Page 15 of Emerald Rising
“What?” she replied, blinking slowly, whilst trying to drag her attention from my chest. Who knew my abs could be so distracting?
“It means you’re from one of the royal families. There are only three royal families left now,” Ash explained calmly. “The Courtenay’s, the Marchetti’s and the current King’s bloodline are the Heroux family.”
“The King of the Underworld?” Emmy asked.
“Yes,” Ash continued. “I know you probably think of Lucifer when you think of the King of the Underworld, but he hasn’t been around for centuries. And the Underworld isn’t the Hell you think it is. It’s just the homeworld for demons and dark creatures. It’s not a place of eternal torture and damnation. Although, the Tartarus realm would certainly be deserving of that reputation. After all, the bad souls have to go somewhere.”
“So, one of those are my family?” Emmy’s voice was so quiet and low, and I had a sudden urge to wrap her into my arms and take all her pain and sadness away. What was wrong with me? I have never been this sappy. This bond of ours must be messing with my fucking head.
“Yes,” I replied, and instantly regretted saying the word. She looked crestfallen and I could understand why. All her life, all she ever wanted was a family. I was lucky, I found my brothers, but she barely had anyone her own age to form that familiar connection with.
To be honest, the three royal bloodlines are total assholes. Vindictive, manipulative and cruel. The Heroux family always seemed marginally better than the others, but they put up a front as the ruling family. Behind closed doors was a different matter entirely. They were the worst of the lot. I would not want to be related to those. At all.
I tucked my finger under her chin and brought those beautiful green eyes to mine. “I know it might not feel like it yet, Emmy, but we’re your family now. We have a bond that is unbreakable.”
A small smile flickered at the corner of her mouth and damn if I didn’t want to kiss it. She made my cold heart flutter with the tiniest ray of warmth when she turned that smile upon me. At that moment, I would do anything for her.
“Are you really alright?” she asked softly.
“Yes, love. I’ve been through a lot worse. Has the hunger gone?”
Shame flashed in her eyes and she moved to look away, but I gripped her chin and forced her to look back up at me.
“Never be ashamed of who you are. You are a powerful creature, and you should own it. You’ll need to feed on another blood demon, and for now, that will be me. And only me.” Her eyes darkened, a flash of red sparking to life in those green depths. I trailed my thumb across her bottom lip, and she let out a breathy moan. “I might never let you feed from anyone else. I might save that pleasure all for myself.”
I don’t know where that little streak of possessiveness came from, but I suddenly felt the need to claim her with a ferocity that had my blood pounding in my veins. It was like the sound of a drum thudding over and over again until all I could hear was the incessant beat of her heart.
It terrified me. Captivated me. Enticed me.
With reluctance, I pulled away. Not wanting to give in to the bond just yet. I needed to find Griff and I needed to keep Emmy safe. Even from me.
Her eyes fell to my chest again, and I heard her gulp. I needed to cover up. If she kept looking at me like she wanted to trail her tongue over every line of the tattoos on my chest, I wasn’t going to be responsible for my actions.
I let out a low chuckle. “Bit of a long shot, but I don’t suppose you have any shirts that would fit me?” I needed her focused on my voice and the issues at hand, not my chest.
Her gaze found mine again and I couldn’t help but want to draw her into my arms. She looked so lost. She’d had a pile of shit thrown at her and all we’d done was release her demon and terrify her. She was far too sweet for this world. Too nice, even with that little streak of crazy impulsiveness thrown in.
“Um… yes, actually. There’s a box under the stairs.”
I raised my eyebrow. Was there an ex lurking in her past that we needed to worry about?
She smiled softly and I instantly relaxed. “It belongs to my neighbour.”
“And why do you have a box of clothes belonging to your neighbour?” Ash asked, a twinge of jealousy creeping into his voice. I could practically feel the anger radiating off Blaze and I wasn’t even looking at him.
“His ex was trying to return the items to him, but he hasn’t been in residence for a couple of months. I said I’d look after them until he was back.”
I felt the tension in the air evaporate as she explained the mysterious box of men’s clothes. It seemed pretty plausible, but I wasn’t sure how comfortable I felt about wearing her neighbour’s clothes. But I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.
“Hang on then. Let me go and see if I can find a shirt and then you can ask as many questions as you want, and we will answer as best we can. Okay?” I asked, my thumb stroking her cheek gently. I’d never been one to show tenderness, but Emmy seemed to pull it from me. This sweet little five-foot-nothing bundle had turned me into a sappy mess.
I easily found the cupboard she was talking about. The staircase was fucking huge, it wasn’t like I could miss the bloody thing. This house was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Perhaps whoever was responsible for housing Emmy knew she would need the space for all of us? Definitely food for thought.
As I was digging through the junk under the stairs I froze. There was a scent in here I wasn’t expecting. I followed my nose until I found a cardboard box with the name Gray written across it. This must be the box that Emmy was talking about, but I knew it didn’t belong to anyone named Gray. That scent was Griffon’s. He’d been her neighbour all this time? So, where the fuck was he now?
