adrenaline and lacking pain receptors.

It didn’t matter which sin, though. Sloth was as strong as wrath. And lust, which was turning into a more frequent issue, apparently, was just as deadly. The two pridefalls have taken out five of the demons around them. I shook my head, readying myself to set some assholes on fire. Fortunately, an oriax climbed onto the bridge and started taking bites out of the pridefalls.

I smiled, wondering if I should call Zyphon out here to watch what an oriax could do if they actually took the time to master their control. The one there was massive, which meant he could probably find me my queen without trying too hard.

I raised a brow and turned away. Part of the issue was that I didn’t want a queen. I wanted to rule Pride on my own. But fucking Daddy dearest refused his sons that possibility. We all must find our destined queen in order to finally get a handle on our magic.

At least my brothers are just as miserable about this as I am.

Bael followed me in, shutting the doors behind us. When I stopped, he was at my back again, resting his face against my shoulder as he looked at the other three with me. Kingsley was in my chair, something that made him smirk as he looked at me with challenge.

Hayt lounged in another chair. But Zyphon was tapping away on his phone, seemingly oblivious to what’s going on in the room.

“How about we make this interesting,” Zyphon said, looking up from his phone.

“Make what interesting?” I asked.

“Finding you a mate.”

“I don’t need-”

Demons often misinterpreted what the queen was. They’re not a mate. Just a partner that was able to control the magic with me.

“You need a mate,” Zyphon said, talking over me. “And finding one you can easily manipulate has failed thus far. You’re the prince of pride, Malak. You need a proud woman to rule this place with you.”

“No,” I countered. “I need someone strong enough to touch the magic and that can open the pathway up for me. Then I don't need her.”

“And thus why every woman has failed at becoming queen,” Kingsley noted.

Sometimes, I hated that man.

“Malak, if you keep fucking around in this, one of your brothers will find their queen first. I’m sure I’m not the first to have figured out that your queen has to be directly in-line with your sin.”

Bael chuckled. “Lazy fuck’s been researching.”

“I’m not lazy,” Zyphon said, rolling his eyes and leaning back in the chair, the front two legs coming off the floor. “But sitting around here scowling at the pridefalls or harassing you to find a queen wasn’t getting us anywhere. Finding a weak human woman to attempt at shaping her into a strong enough puppet has failed gloriously every time. So, yeah, I stopped paying attention to what you were doing and started trying to find a solution.”

“What’s the solution?” Hayt asked.

“The proper motivation.” Zyphon clicked off his phone and pocketed it. “We need prideful. A woman who knows her worth and makes sure the world knows it, too. But someone honest and generous and loyal. Her positive traits need to balance her pride.”

“I’m not sure that’s motivating at all,” I said, crossing my arms. Bael’s hand slid around my waist, resting on my stomach. He was trying to soothe me. I dropped a hand to rest over his and he hugged me tighter. I fought the smile that touched my lips. He was a good man. A frightening fucking demon, but a damned good man.

“That’s where the wager comes in,” Zyphon said, grinning. “The five of us go to earth and hunt around for the perfect queen. Not someone easily controlled or manipulated. A true queen of pride that will be a partner to Malak and allow them both to get this place under control.”

“What could you possibly offer that could make me seriously want to look for this?” I asked.

“You should want to look for it anyway,” Kingsley said. “Six brothers, Malak. You have six brothers you’re in a race against to find your queen first. Zyphon just told you the kind of woman you need to get there and you’re still being a whiny pain in the ass.”

“You know, your presence isn’t required in my life, fucker.” I narrowed my eyes, the room changing in hue as my darker side pulled to the surface.

“You say that, but you never kick me out,” he countered, a smug smile lingering on his face as he leaned back in my chair, making himself comfortable.

I licked my lips as I stared at him. Reaching for his soul. Reading it. Seducing his desire out-

“Nope,” Kingsley said, breaking eye contact and looking away. “Not happening. My desires are my own.”

“Anyway,” Zyphon said, steering us back to the topic at hand. “Aside from being the first to control your ring and making you the rightful ruler of Hell, a place that really only makes sense for pride to control anyway, I’ve thought about what we could all take advantage of that would lead us to hunting down the best candidate for the job. And I’ve come up with an idea.”

The grin on his face almost has me ending this before he could finish. Something about it made me incredibly uneasy. I wasn’t going to like this.

“Well?” Kingsley prompted as Zyphon waited.

But Zyphon was waiting for me to tell him to finish or to fuck off. That he was right, they were all right, and I was running out of time meant that I really needed to get serious. Generally speaking, the five of us head to Earth to find a woman together. We don’t put much thought into it. Not really.

And yes, I always chose someone I didn’t like. Someone who had no place in my circle of Hell since their pride didn’t even register on the scale. That had never been a trait we cared to seek out. We were looking for someone who wouldn’t get in my way.

