Chapter 25 #2
Carmine’s mother stormed out. Back to Adeuto, I hoped, though I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted her there while in a pissy mood.
Two left.
I peered down the length of the table at Carmine. “What were you thinking?”
He flashed a grin, then wiped it away as quickly. “Not my best idea.”
“Understatement.”
“I thought it might help to smooth over Gratia’s new situation and make amends for the unwanted advice I gave her.”
If the kind sentiment had arisen from any other, I might have thought it sweet. “I guess you missed the smoothing part. Sitting there didn’t do much. Sometimes you need to grunt and say one or two words.”
Carmine unfurled to his full height—which was larger than most supernaturals—then he walked down the length of the table. “You did the smoothing, Syera, as I knew you would. There was no need for my grunts and words.”
Played. “You missed an opportunity to ease tension between yourself and Gratia by doing nothing.”
“I did something. I smoothed you, and you smoothed them.”
I tilted my head back to look at him. “I was already smooth. You should have put that effort into your prickly mother.”
He circled behind my chair and rested his hands on my bare shoulders. I shivered.
“You look beautiful in this dress, Syera, but there will be consequences.”
“To your own tailor?” I said drily. “I doubt it.”
And now the tailor would definitely be punished. This was Yiti’s revenge, and I wasn’t about to stand in the way. If the head tailor survived, then it would be due to his own cunning and skill.
The demon king didn’t answer, and I imagined he was imagining the same thing as me right now—that if he slid his large hands under the neckline of my dress, then both of my breasts could be in his hands.
My chest rose, and I pressed my thighs together. “Take your hands off me, Carmine.”
He did so, but only after sliding them down my upper arms. I sighed, and my head arched to one side of its own accord.
He trailed a finger down my neck, and I shot to my feet, whirling to place my back to the table.
Carmine kicked the chair out of the way, then crowded me. I arched back to keep space between us.
He whispered, a few inches from my face, “This will get worse after our intention ritual. What will you do then, sweet Syera?”
Lust wasn’t my sole thought. It was more like the ninth or tenth… until these moments where lust exploded like a fucking dam. I squeezed my eyes shut. “I don’t know.”
“What is it that you used to say?” he mocked. “You’re playing with fire.”
I snapped my gaze open to glare. “I’m not the one who created an ultimatum so I’d agree to the next step. You’re bringing this on yourself. Why are you angry at me?”
He inhaled, gaze furious. “I am so fucking angry at you, Syera, but I’m not the one afraid of being burned.”
“You should be. All demons can go up in flames.”
I edged out along the table, but he hooked an arm around my waist when I was nearly free. He pressed his torso to my back, and I bit back on the urge to press my ass back against his cock. I had to get out of here.
Carmine spoke next to my ear. “I could never be afraid of our mating. You are the only thing that has ever made sense in my existence.”
I swallowed. “Whatever this mangled mess is by now, it’s meaningless to me. You need to let go of the idea that we will exist together.”
“The past could never have been different, but I wish that I could erase it all to regain what we had.”
He released me.
I put distance between us, then whirled back. “All we ever had were lies. You could have chosen to let them live.”
“No I couldn’t,” he roared.
The switch was so sudden that I jumped.
He stormed closer and grabbed my hands when I stumbled back. “Why do you cling to this denial? You know that I could do nothing other than kill such a threat to my throne. You would be dead if you weren’t my mate. I cannot deny the force that comes with being king.”
My throat worked. His mother had touched on this, too, but Carmine had never allowed me so much insight into being king. “What do you mean?”
He released me and turned away. “There is much you don’t understand. That you will never understand.”
“I wonder why that is.”
Even this conversation was more than he deserved.
There was nothing Carmine could do to erase the past, and without that, I could never forgive him.
“Whether you had control of their deaths is irrelevant,” I finally said.
“What matters is that you murdered them, and I could never love that person. So there’s the answer to your question.
I’ll control my lust after the intention ritual in the same way as I do now. ”
He remained turned away, but I could see that his body vibrated.
I was done.
I said to his back, “I need to visit the Pinnacle, so I’ll portal early today.”
“Why?” He growled the word.
“My strategy for the last round is different. I’m working with some of the remaining demons.”
“You will need to kill them in the end, Syera.”
“No shit, Carmine.” I walked out of the dining room—surprised when he let me leave.
