Page 19 of Their World (Her Royal Harem: Lily #2)

Chapter

Nineteen

“What happened?” Mason asked, worried.

“He attacked me and I couldn’t control my anger,” I admitted. “The only reason he’s not dead is because Mom sent me a text and the sound of her message tone snapped me out of it. Not even my parents know.”

“Was that when you disappeared for a week?” Kayden asked.

I scowled at him. “How’d you know about that?”

“Dad told me because your parents had freaked out. You told them you’d been in snake form and digesting, but I knew that had to be a lie, since it doesn’t take you a week to digest anything. Not since you turned twelve.”

He knew me so well; it was really endearing.

“Did you turn him in to get punished?” Trey asked.

I shook my head. “No, I convinced him to keep it a secret and told him if I ever saw him again that I’d give him to Caleb to deal with. Apparently, Caleb is scarier than me, even when I almost beat him to death.”

“I would choose that over Caleb finding out I attacked his daughter for sure,” Piper muttered.

I supposed most would choose me beating them to facing Dad’s wrath. “After it happened, I noticed more powers that I hadn’t had before, like the premonitions and the ability to tell when someone is lying.”

“Wait, what? You can tell when someone is lying?” Trey asked.

I nodded.

“Well, that’s incredibly handy,” he whispered and got a far off look in his eyes, no doubt thinking of ways to utilize that skill.

“What else happened?” Mason asked.

“I was stalked by someone for a short while, but?—”

“What?” Kayden asked and growled.

Mason smirked and asked, “Jealous it wasn’t you?”

I dropped my head down so Kayden wouldn’t see me laugh.

“Shut up, bird brain,” Kayden snapped.

“So, now that this has been handled, shall we go home?” I asked and headed towards the door. “I have a lot of unpacking to do.”

“Yes, let’s go to the house,” Trey agreed.

Once at the house, Trey and Kayden spoke with our new guards while Mason helped me unpack.

“You’ve been rather quiet,” I whispered, and glanced at him. He was also stewing about something, switching between worry and anger, or at least that was how it felt through the bond.

“I don’t like knowing that you were in trouble and we weren’t able to help you or be there for you,” he answered. “If I had just gone to your college, spoken to you and cleared all of this up?—”

“You can’t blame yourself for something in the past and out of your control. There are a ton of things I would change if I could, but what matters is the here and now and our future.”

He set down the picture in his hands and grabbed me in a tight hug, pressing his nose to my hair and inhaling deeply. “The only thing that matters to me is you, Lily. Keeping you safe. Keeping you happy. Being by your side. I should have told you I loved you before you left for college. I should have told you how I felt years ago. But … I was too scared. I was a coward and I’m sorry. I was worried that … if you didn’t have the same feelings and now, I had made things weird, that you wouldn’t want to see me anymore. I’m not going to let my fear stop me ever again. I’m not going to let you get taken away from me ever again. Losing you would be worse than losing my animal.”

I hugged him back tightly, drawing in his scent, letting it ground me as I absorbed his words and the love behind them.

“No matter what happens, you’ll stay by my side?” I asked.

He nodded against my head. “Yes.”

“Even if I chose to live in the demon world?”

He pushed me back to arm’s length and looked into my eyes. “Is that what you want?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what the future holds or what is going to happen.”

Silently, he stared into my eyes for a breath longer before he nodded. “If you stay in the demon world, then so do I. Simple as that. If you want to move across the continent, to another city, back in with your parents, or to the demon world. Wherever it is, I will go with you. My place is by your side.”

Lifting up on my toes, I kissed him lightly on the lips. “Thank you.”

We resumed unpacking and as I opened the box of my books, a memory occurred to me. I gasped. “The book!”

He frowned. “Book? Which book?”

I pulled out the journal I had been recording demon information in while in the demon world and flipped the pages until it was near the back. As I had recalled, there were notes written by one of the females, the one who had actually advised me to accept the shadow powers, the real Talrinir. There were notes about the Third to Reign’s powers, powers that I now also possessed. It wasn’t a comprehensive guide, since they didn’t know everything about her powers, but it was enough to get me started and learn some things I did not know before.

“What is that?” Mason asked as he rested his chin on my shoulder to read the notes.

“Information to help me with my new powers,” I explained. “I had forgotten about it until now. I think a leftover side effect from the Grand Advisor’s brainwashing and memory sealing.”

