Chapter 32
GAELAN
Panting for breath, I sit up as I’m ripped from Ari’s dream.
Something was stopping me from seeing where she went after she disappeared through the sand trap.
Usually, I can manipulate dreams—I am a Dream demon after all—but Ari’s powers stopped it for some reason.
No one has ever stopped me before, not even Ari.
I turn to reach for her and frown when I find the bed empty. “Rose?” I shout, getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom. Seeing it empty, I slip on sweatpants and head down to the kitchen in search of her.
One of the housekeepers smiles up at me as I enter the room, before bowing. “Good morning, my lord.”
“Good morning, have you seen Ari this morning?”
She shakes her head. “No, my lord.” She bows again before rushing off.
Trelor shivers against my skin, and both of us try to reach out with our senses to see if we can feel anything amiss—it all seems fine; there are no daemons that shouldn’t be here.
Walking out into the courtyard and looking up into the sky, something doesn’t feel right. Turning to walk back into the house, I pause when I see Rex sitting at the gate, his body larger than usual. He turns his head and growls before turning back and clawing at the gate.
“Rex?”
He whimpers, and it’s then that I notice a gold symbol etched into the ground—a spell.
Moving closer, I have no idea what spell this is, but it’s one of Ari’s.
I can tell from the feel of it. But how?
She has no power, not from the book anyway.
How did she do this? Rex whimpers again, and the spell begins to flash, slowly fading.
Fear rushes through me, making me clench my fist.
“Rose?” I shout again, rushing back into the castle and calling Leah to my side.
She shimmers within seconds. She moves to bow but stops when she sees the look on my face and the markings covering my skin.
The last time I watched one of Ari’s spells fade, she died soon after. “Ari is gone. Someone has taken her.”
“Where?” She questions, making me growl in return.
“If I knew, do you think I would be standing here?” I snap.
She shrinks back in fear at the anger in my words. Walking past her, I head for the main office. Pushing the door open, I walk over to the map of the underworld on my wall.
Ari was dreaming of a sandy wasteland last night. The only sandy wasteland left in the underworld is Westrey lands—the place where the first Book Reader was born. The place we first fell in love.
Leah moves next to me, her eyes taking in the map.
I lift my hand as I start to shift, pointing to a place on the map with a claw.
“She's here.” I let Trelor come completely forward, my body growing in height, towering over Leah. My skin turns blue as it covers itself with my daemon lord markings. Wings appear on my back and my tail uncurls, landing hard on the ground with a thud. My voice comes out deeper. “Get the guards and meet me here.” I don’t wait for her to answer—someone has my mate, and I will get her back. She is mine.
I shimmer to Westrey.
My feet sink into the hot sand, my tail swishes on the ground behind me in anger.
Someone touched what is mine, and Gaelan let it happen.
I will not allow him to be around our mate again.
I grin, feeling him move under my skin, and I growl out to him, “You are weak.” He tries to take back his body, but my anger keeps him bound.
He can come back when I say he can and not a moment before.
I am the best daemon to find our mate. Not a weak, tiny daemon.
Lifting my head and sniffing the air, I smell a mix of death and daemons, with the sweetest undertone of roses.
“Ari-Rose,” I growl out and step forward. She was here. I can smell her blood; someone has hurt her. I will rip their beating heart from their chest for touching her. She is mine.
Narrowing my eyes when I see a ripped shirt lying on the ground, I pick it up and inhale deeply before growling—it’s Gaelan’s.
Tiny daemon. I grin. Must find a mate.
Walking farther, two daemons are up ahead arguing; they stand in front of a large metal cage that has my mate inside.
Tears stream down her face, and blood is smeared across Ari-Rose’s body.
I can feel the daemons' anger wash over my skin; it ignites my rage to have their severed heads in my hands.
These daemons took my mate, and these two daemons will die today.
The air around me shifts, and Rex appears beside me; his body is much larger now, his fangs longer, and his eyes burning red fire. I grin down at him and mind-link so he can hear my thoughts.
“Go, save Ari-Rose.”
