Authors: Calista Fox
She collected an oversized bag of pretzels the bakery
delivered twice a week. “I had a very dangerous altercation with a demon, Michael.
Of course my nerves are still shot to hell.”
“That’s not it. Although, yes, I can see you’re on edge. But
you also seem to be deep in thought.”
Actually, she was deep in concentration as she
blocked
her thoughts. “I’m just focusing on my job. Don’t read anything into it.”
He skipped right over her dismissive explanation. “What
happened while you were at the castle?”
“I told you, I was unconscious most of the time. Then the
slayers came for me.”
“Walker and Tanner claimed they saw blood in the snow outside
your cottage. You were injured?”
She sighed. “Yes, but I’m fine now.” How many times did she
have to reassure everyone?
“I heard there was a lot of blood. But you don’t have any
scrapes or scars.”
“Not that are visible.” Her statement was a true one. All of
her scars were internal. But she’d meant to imply that she had been injured
somewhere her clothing would conceal. She stared at him a moment, wondering if
he’d buy into her fabrication.
Finally, he lifted his hands and said, “I know you keep some
things from me, Jade. But not everything. I wish you’d tell me what really
happened.”
“And I wish you’d stop doubting me.”
There.
She’d
made her first wish. Though she knew by the determined look in Michael’s eyes,
it wouldn’t be granted. Why’d she even bother?
He took a few steps closer to her and said, “I saw how he
looked at you in the meeting hall.”
“He who?” She feigned ignorance. The subject matter was
becoming much too touchy for comfort.
“The Demon King.”
He said it as though he needed to remind her the king was
not of their species. And perhaps she did need the reminder. Admittedly, it was
difficult to think of Darien as some evil entity who’d led a war against her
kind. Her ancestors. He had a quick temper, yes, but it seemed to be a direct
result of his territorial nature. And it wasn’t just his kingdom he was
possessive and protective of, but her as well.
He’d been extremely concerned about her well-being and had
been particularly gentle with her while she’d healed. When he’d made love to
her, however… He’d been fiercely passionate. Darien had shown her what desire
and intimacy were all about. She doubted very seriously she’d ever experience
such powerful emotions with another man, not even Michael.
This was why she stepped away from him when he reached out
to touch her face.
“Please don’t,” she said in a low voice. Although she
suspected Darien would stay out of her head, it wouldn’t bode well for Michael
if the king slipped and inadvertently learned of this exchange through her own
thoughts.
“Jade,” Michael said. “The night we learned you were being
followed… When we were outside the tavern… I intended to kiss you.”
She nodded. “I suspected as much.”
“Yet you didn’t move away.”
“No. But things have…changed…since then.”
His eyes narrowed on her. “What things?
How
? We
haven’t seen each other in a week.”
“I know. And I can’t explain it.” Her mind reeled. She
adored Michael, but she knew she’d never feel about him the way she felt about
Darien. And even that was too convoluted an association to sift through and
make heads or tails of. “I think it’s best if we remain friends. No more.”
She moved past him and reached for the doorknob. He halted
her in her tracks as he said, “You’re infatuated with him, aren’t you?”
“Don’t be absurd,” she scoffed. But her hand shook on the
brass knob.
“You challenged him at the meeting and it seemed to intrigue
him. But clearly, he was interested in you before that. He was the one watching
us on the sidewalk, wasn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“And he kept us from kissing.”
“Yes.”
“Because he wants you for himself?”
“No,” she lied, though it hurt her to do so. They were
friends. Yet he wouldn’t understand the attraction between her and Darien. Nor
did she want to throw it in his face. “There is a degree of fascination on both
our parts, I’ll confess, but that’s it. Nothing more, Michael.”
His jaw clenched as he mulled this over and likely tried to
choose his next words judiciously. Finally, he said one more time, “Be careful,
Jade.” He stalked toward her. Her hand fell from the knob. His replaced it and
twisted. “Your eyes give you away when you talk about the Demon King.” He
yanked on the door and marched past her.
