Page 16 of Deranged Demons

Prince Callan smirks and holds up the strange black and red box he’s been cradling this whole time. “Now that’s over, shall we get out of here?”

Princess Blake grins, but her smile falls as the ground begins to tremble again, the sand bubbling up as creatures move beneath the surface. The crow flying around them squawks in panic, and Princess Blake’s gaze narrows on the box in Prince Callan’s arms.

“They must be in there!” she shouts, realization taking over her features as multiple massive bugs burst from the sand, the creatures even larger than the last ones. Their clicking and screeching grows louder as they rise higher toward the hovering figures.

Before Prince Callan can react, oneof the bugs swings its head into him, sending him flying into a wooden beam. The wood splinters on impact, and he rolls, narrowly avoiding the insect as it strikes again, its head smashing into the destroyed beam.

“Callan, let it go!” Princess Blake yells as she holds back another bug. Her dagger is no longer in her hand, and she braces against the beast, stopping the creature from puncturing her with its venomous fangs.

My muscles tense as the primal need to protect is like fire in my veins. I drop down onto the next floor, my paws light on the wooden slats of the balcony, but the structure groans from the weight of my massive body.

Princess Blake curses as one of the bug’s legs slashes across her cheek, drawing blood, and the scent of honey and cinnamon grows stronger in the air, all but sending my creature into a frenzy. She lets out a cry as she tears the insect apart, and it takes all my willpower to turn my attention back to the archangel.

Prince Callan dodges to the side, narrowly missing another strike, and as the insect draws its head back, preparing to attack again, I leap for him. My teeth scratches against the archangel’s armor as I take the box in my mouth, wrenching it from his muscled arm and falling to the sand below.

My paws sink on impact, the ground rippling beneath me, and I vaguely hear someone’s sharp cry as I’m pulled beneath the sand.

Chapter

Eight

~ Princess Blake ~

The acrid smell of the demon bugs is all over my body, but it doesn’t stop his scent from reaching me. As the giant jaguar leaps from the balcony, his long paws outstretched toward Prince Callan, his musky, earthy smell reaches my nose, making my head spin. I’m in a daze as he snatches the box away from the archangel prince, and then he’s landing on the sand.

“No!” I shout, diving for the male who could be my mate, but it’s too late. One of the bugs pulls him down, the clicking in my ears growing louder as he disappears below the sand.Crap!It’s the first damn trial I’ve encountered since arriving in Perstalia, and I’m already failing. The remaining insects disappearafter him, and the theater becomes eerily quiet again.

I plant my feet on the wooden slats to the side of the sand, on the ground floor below the main roof, and Prince Callan settles beside me. “He snatched it out of my arm,” he says like he thinks I’m upset that he lost the box.

When I don’t respond, he follows my gaze to the sand right where the beast shifter disappeared. “I always knew Nine Lives would die while stealing something, but I never imagined it would be like this.”

I jerk toward him. “Nine Lives?”

Prince Callan nods. “That’s what the angels call him. He’s a well-known thief in our realm, and he’s escaped death more times than I can count.”

A thief? Is that why he stole the box?I mean, I’m not judging, I just hadn’t expected it. From what I’ve heard of the beast shifters, they’re heavily driven by pack loyalty and honor. I stare back at the sand like I think he’ll emerge any second, even though I know it’s impossible.

Shade perches on my shoulder.

“I think he’s my mate,”I tell her and let out a dry humorless chuckle because this is beyond believable. My first mate doesn’t want me, and my second mate is about to die stealing from me. I always guessed Lady Fate must have a sense of humor, but this is ridiculous. I brace, waiting for the pain. It’s said when you lose one of your fated mates, bonded or not, you feel their loss as unimaginable pain, and even when the feelingsubsides there’s still an emptiness inside you reminding you of their death for the rest of your life. And if he’s my mate and he dies before we’ve bonded, there goes my chance to unlock my power.

“Are you sure?”she asks.

I keep my gaze fixed on the sand.“I guess I’ll know soon.”I’m actually surprised it’s taking this long for the shifter to die now that the bugs have him. There’s no way he could fight that many. There’s no way?—

The sand shifts not far from where we stand, and my heart stutters.

“We should go,”Shade says quietly as I prepare myself to fight, but I can’t leave until I’m sure. Not until?—

A massive paw breaks through the sand and my heart almost stops. One paw becomes two, and soon the entire furry beast is in sight. The giant cat shakes its muscular body, sand clouding the air, and his earthy scent of the forest makes my pulse race. Slitted reddish-gold eyes lock onto me, and I stand captivated as I take in the pattern of rosette spots covering his body.

“Like I said, Nine Lives,” Prince Callan mutters with a smirk. “I shouldn’t be surprised.”

The jaguar tosses an extra-large leather-wrapped bundle to my feet, and gestures with his head for me to open it.

I bend down, feeling the creature’s gaze on me as I untie the leather straps and unfold the material.What?My gaze snaps back to the shifter. “It…It’s the supplies,” I say in disbelief. In hindsight, I should have known the red and black box was only a decoy because it was nowhere near big enough to fit the weaponry, provisions, and other items now in front of me. “How did you?—”

I swear I see the cat smile, and then his body shifts, the fur disappearing and his limbs reshaping until it’s not a beast but a man standing in front of me. He’s as tall as Prince Callan, but with tan skin and lean muscle that makes my heart pound. With a defined jaw, those distinct reddish-gold eyes, and shaggy reddish-brown hair accompanied by dark brows, he is…delicious.

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