Page 509

She fingered the necklace hidden underneath her neckpiece, but as she was quickly learning, she was going to have to rely on more than magic for a while.

Using the years of training with Axel and her father, she caught on to the rhythm of the fight. She found an opening to execute her plan.

A punch in the face from Galina, a slash on her back from Opal and a whip of the vine to her leg from Anya had her reeling in sharp pain for the briefest of seconds.

She stamped down the urge to hit back that was as ingrained in her as her tendency to reach for magic first and ask questions later.

She whipped her hair back and straightened the crown as she set a glare to all three of the women, who stood in shock.

“Sorry to interrupt this fight with my coronation.” She cleared her throat and looked toward Alessandro. He stood stock still, his mouth slightly ajar. “I think I’d like a drink.”

Alessandro let out a short laugh, beamed at her and took her hand, the sleeping baby still in the crook of his arm as they walked away.

XOXOXOXO

Alessandro wanted nothing more than to whisk his mate away for maybe five more days of uninterrupted alone time to reward her for her brilliance in handling his family.

He glanced down to take her in once more and cursed when he saw the blood sliding down her face.

He was dabbing at the wound when her family reached them.

Lucifer looked unimpressed. “You can’t even keep her from being mauled by your family? How will she fare against your enemies?”

The words packed more of a punch than Alessandro would have cared to admit.

“That was called respect for my decision, Uncle Luz.” Rowan interjected.

“That was called weakness.” Lucifer’s eyes hadn’t moved from Alessandro and he felt Rowan’s irritation flare.

“This isn’t even about me.” She snapped and turned to the rest of her family. “Shots?”

“And carrot cake!” Axel held her arm out.

Rowan stood on the tips of her toes to give him a kiss before she and her family disappeared, dragging Lilith along as she glared at him, but didn’t utter a word.

“She had my protection,” Lucifer hissed. “Your nose should’ve smelled it my miles away.”

Alessandro took a deep breath and motioned towards her retreating figure. “Lucifer, I claimed the woman five days ago. How strong is my smell?”

Lucifer narrowed his own eyes as he sought the scent out and shock eased some of the tension off his shoulders. “That can’t be.”

“She’s like a filter for power, cleansing it out of any other ownership and claiming it as her own.

” Alessandro shook his head. “Her chakra paths are repairing themselves at a rate that within a month she will be back to one hundred percent. Before that happens, I need to understand what she is, because she’s not just a succubus or an elf.

What did you set up to protect her from? ”

Lucifer’s eyes pulsed with a sheen of red that Alessandro associated with the most reckless violence he’d ever witnessed.

“I was hiding her from my asshole siblings. She’s the first demon Blessed. I’m going to have to figure out some new way of hiding her.”

Alessandro frowned. “But she has divinity. They wouldn’t harm one of their own descendants.”

Lucifer narrowed his blood-red eyes and raked them over the dragon. “She’s mostly a succubus. Any divinity you sense is negligible.”

There was something about his tone that made the Dragon King’s hackles rise. He was attempting to be duplicitous. But Lucifer never lied. Instead, he tried to shroud answers in shadows.

Alessandro cocked his head to the side and glanced back towards the collection of white-haired guests.

“It’s faint, but she overcame demon poison. That’s not negligible.”

“Maybe the demon poison wasn’t pure enough. You might have been mistaken. It’s not the first time it’s happened. You remember that hellish night when you swore three bottles of ambrosia-laced whiskey wouldn’t affect you?”

He wouldn’t take the bait. The one and only time Alessandro had truly allowed himself to let go with Lucifer, and the night that had sealed the friendship were the same. Though they argued often about the details, neither really knew the full story of what occurred that night.

All Alessandro knew was that when they awoke, they’d been in another dimension with a pack of satyrs and that never boded well.

Chasing away the images and the stench of that day, Alessandro focused on what Lucifer was trying to conceal.

It was easy to pick up on divinity once someone realized it was there. Alessandro had assumed the trace of divinity in Rowan came from her father’s side as the idea that a succubus as strong as Annabelle, even without the usual markers of wings, horns and tails, having any divinity, was absurd.

A spell of misdirection protected her genetic status from much less trained spellcasters, but Lucifer’s brand of magic was familiar to Alessandro and he navigated the spell to show him the truth.

Annabelle Dahl was a third generation divine.

Bright white specks colored her aura, and when he glanced over at her daughters, he realized why he had initially missed the presence of divinity.

