Chapter Twelve
CHAPTER TWELVE
Val
T heo stares at me as though I’ve forced another foul-tasting potion down his throat. The revulsion would be insulting if I didn’t enjoy messing with him so much. “You saved me so you could bargain your way onto a throne?”
I manage not to laugh in his face. Barely. “Don’t kid yourself. I’m not the power-hungry megalomaniac in this bed.”
I still can’t believe I let him talk me into abandoning all sense of self-preservation and crawling into his big, four-postered bed with him. If the living castle hadn’t given away the fact I’d been kidnapped by a literal prince, then his over-the-top style should have.
His scowl isn’t even ugly, and his good looks piss me off right now. How dare he be hot when I’m determined to hate him?
“I’m also not the one who’s liar, liar, wings on fire,” I add. “Because yes, keeping colossal secrets can count the same as lying. At least that’s a belief held by normal people. You know, those of us who aren’t out to conquer hell.”
He makes this maddeningly sexy little irritated noise. “Nic told you I’m the crown prince,” he guesses.
“Nope, your mom did. Right before she offered to pay me a few million dollars and sever the contract with future generations of my family if I would refuse to consummate whatever this mating thing is between us.”
“The fuck she did.”
I grin because making him mad is my new favorite game. “Told you she made an awesome offer.” I don’t add that there’s no way in this or any other hell that I would take her up on it. Or how she assured me her son deserved more than a superficial, flighty, and powerless human for a mate. She said human in the same tone I might use to say phlegm or roach.
That was right before she told me I would be the death of the hell dimensions if I tried to trap Theo into completing the mating bond.
Ouch . Talk about a hellacious nightmare of a mother-in-law if Theo read his matchmaking crystal ball right.
By saying I was flighty and superficial, I felt like she’d gained telepathic direct access to my worst fears and insecurities and spoke them aloud, and I didn’t have the guts to correct her. Because of course I wouldn’t be worthy of a prince who fights for his kingdom, and according to her, he only wants me for some magical power bump.
Theo’s mom terrifies me worse than any horror flick villain ever could. Never mind how she has lived for centuries looking like the inspiration for the evil queen who had no problem eliminating the pretty competition or bathing in their blood. She makes her kidnapper demon prince son seem trustworthy. I’d actually been grateful for Theo’s interruption, and even with him there shielding me, I couldn’t wait for her to beam out of the room.
His frown turns thoughtful. “But you didn’t take her offer.”
“Not yet,” I lie.
“Did she add other terms?” he asks.
“None that I’m sharing with you. Especially not now that I’m sure the whole swapping blood doesn’t make us mates. By the way, does sleeping together seal the mating thing? Because if so, I’m out.”
“No.” He sounds distracted. “Only sex does.”
Well, shit. Now I’m distracted, and it’s all his fault. Why doesn’t he blink back to his demon form where I could at least pretend not to be attracted to him? “Okay then.” My voice comes out raspy, and I stop long enough to swallow past my suddenly dry throat. “There’s no danger of that happening. You’ll have to figure out another way to get the magical boost you want so badly. Preferably, one that doesn’t involve lying, kidnapping, or losing my friends.”
“You’re my mate.” His words come out on a near growl.
“Nope. According to your own earlier explanation of monster mating, I would have to consent to fun times, and that’s never going to happen.”
“I have a kingdom to keep together.” The self-righteous prick dares to make it sound like I’m the unreasonable one.
“So I should put out for your kingdom? Yeah, no. I’m not forgetting you forced my friends and me into what’s essentially a you problem.”
He closes his eyes and goes quiet, and I almost think he’s fallen asleep when he says, “I admit I might’ve been high-handed in how I’ve handled this. Decades of enforcing my father’s law may have made me seem insensitive to someone who has grown up with the soft ways of humans.”
“Is that your version of an apology? Because it sucks.” At my feet, Monty purrs. Good little soul guardian. “See, he agrees with me.”
“Of course he does. You two have more similarities than you know, my vicious mate.”
“Vicious? I like it.” I won’t tell him the nicknames my family has given me. Not when jinx, misfit, and all the others trace back to his mother’s curse. Of course, whatever ancestor had been greedy and short-sighted enough to sign a deal with a demon might share a bit of the blame. A tiny bit.
“You’re still demanding I counter my mother’s offer even after you signed a deal with me?”
“Under false pretenses,” I clarify. “So yeah.”
“Very well.”
So formal, my demon prince. My ? Where the literal hell did that come from? I banish the thought while keeping my mouth shut before some of that crazy spills out as tired as I am. Not that I’ll be able to sleep in a strange realm with guilt over what happened to my friends weighing down on me.
He rubs his forehead like he can think me and my pesky protests away. “Can we continue our temporary truce for a day or two while I consider new terms?” His words slow, and he shifts a few inches my direction with a faint groan. Maybe he’s hurting more than he’s letting on.
I reach out—slowly, carefully as though approaching a tiger—to touch his forearm.