I sat on my bed, set the book in the middle of it, and summoned the smoke snake. It blinked ruby eyes at me and its tongue darted out.

“Ready to practice?” I asked it.

It dipped its head in agreement.

With a deep breath, I imagined the smoke snake growing, increasing from two feet in size to over six feet and becoming proportionally larger as it did.

“Whoa,” Mason whispered.

The snake curled around my upper chest and shoulders, and I already felt an increase in power.

“Your eyes are glowing red,” he whispered. “They’re … beautiful.”

Rereading the information first, I then sent a thought to the snake, asking it … no, her , to become my armor.

She swirled around me and suddenly, I had black smoke scales all over me.

I tapped my fingernail against one of them and was surprised to find it solid. “It’s … hard.”

“That’s what she said,” Kayden blurted as he walked into my room. When he realized what we were talking about, he rushed over and tapped the scales covering my arm. “Whoa. That’s surprising.”

“Also, what she said,” Mason whispered as he grabbed my arm and examined it closely.

I rolled my eyes at their silliness.

Kayden turned his hand into a wolf paw and tried to cut my arm with his claws, but they scraped against the scales ineffectively.

“What the fuck, Kayden?” Mason shouted and shoved him in the chest away from me.

“It’s okay, Mas. He didn’t hurt me.”

“He could have,” he growled and brushed off my arm like he could erase the memory.

“We need to know how strong they are,” Kayden said.

“What else can you do?” Mason asked and turned to the next page in the journal, completely ignoring Kayden, a bit of rage still simmering through the bond from him.

I let the shadows dissolve back into my body so I could focus.

That page described sending the smoke snake to bite another being and inject a poison that could paralyze them for a brief period of time. Weaker beings could also be killed by it.

“Wow, these are some really beneficial powers,” Mason said as he turned to the next page.

“Princess?” Piper called from the doorway.

“Come in, Piper,” I called back, while reading the new page on temporarily disorienting someone by causing them to see and smell only the smoke.

She whistled and turned in a slow circle as she walked in. “This is a really nice room, girl.”

“Thank you. The guys did a great job. Oh, where will you be staying?” I put my finger on the sentence I’d been reading, so I wouldn’t lose my place.

She flopped backwards into a bean bag chair and said, “The three of us guards have rooms downstairs. So, you can just shout my name if you need something.”

“That means we can have horror movie sleepovers again!” I smiled wide, remembering the fun nights we’d had together, Piper, Maya, and I. Speaking of Maya, I needed to find a night to hang out with her soon. I had been a neglectful friend with everything going on, but with the battle coming soon, I had to be sure she understood that she was my best friend, to ensure she knew my feelings, in case … I died.

“Only if they can include alcohol now,” she countered with a matching smile.

Kayden’s phone rang, so he walked out of the room to answer it.

“What are your plans this week?” Piper asked. “Anything chaotic?”

“I’m sure there are going to be a lot of meetings with the royals to set up the plan for the fight coming in one week,” I answered.

Kayden came back into the room and nodded. “Just got off the phone with Dad and there’s a meeting scheduled tomorrow evening. Also, they have asked that you go to the mana stone store and take the day shifts for the next few days due to understaffing issues.”

“Understaffing issues?” I asked. That hadn’t been an issue before. Plus, was this really what I should focus on? Running the store when the battle was so close?

“A lot of people are leaving the city due to fear about the demons and the increased number of portals,” Piper explained.

I sighed and rubbed my temples while closing my eyes and dropping my head down. There were so many things going on simultaneously and not enough time or manpower to handle them all.

How could I show that the demons weren’t the bad guys when they were literally about to attack us?

Everything was so screwed up and it could really all be fixed if we killed the Grand Advisor. I wasn’t sure my plan was going to work, but I had to have hope. I had to find a way to save my people. All of my people.

“Read this next page,” Mason said and slid the book back towards me.

The top had a note.

Princess, the necklace with the bright jewel is a royal heirloom that belonged to Third to Reign. It has many abilities, not all that I know. There was a rumor that the Grand Advisor took it and I am worried he may have manipulated it somehow. That necklace is important and can help augment your powers. I’m not sure how it works, but I know it does, and you should wear it during the battle. Also, the Third to Reign was able to give some of her shadow powers to her mates, which helped protect them.

