Page 19

Ashor’s tattoos seemed to absorb the moonlight, making the dark ink glitter. Did my own look the same? I couldn’t stop staring at the marks on his neck, the same ones that I bore on mine. “I don”t know how much training you expect to get done if you are going to insist on being shirtless,” I said, frowning. All that glorious toned skin gleaming was fucking with my concentration.

His expression was wicked and playful, just how I liked my prince. “It will help you work through distractions.”

“If you say so,” I mumbled, unconvinced. We were going to end up spending more time exploring each other than exploring my new ability and releasing my demon. Not that I was looking forward to either of those things.

Tucked deep into the Gardeness woods, Ashor and I trekked down a steep slope into a rocky valley, at least a half a dozen of those little fairy demons fluttering in the trees around us—our prison guards. The moment we left the castle the following day, they appeared.

The ground was soft from the recent rains, and climbing the rising foothills could be slippery and challenging, but I wouldn’t have passed up the opportunity to get out of the sex castle. My ears couldn’t handle any more of the little moans that escaped from behind closed doors, or the slapping of whips on flesh.

We were miles from the city hub, yet being so remote also had its pitfalls. The wildlife in the underworld could be detrimental. There were things living in these woods, things I never wanted to meet face-to-face. Without Ashor, I wouldn’t have dared entered the forest alone.

Tying back my hair, I brushed at the beads of sweat already gathering on my neck. The formfitting tank and shorts only offered some much relief from the heat. I didn’t know how Ashor withstood the sun’s warmth in all that black attire. I perspired more just looking at him. How attractive was that?

We found a clearing suitable for our needs. I angled my head to the side, ogling the prince, and asked, “Are you going to show me your wings now?” I desperately wanted to see his demon form in all its glory. There was something so primal and dangerously sexy about that side of him. It appealed to my own dark side.

“Only when you show me your demon.” His voice had a challenging bite to it, baiting me.

“Why don’t you show me how,” I rebutted, placing my hands at my hips, a gesture I hoped conveyed my stubbornness.

“With pleasure.” He stepped forward, and that was all it took. One step for his eyes to melt gold and his canines to drop down.

But no wings.

He noticed the disappointed pout on my lips. “It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. The choice is always yours. Just shift.”

The pout grew on my lips. “It’s not that easy for me.”

Above our heads, one of the demon fairies chirped, as if to mock me.

“I don’t want excuses. I want you to shift,” he replied.

I bit my lower lip, trying to keep my eyes and hands off his abs, but the swirls of ink were summoning my fingers. “I know what you’re doing, and it’s not going to work,” I said, shoving my hands into my back pockets. God, he was too close. Would I always have this absurd need to jump him and attack him with my lips?

Shaking his head, Ashor placed his hands on my hips. “Not with that shitty attitude.”

A gold haze blanketed my eyes as I bristled at his tone. “You suck.”

His chest vibrated with a cold chuckle. “Pretend no one is here but you and me. What are you afraid of?”

He wanted me to pretend the forest wasn’t full of unimaginable creatures that wanted to consume my soul for lunch and little fluttering demon faeries in the trees whose colorless eyes gave me the creeps. “Who said I was afraid?” I replied sharply.

His smile turned lethal, flashing his canines at me. “Stop procrastinating and shift.”

“You might actually be the worst teacher I’ve ever had. Not even my high school math teacher was this bad at—”

He shot forward, sweeping me off my feet, and shoved me off the ground just as a pair of sleek wings burst from his broad back. There wasn’t time to catch my breath. He moved so damn fast, I barely registered that we were soaring into the clouds with the warm wind kissing over my cheeks and blowing my hair back off my face.

“Shift,” he hissed in my ear.

My arms moved to wrap tight around him as I dragged in a gulp of air. “I can’t—”

Suddenly, I was free-falling.

Holy shit. The bastard dropped me.

A scream of panic clogged in my throat. Wind tore at my hair and clothes. And my arms and legs flailed, desperate for something to cling to. But there was nothing. No net. No Ashor. Just the ground closing in.

No way was he going to let me break nearly every bone in my body. He wouldn’t dare, but the closer the ground got, the more that fear he wanted me to feel became real. The impact wouldn’t kill me, but holy shit would it hurt like hell.

Once I healed, I was going to kill the princely prick.

The world spun past at blurring speeds, and I finally managed to release the scream that was caught in my throat. “Ashor!”

