Page 13

Chapter thirteen

Roisin

A fter washing the paint from my body, I opened the door with a creak.

“Brandon?” I called through the tiny gap.

“Yes?”

“Can you pass me a clean dress, please?”

“Or you can come out here naked and get it yourself. I won’t complain.”

I slammed the door shut. Could I stay in the bathing chambers forever? A second later, a light knock sounded on the door.

“I was only joking. I have a dress for you.”

Standing behind the door, I creaked it open enough for Brandon to put his hand through. The dress he was holding dangled from his fingers.

“Thank you.”

I clasped the dress and tugged it from his hand. As soon as he pulled his hand back, I shut the door and put on the dress. It was a lovely garment of the silkiest material in a deep plum color. Hauling in a centering breath, I opened the door and crossed the room to the bed.

“I’m tired.”

I climbed into the bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. My hair was still damp, but I didn’t care about the cooling tresses on the pillow. The warmth from the fire would dry my hair while I slept.

“Roisin?”

“Hmm?” I murmured, so tired that my eyes stayed shut and my head was heavy with the need for sleep.

“Did you sleep at all while I was unconscious?”

“No,” I whispered, and then sleep claimed me.

“How long was I out for?”

“Too long,” I murmured.

I woke to Brandon’s warm hand gently shaking my shoulder.

“Time to wake up, Princess.”

I rubbed a hand over my tired eyes.

“They’ve requested us to dine with them.”

“Who?” I mumbled, still trying to return to the land of the wakeful.

“Tay I’m assuming. There’s a guard or servant, whatever she is, at the door who came to fetch us.”

“Have I been asleep that long?” I sat up.

Brandon’s gaze dipped to my chest for a fleeting second .

“I’m not sure. The entire time has been daylight. It’s so confusing having no night.”

“Time moves differently here too, like in the Summer Court.”

“That would make sense.” He stepped back from the bed. “Do you need a moment before we leave?”

I glanced over at the door and then nodded. What was going to happen now? Our last invitation to dinner had been a strange event where we hadn’t even eaten. Was Tay about to cut me again? Make me bleed on bizarre items?

“I don’t want to go,” I whispered.

Everything inside me said to stay here with Brandon.

“Me either,” he whispered back. “But we won’t find a way out stuck in here.”

I nodded. He was right. Even if I didn’t want to leave the relative safety of the room, we had to. I tossed back the blankets and strode to the armoire. I pulled out a wrinkle-free dress and carried it into the bathing chambers. There I changed quickly. The sooner we found a way out, the better.

Returning to Brandon, he walked over to the door and knocked on it. The door opened and the demon from last time stood waiting for us.

“This way.”

We followed her through the grand castle once again, but this time she took us a different way. I suppose that meant we were going to an unfamiliar room, which was good. It meant we’d learn more about the layout of the castle. Hopefully, I’d find a way to escape .

She strode up to a set of double wooden doors and opened them. She dipped in a bow as we walked past her and into the enormous dining hall. A long, black wooden table stretched from one end to the other. High-backed black wooden chairs lined the sides. At the end sat a throne-like chair. For the King, I assumed. Just as Father had a more special chair in the Summer Court. The room was empty except for us.

“Now what?” Brandon asked.

“We wait.” I smoothed the skirts of my dress.

“For?”

“Our hosts.” I refrained from rolling my eyes like Briana always did at inane questions.

“Do we sit?”

“Dia, no. What did they teach you in that school of yours? It certainly wasn’t manners.”

“I love it when you get sassy with me.” He stepped closer. “It means I’m getting to you.”

“Annoying me.” I huffed.

“I don’t think so, Princess.”

As I folded my arms over my chest, I said, “What would you call it, then?”

“Attraction. Desire. Sexual tension. You’re frustrated and I can help.” He stepped closer still. “How about if we survive this dinner, you give me five minutes to ease the tension for you?”

“Five minutes?” I stepped backward. “From what my sisters say, it should be hours.”

“So, you are a virgin?”

“I never said that,” I said, flustered .

“You don’t have to, sweetheart. It’s your body. Your choice.”

