Page 11 of House of Demons and Bones (Shades of Ruin and Magic #5)

10

Killian

T he images of my vicious mate blazed through my dark mind like a flaming wind.

Her quick feet had carried her away from me before I could reach for her, demanding she stay until I could escort her to my house. She had a permanent room there and full access to my penthouse, no matter whether she wanted it or not.

Sitting behind my ebony desk carved with ancient runes, I opened a drawer and retrieved a romance novel I’d fetched from Barbie’s old room. I usually read military strategy, history, and magical texts, but I needed to understand what kind of man captivated my mate’s imagination.

My dragon growled. There’s only one kind of male our mate fancies, and that’s us. If you hadn’t screwed up, there’d be no reason for her to look elsewhere, not even in books.

Shut up and let me figure this out , I growled back.

The endless bickering with my beast exhausted me. There was never a moment of peace with him. I dragged a hand over my face, still reeling from the fact that she had a beast too.

What other secrets are you hiding, little scorpion?

We’ll find out one by one, my dragon offered.

I ignored his unnecessary encouragement and flipped through the sex scenes. My dragon watched intently, pretending expertise. I tossed the book aside.

I wasn’t expecting knife play, which seemed to be in trend in the mortal world. I would never stick a gun, a knife handle, a string of beads, or any other objects into my mate. The only thing inside her lovely cunt would be my cock, tongue, or fingers.

You insult our mate, my dragon snapped. She’d never allow a gun inside her lovely, divine body.

We don’t know that, I said, annoyed. She reads those books.

If my scorpion was into that kind of kinky stuff, I’d show her how much better my cock felt than cold metal. My blood heated at the thought, my cock instantly and painfully hard.

Let’s get our mate here to fuck, my beast pushed. Or take her to my realm. Show her something better than lame book dicks.

I stood, my erection straining against my pants. My dragon had a point. I needed to find my scorpion.

As if summoned by my desire, golden curls flashed past my study door. My heart leapt. She’d come to me before I could hunt her down. She knew where to find me. That first summons, I’d pinned her to my desk, laughing. My men had burst in to witness the truth—Barbie was the only woman I could touch since the Underworld queen’s bond.

Barbie retraced her steps and paused at the door. I waited. A few heartbeats later, she slid in and shut the door behind her.

Those pink lips. That golden face. Her dual-colored eyes sparkled with lust, one sapphire, one spring green.

“Barbie—” I started, trying not to fumble like an awkward adolescent boy who didn’t know where to place his hands since he was so smitten with the girl. I’d never been that guy until her.

It’s about time, my dragon growled.

Before I knew it, I’d crossed the room. The next second, I was standing in front of my mate and pulling her against me.

“Little scorpion, you came to me,” I murmured as I lifted her chin up for a kiss, my cock rigid with need.

But I reminded myself to take it slow, to drink her in and savor our little reunion, even as my need for her burned raw and hard, even without my dragon urging me to fuck and claim her.

Barbie had done a complete one-eighty with her looks. Gone were her school uniform and the yoga pants she wore when she wasn’t in her uniform. She’d showed up in a killer mini-gown that made her look like a delicious snack. The way the dress hugged her petite, lovely frame screamed “fuck me.” It was flattering to see her put in such effort for me, considering she never gave a fuck about impressing anyone before.

Something nagged at me. I breathed deep but caught no trace of her scent; neither could my dragon. Wrongness prickled across my skin, as if someone else was wearing Barbie’s face.

“I came as soon as I could,” she whispered, fingers threading through my hair, pulling me down for a kiss.

Her gown dropped to the floor, her naked flesh inviting me in.

Her body called to me, familiar as an old addiction.

But Barbie would never offer comfort so polite and gentle. I tore my gaze away from her perfect form. Dark power slid across my skin, more tempting than her beauty.

My mate never needed seduction tricks.

I knew this magic, dark, powerful, devastating. Only one being wielded such force: my betrothed, Queen of the Underworld.

Her power caressed me like a drug, promising ecstasy beyond mortal pleasure. I could have lost myself in it, surrendered completely, if not for Hades’s raw power blazing in my blood. I was the Death God’s true heir, after all.

I shoved her back, trapping her in rings of darkness and starlight, the same rings that had once contained my true mate at the ice rink.

“Who are you?” I demanded, my lightning crackling at my fingertips.

“I’m everything you want, my prince,” she said.

Barbie would never call me “my prince.”

My starlight slammed into her, shattering her glamour. She gasped and doubled over. When she lifted her head, her honeydew green eyes gazed up at me, replacing Barbie’s dual-colored ones, and the Underworld’s scent emerged, permeating the air.

Lilith’s power burned through her ward, seeping into me despite the barrier of my magic.

That explained the wrongness I’d sensed—an alarm had blared in my mind before our almost-kiss, exposing the impostor. I cursed my distraction, my need for my true mate clouding my judgment, allowing the deception to catch me off guard.

Cold anger surged. The lust drained from me the instant I realized it was Grace standing naked in front of me, pretending to be my true mate.

I’d tolerated her to keep her master—my betrothed—from obsessing over my mate, but the strategy had backfired. They’d only intensified their attacks on Barbie. Now I shifted tactics. No more playing defensive. I’d bring the fight to them, leaving them no energy to pursue my mate.

“How did you get past the house ward and my men?” I asked icily.

“Oh, that was easy, my prince,” she said, still smiling at me.

The house magic whimpered, recognizing its error. I raised a hand to calm it, showing it that I’d handle this from here. I understood why the house magic had faltered. Grace and Barbie shared cellular similarities, and Lilith’s celestial power flowed through Grace. The Queen of the Underworld could bypass the ward through our bond.

And Grace’s glamoured two-toned eyes had fooled my men. Her siren power could sway even my inner circle, except Cassius. Even Queen Lilith, the strongest mind-wielder in the realm, couldn’t penetrate the Silent Blade’s mental defenses.

“Get the fuck out,” I said flatly.

“You don’t mean that, my prince.” Grace pouted. “You don’t want to hurt my feelings.”

“I don’t give a fuck about your feelings,” I said harshly. “Now?—”

Her power, channeled from her master, crashed over me, and heat flooded my blood, dazing me with lust.