Chapter 17
Something old. Tyran.
Something new. Dress.
Something borrowed. Tyran’s power during the ritual.
Something blue…
Tsan could return with the blue gems whenever he damn well pleased. Not like the fates of my son, mate, and four supernatural races depended on them. No, all supernatural races, really. The others would crumble in a heap against demonkind if Tyran managed to defeat the other three strongest races.
Maybe I should try to find the two gems that Carmine had confiscated…
except that seemed like exactly what he might be watching and waiting for me to attempt.
My gut told me that Tyran had no idea what the blue gems were for.
If he had guessed, then surely he would have taken measures to chain me up somewhere.
I paced my bedroom, dressed in my hugging, black lace gown. Yiti had added a sheer, crimson cape that fastened in a choker around my neck and was embroidered in black with the markings of my mating.
Carmine was in the hangar, and our ceremony would begin in one hour.
A closed-door ceremony in the ballroom. I really had no idea what that was, except that those in the fortress would wait outside the doors and listen in.
Which felt kind of like some creepy old tradition to ensure the new queen’s virginity had been lost.
But I’d prefer the partial privacy. Once Tsan, Athira, and I saw whether our healing plan worked, then I’d feel more comfortable with the public nature of the last ritual, which would absolutely be held before other demons.
The minutes ticked by.
Then some more.
Where the hell were they?
I waited five minutes past the hour. Shit. Should I open a portal to the desert? My instincts warned no. They told me that Carmine was paying very close attention to me right now, and would seize any opportunity to cancel the ritual.
This ritual had to go ahead. Too long had gone by already. The longer I delayed, the more likely that my living sister would be discovered.
I had to trust in Athira and Tsan and not delay this any longer.
As I left my bedroom, Tyran started toward the ballroom too. He’d definitely been paying attention to my movements.
Every surrounding hallway was packed with fortress demons, and I ignored their well wishes and compliments as they parted for me.
Raes stood closest to the ballroom doors.
“You’re going to listen in?” I asked.
He grimaced. “No. Gratia asked me to meet her here.”
I scanned his face. “When did you last see her?”
“Two hours ago.”
Two hours ago… when Athira and Tsan left for the gems. Gratia was snooping, and I seriously hoped that she hadn’t found anything. If she returned and spoke to Carmine about blue gems, that would give Carmine confirmation of an arrangement between Athira and me.
The only thing that may save us was that Gratia had no idea about that link.
I replied, “I’m sure she’ll show up soon.”
Leaving the crowd behind, I slipped inside the ballroom and tracked Carmine’s slow journey from the opposite end of the fortress.
Stop, start, stop, start. He was stopping to talk to those in the hall.
Delaying, in other words.
Eventually the far door opened to admit the demon king. Someone pulled it closed after him.
“Syera,” Tyran said.
“Carmine,” I answered.
His gaze roamed over my body. “Delectable as always. More so even. I enjoy seeing you dressed in our colors.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
He’d dressed in the same loose-fitting trousers as always and had left the ink designs of our mating on display over his torso.
The demon king didn’t look away as he approached. “The first time I saw you, your beauty struck me speechless.”
I lifted my brows. “Are you sure that wasn’t the punch of our mating being triggered?”
“That was like a punch, but no. Your beauty stole my breath—your fire and fight that were so evident even under the circumstances.”
That was putting things lightly. “You were like an ancient creature that I’d dreamed into being.”
Which was true. Except now I knew about Tyran’s presence, the words tasted bitter.
He ran his hands up the lace fabric over my arms. “You’d said that you could never forgive me for what I did to your family. What has changed?”
Right then and there I knew that he would pull out all the stops to stop this ritual—whether that meant baiting me to storm out or say something that would give him the ammunition to cancel.
“Me,” I said. “I changed.”
Tyran could take that answer as he wished.
I rested my hands on his chest. “Let’s start.”
Athira and Tsan better hold up their end of the bargain.
I was seriously relying on them, but where I had faith in Athira’s power, I had little trust in her ability to keep her word.
And where I had faith in Tsan’s ability to keep his word, I had little trust in his power. Maybe they’d balance each other.
And maybe my lucky demon would show me how lucky he really was.
“In what way have you changed?” he murmured.
I hummed. “In nearly every way, it feels.” I pushed up on tiptoes and set my lips to his, then added, “Can’t you tell?”
