Chapter 29
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Bokkan
Every fiber of my being screamed at me to find Leda, to keep her by my side until she understood how important she was to me. Fighting that overwhelming urge was the most difficult thing I had ever done.
After I saw her disappear into the training gym, I stood at the window in my office, staring at the building for a long time. Finally, I knew I had to walk away, or I would find myself headed toward her.
She had asked for space away from me. No, she had demanded it. Though it killed me to give her what she needed, I knew I must. I had done the one thing that potential mates did not do with each other. I lied to her. I kept a secret that I knew would upset her.
A female daemon would have rejected me immediately when she discovered the truth. And though Leda had told me she wanted space, she did not say the words that would destroy the fragile bond growing between us.
Instead of remaining in my office, watching for any sign of her in the training facility, I went to my sanctum. I needed to calm myself, or I would lose control of my urges and hunt for her until I saw her again.
In the cool darkness of the sanctum, I stretched out on the floor and closed my eyes. My muscles remained tight, and my skin itched with the desire to get up and find Leda.
It took several long minutes, but I was finally able to relax a bit. I reminded myself that Leda was human. Their courting traditions were different from those of daemons. I had to go at her pace. Just because she accepted my efforts to care for her did not mean she was accepting me as a mate.
One thing was now clear, though—I needed to talk to her about this. All of it. She needed to understand how I felt. What I thought. What I wanted.
It would be agonizing if she rejected me, but I had to respect her choice. No matter what.
My skin still buzzed, but my heart no longer raced. I took another deep breath, remaining focused on what I would say to Leda when we next spoke.
The front door to the manor crashed open, interrupting the silence. In a blink, I was on my feet and sprinting out of the sanctum.
“General!”
I rounded the corner near the stairs and saw Guldan standing just past the threshold. His tail whipped behind him in a frenzy, and his eyes glowed red.
“What is it?” I growled.
“The human is gone. And someone poisoned Masu.”
“Who?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. There is no strange scent nearby, but I also cannot tell who has been there exactly because all of the soldiers have been all over the property.”
“Is Masu alive?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes. One of the younger recruits has a mother who creates potions and tinctures. She lives nearby and arrived quickly. She was able to administer an antidote.”
“Is she conscious?”
Guldan shook his head.
Godsdammit. I clenched my fists. “Show me where this happened.”
With my senses attuned to Leda, I might be able to distinguish her scent from the others more clearly.
My commander nodded, and I followed him out of the house and around the side to the herb garden just outside the kitchen door. Masu was still stretched out on the ground, eyes closed and gray skin much paler than usual, but she was breathing steadily.
A young daemoness bent over her, a hand on Masu’s forehead and another on her chest. I could see the faint white glow of magic from her palms and wondered if she held some sort of healing magic, but this was not the time to ask.
I walked to the spot on the ground where Leda’s scent was the strongest and the grass was still slightly flattened. I smelled her anger… and her fear.
“This was used to poison Masu.”
I looked up at the sound of Guldan’s voice.
He held a small dart out to me, and I took it, bringing it to my nose.
I smelled Masu’s blood, the bitter tang of the poison, and a male daemon.
His scent was somewhat familiar, but it was impossible to tell who it was though.
With the layers of other scents, I could not isolate it.
I looked up at my second-in-command. “Who is off duty today?”
“You think it was one of our males?” Guldan asked.
“Yes. I know this daemon’s scent. It is too muddled with other smells on the dart, but we can see who is not on the estate today. It will be a place to start.”
“The roster is in the barracks.”
I straightened, ready to sprint straight for the barracks, but a weak voice interrupted me.
“It… it was…”
I looked over to find Masu lifting her head up to look at me. The daemoness healing her shushed her, trying to get her to lie down. The imp batted at her hands.
“Help me hold my head up, female,” Masu insisted, her voice a little stronger.
The daemoness sighed, but moved to rest Masu’s head on her thighs so she could look at me.
My housekeeper cleared her throat and took a wheezy breath. “It was Talus,” she stated. “I saw him before I passed out. He was shooting darts at Lady Leda as she ran from him.”
My vision hazed red. The daemon was dead. He just did not know it yet.
“I saw him talking to one of Venna’s soldiers the last time she was here,” Masu rasped. “It did not look friendly at the time, so I thought nothing of it.”
I walked closer. “Thank you, Masu. I will not forget this.”
“I did nothing.” Her voice broke on the words, and tears filled her eyes. “I heard him coming, but did not get her into the house as I should have.”
“You are alive, and you gave me a place to begin looking for my mate. You have done more than enough. Rest and regain your strength. I will return with Leda.”
Her eyes closed, and she nodded her agreement.
I turned to Guldan, but he spoke before I could. “We cannot gather the soldiers and invade her estate. It would be a declaration of war. Especially when we have no proof that she took the human.”
“I know,” I replied. “Follow me.”
I went into the house and walked straight to my personal armory. I strapped a sword around my hips and another to my back. Daggers went into my boots. Potions were placed in a special pouch on my sword belt.
“You cannot go alone, General.”
“I am not. You are going as my distraction.”
He frowned at me. “We will send someone else as the distraction. I will fight at your side.”
With a shake of my head, I faced him. “We must do this, just the two of us. I do not know if any of the other males have been compromised.
“You cannot fight them all alone.”
“The plan is not to fight them. The plan is to sneak onto the estate, find my mate, and get her out. If I can kill Talus while I am there, I will. If not, I will hunt him down later and keep his horns as a trophy.”
Guldan blanched at my words. The practice of keeping the horns of your enemies had been abandoned hundreds of years ago. It was now considered barbaric. In this case, barbarism was called for. The male stole my mate.
I could feel the fire of fury building inside me. The mating rage was filling me, and I knew the red web had filled my eyes.
“You will go to Venna’s door,” I commanded, my voice little more than a snarl. “You will tell her that Leda has run away. You will not call her by her name but say she is the human. Do not speak of her with respect.”
Guldan’s jaw flexed as he stared at me. “And what purpose does that serve?” he asked.
“I know Venna quite well. She will enjoy the opportunity to disparage Leda and expand on how she is a better candidate as a mate than a mere human.”
My second-in-command nodded.
It would take all my control not to break Venna’s neck for what she had done. But that would have to wait.
My mate’s safety came before vengeance. Always.