CHAPTER TWELVE
Astrid
“Pandora will be pissed. She left just before you arrived,” August says, studying me over his cup of ale. After I spent a few hours with Zython, the men dragged me out to a club called Lust to have a few drinks. I told them I had to return before the night is over, which they weren’t too happy about. But Rave called in his favor, and I will stick to my promise.
“Did she go back to her kingdom?” I ask, taking a sip of my wine. I’m on my second glass, honestly, I feel… free.
However, I should cut myself off now because I won’t be able to zip back if I’m drunk.
“Yeah, but she said she’d see you later,” he replies, and I wonder what happened between them. I know they slept together, but was it a one-time thing or something more? As if reading my mind, he rakes a hand through his brown hair and arches his brow. “Something you want to ask me?”
“Are you two a thing now?” I blurt out, and Axe chuckles from next to me.
“No,” he replies, jaw tightening. “Just a little fun.”
“Well, I’m glad you are enjoying yourself,” I say to him quietly, and I mean it. He deserves to be happy. And I know he will because I’ve seen it.
“It’s not what I wanted,” he replies, clearing his throat. “But it is what it is, Star. And I’m happy to have you back in my life. Even if I’m now stuck in a different kingdom than you with your long-lost family.”
“We’re not that bad,” Kai replies, smirking.
“You all basically adopted August when you found me.” I smile, liking the fact. “I’m happy he has somewhere he can call home now.”
“We take in all the strays,” Axe teases, winking at Bane, whose lip twitches in amusement.
“Prince Bane,” a pretty demon says as she approaches our table. Her fangs peek out against her blood-red lips as she speaks.
Wait, Prince?
She runs her hand down his bicep, but he gently catches her wrist and removes it. I look away as he whispers something in her ear, not wanting to stare.
“Prince?” I mouth to Kai and Axe, who grin.
“Bane, you want to explain your title to the princess?” Kai suggests, crooking his finger to a gorgeous blonde fae who saunters over with a sultry smile and sits on his lap.
Bane turns to me, ignoring the demon, who eventually walks off. “My father was the Demon King. He had me before he met his mate, and she didn’t want anything to do with me. When he died, I was banished from the kingdom, and Zython took me in and raised me.”
I swallow hard, realizing his life is exactly why Rave kept Vale from me.
“So, who is the king there now?” I ask, frowning. I don’t remember it being a queen who ruled the demon lands.
“She remarried,” he explains, his eyes not leaving me. “They didn’t have any children together, so really, I could challenge them for the throne.”
He’s the only heir.
The exiled prince.
I want to ask if he wants to do that, but this isn’t the place. “I’m sorry they did that to you.”
He tilts his head slightly and shrugs his broad shoulders. He’s got a drink in his hand, but he hasn’t taken more than a sip. “Just the hand I’ve been dealt, Princess. I still live as a prince, just in a different kingdom. I’m lucky that Zython took me in. He’s never treated me any differently than his own.”
It’s interesting because Zython has been raising Bane and not me.
But he’s clearly a good male.
“I’ll have to leave in an hour or so,” I tell the table, wrinkling my nose at Kai, who is now kissing the woman’s neck.
“I’ll zip you back,” Bane states, tipping his head to my glass. “Don’t want you ending up in vampire territory or something.”
“When will you be back?” August asks, brow furrowing.
“I don’t know… in a couple of days? I’ll stay longer next time,” I say, downing the rest of my glass and placing it on the table.
“Is Rave going to allow that?” Axe asks, leaning back in his chair with his eyebrows raised. His shoulder-length hair is tied in a leather band today, and he looks so much like a younger Zython.
“Rave doesn’t own her,” Bane states, a scowl plastered on his lips.
Axe tilts his head to the side, considering. “They are fated mates.”
Apparently, no more needs to be said.
“She is much more than someone’s mate. She is our only princess,” Bane replies, glaring at my brother.
Yeah, about that.
“Why do you think Zython was able to have a daughter after a century of only male heirs?” I ask them, my brow furrowing. “Do you think the curse is over?”
“If we find more succubi, then it’s safe to say that yes, maybe after a century, the curse has been lifted.” Axe nods, hope flickering in his green eyes. “Or maybe you’re just a miracle.”
I hope the curse is over because otherwise, it’s a lot of pressure on me, and I can’t even help them with their bloodlines because I’m mated to a fae instead of an incubus.
The fates must be up there laughing at this whole situation.
Kai stands with the woman in his arms, too lost in his lust to even contribute to this conversation. “I’m heading off, sister. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Okay,” I call out. “Be safe! I don’t want any unplanned nieces or nephews.”
