Chapter 14 #2
The King was just as I remembered, a tall and handsome figure with an aura of power and incredible sensuality. His bright blue eyes glowed in the firelight and his smile was warm, but perhaps a little tired.
For the first time, I felt like I could see how old he was by the features of his face and the way he held himself. An incubus didn’t show his age.
Unless he hadn’t fed enough.
An ancient being like the Incubus King probably fed on a plethora of humans. Unlike me, his bedmates likely wound up dead.
“Ah, Lilith,” he said in greeting before taking his seat at the head of the table.
He held out a hand, not even looking behind him, until someone filled it with a champagne glass.
He raised it. “A toast to my daughter and our first official dinner together as a family.” He glanced at Logan, then the empty seat beside him.
“We’re not waiting for Trevor and Olivia?” I asked as servants provided Logan and me with drinks for the toast.
Derek set his glass down and ran his finger around the flute, studying me before he spoke. “They had an appointment tonight.”
“What kind of appointment?” I shot back. I wasn’t going to hedge around my questions and I certainly wasn’t going to pretend to be afraid or sheepish around my father.
I might be a bundle of raw nerves, but that just meant I didn’t have the patience to play his games.
His lips spread into a grin. “Well, if you must twist my arm, then I’ll tell you, even though Olivia asked me not to.”
That made me raise a brow.
He made me wait a small eternity before he finally spoke again. “She’s with her wedding planner picking out floral arrangements… with her fiancé.”
I frowned.
Then drew my hand over my mouth as I stifled a gasp. “T-They’re getting married?”
Logan shifted uncomfortably in his chair as if he already knew.
Why did my mates just love to keep secrets from me?
Derek chuckled as if my reaction was going to sustain him for the rest of the evening.
“Yes, didn’t you know? I’m paying for their wedding.
They were going to tell you when things calmed down.
You do have a lot on your plate right now.
And, well, while everyone was waiting for you to wake up, there wasn’t much else to do.
Asher’s been playing guardian while Olivia and Trevor were planning and Kaito was working.
” He looked knowingly at Logan. “And your wolf likes to keep finding himself in trouble.” He shrugged.
“It seemed like a good time to play matchmaker. I do love a good party.”
He raised his glass while I remained speechless.
“So, shall we get on with the toast, then?” he asked.
Stilling my shaking hand, I managed to pick up my glass. I so was going to give Olivia a talking-to when I got my hands on her again.
“To the Champion of Calamity,” he said with a wide smile.
“To the Champion,” Logan repeated.
Then all of the servants murmured the same, bowing low.
A strange tingling ran over my skin at the genuine reaction.
My father watched me while he took a sip.
I joined him, nodding before I drank down the bubbly champagne.
It hadn’t occurred to me that so many supernaturals were counting on me.
So many realms.
Not just my mates.
As if I needed more pressure stifling my confidence.
“Where’s the professor?” Derek asked, giving me a distraction from my swirling thoughts. He watched me, completely ignoring a female who leaned in front of him. Even when she set down a plate of food while giving him an eye full of her cleavage, he didn’t budge.
I shrugged and pretended to be nonchalant about Kaito’s decision not to attend dinner. “He’s not coming.”
Derek hummed. “Too bad. I enjoy his company.” He nodded at Logan. “And you, wolf. How goes my daughter’s training? Are you staying to the schedule I provided now that you’ve recovered?”
I tried not to react. Logan hadn’t told me that he’d been training me under Derek’s orders—when he wasn’t busy breaking them. Although, if my father truly cared about my well-being, it made sense.
Still, it was… odd.
I didn’t want to like my father. In fact, I wanted to hate him. He was responsible for my existence. He had turned me into a tool for a legacy I never asked for.
He’d made me a monster for his own glory.
A servant filled our secondary glasses with crystal clear water while another provided us platters full of succulent food prepared to perfection.
“She’s coming along,” Logan said, eyeing the plate of meat that had just been placed in front of him. “We’re working on… endurance.”
