13. In Nuit
CHAPTER 13
IN NUIT
BILLIE
W hat a letdown.
I shouldn’t complain. After two days of monotonous travel that got broken up by a demon challenge and the best head I’ve ever received, it was actually nice to sleep in a real bed for the next three nights—or ‘moon’s as the Sombra demons refer to it. They have a tub that I use to wash off the edge, though I have no choice but to pull my worn dress back on after I’m clean.
We get to eat. I try demon wine, then swap it to regular water when it makes me woozy and light-headed. I flirt with Glaine because, well, demon wine.
I wait for them to see if his future’s changed—or what he’s seen about mine.
They won’t explain anything other than their final pronouncement:
And because I refuse to use Glaine’s essence to find out what that means, I have no clue what to make of that.
I asked him. I wheedled him. He gave me vague details about his time in the doppelseers’ cabin nearly seven hundred years ago, but I kinda got a little side-tracked at the thought of Glaine doing something just like that seven hundred freaking years ago.
He had a prophecy, he admits, and part of it’s come true. He’s still holding out hope that he has a better future ahead of him—something he says while looking at me—but because I won’t do what’s expected of a Sombra demon’s mate and pry into his essence myself, we’re at an impasse.
Especially when, after three days, the only thing that’s said in front of me is a plain statement by Lucian:
Nothing has changed. The course is straight, though the path may be bumpy.
I want to argue—or ask them for details—but Glaine thanks the doppelseers for their hospitality and ushers me out the door while I’m still cursing at them in English for wasting my time.
Then we’re on our way again. Glaine keeps shooting me heated glances. I know exactly what he’s thinking, and I don’t even need to refer to his essence to guess. He’s waiting for some sign of the mate sickness to hit me again so that he can be there to ease it in a way more intimate than just brushing our skin together.
On the plus side, the demon twins gave us their solemn agreement that they will continue to use their magic and conceal us until we reach Nuit. After that, we’re on our own. Since I plan on getting a one-way ticket out of her as soon as I get my hands on Glaine’s mage friend, I’m not worried about it.
But the lingering mate sickness that bothers me on the last leg of our journey? That’s a totally different story.
At first, I ignore it. I’m so eager to reach the demon village that I can pretend it isn’t there. Only one problem: I’m a sexual creature. I always have been. I like sex. It’s fun, it feels good, and it helps me relieve the stresses of the day. No denying that, since I’ve been in Sombra, I’ve been nothing but stressed. True, that’s my default state when I’m as busy as I am, but throw in the mate sickness and my growing attraction to Glaine now that I don’t hate his guts as much…
I blame the stupid essence. I don’t want to commiserate with my demon kidnapper, but now that I know his thoughts, his feelings, and his motives… I can’t help but feeling sorry for him that, in all the worlds, he got stuck with me as his one true mate.
Demons recognize theirs mates. I might not understand it, and I definitely don’t like it, but I am his fated mate. It won’t be official until I agree and bond myself to him, but that doesn’t change the fact that we have this tie between us that is getting harder and harder to ignore.
Especially when I’m struggling to resist the urge to strip off my dress and jump the big demon.
At that thought, another wave of need washes over me. I sigh and, flexing my fingers in a grabby motion, I gesture at Glaine.
Without a word, he takes his hand in mine. It helps. Could be better, but at least I’m not slyly trying to rub my legs together as I walk.
Glaine squeezes my fingers. “You need your male.”
“I need a vibrator,” I mutter.
Okay. Sexual frustration makes me bitter. Since we’ve figured out how to handle the mate sickness without Glaine putting his mouth on me—which isn’t a shame at all, no, really —by occasionally holding hands to keep it at bay, I’ve been okay. There’s no reason to get any more involved at this point.
Now, if I thought I could sleep with him and he’d only accept that it was for release and nothing else like before, I’d be desperate enough to see if we fit. But we can’t, though the constant empty ache down below is beginning to piss me off.
He can tell.
Glaine tilts his head, looking down at me with a confused expression. Using his free hand, he gestures below. “Why would you require a false cock when I have one that’s meant only for you?”
I squeeze my thighs together at the reminder that he’s a virgin who would remedy that with me the second I give him the chance. “Why? Because plastic doesn’t get attached.”