His muscles tense beneath my fingertips, and he opens his eyes. “Thank you for staying. I swear I’ll reconnect you with your friends.” The gravity of his promise—it sounds like a vow. I’m not sure I can handle serious right now. The tight leash on my feelings would probably come unwound and I might do something awful like cry in front of him. He turns his palm over, and it seems so strangely natural to slide my hand into his and let him interlock our fingers. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“Who’ll keep me safe from you?”
“I swear I’ll never hurt you, my mate, and should I or any other demon be foolish enough to try, you’re still protected by that beast you insist on allowing in our bed.”
Our bed? Whoa. I choose to stick to his other ridiculous comment. “You think Monty could take down demons?” I glance at my sweet soul guardian curled up in a mongoose ball. “My Monty?”
“Demons generally consider two things in existence to be as deadly as a beheading. A god’s candle and a soul guardian.” He runs his thumb over my knuckles, and I struggle to concentrate on his words. “Legends of Montejanus are told to demon children to scare them into behaving. Shadowvale could play the stories for you, but those violent tales wouldn’t make for a good bedtime story.”
“I just ask the castle to tell me? Like I asked it for the rocket launcher?”
“I’d rather not know your plans for the rocket launcher.”
“I’m happy to send it back now that I know more about the castle. Once I figure out how.”
“Sending things back can be as tricky as conjuring them. Shadowvale doesn’t create new items. The castle simply retrieves them from other places. Like the plant my mother left you is one of her prize blooms. Shadowvale would have had to take it from her private rooms.”
“No wonder she was pissed at me.”
The corners of his lips tip up into the ghost of a smile. “Brimstone Bells are as close to a sacred flower as our realms have. They will only grow every few years on one mountaintop of a single hell dimension, so your mother and grandma trying to summon the queen of hell to request one?—”
“Hang on. What are you talking about with Mom and Nonna summoning ?”
He stares as if judging whether or not I’m being honest with my question. “They tried to cut a new deal with my mother.”
My mouth goes dry, and nerves coil into knots in my gut. “What kind of deal?”
“They would give a cursed one to serve the queen of hell in exchange for a single bloom. I understand the petals can be used in anti-aging potions.”
“My family offered me up as a sacrifice for a flower ?”
“Not you specifically. The bargain could’ve been fulfilled with a future daughter.”
Anger rises in me, and I can feel an epic tantrum brewing. But Theo didn’t have to share the information, and it wasn’t his fault my family has gotten greedy. Mom told me the business has been failing, that we needed the promotion opportunities. I hadn’t realized how far she’d be willing to go to get Bonetti Beauty back in the black. Filming me and my friends on our trip would’ve been the least of her exploitation.
Theo closes his eyes again, pain or fatigue creasing his skin. “Tomorrow, I’ll show you how to send the rocket launcher back without starting an international crisis among the humans.”
“I’d rather not start a war because I was trying to bust my way out of a locked suite. I didn’t know the castle was alive.”
“Shadowvale isn’t alive in the way you might normally think of it, but she’s sentient. She also serves as a sanctuary.”
“How would I have known when you haven’t let me go beyond a few rooms?” My temper adds an edge to my voice.
“The castle would create more rooms for you if you’d like them. No diplomatic disasters required. I can give you a tour of Shadowvale tomorrow. Or Nic can if you prefer her company.”
“Would the tour be part of some demon deal?”
“No strings attached. Consider it a welcome gift. Or maybe an enticement to deal with me instead of my mother.”
“Then yes, I would like you to show me around.” I don’t tell him I’m as curious about him as I am about the castle. “But for now, you can get the castle to tell me about Monty.” My soul guardian squeaks as if he’s happy with my choice.
“Bloodthirsty mate,” Theo mutters.
“Flattery is appreciated, but it still won’t get you laid.”
There he goes with the curve of a smile flirting around his mouth again. He asks Shadowvale to tell me the most gruesome war legends of the great Montejanus.
Monty perches on the bed as though he can’t wait to hear his own achievements. Pride looks conceited yet frustratingly hot on Theo, but it’s downright adorable on Monty. I can’t help but grin at him. The castle launches into a soft narration of the wars between the hell dimensions and the witch who almost brought them all down for her demon lover who went on to become a demon king.
I almost ask Theo if this is the story of his family, but his grip has gone lax on my hand. He sleeps. I’ve tried to stab him with a letter opener, a sword, and almost went after him with a freaking hatchet. The man has little reason to trust me. I don’t know whether I should be touched or offended that he would risk being this defenseless around me.
Then again, I kept him alive and even helped heal him after he passed out. So I suppose the truce will last as long as we’re useful to each other.
Too bad we’ll be enemies once again as soon as my friends are safe.
I’m an insomniac with a million-track mind when I’m home in my own bed with my weighted blankets and lavender-scented sheets. There’s no way I can sleep here. So I plot and plan as tales of Monty’s fierceness in battle continue, a background track to my scheming for revenge.
How does someone out-deal a royal family of dealing demons?
I’ll figure out a way.
Then I’ll confront my own lying, demon-summoning Mom and horn-handed, curse-hating Nonna.