Chapter 1

With every step she took, dry leaves cracked against the soles of her feet. She's been running barefoot, away from the hell’s king chasing her. She exhaled heavily against the cold and her breath can be visibly seen through the air.

"Emily." A husky, teasing voice lingered in the dark night.            

"Leave me alone! I've done nothing to piss your horns off!" She tried to run as fast as she could to hide from it. Tears flooded her eyes; the back of her hand reached to wipe the tears away. Her sobs filled the silence, her breathing filled the night and, her tears satisfied the king.

"Cry more Emily. I can feel your fear." The words are replaced by echoing laughter.                    

The pace of her feet became slower and slower. Her feet ached from the running she did and she had no other way but to stop. Emily gathered oxygen and let it swim to her lungs as she shouted, "I won't hide anymore, I won't cry no more because I am not afraid of you!" The night was silent after she spoke. Only a quick gush of wind came and brushed against her cheek; causing her to shiver.

"Bravo." It laughed and a clapping of hands emerged from every direction of the place.

Emily felt the wind blow stronger which resulted in the leaves from the ground to arise and dance along with it; forming a tornado in front of her. The sounds of leaves hitting against each other and the whooshing of the wind had become unpleasant music for her ears.

She forced her eyes close and she tried to build up the courage she knew she never had. Out of fear, it felt like every hair she has stood erect. She didn’t want to die like this. She shouldn't have made a deal with the king but she knew she had to.

The noise of the leaves and the wind had dropped down to utter silence. She convinced herself into thinking that the king had surrendered and disappeared out of her sight. She fluttered her eyes open. "Lucius, stop." She sucked in heavily. This was the first time that she finally can see the damned king himself. Though she did make a deal with him yesterday, he barely showed himself, he appeared as her shadow.

"Stop?" He moved closer, the moonlight illuminated his features. Considering that his voice that trailed superiority can make a mortal run from fear, the spine-chilling grin of his had worsened Emily’s feeling. "Stop what?" He added and a grin etches on his face.

With his perfectly-defined jaw, his black, piercing eyes, his broad and bulky shoulders, any woman can easily fall for his deadly charms regardless of how terrifying he can be.

"Stop chasing me, what do you want anyway? You helped me humiliate the girls at the beach and to repay you: I didn't bother with neither you and your life anymore."

"They were such a sight." He said with his brow raised, "After that, you forgot our deal." Within a blink of an eye, his grin vanished. His teasing voice replaced with a more serious, scary one. Any scary voice a mortal could ever imagine.

"I--"

Lucius brought his palm open to her, gesturing for her to stop. "I don't accept lame excuses." He paused, thinking deeply of what cruel thing he could do to make her pay for running away from him.

"Your soul." He crossed his arms over his chest and flashed her his smirk.

Her eyes widened in shock. Of course, he wouldn’t forget the deal they made – her soul is what she will give to him once he’s done his part. Don't do it. Her conscience said and once her conscience protests against anyone's words, she does as what she's told.

"No." She declined with faint courage now wrapped around the word that escaped her quivering lips.

"Tch." A crack of thunder echoed up the sky followed by a bolt of lightning behind her. The smoke of burned nature filled the air, she turned on her heel to witness the crackles of the flames and the loss of nature. A tree has been struck by lightning which made her shiver.

This guy is crazy.

"Lucius?" Her voice echoed through the night. She heard nothing but her echoes and the crackling of the fire.

"You called, M'lady?" He softened his deep voice and yet, it still had its capability on sending chills down her spine. Emily shivered once again when his lips brushed against the helix of her right ear.

"W--" Loss at words, Emily was. Her nervousness took over; she tried to boost up her confidence as she relaxed with a deep inhale and a sudden exhale. "Other than having my soul taken, what else do you want from me?"

She could hear Lucius' difficulty in breathing: A sharp intake of breath and a sudden release of air he had consumed. Slowly, he backed away from her.

"I need a Queen in the Underworld."

"So?"

"Be a Queen in my world."

"Why don't you just find one? I know there's a woman destined to be your Queen!" She clenched her teeth and her hands folded into fists.

"No.."

His voice was no longer heard behind her; his voice lingered once again through the dark night.

"There is."

"Since there is - then why me? Why not find another way for me to repay you?" She faced the empty sky, thinking Lucius was above her.

"You'll just be a temporary one. When I find my Queen, you're free to go to your puny, pathetic mortal life." He spat out the last few words with disgust trailing in his voice.

She stood in front of him. She was relieved now that she saw Lucius finally standing there. His disappearing tricks have started to piss her off.

Being a temporary Queen is easy but it meant she's going to leave her family as she will be ruling a kingdom. But what about her family? Will they miss her? Will they forget her? Sure, her disappearance would be in just a short time but it's enough to make her family worry.

"We have come to a conclusion, then." Lucius cut off the silence surrounding them. Though Emily did realize she hasn’t agreed to his idea, Lucius offered out his hand, clearly asking for hers to lay on top.

With no other choice, Emily placed her hand over his and she spoke, "We ha-"

Forceful energy sucked her from behind. Air was completely knocked out of her lungs. Her eyes stayed open; she couldn’t breathe and, she couldn’t talk. Emily felt nauseous and a toilet was enough to puke the dinner she had that was in her stomach away.

Everything went black, she wanted to voice out but her lips wouldn't move from her shocked state. Within a millisecond, candles lit up. She's in a room, A luxurious room, signifying Royalty. The walls were painted Black, the candles that lit up was a chandelier. Everything in the room was painted in black and gold and It was beautiful. She inhaled at such a beautiful sight yet despite how beautiful it looked, the fact that she's in an unknown room with the hell's king scared her.

"How-"

"Enjoy your stay, My Queen." Lucius didn't bother to answer her questions that's been running inside her mind right now, instead, he lets go of her hand and disappears out of her sight.

Is she going to be a perfect Queen to these people? Is she fit to be one? She knows she isn't. She's 17 and barely have the responsibilities of a rightful Queen. To avoid any arguments and fight from Lucius, she needs to give her best and be a Great Temporary Queen she needs to be to her temporary subjects.

And a Temporary Queen to her Royal subjects and his Majesty King Lucius.

And the thought of it made her stomach churn, "Oh, hell no."

Author's Note | Must Read to avoid confusions 

::This is my first novel. I'm 16 years old and I live in the Philippines. I don't have much knowledge when it comes to writing.AS SOON AS THIS BOOK HITS 2K VIEWS, THIS WILL BE UNDER PROOFREADING FOR THE READERS' BETTER EXPERIENCE. Please do not forgot to drop some reviews, your opinions and such. I am open for criticisms. :) Thank you!!