I snorted into my glass.
Derek grinned. “I bet you are. Plus, weren’t you a professor yourself at Fortune Academy?
After training a bunch of mutts how to break their bones for sport, I imagine training my daughter to use her fists shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.
” He shoved a bite into his mouth and chewed, making us wait until he swallowed it.
He pointed the fork at Logan. “Don’t take too much longer.
Lucifer is going to be expecting an update in less than a week.
I’m going to have to tell him that she’s awake by then.
I expect I’ll have to hand her over and I’d prefer it if she can handle herself in a fight while Kaito works out how to fix her magic. ”
Logan frowned. “You’re just going to give her up? Just like that?”
I squeezed Logan’s thigh under the table, but he ignored me.
Derek didn’t seem offended as he continued to sample his food.
“This is a long game, boy. When you’ve been alive as long as I have, you have to know when to play your cards, and when to hold onto them.
” His bright blue eyes found mine. “I’m having you prepare her because, ultimately, she is the Champion.
Not any of us. She will have to face the darkness that’s inside of that demon.
He won’t kill her. He wants to use her, but it doesn’t mean she should just be fed to the wolves.
” He grinned again, obviously using that play on words intentionally. “No offense.”
Logan’s jaw clenched, but for once, I agreed with my father.
Even if I’d never asked for this, I was the only one who could stop Calamity. The universe had chosen me for a reason. It had helped me find my mates to give me enough power to endure the formidable task.
If I could stop flubbing it up and gather my mates all in one place, perhaps I’d finally succeed.
Conversation turned to lighter topics and I bided my time to bring up Balthazar.
Plus, the food really was to die for.
Every bite was delicious—from roasted vegetables lightly dusted with herbs to tender cuts of steak bathed in savory sauces—and each dish was more exquisite than the last.
I almost forgot my purpose of having Trevor organize the dinner when Derek addressed me again.
“So, daughter. Does it bother you that Olivia is going to get married before you are?”
What an odd question, I thought.
“No, of course not. Olivia is my best friend. I just want her to be happy.”
Derek hummed with thought. He tapped his glass. “No, I think you’re not married because you haven’t figured out the logistics. How many mates do you have? I think it was seven?”
“Eight,” Logan corrected, making me raise a brow.
Was my wolf keeping track? Sure, I knew how many mates I had. But I didn’t sit around counting them on my fingers like they were dollar bills.
Derek hummed again. “While we’re planning Olivia’s wedding, we should plan yours, too. It could be a group setting.”
I shoved my plate aside. “Okay, what the fuck? Why are you all gung-ho about playing matchmaker? Supernaturals don’t need weddings. Mate-bonds are stronger than some empty words and an exchange of rings.”
Logan leaned into me. “He’s an Incubus. A wedding in his territory gives him a special dose of power.” He shrugged. “You must have missed Orion’s class on that one.”
I rolled my eyes. Of course. My father wasn’t playing matchmaker out of the goodness of his heart.
He wanted dibs on the power generated by a supernatural ceremony.
I huffed. “Tell you what, Dad. If Calamity is taken care of and all my mates are safe and sound and happy, then maybe you can host our wedding. Maybe.”
Derek’s grin stretched all the way to his ears. “Wonderful.”
Logan’s small smile was the only thing preventing me from feeling too pissed off. It hadn’t occurred to me that my wolf might want to get married.
I’d never considered it. That was something that humans did.
But then again, didn’t wolf shifters have mating ceremonies, too? Not exactly weddings, but it would explain why Logan might enjoy the idea.
Derek’s next question sobered the mood.
“So, what was so important that Professor Nakamura left you under your wolf’s care? I imagine he must trust the mutt a great deal to leave you alone with me.”
Logan’s peaceful state vanished as he growled, but I ignored him. Derek seemed to enjoy riling him up.
“He’s working,” I said. “Kaito’s going to figure out how to fix me. So, that’s more important than sitting here stuffing his face.”
