Chapter 29 Selma
Selma
This time, the silence emphasized by the soft hum of the car’s engine was pleasant.
On the way here, Selma had been weighed down by the prospect of never seeing Kain again, of never getting the chance to explore what it was about him that called to her on more than just the most primal of levels.
She glanced to her left something fluttered low in her belly. His dark eyes trained on the road ahead of them were illuminated by the dashboard, his strong hands resting on the steering wheel. Eyes that could make her blood burn with just one look and hands that could melt her with a simple caress.
Okay, so maybe she was eager to explore the primal levels with him, too.
His low growl made her sex clench and her panties suddenly dampen. How did a growl do this to her?
“I can smell you,” he said without taking his eyes off the road, but when she glanced at his hands, his knuckles were white around the wheel. “Your need.”
“Handy.” She couldn’t keep the breathy note from her voice. “When we get to a motel, will I have to forcibly seduce you again? Or are you over the belief that you’re molesting me?”
“My morals are irrelevant. You carry my son and will need my seed to survive the pregnancy.”
Her eyebrows arched. “Uh… what?”
He let out a low sigh. “My semen will strengthen your body when we mate so that you may endure the full nine months with a demon growing inside of you. Without it, you would soon weaken and die.”
She blinked. Repeatedly. Some of the warm, fuzzy feelings that had been spreading inside her since she’d accepted her pregnancy faded.
“My child will kill me?”
“No, I would never let that happen. But he needs a lot of power, and he will drain your life essence to grow if not supplied with another source. He may look human to you once you hold him in your arms, but he will not be a human baby. Which brings me to something else you should know.”
His eyes darted to her for a brief moment, a certain measure of worry evident in them despite the lack of light in the car. “We normally know our Breeders are pregnant when they, ah, see through our disguise.”
“See through…?” Selma paused to stare at the male by her side. “You mean I will see your demon form? When? Why?”
Another sigh. “It usually happens within a few weeks of impregnation. Our son’s magic will protect you against the brand blinding you to our true nature.
It is… upsetting to many Breeders, and I want you to be prepared.
I will need to mate you regardless, to ensure your survival. Even if you find it… disagreeable.”
It took her a moment to process his words. If she refused him, he would force her in order to keep her alive.
Memories of the demons she’d seen before she’d been branded made her shudder. While some had been like her Procurer—mainly human with horns or odd eyes—others had been terrifying. Submitting to him if he looked like that…
“What does your demon form look like?” This time her whisper was more hoarse than breathy.
He grimaced. “Different. Bigger. Less human.”
Well, that wasn’t overly helpful. She glanced at him again. Maybe it was better if she didn’t think too much about it until she absolutely had to.
“You demons sure seem to forget to mention a lot of the small print beforehand.”
Kain’s mouth twisted into a small grin. “It’s sort of in the job description.”
One of his large hands left the steering wheel to rest on her knee, and calm spread through her body at his warm touch. “We still have a little time before it happens,” he continued. “Hopefully, it will be manageable by then.”
She somehow doubted it, but right then, it didn’t matter. He was there, looking like his human self, and they were going to work everything out. Together.
Her heart fluttered pleasantly.
Perhaps the goddess was right—perhaps what she felt was love.
Kain made a soft noise next to her, squeezing her knee gently as if her scent somehow conveyed her emotions. He didn’t look away from the road again, but the soothing hum she was starting to recognize as their personal thing soon emanated from him.
Content, Selma leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.
Demon or not, he was hers. She had recognized it when he claimed her for the world to see, and in her heart she knew it now.
He was her savior.
The screeching of tires and jolt of brakes being slammed ripped her from sleep.
Selma gasped against the seat belt’s strangulating hold, her eyes popping open wide just as the car came to an abrupt halt.
“Kain, what the fuck?” she gasped as she reached up to rub at her throat. Apparently she’d been sitting in a less than ideal position for emergency braking.
He didn’t turn to look at her, his gaze locked on the road ahead. “I will get out. The second I am, you take the wheel, turn around, and drive as fast as the car will go. Head east on the first exit road you come across, but do not come back this way.
