Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Leda
A dark shadow appeared over my blanket. Shading my eyes with a hand, I looked up to find an unfamiliar male daemon looming over me.
I dropped the book, rolled over, and bounded to my feet, putting as much distance between us as possible.
“What the hell?!” I exclaimed.
The male daemon bowed his head to me. “Pardon my intrusion, human female. I am Dryden. I am with the magistrate’s office.”
He didn’t come any closer and hadn’t pulled the sword I saw peeking over his shoulder.
“It’s rude to sneak up on people where I’m from,” I said, my hand still hovering over the hilt of my dagger.
“My apologies. I forgot human senses are not as keen as daemons. I will be sure to announce myself next time.”
Next time?
“Why are you here?” I asked.
Before he could answer, a huge, snarling daemon came around the corner at a dead run. When he saw Dryden, his expression morphed from terrifying to just angry. He didn’t stop moving, though. He planted his body between us, his tail lashing wildly even though his body was still.
“Why did you approach my female alone?” Bokkan asked him, the question laced with a growl.
“Your second-in-command told me to come this way. I did not expect to find your female alone.”
“Why are you here?”
I leaned to one side so I could see the other daemon since Bokkan’s massive form blocked him completely. His tail wrapped around my waist, keeping me from moving further.
“The magistrate sent me to follow up on your mating claim.” A small smile played on his lips. “Seeing how you responded to her distress, I am not sure we need to continue the interview.”
I frowned. “Interview?”
“We have to verify that the two of you are testing compatibility,” Dryden answered. “If we find that you are, the charges levied against Bokkan will be dropped as his attack on Karaj will be justified.”
I just shook my head. While I was grateful that there was a loophole, I was completely confused about the legal system in Penumbra.
“Shall we go inside?” Dryen asked. “I will examine your living and sleeping space and ask you both a few questions. Then, I will be on my way.”
“Examine our living and sleeping space?” My voice was so high it nearly cracked.
Dryden nodded. “Yes.”
When he didn’t elaborate further, I looked up at Bokkan. His jaw was tight, but that was the only outward sign he was upset. Obviously, I couldn’t ask him anything because Dryden would overhear.
“Please, follow me,” Bokkan finally offered.
He placed a hand on my back, just below my shoulder blades, and kept his tail around my waist as we walked around the house, the other daemon following behind us. I wondered why Bokkan wasn’t taking Dryden through the kitchen, but I kept my mouth shut. There had to be a reason for that.
When we went inside, he didn’t pause. We moved right up the stairs and down the hall.
Once we were in the room, Bokkan guided me to the side and let Dryden enter.
I had no idea what to expect, but it wasn’t for the other male daemon to walk into the bathing room for a few moments and come back out.
Then he walked over to the foot of the bed and inhaled deeply.
He didn’t say anything, just walked to the door and back out into the hallway. I glanced up at Bokkan, but he shook his head and guided me back into the hall.
We walked into other rooms that we spent time in, like Bokkan’s office and the kitchen. Bokkan even led the daemon to the sanctum, but Dryden shook his head when Bokkan offered to let him enter.
“That is unnecessary. I can scent that you spent time in there together recently.”
That explained the deep inhales through his nose in every room, I realized. He was smelling to see if we spent time together. Heat rushed into my cheeks when I thought of him smelling us in the bathing room and bedchamber. We did a lot more than spend time together there.
Once Dryden was done “examining” our living spaces, he looked to Bokkan. “Is there somewhere I can speak to each of you separately?”
“My office,” he answered.
“I would like to speak to the human female first.”
“My name is Leda. Please use it,” I said to Dryden.
Dryden bowed his head. “Of course.”
When we went into the office, Dryden stopped Bokkan by holding out a hand. “General, you know you cannot be in the room when I speak to Leda.”
Bokkan scowled at him. “I do not trust you.”
“Those are your mating instincts. You have known me for decades. We trained together in the King’s Guard. You know I will not harm your female or even touch her in any way.”
The ferocious frown on Bokkan’s face intensified. I could literally see him wrestling with himself. Finally, he nodded and backed out of the room.
His eyes came to me. “I will be in the kitchen. Just call my name if you need me.”
I nodded to him. “I’ll be fine. You know I will.”
His jaw flexed, and his fingers clenched into fists. “I know, but I do not like it.”
