Chapter 8
eight
. . .
Nasatch were blue, dark or light, but all very blue.
They were also long and thin, like strands of spaghetti with big eyes and noses.
Over the blue skin were complicated purple markings.
The three turned to look at me like they could hear me thinking about them.
Nostrils sniffed in those narrow faces and then they were blocked by Dorian.
He could block all three of them easily with his broad shoulders.
“Candy, what are you doing?” he growled, eyes flickering a warning.
The three Nasatch writhed and poked heads around him while they grinned and sniffed in a very inhuman way. “It’s the Drigo-mate,” they hissed like delighted puppies. I stared at them while Straldi sighed behind me.
“Well, boss,” the tentacle bearded guy said, stepping to my side and slightly in front of me almost like he was another line of defense in the unlikely case the Nasatch got past Dorian. “Shouldn’t you move to the cage? Keep things confined?”
“No, no!” the brightest Nasatch said in a voice like crackling cellophane. “We’re here to swear our lives to the new demon king. Hail the new demon king!” “Hail the demon King!” “Hail Drigo-King!” After that their cries were unintelligible as they blended into variations on a theme.
Dorian grabbed two necks with one hand and slammed them down on a table.
Dang. That table was really sturdy. Also, so much sudden violence made me flinch.
“You do not challenge me?” His voice, his fangs, all of it screamed demon king who only an idiot would challenge. These guys were apparently not idiots.
The palest Nasatch who hadn’t gotten slammed laughed, low and scratchy.
“Why would we challenge Drigo-king? You save all the baby demons from the green mold. The Queen keep our kind as pets, but you freed them all. Clever Drigo, always the cunning one, but now you are strong. You will defeat the green mold and return us to our home.”
“All the baby demons?” I whispered, not really to them, but they all looked at me like I’d shouted, particularly Dorian.
The pale Nasatch nodded eagerly. “Drigo is strong protector of demon-kind. He will protect you well until you die.”
Mm hm. Dorian definitely protected my heart when he shattered it intentionally to get rid of me.
Dorian rolled his neck and then dropped the Nasatch and came towards me, frowning while he clenched his jaw. “Did you need something?”
I crossed my arms and raised my chin, trying to not look like a tiny human he could throw around even easier than he’d handled the Nasatch. He was so scary. And those cheekbones could literally cut. “I’m looking for dishes to do.”
His eyes narrowed, voice a low murmur. “That’s very…domestic of you.”
Back in the day, he’d always done the dishes before I got the chance, probably because I tended to break them. I narrowed my eyes at him. “That was a long time ago. I’m working off my debt whether you want me to or not.”
“If that’s what you want to call it, I have no objections.” He moved closer until I was forced to give up my ground or touch him.
The baby demon casually flicked his tail in my periphery, and Dorian’s hand came out, catching the whip without taking his eyes off my face. “What did you want, Mixl?”
“I just happened to hear that Regis is on his way.”
Dorian turned to look at the smaller demon. “You know Regis?”
“No, I don’t know, but the other Nasatch were talking about it before you came up.
” Mixl bared his teeth in a smile and tugged on his tail.
“He’s supposed to be a crazy old demon, right?
Maybe should take your pretty little human somewhere she won’t get eaten.
” Mixl wiggled his brows like that sounded fun.
Dorian wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me towards the entrance.
“Don’t touch me,” I snapped.
He immediately took his hand off me, but still ushered me quickly up the stairs using his oppressive presence.
“Where do you think you’re taking me?” I demanded. What if he took me somewhere beautiful and tried to make me forget my broken heart? It wouldn’t work. Three years of active motherhood had made me strong. Maybe.
“Candy Kingdom. Straldi will welcome Regis while we’re away and let me know his current condition.”
“But…” I tripped on the stairs but didn’t so much as scratch my knee before he caught me up against his warm, strong chest and then proceeded to take the steps in two leaps, another leap to the door, and then we were outside, the push and pull of his muscles around me pressing into my skin.
He smelled so good, like all the best things you’d make your house out of if you were a wicked witch in the woods.