“Had enough of unplanned kids?” Bane teases, and I elbow him in his hard stomach. He grins, and I feel like it hurt me more than him.
Axe chokes on his beer, his lips curved upward. “We’re all waiting for our mates. We’re not going to chuck a Rave.”
“Oh, please don’t make that a saying,” I grumble while they all chuckle at my expense.
“You’re okay, though, right?” August asks, his brown eyes not leaving mine. “You know you can come to me.”
“I know,” I say, everything in me softening. “You have all been amazing, and I’m lucky to have you.”
I mean every word.
They would all have my back in anything, and I appreciate that more than they know.
When it’s time for me to return, Bane walks me outside the club, our arms almost touching. The air has cooled down, and he wraps his leather jacket around my shoulders without me asking. “Thank you.”
“You sure you want to go back?” he asks, shifting on his feet.
I nod. “I promised I would, but I’ll be back soon. This place has turned into my second home.”
He takes my wrist and lifts it, eying the bracelet Zython gave me. “You need us, you know what to do. If you say my name, I will come. It will work for any of us. I see Rave gave you something similar.”
I absently touch the necklace. “He did. Between you all, I think I’m pretty safe.”
He murmurs ‘hmmm’ in reply, and I stop and turn to him. “What’s the history with you and Rave? When you first saw each other, you already knew each other.”
And clearly, they aren’t the best of friends.
“As princes, we’ve all been around each other at some point or another,” he explains, staring up at the moon and stars before bringing those dark eyes back to me. “When we were growing up, they used to make us all compete against each other in fighting and sporting events to see who the best was. Often, Rave and I were the last two standing. So it’s always been pretty competitive between the two of us.”
My eyes widen as I picture that.
“And most of us have already been to war. I’ve met Rave on the battlefield several times, and we’re usually not on the same side.”
“You’re all so young to have seen so much war,” I reply, closing his jacket around me as the wind picks up. The war when the veil opened was the worst one our realm has seen, with some trying to fix the veil and others wanting it torn down. Many lives were lost, and, of course, in the end, the veil was destroyed.
“I’m older than Rave, but yes, sons of kings were bred for this reason,” he replies, shrugging. “We fight their battles until we prove ourselves, and then we usually become them.”
“We can all forge our own path,” I say, offering him my hand.
But I don’t know if that’s true.
As a seer, I know exactly how our paths are cut out for us.
“Why did you cut your hair?” I ask him, staring at him. “Don’t get me wrong, I think it looks good on you.”
He grins and runs a hand over his new, shorter style. “Demon magic requires some give and take. A sacrifice.”
I tilt my head to the side. “What magic did you use that required a sacrifice?”
He swallows hard, his throat bobbing. He hesitates as if deciding whether or not to answer me honestly but then nods once. “When Rave took you back, I put a protection spell on you. I felt out of control, not knowing if you were okay.”
I lick my suddenly dry lips. “How does that work exactly?”
He shifts on his feet. “No one would have been able to physically hurt you. It doesn’t last long, maybe a few days, but long enough to give me some peace of mind. It’s pretty dark demon magic.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
Even though it wasn’t necessary, he did whatever he could, and that loyalty won’t ever be forgotten.
His dark eyes flicker to amber as he stares at my neck for a second before he takes my hand. Why was he looking at my neck like that? Wait, is he hungry? I know he has fangs, and some demons drink blood, just like vampires. My pulse picks up, and I wonder if he can tell. Does Bane feed on lust and blood?
We’re about to zip when a surge of magic hits us, pushing us backward.
Bane grabs and puts me behind him as six men approach, forming a circle around us.
“We heard a rumor about a young succubus,” one of the men sneers, an incubus mixed with a shifter by the looks of it. His nostrils flare as he sniffs in my direction. “You broke the curse. And when we saw you with the princes, we had to wonder.”
“If you know who I am, then you know how stupid you are to try and attack us,” Bane replies, and I feel the magic pulsing from his skin. I appreciate him trying to protect me, but I don’t need it. Turning so I have his back, I face the other men, who leer at me.
“Imagine what she would be worth,” one of them says, his red eyes and horns giving him away as at least part demon.
Thunder rumbles in the now raging sky, with lightning crackling close by. Bane presses his back against mine, making me an extension of him. I throw a shield up just as the attacks come, and Bane takes out three of them with a lightning strike.
Shit. He’s a fucking storm daddy.
I’d hate to be on his bad side.
The fire demon throws all he has at me, but my shield is impenetrable. I wonder if it could block out Bane’s strikes, too, but I don’t want to test that right now.