So, that must be what the darkness going into their aura was! And somehow, when I was younger, I’d done it as well. It made me happy to know that I hadn’t infected them or caused them to fall for me.

I continued reading.

When you are in extreme danger, you can unlock a stage Third to Reign called Goddess Mode. Where she was almost all-powerful. It drains the user, though, so be careful when activating it. There was also a rumor that it was a one use only type of magic, though Third to Reign never confirmed that.

Good to know. I turned the page and gasped at the title.

CURSES

Each curse can only be used once a day. These curses will remain in effect until the one who placed the curse, or someone from their bloodline, removes it.

Note: Third to Reign had many powers, a bit of an odd humor, and a large temper. Use all curses with caution and be very hesitant to remove curses still on beings. She removed those she felt were truly ready to have removed before her death. Curses do not transfer to kin of cursed. No known “bloodline” curses exist. I will write what she wrote about the powers as well as add my own notes.

Pain – Inflicting an individual with the pain curse will cause them intense pain periodically throughout the day and night.

Drain – This curse must be used with extreme prejudice as it will drain the cursed person of ten percent of their magic power each day, which can be multiplied up to five times, causing up to fifty percent magic drain. Can be used in combination with pain and called “Infection.”

Stain – This curse will allow you to put a mark on an individual and track them, allowing you to look at a map and within a one-hundred-foot area, accurately point to their location.

Chain - * Not recommended! Caused plague!* This curse will cause the first person to become ill, weak, cough, runny nose, throw up, and every person they touch will also be cursed with chain.

Scatterbrain – This curse will cause the person to forget important items, thoughts, and plans periodically. Useful on enemy leaders to cause followers to distrust their leadership ability. Also fun to place on annoying siblings and mates for short periods of time.

Abstain – This curse causes little to no interest in food, alcohol, fun, and sex. Useful on annoying siblings, nosey mothers-in-law who keep asking about grandkids, and enemies. Hard to plan a war when you are sad.

Removal of curses – To remove a curse, ask the snake to “withdraw” the curse from the being. It will bite the cursed person and suck out the bit of power that is placed to cause the curse.

My eyes widened with each curse and note I read. She hadn’t been kidding when she said Third to Reign, my grandma, had an odd humor and a temper. I could totally see someone using these for the wrong reasons.

So, the curse that was on the Grand Advisor. Was it just pain or had she combined it with drain for infection? If he was in pain and couldn’t sleep, but was also weak and stealing other beings’ powers, it seemed like he actually was cursed with infection. Could I use that against him? Could I just remove pain and not drain to keep him weakened? That seemed my best bet.

“Do you have an itinerary for her?” Piper asked as I re-read the curses and notes again.

“I’ll print one out for you,” Mason said and left the room.

“Can you print me one, too?” I called after him. How did I have enough things planned to need an itinerary? Had they been planning things without me knowing? I didn’t know of anything I needed to do except the meeting and now the morning shifts at the store. It worried me that I wasn’t able to go rescue Mom and Dad, but I knew going on my own would be handing myself over to the Grand Advisor … and stupid. As much as I wished to stop acting as if everything was fine in our world, that was the only course I could take right now. At least until the portals showed.

Mason returned just as I finished my re-read and handed Piper and I a piece of paper. My eyes widened as I read it.

“Picture shoot? Why are we having a picture shoot?” I asked and looked at Kayden.

“To take pictures to announce our mating,” he answered.

Oh, right. The public liked to see news articles and social media posts with pictures to announce royal activities. It was still weird to me how some people idolized us. Or perhaps that was just my imposter syndrome as an adopted royal.

Speaking of adoption …

“I want to go to the orphanage this week, too,” I told Mason. “Can I do that on …” I read back through the itinerary. “… Wednesday after my morning shift?”

He nodded and started typing on his phone. “Of course. Are there any other things you want to do this week? I’ll get them all added and the itinerary updated now.”

“I want to have a meal with Tony and a night with Maya.”

I also needed time to practice the curses and the other powers I had. There were too many things to do in such a short amount of time.

“Okay, I’ll get their availability and schedule something,” Mason said.

Piper tilted her head to the side as she watched us. “I never pictured Mason for the secretarial type. I assumed that would be Kayden.”