He stepped forward, and I stepped backward until my back met the wall. The stones were warm against my bare back.

“But if it’s hours you want, then I’ll give you hours. Anything you want from me and it’s yours.”

I poked my finger into his chest to stop him from coming any closer, but the second I connected with his body, my body had other ideas and my fingers curled into the firmness of his chest. “Not happening,” I stuttered. Then shored myself up against his allure. “You can promise all you like, but you’ll never be my fated mate.”

“You intend to wait forever to have sex?”

“I’ll wait forever to be happy with the man destined for me.”

“You break my heart, Roisin.” He placed his hands over his chest, knocking my finger aside.

“You’re being dramatic. You don’t love me.”

He smirked. “Guess you’ll never know.”

I tossed my hair back over my shoulder. “You can’t possibly love me.”

“Can’t I?” The look he gave me grew heavier each second we stared at one other.

“No, because you don’t even know me.”

“I know enough. I know you love painting and your eyes light up with happiness every time you look at art or even think about making art. You love your family more than anything in the world and you’d do everything in your power to protect them. Sweet Roisin, you believe in forever love… the type of love everyone wants. You’re kind and caring, even when in the most extreme circumstances. You hold yourself with grace and poise. Your smile could light a thousand suns and fuel a thousand realms.”

No one had ever said such beautiful words to me. Did he love me? Mother and Father had fallen in love the day they met, but they were fated mates, so their love was destined. What Brandon and I felt for each other was different. It was desire and lust, nothing more. It wasn’t love. Perhaps I should kiss him, even have sex with him, to prove it was nothing but sexual tension between us, and that’s all it would ever be. But what if it was more?

Loud voices erupted in the room.

“Rexan, listen to me,” Tay said.

Tay spotted us and stopped in her tracks. The hulking demon beside her stopped, too.

“You sense it, don’t you, brother?” Tay asked.

The demon grunted. Dia, he was enormous. Easily over seven feet tall, and that wasn’t measuring the horns on top of his head. They were broad and set amongst a thick mane of black hair.

“Fuck,” he said.

“Yeah,” Tay said.

“I guess the time has come.”

Tay nodded and resumed walking toward us. I couldn’t go back any further than I wanted to. Their intimidating walk in our direction made me want to flee, but Brandon stood between me and the two demons .

“What do you want with the Princess?” Brandon asked.

The male demon, Rexan, ran his dark gaze over him.

“How did the human get here?” he asked Tay, ignoring Brandon’s question.

“He came with the Fae Princess.”

“Interesting.” He tapped his lip with a clawed finger.

“One of you needs to talk, or I’m taking the Princess and leaving.”

Tay and Rexan exchanged a look, then roared with laughter.

“Come on, Roisin. I’m getting you out of here.”

“Where do you assume you’ll go, weak human?” Tay asked. “You almost died the moment you stepped foot in our realm.”

I placed a hand on Brandon’s shoulder. Tay was right. We wouldn’t get out of here alive if we didn’t play nicely with the demons.

“I apologize for my guard,” I said, stepping around Brandon. “He hasn’t received the best training with the Fellowship, and I’ll fix that the moment we return to Earth.”

“You came from Earth?” Rexan asked.

“Aye.”

“The Fae have returned to Earth to rule?”

“That has yet to be decided by the King.”

Rexan gave me a grim smile. “Please, where are my manners? I’m the Demon King. Since we’re family, you may call me Rexan in private. This is my sister, Tay.”

“Family?” I asked .

“Ah, young princess, there is quite a tale to be told. Please have a seat and we will talk over a meal.”

I walked toward the closest chair, my legs so shaky I didn’t believe I’d make it there in time before I collapsed. Luckily for me, Brandon pulled the chair out and pushed it in, then he sat beside me and found my hand under the table. The warmth of his hand was comforting over mine. There was more to the connection between Brandon and me. We weren’t simply a princess and her bodyguard. We weren’t a Fae and a human, but I couldn’t concentrate on my feelings for Brandon now. Not after what the Demon King said.

How in all the realms was I family with the Demon King?