Page 39 of Prince of Demons (Demon’s Mark #2)

Kesh

H is magic defenses flooded out a millisecond too late, making his body take the full impact of his father’s attack. A deep ache rattled through his bones, but Georgia’s agonized cry made the pain fade to nothing on a rush of fear so deep, he could barely breathe.

“Georgia! No, no, no!”

“She’s fine.” His father’s calm voice didn’t suggest he’d just attacked his own son unprovoked. “Only a divine creature would be harmed from that kind of magic.”

Kesh ignored him and carefully cupped Georgia’s face, tilting it up to his. “Tell me where it hurts, sweet one.”

She gasped up at him, eyes wide and shocked, searching his for reassurance, for protection. “My… bones. All of them. B-but it’s fading. I think… I think I’m okay.”

He searched her gaze, verifying she was telling the truth before carefully standing up to place her on his throne… and then, he turned to his father.

“You.” Every cell in his body itched with violence. “Have you entirely lost what little was left of your mind? You come into my domain and attack me? While a Breeder is under my care? Do you have a death wish? If you weren’t my father, I would smear the walls with your blood! Explain yourself!”

“I didn’t attack you —I attacked her. It was your choice to put yourself in harm's way. I had to make sure you hadn’t been bespelled by a goddess.”

Kirigan’s exasperated tone did little to calm Kesh’s fury. He clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked. “Explain. Better.”

“I've just come from Lord Aran, who said a woman and a child were seen on the battlefield—and that your Second dragged them off. And then I arrive here to find this female perched on your lap. Exactly as a manipulative goddess would be, were she undercover and trying to gain influence with demon royalty. I had to make sure you were not being poisoned.”

“Why the fuck would a goddess have been on the battlefield in Maine? And why on Earth would I have brought her home, rather than slit her filthy throat? You think I can’t recognize a divine cretin when I see one?”

“You wouldn’t have recognized this one. As for why she was there… I will explain, once we are in private. This matter is urgent, but it is not for the Breeder’s ears.”

Every molecule of Kesh’s being resisted the idea of bringing the man who’d just attacked Georgia to his home, but they were at war.

If his father said a matter concerning a goddess was urgent, then there was no way around it.

Gritting his teeth, he said, “I can’t leave the Breeder with my men—she’s still unmated.

Follow us to my apartment—we can talk privately there, while she is safe in another room. ”

He left Georgia in the bedroom, with orders to stay.

She gave him an annoyed look and muttered something about not being a pet as he closed the bedroom door behind him.

It bothered him—that she was irritated with him.

Instincts he could do nothing about prickled at his spine, urging him to fix it.

Ridiculous, of course. There was nothing to fix.

He wasn’t to be her mate; it wasn’t his job to keep her happy.

And yet, his stupid, primitive wiring kept his mind preoccupied with thoughts of how to please her… make her sweet on him.

Frustration oozed off him as he entered the living room where his father waited. “Out with it, then. Why did you think the Breeder was divine?”

Kirigan arched an eyebrow at his insolent tone, but thankfully didn’t call him out. He wasn’t in the mood to be put in his place by his insane but immensely powerful sire.

“There were signs of divine presence during your battle with the Europeans in Maine. But… hidden. Expertly so. One of them was there.”

Kesh sucked in a breath. He knew better than to question his father on matters concerning magic.

The ancient demon was one of the utmost experts on the matter, not only in the Americas, but in the world.

The thought of a goddess having been so close, without Kesh so much as sensing it? Unsettling was too mild a word.

“Why? What was her purpose? To make us rip into each other? We don’t exactly need divine intervention for this war.”

“To steal a Stone of Power. The Europeans had one with them. I felt its echo, along with the faintest trace of a god’s presence as it vanished off the battlefield.

To pull that off, whoever they are must be…

very old. Powerful. And sly. Aran mentioned his men seeing your Second drag a human woman with a child off the battlefield…

hence my assumption about the girl on your lap.

” Kirigan leveled him with an emotionless yet somehow entirely judgmental look.

“I didn’t anticipate you bringing a Breeder into battle. ”

Heat touched Kesh’s ears, his brow pulling down with a sense of defensiveness.

“There was no other choice. I couldn’t leave her behind.

Aran needed urgent assistance, or we would have lost his entire territory, and there wasn’t time to get another lord to look after her.

She was supposed to stay out of danger, behind magical wards. ”

“Your sister-in-law should have prepared you for the fact that Breeders aren’t always meek and compliant.” Kirigan’s gaze slid toward the hallway and the closed bedroom door. An unsettling intensity flickered through his black eyes. “Why did she enter the battlefield? Does she possess the light?”

“No. She’s not Pure.” Kesh took a half-step to the side, blocking his father’s view of the door shielding Georgia.