“Kayden hates creating documents like an itinerary,” Mason explained.

“I make all the important calls because Mason hates talking to people on the phone and he has terrible customer service skills,” Kayden said. “It’s part of what makes us a good team. We make up for each other’s failings.”

“What does Trey bring to the table?” Piper asked.

“My good looks and charm,” he said as he entered the room.

I rolled my eyes so only Piper could see, making her smile.

“He makes most of the business decisions, though we all discuss it,” Kayden answered. “He’s annoyingly good at convincing others to go along with the business decisions he wants and that’s why we let him do most of the talking during meetings.”

“He could talk a snake out of their scales,” Mason grumbled. His eyes darted to me and he smirked. “No offense.”

I smiled and said, “You say that like he hasn’t talked me out of my clothes.”

Piper threw her head back and laughed.

“Alright, it’s time for food. I can hear your stomach growling from downstairs,” Trey said and scooped me up off the bed and into a bridal carry. He kissed my cheek as he carried me out of the room and downstairs to the dining room.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek just below his bloodstone. “You just missed me and didn’t like me being up there away from you, didn’t you?”

He looked at me from the corner of his eye before setting me down on a chair at the table and rubbing his cheek along mine, marking his scent on me. “Perhaps.”

A huge amount of food had been prepared and set on the table. “Did you make all of this?” Had we been up in my room long enough for him to have time to cook all this?

“You lost track of time, obviously,” he said with a smile. “Judging by your shocked face at the food on the table.”

“And that you can feel my surprise through the mate bond,” I added, since I could feel his amusement.

“I did have help,” he said as he sat at the head of the table opposite me. “Paul is a great cook, probably should have been a chef of his own restaurant.”

“Perhaps that’s what I’ll do when I retire,” Paul said as he joined us at the table. “I can call the restaurant, The Alphahole.”

“The Alphahole?” I asked with a soft laugh.

“That’s what my girlfriends called me,” he said and shrugged. “I have a feeling several other alphas I know were called the same thing.”

“I bet that’s not all they called you,” Trey teased.

“True,” Paul said, and the three of us laughed.

Everyone else joined us, taking seats around the table.

“Thank you for agreeing to be our guards,” Trey said. “I know it’s not your normal type of assignment, but having you three here does make me feel a bit more at ease.”

“Understandable that you need a few extra sets of hands when you chose the mate you did,” Piper teased.

“We’re happy to be of service to you, Prince Trey,” Patrick said.

“Just Trey, Patrick. As our guards, you may address us informally,” Trey countered.

“This week is going to be a bit crazy, and we really don’t know what is going to happen after that,” Kayden said. “The demons are nothing like we thought. We’ve been fighting them for decades and had a lot wrong about them.”

“Like them being able to speak and understand us?” Paul asked.

I nodded. “Among so much more. They are trying to survive and coming here to get supplies, like food, because their land was destroyed and they aren’t able to grow crops. It really is a wonder they’ve survived as long as they have. They aren’t a race of evil beings like we always thought. They’re just trying to survive. Trying to keep their race alive, yet being controlled by a hybrid siren mage who is brainwashing them.”

“That’s heartbreaking,” Piper whispered.

“I’m going to stop it,” I said with certainty. “I’m going to rid them of the Grand Advisor and help them rebuild.”

“Just because you are part demon doesn’t mean you are required to help them,” Paul said.

“Since I came to live with Ember and her mates, I’ve been provided anything I want. I’ve had the best life an orphan could imagine. Yet, I have done very little with this opportunity. Knowing I am the Demon Princess, that my grandmother’s people are in trouble, how can I not do something ?”

“You’ve done a lot for orphans here,” Patrick countered.

“I’ve created two orphanages and given them gifts periodically. That’s not enough. Plus, that wasn’t done with my money. That was still done through Ember and Caleb.”

“You are not going to win this argument,” Kayden said with a soft smile at me. “She refuses to accept her good deeds.”

They started passing around the platters and bowls of food so we could fill up our plates while talking.

“What if the people here can’t accept them?” Paul asked.

I scooped a big spoonful of green beans onto my plate before answering. “There have been very few people killed by the demons, whereas we have killed hundreds of them. I know it will take time, just as it took time for hybrids to be accepted. It is a fight that I think is worth fighting, though.”

And definitely a hill worth dying on.