Page 29 of My Demon Desire
I shove a hand into Reis's chest as I walk past him.
"There's something you should know," Reis says behind me.
After I turn back to him, I lean against the corner, growing more and more impatient with every second. "What?" I ask, bored.
"Decide, Kaden," he says. "What's more important— your freedom or your vows?"
I spit out a grunt. "Both died a long time ago and you as well as I know our vows were broken when the new queen took the throne."
"Which is why the blood vow ritual is the only way to help protect Annalise from the queen," he says, "All of us must be bound together. You know that."
My stomach tenses and my insides threaten to escape. "You're offering treason? That's rich coming from one of the old queen's guards."
Annalise's eyes widen in shock. "You were a guard?"
"Tell her what else," I prod, not caring how much this will hurt him or us. Even after all these years, it still does. He knows it and I know it. We've been pretending we're fine. That losing the queen that night against the usurper was the only way to save her. How we held the fort, straining for as long as we could against torture, against every spell, every cut. How there used to be four of us against the world until my cousin was savagely ripped apart before my eyes.
Until I gave up the information to Queen Morrigan to save his life and she killed him anyway. How Morrigan was furious when she sent soldiers into the human world and couldn't find our queen.
She didn't give us peace of killing us too. No, that would've been merciful. Instead, she locked away our human forms so that we couldn't go and search for the rightful queen ourselves. How we were banished to live with our failure and how we'd betrayed the queen. Morrigan had laughed when she let us go, holding up the bloody heart of our queen. Which if what Reis and Thorne believe is true that Annalise is of royal blood, then that heart had to be someone else’s.
"Tell me what?" she asks, but there's a tremble on her lips.
Gotta suck to know you’re in a land where the monarchy wants you dead just because you’re part human.
"None of that matters now." Thorne hisses, his eyes burning with vengeance and recklessness. "Taking part in the blood vow ritual is the only way we can hope to keep her safe."
My jaw clenches. I look past Thorne to Reis who is standing, but still looks a little green from me kicking him in the balls.
"Listen to him, Kaden," Reis says in a hoarse voice, but the set of his jaw tells me he's going to pay me back later for my kick.
My gaze shifts to Annalise with her wide eyes. "Is there another way? To save my father and return us to the human world?"
A pain hits my chest that she'd run away the second she had the opportunity. But why should I care? Having her here is perilous for her and us.
"I'm offering you a chance to make things right. To protect Annalise and keep her safe from the queen." Reis's voice is heavy with emotion. "You can never be free again, but you can finally give this responsibility. We can protect her like we were supposed to protect the queen.”
Pain and regret crash into me, but I don't have time to dwell on it. I clench my fists, my talons piercing my skin and I shake my head.
"No," I say. "We take the vow and then what? Stay here and die together? No, no fucking way."
"Kaden." Her voice cracks.
"You wouldn't last a night here on your own. Morrigan's hounds will sniff you out. It's a fucking miracle you weren't found last night." When I sent her into the dark woods. I swallow down the stinging lump that forms in my throat.
“Why does she want to hunt me?” Tears fill her eyes. “All I want to do is find my father and get the hell out of here.”
“She hates humans,” Reis says. “A human killed her father and other consorts when she was a child.” He looks at me. “Don’t you see? We have to protect Annalise from the queen. She’s innocent.”
I can't stand the thought that Morrigan might hurt Annalise. I need her to go back to the mortal realm where she's safe. She's not safe here, even with us to protect her. We couldn't even protect Reyshiik. How are we supposed to protect Annalise? We'd only get her killed and us killed in the process too. I need to be strong and force them to see things my way before it's too late, before we tie her to us with a blood ritual. Right now Morrigan might suspect that Annalise is of royal fae blood, but she doesn't know for sure. We can't let her find out.
"There's nothing any of you can say to change my mind." I push off the wall and stare the three of them down, but none of them drop their gazes.
"How about I show you then?" Her voice is laced with challenge. "Why you should help me and my father escape."
I frown, watching as she steps closer until she's right in front of me. When I first found her in the forest and chased her, she was terrified of me. Now she holds my gaze and I can't help but notice the tiny pulse in her neck and the hunger to know what her blood tastes like.
My hands twitch, ready to snatch her up and have my fill, but I force them to remain at my sides.