There was no point in struggling because he didn’t even notice as he carried me down to a large black sedan. Someone opened the door, flashing a nervous smile at Dorian before closing it on us where we were in back seat with me on his lap, and him under me, his hands absolutely intractable.
I was in shock from being so close. So terribly close. “This is you not touching me?” I gasped.
He placed me down on the seat, but leaned over me, eyes flashing with anger. “You put yourself in harm’s way. I thought we had an agreement. If you can’t keep your side of the bargain for ten minutes, then how can I keep mine, my pretty sweet?”
“I’m not your…” I sputtered, shoving against his broad chest.
His eyes narrowed. “But you are. Mine. Forever. At least until you die. I don’t suppose you’d consider turning into a vampire.
You’d be immortal and much more difficult to kill, so I’d give you more freedom, at least after you’d transitioned well.
” He brushed my cheek with the back of his fingers, sending a shock of awareness through me that had me pulling his hand down, digging my nails into his skin.
“I’m not turning into a vampire. And I’m not yours just because you got spikes. Stop touching me!”
He frowned then looked down at his hand. “Interesting how I only notice not touching you. It’s just as well. You probably wouldn’t survive transition.”
Was he kidding me? Let’s turn you into a vampire? “No? I guess I could turn into a werewolf instead.”
He rumbled deep in his chest. Was that a growl? “Werewolves suffer a great deal to become so fierce and terrible. I would not allow you to suffer so much.”
Apparently he didn’t catch the sarcasm. It was willful, though. Dorian had always understood truth, lies, and every variation in between very well. “You wouldn’t allow? Seriously, the crust on this guy.”
He smiled slightly. “I love it when you talk about me in third person. I’ve missed it.”
“You’ve missed being annoying and obnoxious, because that’s the only time I ever…” I took a quick gulp of breath and shook my head. “We aren’t talking about back then. I really hate you for what you did to me. You should have told me that you were a demon before you ever touched me.”
His lips tilted in a dangerous smile. “It would have been rude not to reciprocate when you kissed me. And touching you protected you from the demons you attract like catnip. My scent on your skin is the best protection I can give you when I’m not around you myself.
Also, and most importantly, I wanted to touch you, and you asked so politely.
You wouldn’t have wanted me if you’d known what I was. ”
I jabbed his chest with my finger. “Which is why lying is a problem, because then people think you’re something that you’re not and you have to pay someone off to get rid of them. Which still makes no sense. Will you back off?” I thumped his chest with my fists.
He sighed heavily and slid away until he was against the door, giving me all the space he could.
It still wasn’t enough. He still smelled delicious and moved like silk velvet.
The trouble was that I felt a million times worse when he wasn’t oppressing me with his muscles, the misery right there above me, waiting to drown me and drag me down into the abyss of hopelessness.
My sweet Wilkie was still gone. Maybe he was in the Zombie Queen’s dungeon.
Dorian looked out the window at the passing buildings and murmured.
“Perhaps you’re right. I should have told you that I was a demon, but if I had told you, I would have kept you.
You’re clearly uncomfortable with the idea of being with a demon.
Pity that you returned to repay a debt you didn’t owe.
It’s a peculiar thing, you coming to me like that.
It seemed like you didn’t know I’d be there, but why were you in my club if not to see me? Very peculiar.”
I was not talking about Wilkie. “Almost as peculiar as you hiring me in the first place. My sexy outfit was a bumblebee costume. I was too whimsical for your club.”
“You were too whimsical for any club. At least at mine, I could ensure your safety.” He glanced over at me.
“Or maybe I didn’t want you to dance for anyone else.
That’s how I felt towards the end, like I wanted to pluck out the eyes of anyone who looked at you.
I did that once or twice to those who went too far. ”
I stared at him while the image of him plucking out eyeballs made me nauseous. “You’re trying to pin your eyeball plucking on me? No thank you. You were turning into this blood and violence demon. That’s just part of your life cycle, or whatever. It has nothing to do with me.”
He raised a dark brow over flickering golden eyes. “On the contrary. Needing to protect you changed me then like it did now. Not so dramatically as the spikes, but your safety has always been my greatest concern.”