4. Duke Haures
CHAPTER 4
DUKE HAURES
BILLIE
I t takes every ounce of media training I’ve ever had to keep from reacting when I meet this duke guy.
I thought he would look like my demon kidnapper. If not him, then the other demon who caught me. That one was all shadow, except for his green eyes. I could still make out some of his features, including his horns, and I’m sure he’s definitely the same kind of demon as the first one.
Their duke? He looks nothing like them.
Well, no. That’s not true. He has the same impressive height, the same linebacker-style build. He has horns, too, and fangs. His blue eyes glow, but they’re so bright, that lend a bluish cast on the rest of him.
Because the rest of Duke Haures? Is pure white . And I don’t mean like caucasian white. I mean he doesn’t have a drop of color to him except for his black claws and blue eyes.
He sits on a throne on top of a crystal dais. He has shadows behind him—more demons, I guess—and is a room that is nothing like the outside of this world. The moon peering down on us through the gaps in the ceiling is blue, there are hovering balls of light the same coloring along the gold-accented wall, and it’s much, much cooler.
I’m still in the demo world, though. Obviously. It was just my luck that, after the demon grabbed me, we landed in the ruler of Sombra’s backyard.
In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have tried to take off on the demon I knew. If I hadn’t gotten snagged almost immediately by another, who knows what other danger I could’ve been in? I’m a stranger to this world. I don’t know the rules. I have to be careful, and if that means following two demons through a vast field of smoke, fire, and shadows before arriving at the hidden oasis where the duke has his palace?
I will.
His name is Duke Haures. He introduces himself to me in English, and if I wasn’t so taken aback by his appearance, the fact that he can speak my language would’ve done it. Do they all know English? My captor didn’t at first, but then I took his hand to shake it—foolishly believing he was offering me a truce—and then, wham!, we could communicate.
I didn’t touch the duke, but that doesn’t stop him from greeting me warmly to Sombra, his realm, and asking me how I know Glaine.
“Glaine?” I echo. “Who’s Glaine?”
My demon kidnapper clears his throat. “I am Glaine.”
“Well, how was I supposed to know that? We didn’t have time for introductions before you stole me.”
The demon duke steeples his claws. “Interesting. But he is your mate, yes?”
Mate? “What, like, lover? Partner? No! I just met the guy.”
“But you called him to you.”
Huh? “No.”
“So it’s true. It wasn’t the Verus Amor spell that led him to you.”
He’s talking English, but I have no clue what he’s talking about. “Um. I don’t think so. I mean, he was just in my kitchen and, poof, now I’m here.”
“You didn’t open the Grimoire du Sombra ?”
I shake my head.
“You didn’t manifest Glaine to the human world?”
I give him a side-long look. “I had the weekend from hell, no offense meant. I was just heading to bed. I didn’t manifest anything.”
“Hmm.”
“And, since I haven’t, I’m sure you can see that this is one big mistake.”
The duke nods, the magic light flashing off of his crystalline crown. “Yes, mortal. I agree with that.”
As much as it rankles for this big demon ruler to call me ‘mortal’ like that, almost like he’s dismissing me instead of being amazed to see a human woman, I keep my mouth shut. I just nod.
“And you’re sure. You are not Glaine’s mate.”
Next to me, my demon kidnapper—Glaine—jerks in place. “Your grace?—”
“No,” I say firmly. “I’m not.”
Duke Haures waves off to the side.
I don’t know what that means, but the purple-eyed demon lurking in the shadows there nods.
As he drifts out toward me, I see that he wasn’t just in the shadows. He is the shadows.
“Put your hands in front of you,” commands the duke. “Now, mortal.”
I have half a mind to refuse. What is he going to do to me if I do?
Second thought? I don’t even want to imagine what these monsters will do if I piss them off. They have claws. Fangs. Holes on the outside that are filled with fire . And, yet, nothing seems more dangerous than this falsely regal demon with the crystalline crown.