He fades from sight, and I know that when I leave here, there will be blood on my hands. I just hope Rex waits and doesn’t rip them apart before I get to them—I want to feel their flesh in my hands as I rip them apart.
Grinning, I fade from sight and appear behind the biggest one; he has a face full of tattoos, and I can smell Ari-Rose on his skin.
A growl rumbles in my chest as I reach out and hook my arm around his neck, pulling him back to my chest. He tries to fight me, but he’s a tiny daemon, so he is no match for my brute strength.
My Ari-Rose whimpers. Her fear rushes over me, and I realize she is terrified of me.
I growl for only Gaelan to hear; he should have told her about me before all of this.
I am no harm to her. She is mine to protect and look after, just like Gaelan.
I soften my face a little, and she gasps, so I know she sees Gaelan behind my daemon features.
Growling at the daemon in my arms, I push him away with a hiss.
“He’s a lord?” The little one says.
The bigger one stands up and brushes the sand off his body. “I don’t give a shit; fucking cut its fucking face off.”
I chuckle darkly. “Try me, tiny daemon.”
He growls and shimmers from sight to appear in front of me.
He punches me in the face, making my head snap to the left.
My lips curl back, and my fangs lower as I snarl.
My tail moves swiftly to curl around his neck, squeezing it tightly, and making it harder for him to breathe.
I lift him off the floor and move him so that he’s the same height as me.
I look into his eyes, snarling, “You touched my mate?”
He whimpers and shakes his head. “I-I didn’t touch her… He did,” he gasps out as he points to the other, smaller daemon, who is currently cowering after pissing his pants. I squeeze my tail tighter.
“You lie. You pay.” I reach forward and punch my hand through his chest, wrapping my claws around his heart and squeezing it. A blood-curdling scream is ripped from his mouth, and he starts to shake in my hold.
Tilting my head to the side, I watch the panic and pain fill his eyes; his heart is slowing down in my grasp.
I want him to suffer for what he has done.
He starts gagging, choking on air, which makes me grin.
“Feels good,” I growl at him. His heart has almost stopped beating, but I want him to feel it as I rip it out.
I pull my hand back, ripping it clean from his chest. Dropping him to the floor, I squash the heart in my hand before throwing it down on the ground.
The other daemon turns to run; he is going to try and shimmer away, I think.
I would let him, but Macy can’t know we were here—that my mate was here.
I shimmer and appear in front of him, wrapping my hands around his neck.
The glow of my eyes reflects in his pupils, and his hands come up and claw at the back of mine.
“Why are you here?” I ask him, loosening my hold on him so he can speak.
“The Princess of Hell wants this place guarded.”
“Why?” My eyes narrow and then flicker to the cage my Ari-Rose is in. She watches me with tears running down her face. I need to be quick. My mate is scared and needs me.
Looking back at the tiny daemon, who is currently trying to kick me, makes me chuckle darkly. “Tell me why.”
“The princess…”
I squeeze his neck tighter, digging my claws into “Stop calling her that,” I growl, and he starts to cry.
“Macy said the Book Reader might come home, so we were to wait. We’ve been waiting for a long time.” He wheezes out.
My jaw tenses, I want to shimmer to the palace and rip the bitch’s head off, but Gaelan reminds me we have our mate to look after, so I will have to be content with just ripping his head off.
Lifting my hand, I shimmer one of my twin blades to me and slowly press it into the side of his neck.
Tendons snap before the blade hits bone.
I twist the dagger, digging it in deeper, and blood flows down his neck to the sand.
He gargles, blood filling his lungs—a sound I really enjoy hearing.
His body shakes as life begins to drain from him.
I drop him, and a few seconds later, he turns to dust, the wind picking him up and blowing him away.
Turning to face the other daemon, I see he is also blowing away in the breeze, making an evil grin spread across my face. I forgot how good killing feels. Watching the light go out in a pair of terrified eyes makes me bloody thirsty. Suddenly, I hear a gasp followed by sobs.
