Page 190 of The Soulbond and Her Beloved

Daemonikai stood stiff for a moment, unsure what to do with his hands, before placing one on the larger male’s back and the other on his shoulder.

“Ottai?”

He felt the tears soak through his robes in the answering silence.

Daemonikai tried to contain his worry. “Is Morina okay?”

“I had your healers see her on their way out,” Ottai said thickly, pulling back just enough to look at his face. “She’s pregnant.”

A beat of stunned silence.

“Really!?Ukrae—Ottai, truly!?” Daemonikai exclaimed, voice hushed only by necessity.

Vladya’s eyes widened like twin moons.

“Two and a half years of bonding. Losing our only fruit. Trying again for centuries. Giving up. Accepting it would just be us until the end.” His voice fractured. “And now… now, my Rina is with child.”

Daemonikai pulled the distraught male into a proper embrace, clasping his shoulders, before stepping back and grinning wide.

“A hearty congratulations, Tee. This is incredible news!”

Vladya beamed, too, as he returned the child to the crib, then clapped Ottai’s back. “You’re going to be a father again. It’s about damn time.”

The fourth ruler’s smile split his face as tears shimmered in his eyes. “Thank you.”

For a while, they laughed softly. Clasping hands. Slapping backs. Embracing.

Relief that it wasn’t bad news.

Rejoicing that it was finally happening for Ottai.

Overwhelming elation.

Truly, this night—the night that once took everything from them—had returned bearing miracles.

The eclipse moon of nightmares and loss had become a beacon of rebirth.

A night of good news, of happiness, of blessings.

Chapter forty-four

HOW DOES IT FEEL

Threedayslater.

Daemonikai had been right. Zaiper wished he had never lived to see this day.

As he was paraded through the crowded square, head bowed, chains clinking with each step, humiliation was the only thing left in him. This—this—was abject disgrace. The worst of the worst. He was clad in nothing but soiled under-briefs, thick shackles chaining his hands and feet. The bindings laced with toxins, draining him of what remained of his strength. He couldn’t shift. Couldn’t run. Couldn’t fight.

And the people? They were relentless.

“Scumbag!”

“Evil devil!”

“May your soul rot in the nine hells!”

Their hate was a chorus, hot as the sun beating down on him.

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