Page 25 of Deranged Demons

I decide I’m not even going to try to tackle that question.

“As you wish, princess,” Prince Callan drawls.

“And can you please put some clothes on,” I say to Nate as I struggle not to stare at his raging erection. I’m not sure if it’s because he enjoyed killing, or because of me, but I can’t focus with that thing staring at me.

Nate grins, and I think he’s going to say something stupid, but he only turns and finds the leather satchel. Rummaging around in the contents, he pulls out a black t-shirt and pants. It’s the only pair of clothing left. When he pulls the shirt on, it doesn’t even reach below his belly button, and the pants tear at the seams, somehow only just managing to stay together.

“Better?” he says, smirking at me.

I stifle my smile. “It’ll do.”

Chapter

Twelve

~ Princess Blake ~

More alphas find us in the hours that follow, likely drawn by the scent of blood, but that suits me just fine. This place is getting to everyone, and the sooner I find my mates before they’ve all lost their minds the better things will go for me. But one after the other, I discover that none of them are mine. Thankfully, these alphas actually heed my advice and leave to find some place to hunker down. Or at least, I hope they do.

We’re walking down a street that has the trunk of a dead oak in the middle of the aged cobblestones, when I see flashes of movement up ahead.

Nate narrows his gaze onthe objects in the distance. “It’s a group of archangels. They look a little rough.”

“Archangels?” I turn to Prince Callan who’s striding behind us, but he keeps staring ahead, his expression harder than usual.

It’s not until we’re closer that I make out a dozen archangels on the street. Many of them are wet, their sodden wings spread on the ground as they lay on the cobblestones, blood seeping from wounds on their body. A few of them are pacing, mumbling under their breath, and one is cradling his knees to his chest as he rocks against a wall, shouting curses at someone I can’t see.

“Well, these guys all look…chipper,”Shade comments sarcastically.“I didn’t know it just rained?”

“It didn’t,”I confirm, frowning at the archangels’ wet clothes and turning my attention to a nearby building. A water symbol is etched into the stone above the door, curly waves surrounded by a thick circle.

“Careful. These alphas look like they’re one word away from breakin’,” Nate warns. “Guessin’ they didn’t get their hands on any medicine.”

“I don’t think it’s because of a lack of trying,” I comment, turning my attention back to the alphas who all look like they’ve just battled something horrible.

One of the pacing archangels lifts his head, and I instantly recognize the male who was knocked over by the giant in the ballroom. His bronze wings have lostsome of their color, and the alpha’s face is uncharacteristically pale, but otherwise he appears to be whole.

“Our prince?” the archangel says tentatively like his eyes have tricked him before, and he’s not sure whether to believe what he’s seeing.

Prince Callan strolls past Nate and me to greet him. “Theon. I must say, you’ve looked better.”

“Haven’t we all,” Theon replies with a weak grin. His gaze slides from Prince Callan to me, and his brows rise. “It seems you’ve fared better.”

“I don’t know if he would agree,” Nate grins.

Theon finally looks at the shifter, and his top lip curls in distaste. “Nine Lives? Of course, you’d survive this place.”

Nate laughs like he’s just been given a compliment.

“Speaking of surviving,” I say, stepping up to Prince Callan’s side. “What’s happened here?” Now that I’m closer, I pick up Theon’s scent. He doesn’t smell unpleasant, but nothing sparks in me at our close proximity. He must feel the same way, because he stares at me for a long moment, and then there’s only acceptance in his gaze.

“It’s a bathhouse,” he replies, gesturing to the building with the water symbol. “We figured there might be provisions here, but the water…” His expression shutters, and he clears his throat. “None of us have found the medicine, and Saphis is among those who never emerged from the bath.”

“Who’s Saphis?” I ask.

Prince Callan lets out a breath through his nose. “So that’s why he hasn’t been able to heal any of you.”

“Yes,” Theon confirms, his expression darkening.

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