“The quicker you leave, the quicker we’ll be done,” I pointed out.
Bokkan growled but backed out of the office. Dryden closed the door but didn’t move. He stood in front of it and waited until Bokkan walked down the hall. Though I couldn’t hear him any longer, Dryden stood there for a few moments longer.
Finally, he turned toward me. His smile was polite as he said, “Shall we sit?”
Nerves shimmered in my stomach. I knew he would be able to smell it, so I just asked what I needed to know. “What exactly happens now?”
He walked over to one of the chairs by Bokkan’s desk and sat down.
“I will ask you a few questions about how you came to be here and if Bokkan has your consent to pursue you. They are simple and straightforward. I will pay attention to your breathing, heart rate, and scent to ascertain if you are telling the truth.”
I nodded, still nervous, because Bokkan and I were essentially lying about testing compatibility. We slept together, we fooled around, and we basically lived together. If I weren’t already planning to go home as soon as possible, I would’ve seriously considered building a relationship with Bokkan.
I walked over to the chair next to Dryden’s and sat. “Okay. What if you ask me a question I don’t want to answer?”
That seemed to surprise him. “Why wouldn’t you want to answer?”
I felt my face heat as I met his gaze. “In the human realm, some things are considered private.”
“You mean you do not speak about bedding? Or something else?”
My cheeks had to be red as hell. “Uh, yeah. The, uh, bedding stuff. Those are things we might talk about with a close friend but not with someone we just met.”
“I promise that most of my questions will not be about details, but to be certain that you are a willing participant in your interactions with the general.”
“Why do you call him that?” I asked.
“That was his rank in the King’s military. He was one of the most decorated generals in history.”
That didn’t surprise me. He was intelligent, observant, and cunning.
Yesterday, I saw more of that side of him, but I would have believed it even if I hadn’t.
Bokkan projected competence and confidence.
Even when he wasn’t sure what to do with me because of my humanity, he seemed calm and collected when he figured out what to do.
“We should start before Bokkan comes back and breaks the door down.”
I clasped my hands in my lap. “Okay.”
“Can you tell me how you came to be in our realm?”
Oh, damn. We were going straight for the hard shit.
“I was abducted from my bedchamber in the human realm about a week ago by two imps. They blew powder in my face, and it knocked me out. When I woke up, I was naked in a cell. Another imp showed up and opened the door. I managed to knock him out and lock him in my cell. When I tried to run, the collar they put on me pulled me to the floor. He dragged me back by the chain on it. I, uh, killed him and unlocked my collar with the keys he had. Before I could escape, another imp came in and dragged me outside. There were a bunch of daemons around a stage and a bunch of naked human women chained together. He managed to keep me from escaping as he auctioned me off. Bokkan’s second-in-command is the daemon who purchased me.
He brought me here, and the soldiers fought to see who would—” My throat closed up in the middle of my sentence.
I had to stop and clear my throat. “Who would go first with me. I told them all that I would kill whoever touched me. The guy who won, Talus, offered to fight me for the right to bed me. I said yes because there was no way in hell I was going to do it. We were outside in the ring, and I don’t think he expected me to be able to fight.
When we were in the ring, I pulled a dagger out of his boot and cut his hand with it.
Then Bokkan appeared. He was pissed. He stopped the fight and asked Guldan and Talus what the hell was going on.
After they explained, he brought us all inside and told Guldan that, unless he had a signed contract from me, he couldn’t force me to prostitute myself for the soldiers.
Then, he paid them all back out of his own pocket.
He fed me, took me to his room, and let me bathe.
He kept me warm at night and made sure his men didn’t rape me.
He didn’t expect me to, uh, have sex with him or anything because of it.
He made sure I was safe because he didn’t believe that I was supposed to be here.
He made sure I had clothing and shoes. And offered to help me get home. ”
Dryden was listening intently. “You have only been here a short time, and he offered to help you get home. Why did you decide to begin the mating rituals?”
“It happened quickly, but he’s been so kind to me, and he fascinates me. I couldn’t resist him.”
“You consented to it, though, correct?”
I nodded, my heart beating so fast. I was lying, but I also wasn’t. I consented to everything that we had done together, even if it wasn’t truly a mating ritual.
“You consented to bedding him even though you have not held the mating ceremony?”