His lips were cold, and so were his eyes as he regarded me. “Yes, I can.”
I kissed him again, focusing on the fact this was Carmine’s body, even if Tyran would operate it until we traveled deeper into the ritual. During the last ritual, the mating magic had eventually forced Tyran into the passenger seat. I was banking on that happening again.
“And you? Have you changed?” I followed him when he stepped back.
There was no getting out of this for him. I was determined. Also very eager to start in case Gratia burst through the door at any second with tales of Athira finding blue gems.
Tyran smirked. “I have remained the same for an age.”
I blurred out a hand to catch his wrist and tugged so our bodies were flush. I wrapped his arm around my waist, then looped my arms behind his neck. Trapped.
I peeked upward. “Speak the words, mate.”
Had I done enough by announcing the game to create a false sense of security for Tyran? Perhaps he could do with another nudge. “Speak the words loudly so that those in the hall hear you. Speak them loud enough so the waiting realm hears too. I don’t care.”
His jaw clenched, but his expression smoothed again.
Tyran gripped my chin. “You have surprised me, future queen. I am not easily surprised, but you have achieved it.”
Future queen, huh? A step up from mate-intended.
Tyran released my chin and wrapped his other arm around my waist. “I stand here with the intention of pursuing our mating. I ask that you open your iron, and I tell you that I shall open mine in return.”
This wasn’t an iron ritual as much as a heart ritual. But terming this a heart ritual wasn’t palatable to demons. So we often referred to the heart in terms of the iron casing surrounding it.
Tyran continued, “With our powers freely moving between that which our iron encases, we tie our mating stronger still, and our immortality too. One smoke, and one iron.”
When he’d finished speaking, I began. “I stand here with the intention of pursuing our mating.” And freeing you from the being controlling you. “I ask that you open your iron, and I tell you that I shall open mine in return.”
I shivered at the knowledge that soon Tyran’s magic would flood into me and into my heart. Not only was I relying on Athira and Tsan, but on Neti and her Istg crew. Something about my entire future resting in the hooves of a nismus was a vulnerable feeling.
I continued, “With our powers freely moving between that which our iron encases, we tie our mating stronger still, and our immortality too. One smoke. One iron.”
As always, I was struck by how differently these words would have felt and sounded at sixteen and seventeen, and for part of my eighteenth year.
Tyran didn’t bend to meet me for our kiss—which was the real trigger to the next ritual’s beginning. Well, a kiss and the intention to pursue the mating. That was all it took for the magic to start its work.
No going back. I pushed up to set my lips to his and pushed aside as many thoughts of Tyran as possible. I was here for my mate.
I’m going to free us, Carmine.
I angled my head to deepen our kiss. Tyran moved his lips as little as possible, but he could only do so much about the mating force. Any hesitations I held about seducing the evil ancient presence in my mate had gone up in smoke weeks ago.
I sought entrance to his mouth with my tongue. He parted his lips barely.
I pressed my body against his.
Tyran gripped my upper arms and pushed me to arm’s length. He was breathing hard, as was I. Wait, was he trying to ride this out? Had I reduced this demon to desperate tactics. There was no way he’d stay present when the mating magic kicked in.
He was going to try to get through this without completing the ritual. Desperate tactic indeed. That would never succeed.
I had the upper hand.
Tyran walked to his throne. Slowly. Trying to recover?
My smirk widened.
He sat in the throne. “Come, mate-intended.”
“On the throne? I approve.” I joined him, then rested my hands on the armrests to lean forward and kiss him again.
“Turn around.”
I did so.
“Remove the dress,” Tyran ordered. “Leave the cape.”
Sure. Gross. But sure.
Soon, I stood naked but for the crimson cape. I was certain that the way it fastened in a collar around my neck appealed to Tyran, and I had to applaud Yiti’s instincts.
The demon king curled his large hands around my hips and spun me to face away, then tugged me backward.
I sat on his lap, and he hooked my legs over the armrests of his throne.
I grunted when he drew my hands behind my back and bound them using the bottom half of the cape.
Tight. Tight enough that the collar around my neck felt restrictive and my spine arched to ease the pressure.
“Better,” he murmured.
Because I wasn’t looking at him and couldn’t touch him? Tyran wanted control, and if he thought this would work, then he had about ten seconds after entering me to realize it wouldn’t.
Tyran lifted me with a hand under my ass and freed his length. Carmine’s.