Georgia looked up at the demon prince, searching for… something. Even just a moment of connection. What they’d shared… there were no words. It had been brutal, violent even… and so intensely intimate, a part of her had transformed underneath him. Become something else, something new. She felt raw and vulnerable, and everything in her ached for his comfort; for a moment to look into his eyes and see the shift between them acknowledged.
He’d called her love.
He’d called her his.
She felt it in the core of her being. She was his now. Something had happened in those brutal moments beneath him, something irreversible. She was his, because… because there was no way she could have come out of that experience and been anything else.
But was he hers, too?
He refused to look her in the eyes, though he held her so close the heat of his skin radiated into her body, promising her protection, promising affection.
Mine.
She knew she was his, because she knew why he wasn’t looking at her. Could feel his pain and fear like they were her own.
He didn’t see a willing woman in his arms. He saw his mother’s broken shadow.
“Kesh,” she said softly, trying to get him to just… look at her. To reach him.
Only a slight tightening of his grip on her body indicated he’d so much as heard her. He didn’t look down at her, didn’t connect his gaze to hers.
Didn’t give her the reassurance she needed.
Her heart sank, but she didn’t push him. There would be time for that later, when they were alone. She wouldn’t force him to open up and talk this through now, in front of his father—the monster responsible for his scars. Instead, she placed her palm over his heart in a soothing gesture, and rested her head against his shoulder. He might be lost in the darkness, but she wasn’t. What they’d just shared… There was no changing the outcome. Closing her eyes, she nuzzled her face in against his meaty shoulder. Mine.
Strong fingers stroked through her hair, almost as if he could sense her possessive thoughts. Perhaps he could. Georgia sighed softly and allowed the sensation of his fingertips against her scalp to soothe her reeling mind. Yes. Everything would be okay. They just needed to talk, and once he had met with his brother, and his scary father left, they would.
The demon king was everything she could have expected. He was as huge as Kesh, with auburn hair and the identical strong jaw and nose as both his father and brother—and he had the same air of too much mass compressed into his already overwhelming, human form, too. Even the scowl on his face as he entered the empty space under Kesh’s penthouse was identical to his brother’s.
The queen of demons was a different story.
“Hi! Georgia, right? I’m Selma. Oh, you poor thing, did he shred your clothes? Honestly, Kesh, if you were gonna go all caveman on the poor woman’s dress, at least have the decency not to blow up her wardrobe.” The small, round, very human woman shifted the baby in her arms, to better give Kesh a disapproving look, before she switched her attention back to Georgia.
“How are you hanging in there? Do you need some demon-free time? We can step out for a minute if you need, just the two of us.”
Before Georgia could so much as open her mouth, iron bands clenched around her body as Kesh clutched her tighter to his chest. “She will be going nowhere without me.” There was enough of a growl in his voice that the king’s eyes narrowed, and he took a half-step forward, shielding his mate and baby. “Watch how you talk to your queen.” His tone was low and rough, the edge of a threat unmistakable.
Kesh’s lip curled up in response, but Kirigan stepped in between them.
“Boys. Now is not the time. We have urgent matters to discuss, and no time for posturing. The girl is unharmed, Selma, and separating her from Kesh right now is bound to end in violence. Give him some time to calm, and you will be able to check on her if she so wishes. For now, I need everyone to focus on the real threat: a goddess made her way past our defenses and into Kesh’s home. Undetected. Which means she is old, and she is strong—and she has taken an interest in our family.
“I hope I don’t need to tell you how serious this is. Nothing good comes from divine interference, and we can ill afford to fight a battle on two fronts.”
“Well… what did she want? Do we know?” Selma asked, frowning. “I know you’ve got that whole demons-versus-gods thing going on, but they aren’t all entirely awful. Just like not all demons are. Perhaps we can, I dunno, figure out a way to work with her?”
All three demons present gave her a look that suggested she was off her rocker. King Kain looked gently concerned, Kesh like she had just suggested the Earth was flat, and Kirigan simply sighed, exasperated.
“My love, she is a goddess. She wants nothing but our destruction. You know this. Bealith isn’t representative of gods—she only helped you because she sees you as her subject,” Kain said, his gentle tone suggesting he was trying to make a particularly fragile mental patient see reason.
“Only the desperate strike bargains with gods, Selma,” Kirigan said, his voice patient but firm. “They are no different than demons when it comes to trickery and deceit. And this one has already proven as much. She violated Georgia to make either Kesh or I frenzied enough to claim her. Supposedly to activate her powers, like Kain did for you. We need to figure out why she would want more power concentrated in our family—and we need to figure out where she has taken the Stone of Power she stole, and what she intends to do with it. She is not a potential ally—she is a threat.”
Selma gave a small shudder, seemingly as creeped out as Georgia at the thought of Kirigan claiming her, but kept her cool. “Right. So she wants us to have more power? That doesn’t sound like a potential ally to you? I’m not saying her reasons are going to be savory, and I’m absolutely not saying what she did to Georgia is acceptable. I’m saying we might have a singular goal aligned, and it would be stupid not to consider if we can use this as an advantage against the Europeans.”
“Selma…” Kirigan paused, and Georgia could almost swear a flicker of something other than disturbing nothingness passed through his dark eyes. Something that looked almost… pained. “This girl is the first Pure Breeder to have been discovered since your auction. Before you, it was my late wife—who was the first in over thirty years. You are rare, dear one. So valuable, two continents are at war for the rights to you.
“If Kesh or I had put a claiming mark on this girl, it would mean the past three Pure Breeders in existence. across the entirety of the globe, would have belonged to our bloodline—and this time, we would have taken her illegitimately. Kain’s claim to the throne would crumble in a matter of days. Even our staunchest supporters would abandon us.
“Whoever this goddess is, she is not our ally. If her plan had succeeded, our bloodline would likely end before Georgia’s powers had a chance to awaken. If they would at all. Our first move needs to be securing the girl from further interference, and then we need to uncover this goddess’s identity, location… and motives.”