* * * * *
Darien was in his study a week later when Morgan reported to
him.
“The renegades that had set up camp on the Canadian border
have disbanded,” the general told him. “No trace of the fire wraith. They’ve
either retreated and have given up on assassinating you, or they’re out
searching for reinforcements.”
“Likely the latter,” he said. “But there aren’t enough rogue
demons on the continent to take on my army. Not even if he were to import them.
The fire wraith needed me in the village to get to me. He knows he’ll never
make it past the woods on our side of the river without being detected and
captured. He can’t penetrate our patrols around the castle or scale our walls.”
“We should do a large-radius sweep,” Morgan suggested. “In
all directions. Try to find out if they’ve regrouped somewhere else.”
“Yes. And I want reports from the regional stewards on any
activity outside their own boundaries, in human villages as well as in
uninhabited, remote areas.”
“Of course.”
Darien was quiet a moment, his brain churning with a
disconcerting, yet highly tempting thought. “If I’m to go into Ryleigh, now
would be the time to do it.”
He wasn’t worried about his own safety. He’d already
challenged the fire wraith and proved he had more skill with a sword. But if he
was going to keep Jade safe, he needed to disassociate himself from her so the
renegade demon wouldn’t have a reason to return to the village. But before he
completely severed the ties, he needed to see her one more time.
“Darien.”
His gaze fell upon his friend. “Yes?”
Morgan shifted from one booted foot to the other. “Forgive
me for saying so, but I don’t think it would be wise for you to visit Jade.”
He massaged the nape of his neck where a knot of tension
seemed to have taken up permanent residency since he’d met her. “I don’t
disagree with you. But there is something that’s come up, which I’d like to
investigate further.”
Morgan crooked a brow.
Darien said, “I saw a marking on her skin that is familiar
to me. I couldn’t pinpoint where I’d seen it before, until last night, when I
was thinking about her father.”
“Liam?”
With a nod, Darien said, “He established the village
thirty-five years ago, at the end of the war. We both selected a similar
location around the same time. I staked my claim atop the cliff, he chose his
at the base, with the river dividing us. I’d been fascinated by his nerve when
he didn’t move on once he’d learned where I intended to build my castle.”
“I recall he had quite a stubborn streak.”
“One he passed on to Jade. Along with a few other traits.”
He reached for a book on his desk and flipped it open where
he’d flagged a section. In the center of the right-hand page was a sketch of
three dots in an inverted triangle, though set slightly at an angle.
“The first time I met Liam and assured him my law of peace
between the demons and the humans would be upheld by my alliance, he had short,
military-style hair. I noticed the marking on his neck that looked identical to
the one I just discovered in this book. It was below his right ear. Every time
I saw him thereafter, he had long hair that covered what I’d assumed were
freckles or moles. I never thought of the pattern again. But I researched it
this morning.”
Morgan slid into a chair on the opposite side of the
enormous desk. “Are you going to tell me Jade has the same configuration in the
exact same spot?”
He nodded.
“What does it mean?”
“It’s a sacred symbol. A very simple one, so as to not draw
too much attention to it or spark speculation as to whether it’s more than
freckles naturally aligned. But it’s the mark of a demi-demon.”
Morgan’s head jerked back. “
What
?”
“I knew there was something different about Liam, but I never
delved too deep. He was clearly human, clearly mortal. Despite his willfulness
and skill, he always took great care and precaution with his life. He didn’t
operate in a reckless manner.”
“But it did take an effort to murder him, when rogue
shifters attacked him.”
“Yes, that’s true. However, that’s because he had the
ability to self-heal, like Jade. They’d mauled him, then ripped his arms and
legs from the sockets to keep him from repairing the damage. For good measure,
they decapitated him. They’d done the same to Jade’s mother, though it hadn’t
been necessary. She didn’t possess the same talents as her husband and
daughter.”
It had been a grisly scene to come upon, when word had
reached him. But it had been infinitely more horrifying for Jade.
