Page 18 of Deranged Demons

“Your v-a-g-i-n-a,”Shade says, dragging out the word ‘vagina’ like I’m an idiot.“It’s pretty obvious what that pack of muscles and fur wants. Just look at his?—”

I heft the bundle of leather onto my shoulder.“I killed my last lover, remember?”I say cutting her off.

“Yes, but he wasn’t your mate.”

I ignore her. I know she has a point, but I just can’t deal right now.

Nate is watching me curiously, a playful grin back on his face, and Prince Callan is staring at me with casual indifference.

“The demon bugs might be appeased for now, but I think we should get out of here,” I say, then not waiting for either of them to reply, I spin on my heels and lead the way out of the theater. I hear the males following behind me, and when we’re on the street I keep walking.

“You know, you’re going to have to sleep with them to seal the mate bond,”Shade points out.“If they truly are your fated mates, nothing bad is going to happen when you’re with them.”

“That’s just it, isn’t it?”I reply.“I don’t know for sure.”

She twists her head to peer back at the guys.“I saw the way Nate looked at you. You could have fun with him first to loosen up. Going by the way he’s staring at your ass right now, I’m pretty sure he’s down.”

Heat flushes my cheeks as I imagine myself climbing onto Nate’s face, but I banish the thought and let out a long breath.“Not yet. Let’s just get some medicine into our veins and find my other mates first.”I’m not sure how I know I have more mates out there, but I have this feeling, this emptiness, like I haven’t found them all yet.

We walk in silence for a while until tingles spread along the back of my neck. I peer at the surroundingbuildings, half expecting to find someone watching me.

“What is it?”Shade asks, staring at the buildings as well.

I focus for a moment longer on a structure with two floors and gaping holes where the windows used to be, then I turn my attention back to the street.“Nothing. It’s probably just the ghosts of the past haunting us.”

“Ghosts?”she snaps back, a tremor in her voice.

I grin.“You know I’m only teasing. This isn’t the shadow realm.”

“You sure?”she says, flicking her head fearfully from side to side.“Because you could have fooled me.”

I shake my head.“How did you ever survive without me?”

“Uh, worms and seeds. Small talk with other birds who flew by the windows. Bad TVand listening to smutty audiobooks that my humans used to play?”

“Exactly,”I chuckle, then blink as my vision becomes unfocused for a moment.“Crap, I’m guessing this place is starting to get to me. We need to get that medicine into us.”

Chapter

Nine

~ Princess Blake ~

Far from the theater, we find an abandoned building to set up camp for a few hours. I'm guessing it was once someone’s house, but there's no roof, only four stony walls and two massive holes where doors used to be.

Dropping the leather bundle onto the ground, I unfasten the ties and sift through the contents. There’s a single weapons belt that I strap around my hips, then I slide a sword and two daggers into the sheaths already feeling more like myself. Sitting amidst the waterskins and multiple parcels of food, is a small black-leather pouch, and I open it to find four bright orange pills.

“What are the chances they’re actually poison?”Shade asks from my shoulder.

Her comment makes me think of the traitorous demon, Trey, but these pills are distinctly different, the color matching the pills I’ve taken when I have visited Perstalia in the past.

“Let’s find out,”I reply and pop one into my mouth, chasing it down with water from one of the waterskins. She stares at me like she’s waiting for me to explode, but seconds pass, and I grin at her. Breaking one of the pills into quarters, I hold out a piece on the flat palm of my hand. She pecks at the pill, her throat bobbing as she swallows it.

Turning, I hold the pouch out to Nate and Prince Callan. “Unless you want to start hallucinating, take one of these each.” Prince Callan grabs the pouch first and eyes the pills dubiously before tossing one into his mouth. Nate takes the other one, and I grab a set of clothing that was included with the provisions and throw it his way. He plucks it out of the air and pulls on the t-shirt that’s sizes too small, and pants that only just fit over his insanely sculpted ass. I’m not sure if Dad put them in there intended for me, but Nate grins, posing in the clothing that shows the bottom of his defined abs.

“What do you think?” he asks me, mischief sparking in his eyes.

Prince Callan looks at Nate like he thinks the shifter is an embarrassment, but he doesn’t comment.

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