Storming down the hallways helped my rage to dissipate, and soon I was able to snort again.
Family luncheon. We wouldn’t be doing that again anytime soon.
But I was impressed by Raes. There was a grounded quality to the purple demon that nearly every royal in the fortress lacked.
Perhaps except the red I’d spoken to while Gratia and the others raked dirt.
I had a feeling that I’d like Raes—and also that he and Gratia would rely greatly on my support.
I should use that to control her.
I portaled to the Pinnacle from the halls.
“Ready?” I asked the red.
He yelped and whirled, half dressed, which meant that he wasn’t wearing a loincloth yet, so he was completely naked. “M-Mate-Intended. You’re back!”
I scanned the Pinnacle for the others. They were spread out. My yellow was approaching. “I said I would help.”
“Yes, but you left so suddenly.”
“There was trouble. Snap that loincloth on. Let’s go see what can be done for your son.”
He covered his genitals, then faced me. “You really are going to help.”
“I grow tired of the repetition, demon. I have much to do today, and I must do this now to give myself enough time to recover if the healing depletes me.”
The red’s face dropped, and he looked near tears as he opened a portal. “Of course. I’m ready.”
“Can I come?” the yellow puffed from the doorway.
The red narrowed his gaze.
“Yes,” I answered on a whim, then nearly asked for their names. Wait. I didn’t want to remember their names. They’d be the red and the yellow until I killed them.
The three of us stepped through the portal, and I took in the mud shack on the other side. Filthy. Unclean. Whoever was trying to hold this place together was spread far too thin.
“The house is a mess right now,” the red muttered, picking up a cushion from the floor. “My mate is working and caring for our son—”
I touched his forearm. “Show me to your son.”
The red released a shaking breath, then led the way up a flight of stairs that I wasn’t so sure could hold our combined weight.
At the top, he pushed through one of the two doors.
“Father!” The excited shout was followed by hacking coughs.
That wasn’t the voice of a teenager…
The red hurried to a small cot in the corner and remained there until the coughing stopped. “You know shouting hurts you, my son. Now listen, I have brought someone powerful who wants to help you. You must do all that she says.”
A small boy peeked beneath his father’s arm. Yellow and red scales dotted his face.
Red had mentioned his son’s need to constantly release smoke, and I’d assumed his son was sixteen or older. This young child could only be a couple of years older than Adeuto. How was he emitting smoke so young?
I’d never seen another demon like him.
“Oh, yes,” I breathed, drawing closer. “You are very unique. The most unique demon I’ve ever seen.”
The boy narrowed his gaze. “You have black scales.”
I grinned. “We are both unique.”
“Do you hurt all the time too?”
My chest squeezed. “No, darling. I don’t hurt. Not in the same way as you.”
His father made room so I could sit on the bed by his son’s head.
I placed a hand on the boy’s head and winced at the chill. “What is your name?”
“Owu,” rasped the little demon.
“Nice to meet you, Owu. Do you know that I am not just a demon?”
His eyes widened. “What else are you? Vissimo?”
I could only imagine how that would go. The bloodthirsty quality of a demon combined with a Vissimo’s need to drink blood—and the fangs to do so.
“A magus,” I replied. “And that means that my magic might sting. Because magus and demon powers don’t like one another.”
“Does that mean you don’t like yourself?” he asked.
His father and the yellow gasped, but I grinned again. “That’s too confronting to answer at our first meeting. Perhaps I’ll tell you another time. Your job is to lie still. Can you do that?”
“That’s all I do.”
I released my magus power through my palm and over his head. The boy blinked once from the sting that had made grown demons wince and physically pull away. Owu knew too much of pain.
My voice floated through the room. “The boy’s mother is needed.”
“She’s working,” said the red.
“If she is not here, this will fail.”
He deliberated. “Okay, I’ll go.”
“Not you.” I glanced at the yellow. “Get her. She is sewing in the factory across the lane.”
The red gripped his son’s hand. “Please be discreet. She’ll lose her job if they find her gone.”
If this worked, she wouldn’t need that job anymore. “There are worse things to lose.”
Owu’s father nodded.
My favorite yellow left, and I entered more deeply into my divination magic.
I’d use my demon power for the healing, I assumed, but magus power was a healing force…
and also a healing force that sought greater understanding.
Right now, my magus power wished to understand the mess that was Owu’s smoke and scales.