Page 4 of The Magic of Betrayal
Willing myself to open my eyes was a task in itself; my eyelids felt like lead weights. Once my eyes focused, I realized that I was laying on a stone floor, wearing the purple velvet robe from before.At least I’m not naked this time. I’m back in Besmet, and I came here this time while I was fully awake. Good, that’s not terrifying at all.And the voices... definitely angry voices now, angry demonic voices.Get up, get up, get up!Attempting to push myself up on wobbly arms, I crashed back down to the floor almost immediately, my body was just too weak to respond the way I needed right now.
“Who are you and what are you doing in His Royal Highness, King Thane Carlisle’s throne room?” an incredibly deep voice questioned. I glanced over, seeing it was one of the royal guards, judging by the uniform. Trying to think of something to say, I rolled over onto my back to buy myself some precious time, and my eyes widened when I took in the sight before me.
At least thirty demons stood around me, some men, some women, all with an assortment of different looking horns on their heads. They looked human aside from the horns, but more importantly, they all looked like soldiers. Like the kinds of demons you don’t want to fuck with. I might have to bullshit my way out of this and fast.
Looking over to the man I recognized, I scrambled to come up with something to say. “I–” my voice cracked, throat dry and scratchy, “I’m here to visit your son.”
Well, that certainly drew some less than desirable looks from the audience, and the king’s eyes narrowed as he studied me, his eyes traveling over my entire body— not in a lewd way, but like I was undergoing some kind of assessment I knew nothing about.
Rubbing his knuckles under his chin, he sneered, “Bram’s taken a whore? Well, it’s about bloody time! Let’s get the boy here to collect her, shall we?” He was staring at me, but his eyes had a sort of glazed look to them, like he wasn’t really seeing what was before him. Just as my mouth opened to inform the bastard that I was not a whore, my skin started to tingle and the air before me rippled in the outline of a man. What the hell?
Fascinated and terrified, I stared up as Bram —I guess that was his real name— materialized before my very eyes.Holy shit. Demons can teleport?He stared down at me, his eyes widening when he realized the situation he just walked in on.
“I found your whore laying here like street trash, son. She claims she’s here to see you. Next time, make sure you keep your toys from wandering the halls,” the king grumbled, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from Bram. His honey eyes were practically glowing, his jaw ticking in response to his father’s words. I silently plead with him with my eyes to not ask questions, needing him just to play along. I didn’t want this demon king to know anything about me.
Bending down towards me, he extended his hand in invitation, one I gladly accepted because without his assistance I’d probably be ‘whorish street trash’ for the remainder of the day with how exhausted I felt. When our hands connected, that same jolt of electricity zapped through my body and the magnetic pull I’d felt before was almost buzzing as I fought the urge to plaster myself against his body and breathe in his scent.
Leaning down, his mouth hidden by my hair, he whispered, “Don’t speak.”
“Bram, I’m glad to see you finally breaking your celibacy. You know damn well we’re having a crisis here. Now, get that commoner out of my fucking throne room and into your bed. With a little luck, you’ll impregnate the whore,” his father barked, and my eyebrows lifted to my hairline. Impregnate? Celibacy? What the actual fuck is going on here? Bram squeezed my hand in warning, reminding me to keep my mouth shut.
“Sire, I apologize. The woman is a wild one and after we’d mated earlier, she must’ve slipped out of my room while I was coming down from the knot. Won’t happen again, will it?” His grip tightened as he pulled me against him, his other hand cupping my ass, earning cheers and laughter from the crowd. The loudest laughter was, of course, coming from the king of this castle. Creepy ass demon fucker.
“No. I’m sorry,” I mumbled.
“You’re sorry, what?” Bram bit out, playing the part well.
What the hell does he mean... Okay, right. He’s royalty.
“I’m sorry, my prince,” I amended, squeezing his hand to express my disgust. A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth.