Biting my tongue, I hold my hands out in front just like he ordered. The purple-eyed demon says something in that harsh demon language. The duke nods. The purple-eyed demon rubs his inky black hands together, and when he’s done, he’s conjured a length of golden chain between them, complete with thick manacles on each end.
He throws them at me. I flinch, bracing myself for the impact. It doesn’t come, though when I move and hear metal clinking on metal, I glance down.
More magic, I guess. Because those chains? They’re on me .
“Oh.” The links span about two feet. I shake my hands, the rustling of the chains even louder in the stuffy throne room. “Oh, wow.”
Oh, no .
Glaine frowns when he sees what’s hanging off my wrists. “Duke Haures. Your grace. Chains? I don’t think?—”
“I have to,” the duke responds, speaking in English again as he cuts Glaine off. So I can understand him? Or because I don’t—but he wants to make sure I at least know that he has his reasons for putting me in these heavy, clunky things. “Remember what makes us shadow demons. If you can’t follow?—”
A muscle ticks in Glaine’s solid cheek. Apart from the duke, he’s the only other demon who isn’t hovering in that strange shadowy version. “I’ll burn,” he supplies.
Wait. He’ll what ?
Duke Haures nods. “Yes. And where the mortal is going… you will stay behind in the throne room with me, Glaine. Do you understand?”
His gaze darts over to me. His nostrils flare, and he nods in return. “Of course, my lord.”
“Very well. Vorn? If you would.”
Vorn. The same green-eyed demon that found me after Glaine snarled, I panicked, and then I ran off, looking for a way out of here. He purposely avoids Glaine’s glare as he gestures for me to follow him.
My feet are filthy. I’m covered in ash from my calves down, and my dress is sticking to my sweat-slicked skin. My curls are a droopy mess. It seems like a lifetime ago that I fueled up on caffeine, but those three espressos are kicking my ass right now. I’m annoyed and worried and, damn it, a little bit scared—and I cover that up by jutting out my chin and sticking my nose in the air while my mind runs a mile a minute, searching for a way out of this mess.
Or, at the very least, a bathroom.
No such luck.
What are they going to do to me? Well, how about putting me in a pair of golden chains, then leading me underground to a damp, chilly dungeon ?
Because that’s where I am. At least four flights below the throne room where I left Duke Haures, Glaine, and the other demons, I’m led by a pair of green-eyed guards who flank me the entire way to the cell. I don’t know what kind of danger they think I’m. I’m half their size and wearing chains… but they’re not taking any chances. They march me in silence before leaving me behind in a dank, chilly cell about the size of my bathroom at home.
I don’t look around. Beyond a basin that might be a sink and a cot, there’s not much else here. I’m hoping like hell that the sink isn’t a demon version of a toilet because… yeah, that’s not gonna be fun. Instead, I sink down on the cot, the beginning of the realization that this is actually happening sinking in.
I don’t panic. What will that do? I’m a problem-solver.
This is just a much bigger problem than I’m used to.
Maybe I need sleep. If I’m lucky, this will turn out to be a stress-induced nightmare. With all the adrenaline that’s been pumping through me since I realized I was abducted by a demon, I’ve burned off the last of those espressos. If I can’t pee, eat, or wash this gunk off my legs, I might as well sleep and look at this problem with a fresh eyes tomorrow.
No, it’s not hiding from my problem. It’s recharging to figure them out tomorrow.
And I’m halfway to convincing myself I actually believe that bullshit when I hear heavy steps plodding down the stairs again.
I perk up.
Was it a mistake?
Did they realize I’m not supposed to be here?
Are they coming to take me home?
I rise up from the cot, then exhale roughly when I see a shadowy purple-eyed guard—and Glaine.
It has to be him. The scowl that was on his face as I was led out of the throne room is still there, and he’s the only other demon I’ve seen in his solid form other than Duke Haures. Who knows? Maybe he’s the weird-looking one, not the duke…
No. The guy sat on the throne like he was daring someone to say something about his appearance. Glaine must be what the other demon’s look like, not him.