“Fuck, you are strong,” Bane says, sounding both surprised and impressed.
“Says the one manipulating lightning,” I reply, realizing I will have to drop the shield so we can get out of here.
“You ready?” I ask.
He puts his hands on my waist, turns me so I’m behind him, and faces the last three still standing. “I am now.”
I drop the shield, and Bane puts up his fists, ready to take them all on if necessary.
“Grab her!” one of them yells, and they try to come for me. Bane knocks one down with a punch to his nose while one of the incubi tries to knock me out with a fist to the face. I duck in time and push him back with a kick to the stomach, giving me a second to regain my footing before doing a high kick to his head. He goes down. I assume all that training with Rave and the others has paid off. When all three men are down, I hear Bane mutter a curse.
“What?” I ask him, turning him around to face me.
My eyes widen as I see the knife sticking out of his stomach. “Okay, that’s going to hurt. Come on, let’s go somewhere quiet so I can take it out.”
I lead him around the corner in a dark alleyway behind the bar, where no one is around. He leans against the stone-clad wall and lifts his blood-covered hands away from his wound. Stepping closer to him, I put my hand on the knife’s hilt and look into his dark eyes. “You ready?”
He nods slowly, his gaze once again darting to my neck. “Why do you keep doing that?” I blurt out, eyes narrowing. “Are you hungry? You need blood, too, right?”
Amber rolls across his irises. “Fuck, I’m sorry. Yes, I need to feed, but that’s not your problem.”
“How often do you need to?” I ask him, biting my lower lip.
“Once a week. Fuck!” he grits out as I pull out the blade without any further warning. Blood drips onto the ground, and I quickly place my hands on his tunic and start to heal him. Heat takes over me, starting at my fingers until it envelops my entire body, my eyes slamming shut as I mentally picture his wound healing itself. When I let go, I look up to find him watching me with wide eyes.
“You didn’t have to do that,” he murmurs, lifting his tunic to reveal his smooth abs. Aside from the blood, you would never have known he was injured. “You are incredible, you know that?”
Smiling, I realize that although I do feel a little tired, it’s nothing like it used to be. I’m less drained than I thought I would be, and I don’t feel the need to sleep it off like before.
“I should go, and you need to feed,” I tell him, taking a step back from him. “I can zip back alone.”
“That won’t be necessary,” comes a deep, furious tone from the right of us.
Spinning around, I come face to face with Rave, who steps out of the shadows, taking me in from head to toe with eyes dark as night, his jaw so tight it must be uncomfortable, and a lot of barely restrained power. He’s wearing a leather tunic and pants, fitting enough to see his muscular form, and looks like he walked out of hell itself. “Although I do want to know why my mate is alone in a dark corner with another male.”
Yeah, it kind of looks bad.
He holds out his hand, waves of darkness floating from his fingers.
“What?” I ask, my brow furrowing.
“Take it off. Now,” he demands.
Bane’s jacket. Damn, I forgot about it.
I remove the jacket and hand it to him. He throws the jacket at Bane, who catches it and slides a sleeve over his arm.
The anger-infused air is thick and suffocating, and if I don’t handle this right, a fight will break out between them.
Through our bond I feel how hurt Rave is at seeing me with Bane, especially when I haven’t fully forgiven him yet. I hate that I made him feel this way.
“We were attacked. I was stabbed, and she healed me,” Bane summarizes, pushing off the wall and standing next to me, but not too close because he’s clearly an intelligent incubus.
Rave’s bottomless-pit eyes give me another once-over, concern flashing in them. “Are you okay?”
I nod. “There were six of them. They heard about me being a succubus and thought I would be worth something if they took me.”
He turns to Bane, gritting his teeth. “If you cannot take care of her in your kingdom, she won’t be returning here.”
“She’s standing here, unharmed,” Bane points out, crossing his arms over his chest. “I protected her with my life as I will continue to do.”
“Yes, and why is that, Bane? Shouldn’t her brothers be with her or her friend?” he asks, staring Bane down with a look that would make a lesser man wither. “Why are you so interested in my princess?”
Oh, fuck.
“Rave—”
“She’s also our princess ,” he reminds Rave, scowling. “And she is family now. I protect her just as her brothers or father would.”
“As long as you remember, she is very much taken,” Rave replies quietly, gently taking my wrist and rubbing his thumb over the mating band like a brand. He lowers his tone to a deathly quiet threat. “And I will burn down all eight kingdoms before I let anyone take her from me.”
Bane’s hands clench to fists, his eyes flicking amber, but Rave zips me back home before he says anything.