Page 56 of My Demon Desire
"We need to take your dad back to the human world." Reis touches my arm. "It's not good for him to stay here much longer."
I nod, but see the guards waiting for my orders. I clear my throat. "Please go help those who are injured and bury Morrigan."
"No," Reis says, "you should burn her. Ensure she can't come back to the world of the living."
My skin crawls with that grotesque image. "And burn her."
I take a step toward my father and my legs buckle underneath me. Reis scoops me up in his arms. "We'll help you escort your father back. But if you ever use that much magic again, I'm going to bend you over my knee and spank you."
"Then don't get hurt again." I snuggle against his chest. "Any of you. Ever."
CHAPTER19
ANNALISE
After Reis carries me home, he sits me at the table. My dad is on my right while Kaden is on my left. Reis’s magic tingles over my body, renewing my strength, but I still feel exhausted.
Thorne quickly cuts up some kind of meat that I don’t even want to ask what it is and hands it out to everyone along with several pieces of flatbread and ale.
“One thing that I’m still trying to understand,” I say, wiping my fingers off on the cloth napkin. “Why did Morrigan hate humans so much if she was half one?”
"Morrigan's mother was human. When her husband died in a tragic accident, she went insane." Kaden brushes crumbs off his shirt. "She murdered the Fae King, who was Morrigan's grandfather, as well as her husband's brother, Marcus, who was Reyshiik's dad, and was the elder son. She would have gone after Reyshiik too, if some of the other fae courtiers didn't get in her way. They died defending her. In the end, Morrigan had to watch her mother be executed and Reyshiik take the throne."
"Morrigan blamed her mother's actions on the fact that she was human and decided that humans were the enemy," Reis added. "I'm surprised you're not at the castle, making preparations for your reign." My dad takes a bite of the meat and chews, staring at me.
"This is my home now." I smile, tearing the edges of the flatbread off. "Besides, we need to take you back to the human world as well first."
He looks down at his ale. "I'm not sure I want to go back."
"What do you mean?" I ask, leaning forward and touching his arm.
"When your mom died, I was lost. We’d never been apart since the day I stumbled over into this world.”
He takes a sip of the ale. "That world doesn't feel like home anymore. It's suffocating."
I nod, understanding what he means. To humans, this world is like a dream, but it's also a harsh reality and full of nightmares, but also beauty.
"Here was the last place we were happy. Back home reminds me too much of her gone." He takes a shaky breath. "I thought I could bring her back when I found her spell book, but it only put us here."
"Spellbook?" My eyebrows arch into my hairline. "She was fae, the queen, why did she have a spell book?"
"To pass down the magic from her generation to yours."
I shake my head. "And another thing that doesn't make sense. They say she fled fifty years ago, but I'm only twenty-five."
“Rare fae, like your mother, can manipulate time." Reis sits across from me. "Your mother used that to throw Morrigan off your trail. She did, as did we, think that the queen was your grandmother and not your mother."
I shake my head. "Wow. I wish I would have known she was fae and a queen."
My dad pauses for a moment, and I can see his eyes are misty. "I just don't feel like I belong in either world anymore."
I squeeze his arm. "But you do. You have a place here and you have me. You don't have to go back. You can make a life here, with us."
He sighs and nods, wiping away the tears from his eyes. "What would I even do here?"
"Well, for starters," I take a sip of my ale, "you can help me run the castle. I mean how long were you here with Mom?"
"Two years."