I blink. What the… why am I worried about this? Especially when the purple-eyed demon uses a key to open the cell, then marches in with Glaine.
I glare at him. “What are you doing here?”
He shakes his head, long hair swaying. At the purple-eyed demon’s nod, Glaine lifts his hands in front of him. The other demon does that conjuring thing again, but instead of throwing chains at him, he closes his fists and jerks his hand.
Both Glaine and I follow the motion, both of our bodies move with his. When he’s done, I’m still wearing one half of the chain. Glaine as the other manacled to his wrist.
We’re connected by the same length.
Once he’s done his job, the other demon leaves, slamming the cell door closed behind him.
I immediately turn my ire on Glaine.
I don’t feel bad that he’s down here with me. This is his fault, and I’m being more punished by being locked in a small cell with the demon who stole me.
So, again, I demand, “What are you doing here?”
“I asked Duke Haures if I could go to the dungeon in your stead. He pointed out that you could only be released if you are a Sombra demon’s mate, otherwise you’re in breech of his first law. You said it yourself,” he says, and though he’d kept his tone flat and emotionless when he first started talking, it cracks a little at that part. “You’re not my mate. You’ve denied me. The consequence for that is you are a rogue human who knows about Sombra. That’s not allowed. Until he decides what to do with you, you’ll stay in the dungeon.”
That explains me. And while I don’t like that explanation, I get it. I can work with that. There’s gotta be a way out.
But what about him?
“Let me guess: you got tossed in here because you kidnapped a human. Right?”
“No. I did what I thought was right, and Duke Haures understands why I did it. But whether you deny me or not, you are my mate, mortal. And I will be by your side until you accept that.”
Considering the chains attaching us together, he means that literally.
“Bullshit.”
“Pardon?”
“You heard me. I said bullshit. You don’t just get to pick your mate?—”
“You are correct. I didn’t. The gods gave you to me.” I want to call bullshit again, but before I do, he continues. “Sombra demons get one true mate. Their fated mate. We wait as long as it takes… decades in the human world, centuries, millennia… however long it takes to find our mate, or have our female call us to her. You are mine.”
No, I’m not.
“Let me say this plainly so we both know where we stand: humans have this little thing called ‘free will’. We can pick and choose our partners”—and have them use us because they’re obsessed with another woman—“and change them whenever we want. You get one mate. I could have five husbands.” I pause. “Well, not at the same time. That’s polygamy, and while poly couples are cool, I’ve always been a monogamous chick.”
All the more reason why Trevor pissed me off when he said that he needed to be with Whiskey like he needed air, but to show that he didn’t consider his year with me wasted, he’d pity-bang me whenever I got horny.
Yeah. No, thanks. I’d rather take a ride with a demon?—
I shake my head. “Anyway, my point stands. Humans don’t have mates.”
“Perhaps not,” Glaine says. “But they can be a demon’s mate.”
I’m sure they can. He seems pretty human-ish. He has two hands. Two legs. Two feet that, while his nails are definitely closer to claws, aren’t cloven hooves. No tail, and the horns are actually more intriguing to me than they have any right to be. If he has a penis, I’m sure we could technically mate—because, yup, I’m under no illusion that what he wants is to get laid—though here’s hoping he’s on the smaller side for his build because, otherwise, I don’t see how his tab A would ever fit in my slot B?—
Oh my God. Am I really thinking about the logistics of fucking a demon?
“It’s impossible. This… it can’t be happening. I mean, look at me. I’m not a demon. I’m a human . We can’t be mates!”
I can’t be his mate!
“Of course you can.”
He’s not listening. I can’t say he’s not looking since he hasn’t taken his eyes off of me yet, but he doesn’t get it. “Glaine?—”
My first impression of the demon was that he was big. My second is that he is stoic, yet grumpy. My third is that he is a guy used to getting his way.
That doesn’t change as he looks down his long nose at me and says flatly, “You’re not the first to be joined to one of my kind.”