Page 50 of Demon's Bane

As soon as I take my first deep breath, the familiarity of the magick in the air eases a few of my rattled nerves.

We’re high on a mountain plateau near the king and queen’s court. All around, jagged mountains stretch from horizon tohorizon, skirted by thick pine forests and capped in pure white snow.

“Joan,” I murmur. “We’re here. We’re safe.”

She pries her eyes open and sucks in a startled breath, going utterly still in my arms as she takes in the world around us.

I do the same, and try to see my realm as she would.

Striking, yes, but also wild and untamed. Rugged and brutal, with its own kind of beauty I hope she can see.

“This is incredible,” she breathes, and a knot of unease loosens in my chest.

Easing her down onto her feet, I keep a hand at her back should she need to be steadied, and can’t fight my smile at the awe I find on her face.

“Is your home near here?” she asks, turning to face me with eyes alight with wonder.

“Not far. A hundred miles north of here in this same mountain range.”

If we had the time, I would fly her there. I’d make it a journey, show her even more of the dramatic views and stop in the little villages dotted through the valleys so she could see more of this realm and the demons who inhabit it.

The same thought must occur to Joan as she glances at my wings and arches a brow.

And, like a vain, preening youth, I can’t help but stretch them a little, flare them wide to catch the heat of the summer sun above.

Goddess, it feels good not to be wearing the glamour.

It feels even better when my mate’s eyes widen and a delicious blush climbs her cheeks. She catches her bottom lip between her blunt little teeth and averts her gaze, but I can’t let the moment pass without giving her some hell for it.

“See something you like?”

Joan clears her throat. “Yeah, this view is incredible.”

Slowly, I circle her. With even, measured strides, I make a study of her as I do, watching the color on her cheeks darken. When I stop right in front of her, blocking her view of the mountains and valleys below, I catch her chin in my fingers and tip her face up toward mine.

“That’s all?”

Utterly magnificent, my mate. When she forgets herself, when the cracks in that wall of hers split wide enough to let me see through them, it’s like a brief glimpse of the Goddess herself.

“Maybe notall,” Joan mutters, dropping her gaze to her feet.

She was skittish last night. After our kiss and after she agreed to come with me to my realm, she pulled all those walls back to her like armor, keeping me at arm’s length as we orbited around each other in her apartment.

Humans don’t have mates.

Her words from last night lodge themselves firmly in my mind, sharp enough to let me know I have to follow her lead. Play by her rules, as she likes to say.

I won’t pretend to be a better male than I am, and I won’t miss an opportunity to tease and coax, but nor will I take anything she doesn’t want to give or press where I’m not wanted.

I have my mate here, with me, safe and in my realm.

So it’s enough for now.

Pulling my hand away, I take one last look around the dramatic landscape before reaching for the easy magick I can access in this realm. It opens a portal, shimmering with echoes of the same power that lives within the Veil.

“I’ll portal us back to my village,” I tell Joan, offering her my hand.

She takes it with no small measure of trepidation in her eyes.

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