Page 30 of True Sacrifice
I glared back at him in response. I didn’t know what the value of this was, which is why I had wanted Jasper to just pick, so I could feel like the deal was fair. Now we were taking two pieces. Jasper gave me a look that said this will be over quicker if you just pick something out.
“Asshole.”I sent him from my mind. I wasn’t sure how well that worked with them. I had only really tried with Jax before.
Jasper gave me a smirk, which told me he received the message.
“What did I do now? I’m not even with you.”Came Jax’s voice in my head. He sounded pissed off.
“Not you this time. I was trying to talk to Jasper,”I snipped back.
“Well, maybe if you actually learned how to shield yourself, we could get on to other parts of training.”His tone clipped, and I was not about to let him bring that gigantic cloud of grumpiness down on my day. I was mostly full powered, so I focused my entire well of power into shutting off the connection between me and Jax. I felt my power slipping from me like I was trying to pull sand from a hole as the tide kept washing back in.
“Don’t worry babe, I got it,”Jax said in a snarky tone before I felt the cold absence of my connection with him, like a dark well of emptiness.
I snapped out of my mental conversation, noticing Jasper standing there patiently as the shop owner looked mildly worried I would not be picking an item. “This one,” I said with a forced smile as I grabbed a long chain necklace with an oval red stone set at the bottom. It almost looked like there was a living flame within it.
I handed it to Jasper, and he took it with a smile, slipping it over his head. It hung low, so he put the stone under his shirt where it rested against his heart. He gave me a smirk, and I rolled my eyes.
“Show me around some more,” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him away.
CHAPTER13
JASPER
We would take a break one out of every five days. That’s what the pack agreed upon once Jax came back with the news about Lucifer gaining interest in our little mate. Jax wanted to train every day while Justice wanted to train half the day and play with his little pet the other half. I brought the compromise to the table, and it was the only way to get them both to agree.
Jax was being overly cautious, as usual. Lucifer was old. Like, stupid old. If he was interested in something, he could come and summon us tomorrow or fifty years from now. He had completely lost track of what time meant. The fact that he hadn’t summoned us already likely meant that it could be decades before we entered his mind again. For now, the common demons loved her. The other princes had not tried to harm her, and they knew she grew more powerful each day.
Figuring out who got to monopolize her time on the off days was a much harder conversation. We ended up deciding the entire day goes to one of us, then the next time it is the other’s turn. We faced off in direct hand to hand combat for the first day rights. Justice still thought his slight but quicker body could match my pure strength. I was happy to smash him into the dirt to remind him he’s wrong.
Taking my little princess to the eighth circle was the obvious choice. I hadn’t told Jax. I really didn’t need to hear him go off on a tantrum about taking her out. When we first met, I locked her in her room. I owed her for that.
I brought along a handful of carvings from my room. It was one skill I had picked up that always stayed with me. Lower-powered demons rarely got the chance to own anything made by a member of the elite, so each one was worth anything my princess wanted.
She cautiously appraised the items on the tables, making some small talk with the local demons. They all eagerly waited for their turn with her at the table, anxious and hungry for a trade from her. She must have noticed because she got something from each of them, delighting more in their joy than in the items she picked.
When she had finally visited the last shop, most of the day had passed by. She stuffed her arms with all her items, and I had to fight to take things from her to hold. Stubborn little thing. If her soul ever fractured, she belonged in a dragon for sure.
“Let’s go back home and get some dinner. You haven’t eaten all day.” We all had noticed she barely ate. Justice had even investigated the demonling texts, and it said they are usually ravenous for anything to draw more power into them during the transition period. Food, sex, and more sex were the norm.
Morrigan happily headed back toward the portal, her arms bulging with all her stuff. I walked behind her, putting my hand on her back to guide her as we walked. I could feel the heat of her skin through the thin material of her flowing blue dress. I rubbed my thumb back and forth across her spine as we walked, just wanting so badly for my hands to be against her bare skin, rubbing across her.
She leaned into me and her smoky sweet scent, like strawberries dipped in marshmallow then put over an open flame, caressed me. Her scent washed over me like a wave I wanted to drown in. My hand flexed, wanting to slide around to her hip and pull her into me. This need to have her was driving me insane.
I hurried our pace, making it back to our wing, and headed straight for her room. Opening her door was the first time I broke contact with her. She headed right in and began hanging her stuff up around her room. Personalizing her space.
I felt my tail as it swayed. It always seemed to have a mind of its own. I liked that about having a tail. I went over to her table and sat to watch her as she finished. We could have dinner here together in her room. Spend some time alone with each other.
She came to join me, looking around her room with a grin. It was almost as big as the one she had gotten watching the shop owners receive the carvings. A large glass appeared in front of her. She absentmindedly grabbed it and took a sip.
“Do you not like to eat in front of people?” Maybe she was feasting privately in her room at night.
“No. I don’t really like Hell food very much,” she sighed, putting the cup down.
“You should be starving. Demonlings need all the boosts they can get when they are transitioning.” I was a bit more concerned now that I found out she wasn’t really eating at all.
“I feel hungry, but as soon as I take a few bites. Ugh. I just feel sick. Drinks are fine, but I feel thirsty all the time.” She took another sip from her cup.
“Have you at least been using sex for the boost?” Justice hadn’t said they had sex yet, and I knew he would rub that one in my face if he pulled that far ahead. I hadn’t even kissed her yet.