“My phone is on the dashboard. When you are at least half an hour away you find ‘Kesh’ in my contacts. Tell him who and where you are and follow his instructions.”
She blinked in confusion at his command, but then she spotted what was blocking the road ahead.
Dark, sparkling mist lit up the sporty-looking car parked across both lanes before swirling up along the body of the man standing in front of it with a grim smile.
Prince Naharan.
He lifted an arm and beckoned them.
“Kain…” The icy panic making its way through her body was more than evident in her voice too.
“There’s no time,” he hissed as he undid his seatbelt without taking his eyes off his enemy. “I spent too much power on the barriers—I can’t beat him, and if he captures you, he will kill our child. Do as I say.”
“But—!”
He looked at her for the briefest of moments, and the urgency in his black eyes quelled her protests.
There was nothing she could do. And if she didn’t obey, his sacrifice would be for nothing.
“Kain…”
“Drive, my love.”
And then he was out of the car, walking toward the Prince with his broad back to her, shielding her from the other’s sight.
Selma fumbled with her own seatbelt, struggling to loosen it with fingers that were stiff with fear and adrenaline. She couldn’t think about the despair in his voice, nor the words themselves—she had to do as he’d asked, and if she paused to think, she’d never be able to leave him behind.
As the leftovers of Kain’s magic whirled up around him, she finally managed to get free from the seatbelt and throw herself into the driver’s side.
The engine was still running, but she had to scoot the seat forward to reach the pedals. After what felt like an eternity, her hands finally closed around the steering wheel.
She threw the car into reverse, ignoring the angry shout up ahead. Kain would hold Naharan off until she’d escaped, of that she was certain.
Only when she’d managed to turn the car around did she allow herself one final look in the rearview mirror at the man who’d claimed her as his, but what she saw made her wish she hadn’t.
He was on the ground, the last of his power constricting around Naharan’s body as the Prince knelt on top of him, rage evident on his face. And behind them stood six women, looking dispassionately at the two males as if waiting for Kain to be subdued.
What the fuck? Were they female demons? Why were they with the Prince?
Selma desperately flicked through scenarios even after she rounded a bend, leaving them behind as she sped along the winding road at much higher speeds than was wise. Distance was the only thing that could save her, the only thing that would make Kain’s sacrifice mean something.
My love. He’d called her my love.
Her heart clenched and she gasped as tears threatened to blind her.
He’d saved her yet again, this time giving his own life. She prayed to any power, divine or otherwise who might have been listening, that he would live through this—that the man he’d told her to call would be able to help save him.
None of it made any sense. Why had Naharan ambushed them? The laws were meant to protect a mated couple—their union was meant to be sacred, as far as she had understood.
And the females? If they were demons, then why were they just standing there, looking on? They were the males’ sworn enemies.
Nothing about the scene made sense. The only thing that was clear was the aching hollow in her heart that seemed to grow with every mile she put between herself and Kain.
When she finally pulled over forty-five minutes later, she’d given up on holding her tears at bay.
With shaking hands, she grabbed the phone off the dashboard and opened the car door to get out. She needed to calm down if she were to have any hope of making this “Kesh” understand a word she was saying.
Selma wiped at her eyes to stem the steady trickle of tears before leaning against the car and breathing deeply. The quicker she got a hold of herself, the sooner she could get Kain help.
That thought dried her tears. He needed her to be strong now. The father of the life growing inside of her needed her.
Her hands were still shaking when she pulled out the phone and scrolled through his contacts, but she managed to find the entry with Kesh’s number and press “call.”
The silence of the dark roadside seemed to press in around her as she listened to the phone ring. Over and over the sharp tone buzzed into her ear, each time making her panic bubble closer to the surface.
What if he didn’t answer? What on Earth was she going to do? She could try to call Thomren if his number was listed in Kain’s phone, but if he was home with his pregnant mate it would take him way too long to get to Colorado.
“Yes?”
The gruff voice broke through her spiraling thoughts, and Selma exhaled as relief and adrenaline made the muscles in her legs soften.
“Kesh?”
A moment’s silence. “Yes. Who’s this?”
“Selma, Kain’s Mate. He told me to call you—”
“What happened?” he interrupted. “Where are you?”