Swooshing wings came out of nowhere, seconds before strong arms plucked me out of the air, stopping my downward progression. My feet hit the sturdy ground, and I whirled, blonde hair flying through the air as I faced my mate. “What the fuck!” I spat, shoving at his chest. “You asshole. How dare you play games with me? I’m not your mother or your brother. I’m your mate. If I had hit the ground, my pain would have been yours as well,” I snapped.

Ashor tucked his majestic wings behind him. “I am no stranger to pain.”

How devious of him to throw out the I’ve-been-tortured card. Pine needles and pebbles crunched under my boots as I paced in a circle, nearly pulling my hair out. “Is this you trying to scare me into shifting?”

His violet eyes gleamed demon-bright in the dark, lips curled. “A dose of fear is healthy, but you can’t let it consume you.”

I halted in my pacing and snarled, “You don’t scare me.”

“So you keep saying, but my power, the one inside you, does.” He angled his head to the side. “How does that work?”

“Prick,” I said between my teeth.

“Shift,” he ordered, folding his arms across his broad chest.

My nostrils flared. “How about I just kick your ass instead?” Then I lunged, throwing out a kick, but the prince anticipated my attack, sidestepping to the left.

He crooked a finger at me, egging me on. “Good, use your anger.”

Prick. I threw a punch at his pretty face, but he caught my hand and whirled me around.

“Hitting isn’t nice, luv,” he murmured.

“Who said I was nice,” I growled in response, my chest heaving. I slammed my elbow backward, catching him in the gut, and grinned when I heard him groan.

“Cheap shot.”

I whirled around, my eyes twinkling with humor and annoyance. “Cheap or not, I still hit you.”

“You’re an exceptional fighter, I’ll give you that, but you need to be disciplined to control the darkness and your demon. You have that discipline inside you. You just need to trust yourself.”

“Show me,” I said, grim determination set in my features.

He nodded, and so it began.

Ashor was grueling in his training, treating me not like a pampered princess or his mate, but as he would any other demon. I didn’t know how much I’d needed to release all my pent-up emotions and energy. The magic within me was just as eager to be set free as the demon. I couldn’t handle both, not at the same time, so I directed my focus on the darkness, wielding it, manipulating it, summoning it, and banishing it.

My cheeks were flushed with exertion when Ashor called for a cease-fire. I plopped down on a patch of grass and plucked a strange-looking yellow flower. “How do you do it? Release your control?” It had taken all my effort just to maintain a handle on my power.

He took a seat beside me, one leg stretched out in front of him, the other arched up. “It’s different for me. I was taught to embrace that side of myself, not suppress it as you were. I’ve never had to fear my demon. He is a part of me as I am a part of him. But make no mistake, even when he is free, I’m the one in control.”

And that’s what scared me the most, losing myself to that dark part of me. “What about when we’re in bed?” Yep. My brain went there, back to the bedroom when Ashor let his demon free while buried inside me. Heat rushed into my cheeks, my blood rising at the memory.

A smug twinkle highlighted his eyes. “That might be the only place I’ve ever lost control. Where you are concerned, my demon can’t be tamed.”

Perhaps I lied about wanting power. There was something so heady about knowing I had the ability to shred the prince’s restraint. I leaned over, mingling my breath with his. My gaze flicked to his lips with the sole purpose of placing mine over his. I wanted to kiss him. Needed to.

But as my eyelashes drifted lower and our lips were about to touch, a wet snarl came from among the trees.

Ashor’s body stiffened, and everything in me froze. His eyes shone with alarm that darkened them to a lethal shade of purple, it was almost black. “We’re not alone, luv.”

We never were alone, but I didn’t point out the obvious, because we had bigger problems than the fluttering fairy demons. Something ominous had found us.

“Get her out of here,” Ashor ordered Verena”s guards, jumping to his feet. His harsh voice sent the demons into a flustered tizzy. Well, that combined with the creature stalking our way.

Like hell I was leaving him. I reached for my weapon, only to remember the queen had confiscated them at the gate. For fuck sake. “I’m not going anywhere without you,” I replied, my jaw set in determination.

“Lexi,” he rumbled, and the sound of my name in such a deep tone, was reminiscent of all the other times I’d refused to listen. In a move that I was beginning to anticipate, Ashor stepped in front of me. “Get your ass up the hill before I—”

It was too late. At the top of the ravine, a man appeared, eyes like burning embers. His powerful jaw opened, revealing teeth dripping with poisonous saliva as he let out a battle cry that pierced my demon ears with octaves high enough to make them bleed.