“Ari-Rose?” I turn, and my eyes meet my mate’s. My eyes take in the Shivers that run along her body. She starts to pull on the cage door, trying to open it. Her fear licks over my skin again, and I hate it.
Gaelan is not coming out ever again. He keeps me from her.
I step closer and shimmer the lock into my hands.
The door swings open with a loud bang. Rex appears beside the cage—his body shrinks in size, making himself smaller to soothe her.
She reaches for him as she slowly crawls out of the cage.
I never take my eyes from her; I take in the bruises covering her body and the handprints on her arms. Rage coils in my chest, making it heave with each breath I take.
My hands are fists, needing to bring those daemons back to life so I can kill them again.
“Who are you?” Her voice shakes when she calls out to me. I look like Gaelan. I just need her to see past the blue skin, my markings, and my tail.
“Trelor,” I say my name in the hope that she will calm down, but she starts to edge around the cage nervously. She moves backward, away from me.
She holds her hands out. “Trelor? My boyfriend? ” her voice is soft, lighter than usual. She is nervous and confused at seeing Gaelan's features in me.
I narrow my eyes at her, What is a boyfriend? Gaelan laughs in my head.
“Me… she’s talking about me.” I grin because it was I who saved her, not the tiny daemon.
My head snaps up when I hear running feet—she fears me.
I shimmer to stand in front of her, grabbing her and clutching her to my chest when she runs into me.
I look down and see more closely where the daemons touched her.
She has blood on her lips and some on her face—if I hadn’t killed them, I would bring them back to life to kill them again.
Growling, I reach out to touch her face, but she pulls back from me.
“Please, don’t hurt me,” she sobs.
I shake my head and try to reach out for her again.
“Let me go… please.” She holds her hands out to me while begging. “I won’t tell Gaelan.”
I look down at her with a grin. “Gaelan knows.” She frowns at me, tilting her head to the side, and I can see her taking in my face again. “I won’t hurt, mate. Gaelan, not hurt, mate.” I say. She relaxes just a little, her eyes locking with mine. “You come with Trelor.”
Before she can answer me, I pull her closer.
My wings unfurl on my back, and I hold her tighter while I jump into the air, my wings flapping, catching the hot desert breeze.
Her rose scent wraps around me, making me lower slightly and breathe her in.
I fly for a few seconds, enjoying the feel of her tiny, soft body in my arms. When I see Leah and my guards in the clearing below, I mind-link to her.
“Check lands for other daemons, kill all that you find. Then guard lands.”
“Yes, my lord.” Everyone below speaks as one.
They fan out, searching. This land no longer belongs to Macy. I’m here now. I look down at my Ari-Rose and see her watching me again. I grin at her. “I will keep you safe.”
I shimmer from the sky in Westrey to appear in the sky of the Dream Realm. My wings continue to flap as I soar high toward my tower in the castle. Gaelan sleeps in bed. I make a nest for Ari-Rose. We sleep in a tower.
Tucking my wings close to my body, I use the air to twist through my window and land hard on the ground.
The walls shake from the force of it. Ari-Rose is still safe in my arms. I look down at her and see that she is still staring at me.
I want to kiss her, but I must wait, Gaelan warns me to let her have some time.
I lower her slowly to the floor, my eyes never leaving hers.
“Gaelan?” She reaches her hand up to touch my face. I have to slouch a little so she can reach.
“Trelor.” I correct. I know she has calmed down now that she can see my face is the same as his, but where Gaelan is white, I am blue.
“Where is Gaelan?” she asks slowly.
I reach for her hand, it’s so tiny in mine and so soft, I place it over my heart. “He’s here, inside Trelor.” She slowly nods and steps back from me, clearly uncertain, and I understand. “Gaelan didn’t tell you about me. We worry.”
“About what?” she laughs nervously.
I step closer to her, wanting to comfort her, but she steps back from me again. “Is there a bathroom?”
I nod and point to the door on the left; she turns and leaves me standing in the middle of our nest. I growl at Gaelan. “Gaelan should have told Ari-Rose.” He pushes against my skin, and I let him come forward.
Our mate needs him.