Page 7 of Drawn to the Demon Duke
I have no shadows. I have no true essence, either. I was born an abomination, and only the doppelseers assuring me that my being a bondmaster would overcome all that I lack, allowing me to claim my mate instantly without the gods interference led me to hope that, one day, I should find my female.
And now I have.
She is a queer creature. So small. Put beside me, she would barely reach my unmarked chest. No horns to protect her brow. Her skin is pale; not so colorless as I am, but at least she has a reddish tint that I am missing. And her eyes… they are absolutely dim. I might not have any shadows, but this female… she doesn’t have any light.
She is mortal. I don’t think I understood what that meant until this very moment. She is mortal, and easily eliminated.
Unless I take her.
Unless I protect her.
Unless I keep her safe the only way I can until she is ready to also accept her male on the other end of our bond.
And the only way I can do that? Is with a skill that my top mage possesses.
I’ve relied on the first law to keep the prophecy at bay and my subjects out of another needless war like those Queen Alana and King Yelios wages against other realms. As long as I don’t claim the female as my mate straight away, I can use the first law—that no human should know of Sombra without consequences—to banish her right where no demon can threaten my female before she is made immortal.
The way she gawked in surprise… I don’t believe that she is happy to have such a beast as her male. It will take wooing and time to convince her that she will be my forever mate, and with their being factions of Sombra who would doanythingto see Duke Haures relieved of the crystal crown… I can’t risk her.
Iwon’trisk her.
Promising my female that I will return for her—though she might not be as satisfied as I am with that vow—I use my brand of magic to reopen the summoning portal, placing the other end in my throne room. Stepping inside, I reappear moments after I left.
I’ve always been led to believe that time runs differently between certain realms. A trip to Soleil might not, but Earth is such a different realm from Sombra, it could’ve been mere moments, or it could’ve been entire cycles that passed.
Orias and Caim are still in the throne room, though their petty argument has been forgotten for the moment. Glaine and Sammael are muttering darkly to each other while Firn is pacing anxiously behind my throne as I approach it.
I point a claw at Glaine. “Send a small battalion of soldiers to Chaleur to eliminate the huigitz plaguing their village. Firn? Accompany Caim to Dunkel to assist in clearing out the yillurim. The grains should grow before the next gold moon. The trade bargain will resume then.”
Orias and Caim both bow their heads in the way I had missed from my wee human female.
Firn hurries out from behind the throne, moving toward Caim.
Glaine hesitates, staying by Sammael’s side.
I meet the guard’s green gaze.
He nods solemnly. “Yes, your grace. Right away.”
As I expected.
I turn on Sammael. “My mage. Start conjuring. I require a length of charmed chains.”
“My lord?” He glances around the throne room. It emptied quite quickly once I mentioned the chains, each of the other four turning to shadow and escaping through the cuts in the ceiling that, shadowless as I am, I’ve never used. “Where is the prisoner?”
My lips curve around my tusks, a mockery of an amused smile. “She is in the human realm,” I tell my mage. “And we will both be going to retrieve her.”
CHAPTER 4
HE’S BACK (AND HE BROUGHT A FRIEND)
SUSANNA
Igrabbed my broom, but I also made another pitstop to my bedroom. Grabbing my Walkman, I popped my Bon Jovi cassette into the player, then slipped the headphones on over my ears. I used the clip to attach the player to the waistband of my leggings, tucking the headphone’s wires under it so that it didn’t get snagged on anything as I made my way back to the living room.
I’ve listened to this tape a hundred times. Practiced fingers worked the rewind button, followed by the fast forward when I went too far back, going until I cued up ‘Runaway’.
Only once the familiar sounds of David Bryan’s keyboard playing came in through the foam protectors did I grip the broom properly, ready to sweep up the salt circle and chalk sigil.
