Chapter Ten
Aurora
We lay in our bed, limbs entangled after hours of lovemaking.
Joseph worshipped every inch of my flesh, whispering his praises, memorizing the sounds I made when his lips caressed my skin.
And I did the same, needing to feel the power of his love before our world was utterly broken.
We only had hours until the Kings arrived.
The visions were subdued while we enjoyed each other, but they were coming back with a vengeance.
I could control them, for the most part.
Decades of practice made it easier to push them into separate corners of my mind.
Past, present, and future each had a room within my mind.
The door to the past I opened often, searching for clues among the actions of our ancestors to assist my children and ensure their future successes.
The door to the future I spent too much time behind.
But how could I not, knowing the future had no place for me in it.
And the door to the present, it was the one I spent the least amount of time with.
My grandmother would scold me for avoiding part of my gift, but living in those visions was more heartbreaking than the others.
My daughters would grow up without their mother, or their fathers, and I hated The Sight for showing me that fate.
A dull ache spread in my heart as I thought of the men I loved.
Lailah’s father was not among them. He was a duty, forced upon me by the Lumen Council and the fact that I was the last female heir of the Valdis line.
My Seer gifts were already thriving by the time Adriel was presented to me, and I saw his vile thoughts.
He was a manipulator. Charming and handsome on the outside, dark and cruel on the inside.
He would take and take from me until I was nothing more than a husk of the woman I once was. But he was mine, nonetheless.
When the first vision of my beautiful girl Lailah came to me, I fled to the mountains. In those days, although daemons and lumens weren’t friendly, we weren’t in open war. The truxen daemons controlled the mountains and never showed themselves to what they saw as the lessers.
Truxens held a connection to creatures that even the royal libraries had no knowledge of. And they kept their strange powers hidden deep within Mount Monkara. But for whatever reason, at least none that I knew at the time, I always felt safe there, as if someone was watching over me.
And he was. My mate.
I remembered that day as clearly as if it were just hours ago.
The soft soil was wet with my tears. My nails dug into the earth, anger and fear flooding my veins and making my power pulse out at a steady beat.
“Young queen, the animals are growing agitated by your cries,” a deep voice murmured from the shadows. Night had fallen, and only a sliver of moonlight offered little light. “What can I do to make you smile? A face like yours I imagine looks most radiant when you smile.”
His words made me pause, and while part of me wanted to roll my eyes, another was grateful for the distraction from my impending marriage bed.
“Can you give me a new life? Because the one I’ve been dealt is terrible,” I grumbled, still feeling miserable.
The shadows stirred, and the daemon slipped gracefully from behind a massive pine tree.
He was nearly as broad as the trunk. His horns were a deep brown, earthy and rough like the bark of the very trees we stood between.
His wings were forest green and scaled like a dragon, shimmering with gold whenever he walked beneath the moon’s light.
He was shirtless, his toned muscles very much on display.
But even in all his masculine glory, it was his eyes that drew me in.
They were the brightest shade of green, and my own ocean-blue gaze was instantly lost in his.
The moment our eyes connected, a soft moan left my lips. He inhaled, his pupils dilating and his fangs snapping out. My sorrow spiraled, mixed with a new devastation. This strange and glorious daemon was my mate. I could feel it in my blood as my power pulsed with new life in his presence.
Our silence lasted for many minutes as we assessed each other and accepted this knowledge.
He moved with the grace of a jungle cat and the confidence of the falcon.
His eyes, flecked with gold, shone with wonder and a possessive light.
He dropped to his knees before me and lifted his massive hands to take one of my own.
“My lady.” His deep voice shook with emotions I couldn’t fully understand. “I have dreamt of you, of this day. My mate would bring the beginning of a new age.”
My eyes were as round as saucers. “I…I am promised to another.”
The daemon snarled. “No. Show him to me and I will kill him.”
A surprised laugh escaped my lips, and he cocked his head, staring at me. “I’m not against that idea. But I must marry him. I will bear his child. My firstborn daughter will be the one who sets the future of our people on the right path.”
My voice changed as I spoke those final words, the vision of Lailah clear in my mind.
The daemon stood, still holding my small hands in his. “If you must endure this burden, so will I. Marry this lesser male and do what must be done. Then I will end him. I will raise his child as my own. I am Belfegor of the Gaelicho Clan, and this is my vow to you.”
“Which door are you lost behind, my love?” Joseph whispered, caressing my cheek. His quiet words brought me back to the present.
“The past. My first encounter with Belfegor.”
Joseph continued to caress my cheek, his thumb brushing across my bottom lip and making blood rush to my face at his touch. “It was one of those moments when the universe aligned just right. He was always there when you needed him.”
I nodded, a single tear rolling down my cheek. “I wish it was different. That I could have kept you both. What a fierce family we could have made, all together.”
Joseph chuckled softly. “Belfy. I do miss him. Even though his sexual appetite nearly killed me.”
I moaned at his words, remembering the one and only time Joseph and Belfegor worshipped my body together.
It was the most magical night of my life, right behind the births of my three fierce daughters.
Belfegor was not only possessive of me, he owned Joseph, too.
I shivered, and my husband wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer until I could feel his hard cock pressed into my stomach.
“Close your eyes, my love,” Joseph ordered. “Think of him while I make you come. Let us remember that night once more, before the end.”
His hand dipped between my thighs, and I cried out when he teased me with his fingers. Tears streaked my face, sorrow and purest happiness warring within me for the men I loved and the life we would never have together.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kissed Joseph with all the love I had. My power pulsed with need, and my skin began to glow as his body joined with my. He whispered filthy things, his voice dropping lower to resemble our mate, our Belfegor.
On this last night of my life, I sent my soul to the stars and begged for them to watch over those I loved most.