CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Rave
“Your mother isn’t coming back. She’s decided to stay there with her friend,” I flat out lie to my son. How the fuck am I meant to tell him she’s dead? He’s too young, and I don’t want to be the first to break his heart.
“Oh, okay,” he replies, nodding like he almost expected it. “So, I’ll be living here now all the time?”
“Yes, no more back and forth,” I say, offering him a gentle smile. “You are our prince and heir, so right here is where you belong.”
“Okay, I’ll see Mom whenever she comes back to visit,” he says, more to himself than me. “I have to go to training. And then I’m going fishing. I’ll see you at dinner.”
He runs off, my lip twitching as I watch him go.
I know the truth will come out one day, but for now, I’ve bought myself some time.
Heading to my own training, I’m stopped by Soren standing with Bane, who apparently lives in my fucking kingdom these days. But I’m grateful for what he did last night, so as long as he keeps his hands off Astrid, I don’t have a problem with him. In fact, I respect him. It’s well known that he’s feared and revered, especially by the demons waiting for him to return to their kingdom and take back the throne. His fighting skills and weather and blood-tracing magic make him a strong ally. But I don’t like that he’s a good-looking bastard, especially when my spy in Chaos told me that Bane and Astrid sometimes seemed a little too close. That was when I fucked up, and I know she was heartbroken. I’ll never make the same mistake and hurt her again because I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her. And if she ever ran into the arms of another male, I’d have to kill him.
In fact, Bane is lucky to still be breathing.
And the only reason is the male standing next to him right now. Although looking at the two of them, you’d think they were fucking friends.
And after everything, maybe they are.
“Bane came to give us an update on Rion,” Soren explains, turning to Bane to let him explain.
He crosses his arms over his chest, his legs apart. “What Drake said checks out. Rion admitted he’s working for the Vampire King, but only because he has Rion’s mate held hostage. He’s basically blackmailing Rion to do all of his dirty work. However, there are apparently many incubi who want to get their hands on Astrid to breed her as well. They want succubi daughters and think she is the answer to end the curse once and for all.”
“Anyone who tries to breed her, or even looks in her direction with any malicious intent, will end up without their fucking head,” I seethe, shadows swirling around my hands. Just the thought of someone harming her sends me into a blackout rage.
Technically, Astrid’s birth broke the curse, but everyone wants to know why. And how. And they want to make more succubi, but there will never be another like her. My mate is one in a fucking million.
“No one will harm her,” Bane decrees, like it’s law. And in my kingdom, it most definitely is. “We’ve convinced Rion to give us information as long as we promise to save his mate.”
I don’t remember seeing any mating bands around his wrists, so they mustn’t be bonded. “Okay, that’s a good plan to have him as our spy. You let him go then?”
Bane nods, cocking his head to the side. “He was hard to break, but once he realized we knew who he was working for, he decided to trust us.”
“So what now?” Soren asks, stretching his neck from side to side, drawing attention to the scar across his neck. I’ll never forget the day I found him barely alive, blood dripping down his body.
“Now we get ready for war.”
We must be ready for anything, so I’m covering all bases.
And Astrid—I want to talk to her about her seer magic and learning to control and develop it. I know she’s had to hide it all this time, but now she should embrace it. She should be proud of being so powerful, but I know why she is scared, and it’s a valid reason.
I’m king now.
And no one would dare touch her.
I’d send all eight kingdoms to darkness for her.
“King Zython has asked Astrid to visit Chaos tomorrow night for his birthday dinner,” Bane adds, smirking. “And you are both invited too.”
I try to hide my wince. “We will be there.”
Soren chuckles, slapping me on my shoulder. “Dinner with the father-in-law? There better be some hot women in Chaos because I need to get laid, and whoever I fuck there, I won’t have to see again. It’s perfect.”
Soren has always been charming as fuck and popular with the females. We used to share women in the past, pleasuring and dominating them together. Soren has a thing about control. And he even likes a dash of pain mixed in with his pleasure. But that all changed when I met Astrid because no one, not even my best friend, gets a taste of her sweet pussy.
“We’ll take you to Lust.” Bane grins, staring up at the sunny sky. “Plenty of women to choose from.”
“All right, I’m in,” Soren replies, rubbing his hands together with glee. “But if it’s a fucking incubi sausage fest, I’m going to be pissed.”
Bane smirks. “The females from all kingdoms come to Lust to feed the incubi with their debauchery. Don’t worry, you won’t be short on pussy.”
“You got in with the right family, my king,” he mutters, then nods toward the fighting ring. “All right. Let’s get in there and kick some ass. We have a Vampire King to kill.”
We train hand-to-hand magic and then with weapons only. Soren pulls his twin swords from his back as he faces off with Bane, an amused smirk on his lips. He lives for this shit. He always has. Bane pulls out his sword, and the two of them go head-to-head. I feel Astrid through the bond before I see her, smiling as she wraps her small hand around my waist and tucks herself under my arm.
“How did it go with Vale?” she asks, and I frown as her eyes go to Soren and Bane instead of staying on mine.
Ahh, yes, the little cockblock prince himself.
“I told him Vera wanted to stay with her friend and wasn’t coming back. He didn’t seem surprised, maybe because she was so adamant to leave here,” I explain, kissing the top of her head. “I couldn’t tell him she was dead. I know I should have, but I couldn’t.”
She stays silent for a few moments and then sighs. “It might have been better to tell him the truth, Rave. He’s going to get older and ask more questions, and it might bite you in the ass.”
She’s right. I know she is.
“I’ll tell him.”
“Good,” she murmurs, and I kiss the top of her head. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, just worried about Vale,” I assure her, and it’s the truth. I feel guilty about Vera because Vale has lost his mother, but I don’t feel sad that Vera is gone. I can’t forgive her betrayal, and I have no sympathy for her because she brought it all on herself.
Soren and Bane keep battling, and both are pretty evenly matched.
“He will be okay. We will make sure of it,” she says quietly, glancing back at me with those hazel eyes I fucking love so much. “I had another vision before. I keep seeing everyone’s fated mates. I don’t know why. I’m a fucking matchmaker… that’s all I’m good for.”
My eyebrows raise. “Do you know how many people would give anything to know who their mate is? Or just to know that they do have one out there? You are incredible, Princess. I wanted to talk to you about that. We can work on your seer magic more, but only if you want to. If you learn how to master it, you will be unstoppable.”
“I do want to.” She nods, biting her lower lip in thought. “I think Laurel can help me, but I don’t know how to get that time with her without the Shifter King finding out. He can’t know what I am.”
My fingers move up her back to her nape, squeezing gently. “He won’t touch you. I’ll kill him first.”
“Rave—”
“I could invite him here under the guise of more chats about the vampire situation,” I suggest, already making a plan. “He doesn’t go anywhere without Laurel.”
“That could work,” she replies, and I run my finger down the cheek of her pretty brown skin before tracing her lips, my finger tugging on the lower one as I lower my head and kiss her. “Whatever you want, I will always make it happen for you.”
She smiles, the sunlight hitting her eyes, showing off their green.
Fuck.
I’m gone for this woman and can’t even be mad about it.