Page 83 of The Magic of Betrayal
"Where is the girl's mother, Khol?"
"I don't know. I suspect she'll show at Saige's home soon, once she realizes she's missing. Why?"
"You know why," my father's eyes narrowed, challenging.
My eyes widened. "You want to bring her here? To what? Fuck her? See if you can knock her up yourself?"
"Don't sound so scandalized, son. I'd do anything for my people. She's carried demon spawn once before, I have no doubt she can do it again. Whether it's mine or not, I don't really give a fuck."
"I'll keep an eye on the area to see when she returns. I don't give a fuck what you do with her," Khol snarled, his horns erupting from his head.
A knock on the door broke the conversation.
"What?" My dad barked and the door cracked, one of his little bitch boys coming in to whisper something in his ear and I watched a wicked smile grow on his face as he listened to the words.
"Thank you, Nigel. Gentlemen, you'll have to excuse me. There are things I need to do that are more important than sitting here with you both. Do not be late to dinner," he growled as we stood and moved to the exit, slamming the door behind us as we stepped out into the hallway.
* * *
Khol walkedbeside me through the castle and I observed several of the staff's eyes bugging out when they saw him. Everyone knew who Khol was and knew that if he was back, it could only mean that he'd been successful in his mission.
"The king has... changed."
I snort. "Yeah."
"Do you think he's stable? To lead?" Khol asked quietly. He may be a badass, but even asking such a question was treason.
"He hasn't been stable in a long fucking time, Khol. I've tried telling you, but it's really not something that hits properly until you've seen it for yourself. And now you have. All he does is drink, fuck, and sleep. Oh, and kill people. Ones that have supposedly wronged him in some way." I shrugged my shoulder, our steps clapping against the stone beneath our feet as we approached my home.
"Does she... does she want to see me?"
He didn't need to say her name, we both knew who he was referring to.
"I'm not sure. She shifted the other evening. Completely, a full shift." I smiled when his face lit up.
Khol twisted his hands together in front of him and it was strange to see him uneasy. Vulnerable.
"She's okay then?" he asked softly.
"She's far from okay, man. You went about this whole thing in the worst possible way. She misses all of them. Her home, her store. Bette."
"Fuck, I know. I'm horrible at this. All I could think about was getting back here, coming home. It was selfish. I'll tell her as much. I never thought I'd get a chance to be a father and now that she's grown up and doesn't really need one, I'm not sure how to do this," he admitted and I felt for him. But I felt for her, too.
"Let me go in and see if she wants to talk? No promises, though."
He nodded and I slipped through the door.
"Goldie? Where are you? I need to talk to you about something," I called out, my eyes darting over the room but not finding her anywhere.
My heartbeat picked up and I was about to bellow her name when a giggle had me slowly turning around, but she wasn't there.
"I swear, princess, you better come out from wherever you're hiding. As much as I'd love to hunt you down, there's— oomph!" All the air whooshed from my lungs as I hit the ground.
"Gotcha!" Goldie laughed, rolling over onto her back. Pushing myself up on my hands, I glared at her. Wings out, hair splayed across the dark hardwood. "I was floating up there in the corner," she breathed, trying to catch her breath from all the laughter.
"Hmm. Well, it seems I'll have to be more on guard if these are the kind of games you want to play. But you have no idea what you've started, pretty princess. I love games, and I always win in the end," I growled and smugness settled into my bones when her cheeks flushed and she squeezed those thick thighs together.
"What did you want to talk about?" She changed the subject, but that was probably for the best right now.