“Well, my boy! Don’t let us deter you. I’ll see you tomorrow morning for breakfast,” he reminded Bram, then turned on his heel and began to stride across the room. Just as our shoulders sagged in relief, he spun back around, his gaze flicking between the two of us. “And just to be clear, if I find you sneaking around my castle again, I will slit your throat, whore to the prince or not.” With that, he left the room, and without having to say a thing to his guards, they followed him like lemmings.
“Holy. Shit,” I breathed. “That was fucking crazy! What the hell was he talking about, impreg—” my words were cut off as I was pulled into Bram’s hard chest, his mouth dipping to my ear.
“There are spies everywhere, tiny warrior. Hold onto me, we’re getting out of here before anything else fucking happens,” he whispered, his breath igniting a shiver that ran down my spine. My hands lifted of their own free will, wrapping around his waist.Wonder where we’re going...
“Oh! Oh, Bram, no, don’t you dare—”
I screamed like a total asshole, at the top of my lungs, nothing held back as my soul left my body. It felt like someone had a giant vacuum and sucked us through it with no resistance. It was pitch black... oh wait, my eyes were closed. Derp. Whatever, I was too fucking scared to peek at what was going on out there.
We landed with a bounce on something soft, and my eyes flew open. The room was spinning so I squeezed them shut again. “Ugh, why the fuck did you do that?” I groaned.
He looked down at me like I was a few cards short of a tarot deck before shaking his head. “We just jumped back to my living quarters, it’s still within the castle, but this ismine. You handled that well; most non-demons get sick,” he informed me, and I felt the surface I was laying on shift. Inhaling and exhaling slowly, my bearings returned, and I felt brave enough to crack a lid.
“You thought landing us on your bed with a chance I was going to barf was a good idea?” I questioned, both eyes now open wide and taking in the expanse of the huge bedroom I was in. A black silky comforter was spread across the huge mattress, the stone walls towering high above us. Gargoyles were carved into different places along the perimeter of the ceiling, silently watching every move. They looked scary as hell. Fitting, I guess, for a demon prince’s bedroom.
Bram had walked over to the sitting area where a fully stocked mini-bar stood in against the wall. “The blanket is replaceable. I was mostly concerned with you being so weak from whatever had you laying on the floor in a psychopath’s castle, and that your legs would give out when we landed and you’d crack your head on the floor. Now, tell me, what the hell were you doing there? I explicitly warned you last time not to get caught snooping around.”
“For the last time, I wasn’t snooping. I don’t know how I ended up there! After our last meeting, or whatever you want to call it, I woke up in my room and it wasn’t five minutes later, my head felt like it was going to explode. By the stars, I’d never felt anything so painful in my entire life. It was awful! Have you ever thought you were dying? Because that’s what I thought was happening. Next thing I know, I’m here. Again,” I fired back at him, sitting up and crossing my arms over my chest.
Turning to face me, two glasses in hand, he walked over and handed me one as I studied his face for a moment. He really was unique. Easily over six feet tall, in fact, he was probably close to Cam’s height, but narrower in his build. His hair was a dark auburn, shaved close on the sides and longer on the top to where it was constantly falling into his eyes. I’d never seen someone with the amount of freckles he had, and I was positive there were more hiding under his short beard. The most noticeable trait though, were his eyes. Amber yellow with specks of brown and his black rimmed glasses just amplified their beauty.
Taking the glass from him, the dark liquid swirled, and I didn’t hesitate as I lifted it to my mouth and threw back half of it in seconds. A burn ignited in my mouth and throat unlike any liquor I’d ever encountered before I gasped and choked out, “What the fuck is that? Poison?”
Bram threw his head back and laughed as my throat died a fiery death. Flipping him double birds just made him laugh louder. “Hahahahaha,” I mockingly laughed. Dick.
“You are captivating. It’s called Dragon Fireball. It’s whiskey made with actual fire from the beasts. Obviously, it’s most enjoyed when sipped, not slammed. But street trash always take things too far, don’t they?” He lifted an eyebrow, a grin causing his features to light up, somehow him repeating his father’s words caused me to see the ridiculousness of them, and I grinned in response as his joke pulled me from my grumpy mood.
