Page 9 of The Magic of Betrayal
"Ahhhh, I totally overdid it. That was the coolest shit I've ever seen though. I wish I could do that. Snap my fingers and make things appear in the blink of an eye." Goldie leaned back against the barstool, rubbing her full belly, and satisfaction spread through my body at knowing I did that. Provided for her. Something I would always do.
"I'll teach you sometime. It's not that hard, just takes some practice and a little bit of focus. For example, you wouldn't want to try to conjure a plate of breakfast sausages and instead have a plate of dildos land in front of you. Well, unless you're into that kind of thing? I can get some dildos here in a real fuckin' jiffy. Just say the word..."
She was laughing, then groaning, "Oh my gods, don't make me laugh right now. I can't take it. Too full. And no, no plate of dildos, thank you very much. I think I just need to lay down for like half an hour and digest some, then I'll be good to go. Well, after a shower..."
"Come on, let us digest together in bed," I announced, spreading my arms wide as I hopped off the stool, snagging her hand in mine and tugging her behind me as we slowly made our way back to my bedroom. Once we stepped inside, I dropped her hand and sprinted across the floor, catapulting myself onto the bed, bouncing on my stomach, and flipping over onto my back.
"You're ridiculous," she laughed, "but that did look kind of fun..." She ran to the bed and launched herself, twisting in the air to land on her back, yelling out a warrior cry that had my cock twitching.
After a moment of laughter from both of us, we laid there in silence for a few minutes, my mind thinking about all the things I knew for certain. First, she was my fated mate. Not all demons were lucky enough to find theirs, and with our numbers dwindling, the chances of such a blessing happening were getting slimmer and slimmer. For the past one hundred years, our race had been stricken with fertility issues; we were lucky to have a hundred purebred demons born each year and for a world of our size, that simply wasn't sustainable for our future.
My father had sent a team of his highest ranked and most trusted advisors to the earth realm to tackle the problem head on. Khol, Asrael, Eronne, and Thijs had all been earth side for the past century. One goal: make babies. One problem, no babies had been made.
They started with humans, and while some were able to conceive, none of the pregnancies lasted past twelve weeks gestation. The human women were not strong enough to carry a demon spawn, and it appeared to have a negative effect on their minds. After a few years, they switched to witches. And not a single pregnancy happened. Nothing. It seemed there was nothing to be done. The team had confided in a few talented mages and witches—well, more like tortured and killed—to access certain spells that might increase chances of conception.
Still, nothing worked. So The Four continued, their frustrations growing with each day that passed and they were forced to stay earth side. That was the stipulation set by my father: you can't return until you have a live birth. A demon hybrid, one that could further the race and end our struggles. In the beginning, I'd been completely on board with this plan, survival of the fittest and all that. Now? Shit, I was kind of happy that there had never been a successful spawn. Who knows what the fuck my father would put them through... and if it was a woman? Ugh, I couldn’t even think about what she would be put through at his hands.
And now, not only was our fertility practically nonexistent, but parts of our world were starting to die. Forests that were once green and lush were dying, the trees blackening to the point that when the wind whipped through the forest, they would crumble into ash. It didn't make any sense. My father was convinced that there was dark magic at work, possibly the witches earth side that knew what we'd been up to the past century were sick of our shit and decided to curse us.
Good thing they couldn't just enter Besmet; you needed to be a demon to open the portal. And that's why I was confused by the witch laying beside me in the bed right now. A fated mate was always the same species, at least for demons, and how was she able to project herself here? It didn't make sense and I had a suspicion there was much more at work here than met the eye. The only person I would confide in would be Khol; if my nutty ass dad got wind of this, he'd probably kill her on principle, and then I'd have to kill him because fuck if he was ever going to get his hands on my woman.
"It's peaceful here, for a demon realm," Goldie murmured, breaking the quiet.
"Mmm, yeah. It can be. It can also be bloody and darker than your worst nightmare. But here? In this room? Nobody would dream of disturbing us."
"Are demons violent? I admit, I don't know much at all about your race. Until recently, I hadn't even realized that you existed. How is that possible? To be so elusive that the masses don't know that you're not myths?"
Rolling onto my side to face her, I studied her round face, slightly pink cheeks, full lips, and hair fanning out across the dark blanket we were sprawled out on. So beautiful.
"Demons are quick to anger and violence. We like to deliver swift and precise responses. Dicking around is not in our blood; we don't do things by halves. Once a demon's mind is made up, that's pretty much it. Getting us fired up is not a wise decision as once the rage kicks in, there's really nothing that can stop it."
"So do any of you live in my realm? What does your real form look like? Do you really have a tail? Oh shit, I'm sorry, that was probably too personal." She slapped her hands over her face, embarrassed.
Chuckling, I reached over and pulled her hands away, looking her in the eyes. "Some do live there. Have you ever heard of the notorious gang that runs Port Black?"
"You mean The Exiled? Yeah, who hasn't heard of them?"
"Well, all five of them are demons. Really powerful fucking demons. They were booted from here years ago and they made a life for themselves in Port Black. My father wrote them off, so we don't communicate with their crew at all anymore. As for my true form?" I laughed. "It mostly only comes out if I get really worked up, pissed off, usually. Or during sex, but like I said, that's been a while. And yeah, of course I have a tail, you saw it in the drawing, remember?" I winked and her eyes widened. "Maybe I'll show you sometime in person, we'll see. You've already seen my horns; those actually weren't fully elongated. They're quite impressive."
She seemed to process my words for a moment, which made sense. I was giving her a shit ton of new information. Her eyes met mine again and she shrugged. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see your tail, but we can save that for another time. So, the snapping thing you do, is that your only power? What all kinds of powers do demons possess?"
"Procuring items is a fairly basic demon power. The higher ranking the demon, the more powers they can master. It's similar to witches and mages. Not every demon gets every power. For example, I am able to do telekinesis, voice mimicry, dream walking, and shapeshifting. Once I ascend to the throne, all of my father's powers should transfer down the bloodline to me. So I will be able to do everything he can, which includes deal making and biokinesis. That's why I keep telling you to be careful around him, he can make your body go boom with the flick of his wrist. He's a kill first, ask questions later kind of king," I told her sternly, the tone of my voice hopefully bringing across the severity of the situation.
"I will do my best to never piss him off. I hope I don't run into him again, ever... and that will make it very easy to stay true to my word."
"Good. I just want to keep you safe, Goldie."
"I'm not your responsibility. And hopefully, I can figure out a way to stop myself from being sucked into this realm! I don't want to be here or anywhere near the king, for that matter."
Her words pinched my gut in an uncomfortable way. She would be here, though. She would be the next Queen of our realm; she just didn't know it yet. Oh well, plenty of time for her to warm up to the idea before it would ever have to happen.
"You mentioned a shower. How about you go do that and I'll make us some more coffee, and then we can go out and explore some more?" I offered, trying to sweeten her up with caffeine and adventure.
"Yes, that sounds perfect." She sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed. "Can I borrow some more clothes? Do you think you could procure me something a little more... feminine? A basic tank top, underwear, a bra? Leggings? Oh, sweet, sweet leggings, the appropriate at all time of the days pants," she sighed dreamily at the thought.
"Sure thing, tiny warrior. Everything you need is in the bathroom."
She padded off to the bathroom and I starfished out like the princely stud I was. She'd be wrapped around my finger in no time.