He’d later learned, the first time he’d invaded her
thoughts, that she had witnessed the entire ordeal from the woods. In addition
to her agony, fury and terror, guilt had besieged her. She’d never forgiven
herself for not doing something—anything—to thwart the attack or call for help.
Reasonably, she’d known she couldn’t fight off the shifters
herself and had been too traumatized to even try. Hiding in the forest, she’d
been immobilized by grief and fear, shocked into stunned disbelief and had not
made a peep.
That was as far as Darien had been able to make it in her
dark, clouded mind. He’d felt all of her emotions almost as acutely as she had,
he surmised, because they’d been horrific for him to experience through her
thoughts.
The attraction he’d felt toward her when she was eighteen
and weeping on the riverbed had somehow connected him to her, and from that
moment on, her pain had become his. The very reason it was so necessary to stay
out of her head. He’d go mad if he knew the true extent of her suffering.
Which brought him to his next point. “Demi-demons are
similar to ancient demi-gods in some respects. They’re human, but they possess
extraordinary abilities. They’re descendants of demons, but their blood has
been so diluted over the centuries, their human nature reigns. And they
can
be killed, by human or demon hands. Even if they have the capability to
self-heal.”
“I always wondered why Liam would say not all demons are
evil,” Morgan mused. “Do you think Jade knows her true heritage?”
“No.” He was certain of it. “She believes she’s fully human.
I’m not sure she’d want to know the truth.”
Morgan gave him a pointed look. “And you’d prefer that as
well, correct? Otherwise, she just might decide she has some higher purpose and
take her father’s place in the village, thereby putting herself in more
danger.”
“I do have my reasons for not telling her, yes. But beyond
that, I don’t think she’d handle the reality well. She’s been raised to fear
and loathe demons. We’ve given all humans ample cause for that.”
His general regarded him thoughtfully, then said, “Jade
neither fears nor loathes you.” He inclined his head to the side and amended,
“Well, there might be some fear there. She’s smart enough to know her mortality
is threatened by our kind. But she certainly doesn’t loathe you.”
“She should though.” He stood. “The fact that she doesn’t
creates another problem.”
He crossed to the wall lined with built-in shelves and
cabinets, a counter running the length at waist height. He opened one of the
intricate glass and wood-framed doors and retrieved a box from the back of the
shelf. Returning to his chair, he set the box on the desk and lifted the lid.
Morgan was out of his seat in a heartbeat, leaning toward
the stunning necklace that lay against silver satin folds. “The Star of Nadia?
It exists.”
“Yes.” Strung on a wide, black satin ribbon was a white and
black diamond-encrusted multi-point star pendant. The faceted center of the
star was slightly raised and created a stunning spectrum of colors under the
candlelight.
Lifting the necklace, Darien said, “It was blessed by the
Demon Princess Nadia of Scotland, who lost her mortal lover in battle. She was
heartbroken and wanted to ease the suffering of others who might share her same
fate if they fell in love with a human.”
Not a common occurrence, he’d learned. But not an
unfathomable one either.
He added, “This jewel has been in my family since the early
1200s, when one of my ancestors was made immortal. It passes through a specific
branch of my family tree from generation to generation.”
Morgan eyed him curiously. “And you intend to give it to
Jade.”
“Yes. But not for the purpose of making her immortal.”
“Why on earth not?”
Darien sat back in his chair. “It’s complicated. But there
are certain undisputable facts I can’t ignore. First, while my kingdom would
have no choice but to accept her if I granted her immortality, the castle isn’t
really where she belongs.”
Morgan nodded. “She is fiercely devoted to the village and
its people. She would willingly defy you in order to keep her friends and
neighbors safe.”
“Yes, she’s already proven that. Nor does she want to leave
her family’s cottage. Another glaring point made when she refused to move after
her parents died.”
Darien returned the necklace to its nesting place and then
tapped his fingers on the desk. “Next is the fact she’s been carrying around
tormenting memories for fifteen years. I highly doubt she’d want to spend an
eternity with them. Her memory would sharpen with her more heightened senses,
not fade. Her pain might even increase because of it.”