Page 104 of The Music Demon

She turned to face him. “So what is it you’re hidin’? Say it plain.”

“It’s a freak of happenstance that we haven’t already encountered other male demons. Males who will know, intuitively if you will, that you’re an unmated female.” The intensity of his stare conveyed the import of what he wanted to impress on her. And she listened just as intently. “In the elemental world there’s no such thing as going steady. You’re either mated or you’re available.”

“And you think I’d be interested in just any Tom, Dick, or demon?”

“It’s not you that worries me, Shivaun.”

“Then what? Stop pussy footin’ around.”

“A female demon is the rarest thing in the universe and possibly the most powerful. There are a lot of males out there who will want you. For the wrong reasons. Gods help me if they find out you exist. They’ll stalk you, hunt you, try to capture you. Consent won’t factor in.”

He let that hang in silence between them so that she could, hopefully, process all the implications.

At length, she said, “You’re sayin’ I’d be forced to mate?” After a pause, she added, “Rape? Captivity?”

Lyric’s concerns had been laid bare and all the accompanying feelings played out on his face. She tried to recall if she’d ever seen him so expressive in the past and couldn’t find a single memory with that kind of emotional display. Except for sex.

He gave a single sharp nod.

“But givin’ you consent to be my mate would save me from that fate?” She giggled about the unintended rhyme.

“This is not funny. Why won’t you take it seriously?”

Amusement died. “You’re right. ‘Tis no’ funny. Iamtakin’ it seriously and, obviously, I know you’re tellin’ the truth. But the point is that I’m no’ the sort to marry…”

“Mate.”

“Marry. Mate. Whatever. I’m no’ the sort to bind my eternal future because of fear. If you do no’ understand this about me, it just goes to show you do no’ know me well enough to ask for my eternal companionship. I will mate for love. I’ve told you this.”

“But…”

She held up a hand. “Wrong conjunction, demon. The correct next word is not ‘but’. ‘Tis ‘and’. And, though I may no’ be sneezin’, there’s still somethin’ you’re no’ sayin’. What exactly are these ‘wrong reasons’ that worry you?”

He stared at her for a few beats then sighed deeply, again, while running a hand through hair mussed by a windy ride and left charmingly unkempt. Deciding that the metaphorical train had left the station, only one option remained – to come clean with all of it.

With a second sigh, short but deep, he began. “Female demons aren’t just rare. They come equipped with power that eclipses males by several times over. That’s a fact of the natural-born. Whether or not if applies to you is yet to be determined. But indiscriminate power-seekers won’t stop and ask questions.”

He could almost see Shivaun’s brain circuitry firing as she sorted that out.

After a brief pause, she said, “’Tis no’ addin’ up. If ‘tis true that I’m stronger, why the worry? Why do you no’ think I can take care of myself?”

“Simple. It’s an unknown. We don’t know for sure that you have, or are in the process of getting, elevated levels of power. What we do know is that you’re a brand new elemental who has no idea what she is and what she can do. Your inexperience is practically total. Without evaluation and experiment we don’t know if any of that applies to you.”

She nodded then reviewed. “So, you’re thinkin’ I could somehow end up with a kidnappin’, gold-diggin’ rapist nursin’ a huge resentment when he finds out I’m just a garden variety, em, demon.”

“If that turns out to be the case.”

“If it does no’ turn out to be the case, would I no’ be able to ‘overpower’,” she couldn’t help but smile at her word choice, “the bastard? ‘Twould no’ fit into his evil plan? He would no’ be wary of that? You know this sounds a bit like demon folklore to me.” She cocked her head. “Is there a sayin’ about old demons’ wives tales?”

“Shivaun!” It was the first time Lyric had ever raised his voice around her. “This is not a joking matter.”

“How many female demons have you ever encountered? Personally.”

Without hesitation, he said, “Three.”

“That would be Rosie, Sher, and myself. Sher was kidnapped by a demon. And that worked out okay.”

Lyric gaped, his expression saying, ‘I cannot believe you said that’.

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