He shakes the chains with the hand still holding mine. “We cannot be more attached.” His green eyes glimmer. “Unless, of course, you welcome my cock in your cunt.”
I can’t help it. I laugh. “When did you get so bold?”
His chest puffs up in pride that he was able to make me chuckle. “When I understood that my mate is no shy, coquettish mortal. She is equally bold and appreciates a male who tells her what it is he wants.”
“That’s never been your problem, Glaine. You’ve made it clear from the beginning what it is you want.”
“Very true,” he allows. “But in case you need the reminder, I am here to give it.”
The reminder that he’s dying to fuck me? Yup. I think I got the message on that one alright.
It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how much he wants me, or how I’m growing more and more curious by the hour. It would be cruel to sleep with him, then turn around and leave. And since Glaine has promised me that we’re quickly approaching Nuit… if I’m lucky, I should be back in Manhattan by the end of the day.
I push down the slight pang of disappointment that hits me when I think that. It has to be coming from Glaine, right. I mean, I have to go home. I can’t just give up my whole life to have a fling with my demon kidnapper, especially since he’s definitely not the ‘fling’ type. He wants a forever mate. Full stop. He still thinks that’s me, and while having his essence has certainly shaken my belief that it can’t be possible… it doesn’t matter if it is.
I’m going home and nothing can change that.
Of course, those might just be my famous last words…
“Yeah, well, thanks for the other. And for helping take the edge off.” I flex my fingers again, our sign that I’m done with letting him hold my hand. “It helped.”
“I know something that will help more,” he says in a low voice.
I’m sure he does. “Thanks, but pass.”
He sighs. “It is for the best. My Billie is bold, but whether she minds if someone sees her with her male, I won’t stand for it. Her pleasure is for me alone.”
Huh? I’m about to ask him where that possessive edge came from when, suddenly, he points with his free hand.
For a heartbeat, I freeze. I see a shadowy figure in the distance and am immediately thrown back to the rogue demon stalking us. Only Glaine lifts his hand hi in a gesture of greeting, and the other figure matches it.
I look over at Glaine. “You know him?”
“Look over there, my Billie. Do you see how he has two pairs of horns?”
I squint. It’s hard to make out shadows on top of shadows, though I’m getting better, and it takes me a moment to see what he’s referring to.
“Uh. Yeah. I think so.”
“Only one demon in Nuit is a two-horn,” he explains. “That is Loki.”
Loki… excitement fills my chest. “The mage?”
He nods, nowhere near as excited as I am. “Yes. He must’ve used magic to sense our approach. That, or the doppelseers’ protection ended and he knew to expect us. Either way, just beyond those shadows is Nuit.”
We made it.
This time, I take Glaine’s hand instead of waiting for him to take mine. “Let’s go.”
If I thought Glaine is a grump, Loki is worse. He glares at me the entire time Glaine explains why we journeyed all this way to see him. It started when he glanced at our hands, noticing that we were connected, and it only got worse when he took in the chains.
I held my breath, sure he would refuse. But he doesn’t. All Glaine as to tell him is that I am his mate—and when I don’t deny it like I did back at the duke’s palace, Loki sees no reason why we should still be wearing the gold chains.
Without anything more than a nod and his purple eyes flaring brightly for a split second, he disappears them.
“I thank you, Loki,” Glaine begins, pausing when the demon mage interrupts him.
Loki clears his throat, then waves his hand near his horns while purposely staring at Glaine.
I follow his stare just in time to see him reach up to stroke one of his own?—
I do a double-take. He’s stroking one of his horns, but he has four . Like Loki, Glaine has two pairs. There’s the one set that I’m familiar with; starting a few inches past his hairline, curving back and over his crown. Another starts at his hairline before jutting straight up.
Where did they come from?
Despite not wanting to rely on Glaine’s essence too much, there are some things that I just know now. Like how demons are immortal. In their shadowy shapes, it’s hard to hurt them. If something wounds them when they’re solid, they can turn to mist and back again, healing up their injury in no time. But not horns, it seems. Like that lost demon who tried to challenge Glaine for me who broke his horn in the fight, if we hadn’t had to put him down, it would’ve taken his horn ages to grow back.