Sometimes the worst kind of demons were the ones that looked almost human.

“Why must you always argue with me?” he gritted out.

“I’m not leaving you,” I said again. There was so much meaning behind that statement, and the trickle of his understanding wove through our bond. Deep down, he felt the same. The idea of being apart again was too hard. It would rip me up inside like a serrated dagger plunging through my gut.

“Don’t be fooled by his appearance,” Ashor warned, his nails lengthening into black razor-sharp tips. “This isn’t his true form, nor is he alone. A skinwalker always has a parade of demons at his call.”

“Lovely,” I muttered, centering myself. I had no weapon, so I was going to have to rely on my unstable magic and pray it kept my soul intact. If it did fail, I was confident Ashor would ensure nothing happened to me.

Behind the man, six demons in the shape of skeleton wolves crested the top of the embankment. The bony animals let out a ghostly howl that resonated over the trees. Fuck. Our odds just got a whole lot smaller.

Then the beasts charged.

“Don’t let them bite you,” Ashor said swiftly, his gaze never wavering from the threat. He had laser focus, scarily so.

That was all I needed to know.

The wolves advanced on us as the demon watched like an overlord. Stuck inside the pitfall, we were sitting ducks. “What is that supposed to—” The ground under my feet trembled, and I glanced over my shoulder, seeing a storm of darkness gathering around Ashor like a cloak. The shadows crawled over my feet, and as if the prince had thrown a switch, the darkness swept over the land, consuming everything in its path, rattling the world.

I was thrown against Ashor, and his arms were there to steady me, strong and true. His soft yet durable wings enclosed over me, a shield of protection just as the ghastly wolves received the brunt of Ashor’s powers, turning the beasts into whimpering dust.

I regained my footing, pulling out of Ashor’s arms, and turned to face the new wave of enemies descending upon us. Verena’s little fairy demons were already on the attack, setting the grove on fire. The pesky demons had breath made of fire, a bit of information that would have been useful to know before I pissed one of the buggers off.

“I’m assuming you guys aren’t here on vacation,” Ashor said sarcastically as he hauled a red-faced demon off his feet.

“We’re here to bring you home,” the skinwalker said, his mouth never moving.

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

That was the weirdest thing I’d ever seen. I never wanted him to talk again.

Ashor’s fiery gaze shifted past the grunt demon in his clutches to the skinwalker. “Is that so?” he said, glancing around at the handful of demons and looking unimpressed. “And she only sent you? I’m insulted.”

“This isn’t an elimination. Just a friendly warning,” the skinwalker replied with his uber chilly nonmoving mouth.

I snorted. Friendly, my ass.

Ashor must have had the same thought. He struck with immortal speed, hitting the demon he clasped with a sword made entirely out of his darkness, and all I could do was watch with awe as the blade sliced the demon’s head off in one clean swipe.

Holy crap.

The Prince of Darkness was a badass.

And he was mine.

I refused to let his mother come between us. Never again. Such a violent roar screamed in my blood, I could no longer think straight. My body just reacted; consequences be damned. A demon appeared in front of me, red lips grinning, and I couldn’t have been more thankful. The bastard swung at me, and it was my turn to grin. Ducking, I forced him to hit nothing but air.

Sucker.

Spinning around, I hooked my leg in between his in a systematic maneuver that sent him sprawling forward on the grass. “Eat dirt, asshole.” I rammed the heel of my foot into his back.

“You might need this.” Ashor tossed me something.

I caught a glint of metal right before my fingers wrapped around the dagger. “Where did you—? Never mind. I don’t want to know.” The demon was twisting and turning underneath my heel, clawing at the earth. The instant I lifted my foot he spun around, and I sank the blade into the demon’s chest as I had a hundred times before. Same spot, different demon.

Buh-bye.

Yanking out my knife, I pivoted to take on the next one, but the demon’s fist caught me on the side of my face.

Pain exploded. Bastard.

Spitting a mouthful of blood, I lifted my head. The asshole who hit me was trembling under Ashor. I didn’t know how the prince reached me so fast, but he towered over the lower demon, every inch a prince of darkness.

