Page 30 of My Demon Desire
"Take a look," she whispers, lifting the torn fabric of her shirt's sleeve.
My eyes widen as I take in the intricate birthmark on her arm. The ancient inscription of the royal seal.
It can't be real. This has to be a trick, a spell Reis has done to make me conform. My heart thunders in my chest.
My hands lift of their own accord and my fingertips brush over her bare arm. The simple touch burns like an electric shock, running down my body and making me shudder. My cock hardens and my balls ache, my body responding to her in ways it shouldn't be.
I draw in a shaky breath, drop my hand, focusing on the royal seal that only members of the royal family bear. Any forgery would burn her to ashes.
"Reyshiik," I whisper, the old queen's name slipping from my lips and feeling like I've betrayed her all over again. My stomach clenches and I take a step back, unable to stop staring at the mark.
Annalise steps forward, her feet catching on stones, but she pushes ahead, determination making her sway. "I need you to help me find my father. He must be the queen's son and true heir, and he'll die."
My gaze shifts to Reis, was it possible that Annalise was actually related to Reyshiik? If so how? Could her father be our true king? Is she really a princess? Everything in me said it was true, but I don't want it to be. "She can't be," I deny, but I can see the truth with my own eyes. "We won't know for sure until the blood ritual." He steps beside Annalise, his hand clasping around her waist in a protective gesture. "But she had a powerful spell over it, hiding it. Something that only our previous queen could've done. It fractured when the sluagh scratched her."
I take a few shaky steps back, feeling like I'm going to be sick, and my heart stops in my chest. Guilt washes over me— my actions nearly killed Annalise the true heir.
A new terror fills me of Queen Morrigan discovering Reyshiik's offspring is here with us.
CHAPTER11
ANNALISE
Seeing the turmoil in Kaden's gaze twists my stomach because I feel the same. I don't know that I'm part fae either. It just seems so odd. But my burn mark is gone and I felt Reis's magic when he uncovered the mark.
And something tells me their queen won't care if I am royalty or not. If she sees me as a threat. I swallow, squeezing my eyes shut briefly and taking a shaky breath. I whisper a prayer that my dad has found shelter with some fae to help him as I have.
The only way to tell is this blood thing and I need these three fae to help me find my father. I've tried to do it on my own twice since I got here and neither time has worked out. Now with this reigning queen probably wanting to kill any competition, the urge to find my father safe pulses with every beat of my heart.
"Are you sure we can't do the binding now?"
"No." Reis gives me a sympathetic look. "It has to be at dusk. In the meantime, we should get ready for the ritual."
Goosebumps quiver down my arms and I'm still unsure about all of this, but I need to find my father. I can't leave him here and I can't think of the queen killing him because of his patronage whether it's real or imagined.
"What do I need to do?" I ask, eager to speed this up.
The edges of Kaden's mouth twitches. "Get cleaned up. You smell like sluagh."
"And whose fault is that?" I snap back, but his smile widens and my heart skips a beat.
"Kaden's right," Reis says, and I elbow him in the side. He chuckles, pulling his arm from around my waist. "You've not bathed since you got here and your scent will bring every nightmare fae after us."
"Right." I push my hair out of my eyes with a trembling hand and try not to let my fear of what's going to happen to eat me alive. "Okay, where's the bathroom in this place?"
"I'll take her," Thorne offers.
"Why? I'm not a child who needs a chaperone everywhere I go." I bristle, thinking how unnecessary all of this added protection is. Or maybe they think I'll run away again. "I can find my own way."
My mind says not to trust him completely. Sure, he saved me from the sluagh, but he also nearly killed me when we first met. Yet, why I can't stop thinking about him almost kissing me. I bite the inside of my cheek.
Kaden watches us leave with a hunger in his dark eyes that has my sex tightening, and I feel his gaze on me even after we leave.
I take Thorne's offered arm and follow him outside until we get to a wooden shack and he leads me inside a large steaming room.
"This is the bathing chamber," Thorne says, gesturing to the large wooden basin of water in the center of the room.
I raise an eyebrow at the outdoor, old-timey-looking spa like something out of a wilderness magazine.