“She’s just a soft-hearted Breeder, who saw a wayward spawnling on the field and decided to put her own life at risk for an insignificant human’s.

Which would be the child Aran mentioned.

She clung to that thing like she’d birthed it herself, so Mallorn had to rescue them both. ”

Kirigan’s gaze narrowed, returning to Kesh’s. “What happened to the child? After it was rescued?”

Irritation bubbled up Kesh’s spine, partly from being grilled on the less-than-ideal decisions he’d had to make in a less-than-ideal situation, and partly from the reminder of how thoroughly he’d been manipulated by Georgia and his ridiculous instincts to please her.

“I took it back to its mother. Can we perhaps return to the slightly more important issue of a fucking god having stolen a Stone of Power right from under our noses? What kind of havoc can they wreak with that? Because I assume we’re all thoroughly fucked. ”

“I’m not certain. The three stones are forged with ancient, demonic magic.

A divine creature would run into some trouble wielding one, I would imagine.

However, for them to risk the theft, they most certainly will have a plan to use it.

Whatever havoc they’re planning, it will be bad.

” Kirigan paused. “You say you took the child back to its mother? And there were no… irregularities in the handover?”

What was everyone’s obsession with that fucking girl?

First Georgia, and now his father. Who, he knew all too well, didn’t possess a protective bone in his body when it came to human children.

“No. Except from us nearly losing the entire fucking Eastern Seaboard to a concealed Stone of Power—which is apparently now in some god’s hands—and me having to bring a Breeder to a battle with the Europeans because Kain can’t tell Selma ‘no’ which made it somehow my responsibility to play matchmaker to a wayward female, everything went smoothly. ”

“And she is proving... troublesome, is what I understand from your brother?”

It was unlike Kirigan to display any kind of tact. Which meant Kain would have passed on Mallorn's aggravating presumptions about Georgia, and any territorial instincts Kesh may or may not be displaying for her.

He narrowed his eyes in annoyance. “No more than any Breeder would, given the circumstances. Once I’ve dealt with…

a minor complication… and she’s picked a mate, I’ll be able to return my full focus to the war.

Whatever else you may have heard stems from my men's growing agitation with the presence of an unmated Breeder, nothing more.”

“Minor complication?” Kirigan raised an eyebrow in interest.

“The kind it would be better if her suitors didn’t know too much about.

She sold her body to a demon, ended up in a brothel…

And the contract’s technically still active.

Not much more than a bump in the road, once I…

convince… the demon who owns her that it would be in his best interest to surrender his claim willingly.

But I can’t bring her back to the brothel now that her presence in my territory is known, and I can’t leave her here while I go deal with him, for the same reasons I couldn’t leave to handle the Maine situation without her. ”

“So leave her with me.”

Kesh blinked. “With you?”

“You think I might forcefully try to claim the girl the moment you turn your back, like your men?” Despite Kirigan’s dispassionate tone, he still managed to make the idea sound as preposterous as it was.

Heat touched Kesh’s ears. “No.” Only a moment’s hesitation there.

“But your behavior with Selma these days is… a little concerning. Georgia is my responsibility. If something were to happen to her, especially at the hands of my own father… The ripple effects would be enough to take down our entire family.”

Kirigan’s eyebrow arched higher. “My behavior with Selma is cause for concern?”

Kesh sighed irritably, wishing his brother was the one to have this conversation, not him. “You follow her to the bathroom. That’s not normal. You know that, right? And you… hover. To a disturbing degree. I’m frankly surprised to see you here, this far away from her and the baby.”

A shadow passed over his father’s eyes, and for a second, dread clutched at Kesh’s gut. If he’d pushed him too far?—

“I hover because, if she dies, Kesh… so does your brother.” The words came out stilted; like they were too sharp to comfortably pass through his throat.

“Women are… delicate, after giving birth. To a degree neither you nor Kain can fully comprehend. I am only here because no one else can be. But while I am, utilize me. If taking care of this complication will mean the girl can be mated and you can return your full focus to the war sooner, then trust me to guard her while you are away. She is not Selma; my… instincts… won’t be on edge with her.

And we need your attention on the kingdom, especially now that the gods are getting involved. ”

A long moment of silence passed between them. It was, perhaps, the closest his father had come to acknowledging how much their mother had hated them, and the shadowy talons raking at his guts in response were acid.

It didn’t matter. She was long dead, and he’d known the truth since he was young.

Kesh forced a slow, even breath through his lungs, forcing his focus to what did matter.

“Very well. I will leave Georgia under your care while I deal with the lowlife who owns her contract. I will be back shortly.” He paused, giving his father a firm look.

“But keep your distance. I don’t want her traumatized. ”