Page 19 of Unbound By Shadows
“You’re the only one strong enough to protect her. We can’t take any risks. Not when we’re so close to getting what we both want. I trust you. And I know I can tell her to trust you too.”
Sam really wished Thema hadn’t said that. He barely trusted himself around other Aurelians, let alone a human who made him feel so… complicated.
Thema stood and shook out her skirts. “Now, I’m going to talk toSelene. You’ll leave tomorrow at dawn. Queen Cebna has offered to help disguise her as a Nereid, and I have threatened everyone who’s met her at the castle with death if they tell others of her existence.”
Sam dropped his head as though he were being sentenced. “How will you send word about your gift to Zaybris?”
“I’ll send a message to him once you get close,” Thema’s eyes gleamed as she walked toward the door. “Males are easy to mislead, so willing to believe in their own grandeur—not you, of course, my dear. But I’ll lay it on thick to Zaybris. Tell him the sisters are so pleased by his return. We want to offer him a gift…”
Sam didn’t want to hear any more details about the proposed transaction. “Do you need help down the stairs?”
“No need, I’ll manage.” She touched the doorknob then turned to lay her hand on the leather bracer encircling Sam’s wrist. “Thank you, Samael. For everything. Safe travels and bright blessings.”
Chapter 8
It was still dark the next morning when Selene hunched over the edge of her bed to tie her hiking boots. She paused, trying to steady her fumbling fingers.A pair of white satin slippers were thrust under her nose.
“What about these?” Hollen asked, hopefully.
Selene wiped her sweaty palms down the thighs of her jeans. She shook her head and gently pushed away the slippers that Hollen held. “No. They’re lovely, but Queen Thema said we’ll be traveling for weeks on foot. I need things made for hiking, not dancing.”
Hollen made a face and pointed to Selene’s shoes. “But those are so ugly.”
When Selene only sighed, Hollen tossed the slippers over her shoulder. Then she continued to rush around Selene’s bedroom, throwing items into a green backpack and muttering to herself, “Breechesandboots? Hideous.”
Selene was heartened to see Hollen fold a thick wool cloak into the pack, but then cringed as she stuffed a glittering pink ballgown behind it.
Focus on the positive, she told herself. The good news was thatQueen Thema had found someone with a magic stone that could send her home. The fact that he was a vampire was unsettling, but Queen Thema waved away all of Selene’s questions, assuring her she'd be safe and welcome in his home. Zaybris owed the queen a favor, she had said, and that debt could be paid by sending Selene home.
The bad news? The only way to get to his home was on foot. Four weeks of travel over God knows what kind of Aurelian terrain. Although she and Cass enjoyed nature trails, Selene had never hiked overnight or stayed in a place without at least a port-a-potty nearby. She was dreading days of trudging through the elements, nights of getting eaten alive by bugs, and sleeping on the ground. And then there was her travel companion…
Last night, when Thema had told her she would be escorted by the demon, Selene’s heart pounded so hard it felt like her ribs would crack. Queen Thema must have seen the shock on Selene’s face because she had said, “Don’t look so frightened. Samael is extremely capable. He will allow no harm to come to you.”
A flush of adrenaline coursed through Selene’s body. “Isn’t there someone else who could take me?”
“There is no one more suitable.”
“I see,” she said softly.
The queen drummed her fingertips against the back of the couch. “You disapprove of my choice in guardian? Do you not wish to return to your beloved home?”
“No, I do, but… ” Selene looked down at her lap, struggling to articulate her reluctance. Just sayinghe’s a demon, didn’t seem adequate because there was more to it. She hated how risky situations always made her feel torn between caution and freedom. Kevin used to roll his eyes when she would ask him to walk her back to her car after one of his many late-night gigs. He had made her feel so stupid and overreactive, but not stupid enough to stop.
“In my world, being alone with a strange man is—” Selene paused, then said, “Well, it can be risky.”
“I know what human men are like,” Thema said with a snort. “Are you asking if you can trust Samael?”
“Yes. I know you said he would keep me safe but—” Selene bit her lip. “Will I be safe fromhim?”
Thema’s eyebrows rose. “A fair question. Let me tell you how Samael and I met. When my sisters and I go into your world, we aren’t there to interfere with humans. It’s not our role. We are there to keep the balance, not to right wrongs. But many years ago, I interfered. I was on patrol, and I heard a human woman scream. As I prowled closer, I could see two men attacking the female. Probably attempting to do what you fear from Samael.”
The queen went on to tell Selene how she had saved the woman but gotten severely injured by the men before killing them. She had been so hurt that once she was back in Aurelia, she couldn’t transform out of her cat form and had collapsed in the woods near her portal.
“I don’t know if I stayed there for hours or days. One moment my fur was wet with blood, and the next I was warm and dry inside a cave. My wounds were dressed, and I was now in my Malkina form. A male was in the cave with me,” Thema’s voice turned playful. “Can you guess who it was?”
“Samael,” Selene whispered, ignoring the fizzy feeling that rose when she said his name. The queen described how seeing a demon made her fear she had died and gone to the Underworld, but Samael explained that he had been in Aurelia since he was a boy. He had been living alone in a cave and felt called to care for the badly injured cat he came across in the woods.
“Imagine his shock when I became myself again,” Thema said, gesturing to her body. “Yet, he said I reminded him of his mother, so I knew he was very homesick. He showed me a different side of the demonic nature. I had been so sure I knew everything about his kind, about their selfishness, their cruelty. But Samael was neither.”