Snarling low and vicious, he gave the demon a message. “Touch her again, and you won’t have a queen to serve. Actually, I’ve changed my mind. I’m not sending you back.” Ashor blew a puff of darkness that weaved its way into the demon’s mouth and nostrils. His eyes went wide, and for a moment, nothing happened, just a deafening silence. And then his mother’s foot soldier exploded from the inside out, nothing but demon mist particles floating in the air.

Ashor’s power shattered his soul, the very thing a demon needed to survive in this world or the underworld.

The sheer depth of Ashor’s abilities left me stunned. They were magnificent and frightening.

A roar erupted behind me, and I spun again to defend myself against the demon lunging straight for me, but he ran into an invisible wall. Both of us blinked. This wasn’t the first time I’d found myself in a bubble of darkness.

Fucker.

I whirled on Ashor. “Take it down. Now!” I growled, fury spitting from me.

He smirked, blasting a demon with his darkness. “I’m kind of busy, luv.”

“Ashor, so help me—” The shield came down, and the demon surged forward. I caught him in the nose with my left foot. Fuming, I turned back to the prince. “This isn’t funny.”

The other demons were nothing but vaporized dust. Ignoring me, Ashor stalked to the last demon standing—the one who looked like a man, the skinwalker. He grabbed the fiend by his neck, slamming him against a tree. “It’s time you and I had a little talk.”

The skinwalker laughed. “I was sent to remind you of your duty.” Eyes of red and black slithered to me in a disturbing glare. There were no whites in his eyes. “Distractions will not be tolerated.”

Ashor scraped a nail along a gray vein that ran down the column of the demon’s neck. “As always, I do things on my terms. She doesn’t control me. I will fulfill my oath when I’m damn ready. Take that back to Mother.”

“As you wish, Prince.” The demon lowered his head, eyes on the ground. Seeing as all his buddies were gone, I understood his compliance. If he didn’t want to end up vaporized, what choice did he have? It didn’t mean I agreed with the prince.

Ashor released his grip, dropping the skinwalker to the ground. Without hesitation, the demon left, vanishing before my very eyes.

“Why did you let him go?” I demanded.

He took a quick assessment of me before answering, most likely checking for injuries. “It’s always more fun when you let one live.”

I shook my head. “Is everything a game to you?”

“Life is boring otherwise when you have centuries to play with.” He cut a sharp glance toward the direction of the sinking moon. “She won’t stop. Not until she has what she wants. And she will use any means possible to get it, including using you as a pawn. She knows you’re here. I suspected that the other day when she delivered the storm. But what I can’t piece together is how she was informed of your presence in Gardeness. Perhaps it was one of her spies, or possibly Verena has a traitor in her court.”

My throat bobbed as I whispered, “It was your brother.”

Ice froze his features, and I swear the temperature dropped. “Soren? How would he know?”

My heart stopped at the cold tone of his voice. “He found me in Hell’s Mist. Nearly dragged me back to the Fortress, if it hadn’t been for Cayden.”

A dark flicker of emotion haunted Ashor’s features. “Why haven’t you said anything?”

“Honestly, with everything that has happened in the last few days, it slipped my mind.” Something I never thought possible when it came to his twisted brother. I recalled what my mother had told me about Soren’s conception. “Cayden warned me that Soren would inform your mother that I had returned.”

Rolling his neck, Ashor drew his demon back inside, wings and all. “He is like an obedient dog, always seeking her approval and constantly coming up short, which only makes him nastier.”

This might not be the appropriate time to bring up the circumstances surrounding his brother’s birth, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “Is it true he was made?”

Ashor held my gaze for a long moment, and I felt the truth before the words left his lips. “Yes, a dark secret my mother would kill to keep. I think she deludes herself into thinking the other courts do not whisper or murmur about the true identity of his father. We will not speak of it again. It is not safe to do so.”

I nodded, understanding. Any questions I had, this was my one shot to have them answered. “Is his father the Ngah? The one she keeps in the dungeons?”

“You see too much, luv,” he stated, his voice quiet. “She would cut out your tongue if you ever spoke his name in her presence.”

The soft flutter of tiny wings echoed over the trees. We were no longer alone.

Not all of Verena’s demon fairies had survived the attack. “We’ve cleared the perimeter,” one of the little sentinels informed. “You should return to the castle now. It is not safe.”

The hairs on my arms prickled as a frosty phantom breeze blew over my face, carrying kernels of darkness. Kali’s warning was clear. She was coming for me. For her son. For us both.