Page 25 of Shadowing Bright
Kremoryn leaned back.“Really?Why didn’t you use his energy to defend yourself?”
“It was complicated.It has been rectified now.”
He sniffed.“But you are still untouched.I have several warriors who would be delighted to spend time under your bed.”
She swallowed.“Um, polite pass for now.”
Azreen gasped.“For now?”
Vaia winced.“Well, dark energy is a little wild, and those who have it are more so.”
Kremoryn grinned.“That is an understatement.Do you think you can keep up, Azreen?”
Azreen nodded.“I am confident I can manage it.”
Vaia blinked and stared at him.“Huh.I hadn’t considered you as an option.”
“For...”
“A snack.I am dark energy.I get hungry.I have a license to fill up once a year, but that was the same night I got shot, so I used a lot of it.I am going to get hungry a lot earlier than I did last year.Somewhere near the winter solstice.”
He frowned.“What do you mean, hungry?”
“All the energy I have used to knock people out, change their outlooks, and keep them from harming me has come from a stash of energy I use to power my survival.When you lacked control, there was spillover.I fed off that.Then it stopped, and I knew about the exit clause for familiars, so I waited.That takes you up to this week.”
Azreen bent and kissed her.She squeaked as a furnace’s worth of power dumped into her.Vaia held onto his jacket, and the kiss went on and on until her skin was glowing and breathing was optional.He lifted his head.“Do you have what you need?”
“Absolutely not.”She grabbed him and pulled him back for another kiss.Azreen got into the spirit, and his hands wrapped around her and held her against him.She wasn’t drawing from him; she loved the way he tasted.After a few minutes, she slowed the kiss, and he did the same.
Azreen smiled.“Do you need more?I have more.”
Her male parent snorted.“Keep it to yourselves, or show us everything.We are an open-minded people.”
She looked at him in a daze and then remembered how he had described encountering her mother.“Right.Dark energy.”
Kremoryn grinned with his super-sharp teeth.“Not quite demon, not quite fae.We love to live in the shadows and play with those who dare.”
“Right.So, why am I here?”
He cocked his head.“I wanted to meet you, daughter.We rarely have females.It is always an excuse for celebration.Of course, you are married, so the type of celebration will have to be altered from the norm.”
“Um, right.I have to get a hotel room because a bunch of bullets perforated my house with me inside it.”
“Won’t your husband provide?”
Azreen still had his arms around her.“I haven’t had a chance to purchase a home locally.I was going to begin the process after I met with Vaia.”
She looked at him.“Your family doesn’t have a place here?”
“No.We travelled to find you.”
“Oh.I didn’t know that.That is why you disappeared afterward.”
He smiled.“Did you look for me?”
She answered honestly.“Yes.”
He frowned, and then understanding hit him, and he hugged her.“I am so sorry I wasn’t here.”