The first time he sought Rowan’s magical signature, he’d noted that the colors of her demonic and elemental magic were brighter than usual.

Lucifer had somehow hidden the white of divine magic behind them to saturate their appearance.

“What have you two done?” Alessandro hissed, turning his wide eyes to the devil.

Lucifer’s nose flared, and his eyes flashed ruby. “You should have walked away.”

Unaffected by the show of his anger, Alessandro pressed on, “How?”

Lucifer rolled his eyes, “When a mommy and a daddy…”

“Cut the shit, Lucifer. Rowan didn’t know. Why wouldn’t you tell her?”

Lucifer shook his head. “It should never have happened. When Lilith realized what she’d done, it was too late to reverse it.

All she wanted was to see what a child between us would look like.

What she did with Adam out of hatred, she wanted with me out of love.

It fucked her up emotionally and you know how dangerous that is for someone with her power of creation. ”

Alessandro clenched his fists. “So, your little love child created an elf-demon-divine?”

“Yes, Annabelle.”

“And Rowan is your great-grandchild.”

“You can see why I am displeased with your attachment,” Lucifer hissed.

Alessandro leveled him with a glare. “I don’t recall you ever telling me you had a child, much less a great-grandchild. I might have taken precautions against landing in bed with her!”

Lucifer scowled, “No one can know.”

“Shouldn’t she at least know? And don’t insinuate she does. She’s my mate.”

“Don’t you start a territorial war with me, Dragon King. She is my blood.” Lucifer hissed.

“Lucifer!” Alessandro was trying to hold back the urge to shake the man.

Lilith appeared beside them. “Would you two like a microphone to ensure everyone can hear your conversation?” Her face was splotchy with anger, her eyes rimmed red and glazed.

The child in Alessandro’s arms wiggled for a second before his breath evened back out.

Alessandro glanced around and noticed there were several dragons coming close, as if trying to decipher the whispered argument.

“I would take several steps back if I were you, Janio.”

The water-dragon, who had been the closest, did as bid. The rest followed suit.

“I suggest you recall that you’re the one who sunk your teeth into our Rowan, even after you found the divinity present in her demon lineage. You were ready to take the consequences of that decision, and that shouldn’t change now that you know where it came from.” Lilith said evenly.

Alessandro let out a displeased growl. “It doesn’t affect my decision in the slightest. But I’m sure it will affect her opinion of you when she finds out the truth.”

Panic took over her face. “This doesn’t concern you. You mustn’t be the one to reveal it.”

“Now that I know about it, I can’t conceal it from her. She is my mate.”

“Can you truly say that when you didn’t know of our relationship with her?” Lilith hissed, “Your mark is unsettled, worm.”

His dragon reared up in rage.

“Don’t,” Alessandro warned quietly, keeping his nephew in mind.

Lucifer’s eyes widened. “What does that mean?”

The smug look the black-haired woman wore threatened to break Alessandro’s control. She hadn’t been sure until his reaction cemented her theory.

“She chose me.” Alessandro spoke slowly. “I will not betray her trust to keep your secret. You have one week to figure it the fuck out and tell her yourselves.”

The child in Alessandro’s arms fussed.

He glanced down and sleepy blue eyes blinked open, as if making sure what he was seeing was true.

A giant smile took over Ciel’s face, and he wrapped his arms around Alessandro’s neck, choking him with his excitement. It melted the anger he’d felt growing out of check.

Alessandro chuckled as he tried to wrangle the child off. “Did you sleep well, little one?”

“Ciel is hungry!” Ciel crawled over Alessandro’s head to sit himself on his shoulders, “Onward, Unc Sando.”

Alessandro, knowing the only thing that stood between Ciel turning into an outright brat, relied heavily on how fast he could get food in his belly, laughed, “Alright, alright, give me just a second, okay?”

Ciel groaned, but crossed his arms over Alessandro’s head and settled his chin into them as he waited as patiently as a hungry five-year-old could.

“Look, we’re going to have to deal with each other more than we’ve ever had in the past, Lilith. I’d rather we work towards a more amicable future for Rowan’s sake, but I’ll never bow my head to your insensitivity, especially with her. One week.”

And Ciel’s small hands were pulling at Alessandro’s hair to guide him as he turned.

Chapter 31

Rowan felt the moment the air became charged with danger. She’d been in the middle of shotgunning a pre-made cocktail with Blaise, Stone, and Louisa when the explosion of magic licked against her skin.