Chapter 39 Selma
Selma
“Exactly how did you get Kain to agree to this ridiculous idea?”
Selma sighed and glanced out the dark window. Nothing but the faint light of the street lamps on the other side of the metal gates cast any illumination over the deserted warehouse’s grounds. If someone was hiding in the shadows, she would never be able to tell.
“We talked about it like adults. He agrees that it’s the best way to lure out the Prince.”
Kesh scoffed by her side and readjusted his grip on what looked like some form of a rocket launcher. “You cried until he caved, didn’t you?”
A faint blush rose to Selma’s cheeks at the casual accusation. She had indeed had to resort to tears to ensure Kain was pliable enough to listen to her reasoning for putting herself and his baby in harm’s way, but she wasn’t about to admit to that. It wasn’t exactly a dignified tactic.
“It’s the best shot we have at capturing the prince. He thinks I belong to him, so when our double agents let him know I’m being kept here and guarded by you while Kain is out looking for him, he’s likely to try to steal me away. Without me, you would have a hard time luring him out.”
“And without you here, this wouldn’t be so fucking dangerous,” he shot back, giving her a less-than-approving glance.
“You do know what will happen if you’re hurt, right?
I mean, you’ve seen the husk that is my father—you must realize that Kain will end up exactly like that if you’re lost to him.
And yet here you are, willingly playing bait. ”
Selma cocked an eyebrow. She wasn’t entirely sure if Kesh’s reluctance was toward her personally, or if he just resented her pheromones and their effect on him.
“Well, I’m certain you’ll keep me safe.” There was just a touch too much sweetness in her voice.
He grunted and leaned back against the wall. “Or you could just blast the bastard with that pretty light of yours. Oh, wait—that’s right. You still have little to no control over it.”
“Is there something you’d like to say?” she snapped, finally fed up with his attitude. Ignoring his demonic appearance, she rested her hands on her hips and rounded on him so she could give him her best glare.
Kesh ignored her combative stance, not even bothering to afford her more than a short glance. “Only that my brother is way too lenient with you. You’d be far less likely to get anyone killed by knitting a blanket or painting a sunset, or whatever Breeders normally do.”
Selma’s mouth fell open in outrage at his casual sexism, but before she managed to form a ripping retort, the window exploded inward.
She could only have been out for a moment, because when the darkness retreated she was still on the floor and sporting several stinging cuts from where the glass had sliced her skin.
Someone said something above her, but it sounded like it came through water. She shook her head to clear the foggy sensation, only to be hoisted up by her waist the next second and shoved behind a wide, leather-clad back.
Kesh’s back.
Her hearing returned with a sharp pain in both ears about the same time as she saw the ten demons standing in the shards she’d lain in only moments ago.
Most of them looked somewhat female, apart from the huge creature standing in the middle, pointing at Kesh with a clawed hand the size of a dinner plate.
“…over the girl and I won’t rip your throat out.”
Selma just caught the tail end of the biggest of the demons’ sentence, but it was enough to make her shudder. That rough voice laced with cruelty could only belong to Naharan.
“She doesn’t belong to you—she belongs to my brother, as you well know. Remember how you tried to steal her from him, and in the process betrayed everything that is sacred to our kind?”
Kesh nonchalantly tipped the rocket launcher so it rested against his hip, but despite his seemingly relaxed pose, he was obviously ensuring he kept his body between Selma and the danger before them.
The Prince snarled at the mention of Kain and spat on the floor.
“The presumptuous filth is not worthy of her. She belongs with me—with royalty. Besides, where is he now? Not here, guarding the Breeder. He left his imbecile of a baby brother to do that. It seems to me he doesn’t deserve the honor of a mate.
This is your last chance—give me the girl or die. ”
Kesh’s response was to fire his weapon.
Everything exploded into movement and noise. The demons managed to throw themselves out of the way in time, causing the rocket to connect with the far wall with a fiery boom.
The concrete shattered into pieces. Selma threw herself to the floor behind Kesh as the demons attacked, shrouded in a black cloud of sizzling magic and protecting her head with her arms.
Shouts and growls tore through the air, and through the mayhem she heard Kain’s voice. Their trap had snapped shut. Now all that was left to do was hope they were stronger than the prince and his followers.
“Let’s get you out of the way, hmm?” a dark voice grunted above her, followed by a set of strong arms lifting her from her the floor.
Selma shrieked at the unexpected touch, but she caught a glimpse of the demon who pulled her from the center of the battle’s face and relaxed some. It was Kirigan.
He took her to the edge of the warehouse, his fingers skimming over the cuts on her face in a brief check of her wellbeing. Then he put her down behind a couple of crates.
“Stay here. You cannot get hurt.”
She stared up at the demon who looked so much like his eldest son, apart from the dark hair and soulless eyes. He’d been the first to side with her when she’d suggested that they use her as bait, seemingly not too concerned with any risk the plan might pose to her.
Yet as he stared down at her now, she could have sworn that there was genuine worry somewhere beyond the pained despair in his deadened gaze.
Then he was gone, returning to join the fight, and Selma was left to cower alone behind her shelter.
It was never the intention that she should join in; Kain had been very, very firm on that point, reminding her how completely her attack on the queen had drained her.
Yet as she saw the man she loved fight against the creature who had tried to force them apart—saw his broken family rally around him to protect the two of them from being torn apart again—she knew she couldn’t just hide in the corner like some damsel in distress; not when she had finally been given the power she needed to defend herself after years of being a victim.
The two groups—Naharan and the nine females on one side and Kain, Kesh, and their father on the other—seemed evenly matched. After the attack on the roadside in Colorado, they hadn’t expected Naharan would bring along many, if any, supporters, opting instead for speed and stealth.
They had obviously miscalculated, and Selma didn’t like the sudden chance they might not win. That Kain….
The real risk that he might die suddenly became clear when the Prince leapt across the room, twisted his body out of the way of Kain’s dark magic, and landed a blow to her mate’s head.
The claws on his other hand ripped a long, red gash across Kain’s back, making him roar.
He swung around just in time to shove Naharan off him, narrowly avoiding decapitation.
Selma’s heart stopped dead as the man she loved staggered. It only took him a few seconds to regain his momentum and turn on Naharan with a fierce snarl, but it was enough for her to realize exactly what she could lose this night.
Everything.
The white light burst out of her before she’d even made a conscious effort to summon it.