“What’s the winner get?” I asked, tension making my shoulders stiff.

“To fuck your queen as if she were our own,” Zyphon answered, his grin sadistic.

Hayt immediately raised his brows, tilting his head to the side in interest. Kingsley nodded, licking his lips. Even Bael, still wrapped around me, smiled against the back of my shoulder.

“You don’t really think I’m going to agree to this, do you?”

“Yes,” Zyphon said. “I can already see that you acknowledge the need to get serious about this if for no other reason than not to let Adrian or Lorcan on the throne.” I scowled further. Princes of greed and wrath, respectively. Adrian would try to take over Earth, just to expand Hell, never being satisfied with what he has. He needs more, more, more. And Lorcan would be just as likely to keep war in Hell since the man thrives on rage. “With the prize being your wife, your queen, as our winning token, we will be assured that we will try to find that queen. And your assurance will be that you find your queen so you can keep her to yourself. It’s a win-win.”

I wasn’t sure that I was going to consider this a win-win.

Minutes ticked by as I stared at Zyphon, willing him to take it back. That he was right told me he’s been thinking about this for a long time. He pinpointed what we needed to look for in identifying the queen of pride and he found a driving force to assure we were all on the right path to putting forth our best efforts in finding said queen.

“Fine,” I said. “Bet’s on. Find me my queen and the winner gets to fuck her as if she were his own.”

“Hold up,” Kingsley said. “Are we talking a one-time fuck or-”

Zyphon shook his head before I could nod. My hands clenched into fists, the one over Bael’s tightened between his fingers. “No, no. One time fuck isn’t enough of a motivating factor.” I grit my teeth, already anticipating his next words. “Winner gets to have her with Malak indefinitely.”

A growl filled the air. With everyone’s eyes on me, I realized it was my growl. I was ready to break out of my skin.

“Still on?” Kingsley added.

Bael’s hand tightened around me. He kissed my shoulder, nuzzled his face into the back of my head until I released a breath. Fuck them if they thought they could have my queen.

“Yes,” I said, my jaw aching from how I clenched my teeth. “I lay out the rules. We have three days, seventy-two hours, and then we bring the information for our best candidate back. One person. You get to choose one. And a winner is only determined if that woman successfully controls the magic in pride, I can control the magic in pride, and she rightfully becomes my queen. Only when all three points are met does a winner get to be chosen.”

“And you don’t just get to fuck the queen. She has to agree,” Bael added.

“It’s going to be a game of encouraging her and seducing her,” Hayt said, his smile growing the longer he thought about it.

I hated this already.

“We start at dawn.” Pulling free from Bael, I left the room, needing to get myself under control. This was going to end badly. I could already tell. It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed women with them before. We shared often. Men, women, food, bloody sacrifices. These were my true brothers. Not the imbeciles that share my father’s blood but my brothers.

But we’re talking about my queen. My fucking queen!

I was confident in presenting my find. A government official with confidence enough that she could convince the public that she had the power to reroute a damn river. But she was kind, often volunteering at nursing homes and veteran’s homes. She was highly educated, had three dogs, and owned an apartment complex. Her tenants had only good things to say about her.

In all honesty, she was a diamond in the rough. There weren’t many government officials like her.

Kingsley found an actress who certainly was off the charts as far as arrogance was concerned. She had obtained some of the top roles in the industry and had a rule about donating 15% of all her earnings to various charities. Humble to balance out her arrogance. But the more I looked at her, the less I thought it was arrogance at all.

She was just good at what she did. In all the videos of her that we watched, she was rather humble.

Thankfully, that put Kingsley off the running.

Bael found an athlete. And boy was this chick strong, quick, and conceited. Her game talk was fierce. The commercials she did were hilarious and the little candid reels we watched showed that her haughtiness was not faked. Even when she was unaware that she was being watched, her self-assuredness was top notch.

But she lacked any of the balancing traits that Zyphon said were needed. She kept her money for her own, which by all means, do. She earned that shit, and in quite a physical way. She didn’t volunteer and she had no real friends or acquaintances.

That was too bad. Of all of them, I think I’d mind least of all to share my queen with Bael.

The girl Hayt showed us had the rest of the room fading away. My lips parted as I stared at the images he presented us, telling us about his find. Anuka Hauptman goes by Nuke. She’s a high-profile model recruiter with a weakness for frappuccinos and cookies. Many candids showed her with her little compact hand mirror as she checked her hair and makeup.

There were equally as many pictures of her with the same guy and girl as they laughed in various backgrounds. And her bank records show that she pays for her younger sister’s college education, her supplies and electronics. She recently bought a brand-new car for her mother.

I missed who came after that. All I caught was Zyphon’s pick was a fashion mogul. It didn’t matter. I found my queen. It was time to bring Anuka to Hell.