But Glaine… the second the chains were finally removed from us, he sprouted a second pair as it was no big deal.
Then, to my stunned surprise, he acts the same as he says plainly to the other demon, “It’s fine. I have my sword. I will shear them off later.”
Wait. What?
“Glaine?”
He smiles indulgently at me, then turns back to Loki. “I’m glad you came to meet us at the clan’s borders. But I must ask… where is Apollyon?”
“And Lilith?” asks Loki.
Glaine jerks his head in a nod.
I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. I… whoa. Something even weirder just happened. Just hearing that unfamiliar name has my heart jolting, then sinking. A fleeting ache dashes through me, there and gone again, leaving the impression that she’s hurt me.
Well, not me. Glaine .
Lilith? Who is Lilith?
BILLIE
I don’t talk about my past lovers. If he wants to torture himself and dip into my memories, watching me with any other guy I’ve been with, that’s on him. I’m not shy. I don’t regret anything I’ve done, even if I wish I was a better judge of character. Knowing that my whole relationship with Trevor was a farce pisses me off, but I was a willing participant in it until he dropped the bomb on me. But just because I’m not a prude, that doesn’t mean I kiss and tell.
That’s part of the reason the whole essence exchange bothered me at first. To demons, it’s natural. It’s part of their mating tradition. Humans are used to being alone in their own heads. We have a certain degree of privacy we’re used to. So I try not to sneak peeks at Glaine’s past in the hope that he stays out of mine.
I use it to be able to understand the world around me, that’s all. From understanding Sombra to knowing that a white-eyed demon can be demonic—or a visionary—and all the other rules in Sombra that are commonplace to everyone but me. I’m okay with Glaine getting his English download and reading my emotions so that I don’t have to waste my time explaining how I’m feeling.
Right now, though? I’m feeling… odd.
Shit. I’m feeling jealous .
I’m sure, if I search, I can get the answer to my question. Glaine obviously knows Lilith, and whatever happened between him and this other demon… demoness… will be in his memories. However, that would make me the worst kind of hypocrite if I looked. It’s his business. If he wanted me to know about Lilith, he would’ve told me on our long journey to Nuit.
Something tells me that he doesn’t want me to know…
One thing for sure: she can’t be his former lover. For good or for bad, I’m the only one he’s ever had, and we haven’t even fully fucked yet. I let him give me oral, and that’s when he told me that he’d never been intimate with anyone else before.
But when I hear Lilith’s name, I get the distinct impression that he wanted to be with her.
Whatever. Everyone has a past, and I can’t act like his bothers me. Not when he thinks I’m his future and he doesn’t get that I can’t be.
So when Loki’s purple gaze darts over me before he says, “The clan leader and clanmother could sense your approach… and your mortal’s. They allowed me to meet you at the edge of Nuit first because of Kennedy,” I twist a curl around my finger idly, acting as though all of this doesn’t interest me in the slightest.
Does he buy it? Does it matter?
Ugh.
Either way, Glaine lets it go.
“I’m sure I will see him soon enough,” he says. “Just like I’m assuming that, since he sent you to greet us, I haven’t been banished from Nuit.”
For a second, I don’t know why he would be—and then I remember. Technically we’re fugitives from the duke’s dungeon, aren’t we?
I wait to see how Loki will respond. If he knows we’re trouble—and the chains were a big clue, I bet—then he might kick us out, leaving me to have to look for another mage.
Only he doesn’t. Instead, he simply says, “You are welcome.”
Glaine bows his head. “Then I would like to take my mate to my quarters.”
Loki nods, then turns, leading the way back into the village. “Of course. And—” His head snaps up, nostrils flaring as he tilts his head to the left. “My Kennedy? I know you are there.”
“Sorry, Loki,” comes a sweet voice that doesn’t sound a little big apologetic. “But I haven’t seen another human mate since Hope and I was curious?—”
Wait. Human mate?
That voice… it isn’t Glaine’s essence translating Sombra to English for me. It’s actually someone speaking my language.
Excitement mingled with homesickness rushes through me as someone steps out from behind the nearest structure.