Even if I didn’t like it, I wasn’t going to show my father that it upset me Kaito had chosen his duty over giving me moral support.
Although, thinking about it that way made me feel like a drama queen.
Derek chuckled. “Always hard at work, that one. This isn’t the first dinner he’s missed because of some project, am I right?” He held out his empty glass, waiting until a servant appeared to fill his cup again. “He’s married to his work. Perhaps that’s why you’re not married, yet.”
Really, we were back on the wedding thing again?
“I already said maybe,” I hissed. My irritation sparked that cold feeling deep inside of me. I recognized the sensation of where the power of the Death Lotus remnant still rested.
Please, not now, I begged to some unspoken deity.
The last thing I needed was to change my appearance in front of my father and Logan and have to try and explain that one.
“Yes, but you didn’t confirm if you approved of a group setting,” my father continued. “That would be most efficient.”
Yeah, and give you the biggest power boost, I thought.
This dinner was supposed to be about me getting information regarding Balthazar, but now I realized Trevor had convinced Derek to eat with me in order to talk to me about weddings.
I knew I shouldn’t let that get to me, but a fucking heads-up would have been nice.
“Have you considered a small wedding with Logan and Kaito first?” Derek asked. “This week, perhaps. You know, before Lucifer takes you and gods know what’ll happen then.”
My mouth went dry. Was he seriously implying that I should marry as many of my mates as I could just to give him a little bit of a power boost before something happened to me?
“You’re unbelievable,” I growled as I shakily stood to my feet. That cold, magical sensation spread over to my extremities. My wings twitched at my back and I desperately wished I could spread them out and show him exactly who he was trying to take advantage of.
I was the Princess of Hell.
I was a daughter of a full-blooded angel.
Mate-bonded to eight powerful supernaturals who would die for me.
And I was the Champion of the Third Echo of Calamity.
If the Incubus King thought he could use that for his own gain, I’d make sure it bit him in the ass.
“Lily,” Logan said with warning, but I waved him away.
“Have you never learned your lesson, Derek? You were supposed to be so much more. You were supposed to be better. Had you not been so obsessed with yourself, perhaps you would have seen that there’s more to life than power.”
Derek threaded his fingers together and leaned his elbows onto the table.
“You think everything I do is for power, daughter? No. Everything I’ve done is for you.
” He stood, leaning onto the table as he emphasized his point.
“I’ve dedicated my entire life to learning how to bring you into existence.
My daughter. The embodiment of all my hopes and dreams for our race.
” He waved a hand around the room. “Do you think the realms know who we are? How we should be worshipped? No.” His hand fell to his side.
“Humans thought they were at the top of the food chain. For all of history, supernaturals have had to live in their shadow. But, I knew to go against them would mean going against the male muses. That’s why I pursued your birth, Lilith. To make things better for our people.”
I scoffed. “Is this supposed to be better? Humanity decimated by chaos incarnate? Mortals practically gone extinct because Lucifer has changed them all into supernaturals with the power of Calamity?” I slammed my fist against the table, making the plates rattle.
“And look at you. Now you’re starving, aren’t you?
That’s why you’re so desperate for weddings.
Anything to get you a power boost so you don’t decimate to ash. Am I wrong?”
His lips pressed into a thin line. “It’s not like that,” he insisted.
But I knew I was right. “If you had stopped to think about it for a fucking second, you would have realized how backward you have everything. You were supposed to be one of Sonya’s mates.
You were supposed to share her, and with the strength of her other men, she would have been able to survive.
None of your wives ever lived very long, did they?
Not those two poor succubi you married a thousand years ago.
And certainly not Silvia. You’re an assho—”
My tirade was stopped short by a shatter of glass near the doorway.
Asher broke through the servants, his eyes wide and his skin pale, startling me.
“Lily! It’s… It’s…” he tried to say.
He fumbled over servants and broken dishes to finally get to me. He clung to my arm and tried to pull me aside, but I wasn’t done here yet.
He finally found his words, making my heart sink.
“Lucifer’s here!”