How could this animal be Abyssian? He was supposed to be an insanely hot king. Insane was the only descriptor that applied to this demon.
Females fought over him?
He'd said nothing about Lila being his mate. If he found out for certain she was a spy, he'd kill her.
And why was he harping on about a past life? Surely Nix would have told Lila if--
Or not. Never trust a Valkyrie. Lesson learned, bitch.
"Any female with sense would show respect to her new master!" All the muscles in his long, lean body tensed. "Do not test me--I have eons of wrath at the ready."
While she had a lifetime of entwined fear and fury toward the Morior.
All the things she'd given up . . . all the nightmares . . . all the times she'd looked over her shoulder in terror . . .
Now this demon was throwing some vague, baseless accusation at her? Wrongs done in a past life? "What specific crimes are you accusing me of?"
His monstrous face was difficult to read, but he seemed confounded that she wasn't cowering. Then his fists clenched, his arm muscles like whipcords. "Treachery against the hell demonarchy."
"That's all you'll tell me?"
"If you want to know more, then remember." His voice was deep, his Demonish accent thick. "You'll have plenty of time to search your memory."
Was she a reincarnate? There'd been that rumor. . . . "Why not just kill me?"
"You deserve an unending life in hell full of constant torments. But if your torture ceases to amuse me, I will behead you. You'll never know when I might appear as your reaper." He reached down to the ax sheathed at his side and ran his revolting black claws over the blade.
This male wasn't exactly keen to protect and care for her.
She'd signed on to coax secrets from a hot demon heartbreaker. A get-cozy job. Instead, Lila was in a bid for survival, with an upside of damnation.
Nix had burned her. But why?
Had Saetth known?
Lila didn't react well to being set up. She had anticipated living in Sylvan, not dying in hell.
All bets are off, Valkyrie. If Nix wanted her inside this castle, then Lila refused to remain here. I'll escape this dump.
One of her six online degrees was in structural engineering, and she had a wicked imagination. No prison could hold her. Certainly not with a stupid brute like this demon as jailor.
She crossed her arms over her chest and surveyed her surroundings. She gave her escape a week. Tops.
For now, she told Abyssian, "This heap is your 'castle'? Why am I not surprised?"
"You dare to provoke me?" His wings flared again.
She'd been left at the mercy of the Morior. Burned. "After the day I've had, I do dare."
He lunged forward, gripping her upper arm to teleport her again.
She swayed on her feet, getting her bearings as her new bout of dizziness faded. He'd taken her to some kind of darkened cavern. Channels of lava surrounded a pool of steaming water. "This hovel is exactly where I'd expect you to live."
Those markings on his chest glowed brighter. "Clean the filth from your body."
"There is no way in this hell I'll bathe in front of you."
"Then you just refused my order? You'll learn who commands you."
"You can take your fucking commands and shove them up your demonic--"
He lifted her and tossed her into the water.
Prick! She struggled toward the surface, but the hem of her heavy dress caught on something. She kicked, then harder a second time . . . couldn't get free! She panicked, attacking the zipper, but it stuck.
The demon appeared beside her in the water, ripping the dress away and shoving her to the surface.
She sucked in lungfuls of air. "You asshole! You could've killed me." She'd escaped one danger, but now she had a new one: she wore only a strapless bra and boy-short panties, and the demon's huge hands circled her waist. "Let me go. Now."
He traced them to a shallower spot, then released her.
When she stood, his avid gaze dipped to her breasts, their shape outlined in her bra. She ducked down and submerged herself to her neck.
He shook his head hard and flared his wings again, but he'd seemed to put his fury on hold. Could he feel bad about almost killing her? If she was his mate--and that was a big if right now--he should.
With a wave of his hand, he conjured a cloth from thin air. The demon possessed magics too? Not in the godsdamned dossier, Nix!
He grabbed Lila's nape and brought the cloth to her face. "Look at me," he grated.
She raised her chin, but only to glare. While some of his rage was fading, her temper still simmered. "Do you get off on throwing me around like a doll?"
"Shut up." The beast brushed the cloth over one of her cheekbones, stunning her to silence.
Had she gone into shock? Maybe she was dreaming all this. She could be lying unconscious in a retention pond in the Magic Kingdom.
He lightly pinched her chin to start on the other side of her face, his brows drawn with concentration. He cleaned the tips of her ears, which made them twitch. He even scooped water over her head to rinse her hair.
She watched drops stream down his marked torso, the sight hypnotic. Yes, I'm still in shock. "Are you finished?" she demanded of the Morior monster.
"Why were you so dirty?" Tending to her like this seemed to extinguish what remained of the demon's anger. His gaze roamed over her face, lingering on each of her features.
The way he looked at her . . . maybe she was his mate. Maybe that part was true. "Because your lackeys made me bust my ass in the mud."
"You speak like a human. Did you live among them in the Magic Kingdom?"
Did he think the theme park was a real kingdom? What had those Sorceri told him? "Why should I tell you anything about myself?"
As she spoke the cloth descended to her neck, then lower, his heavy-lidded eyes following the path.
She jerked away. "You've got to be kidding! Are you going to try to rape me now?" A male of his size would kill her.
"Hardly." He dragged his gaze back to hers, his anger rising once more. "Never forget--I am not the villain here."
"But I am? Because of my alleged past-life crimes? Do you hear how screwed-up that sounds?" She met his onyx eyes. "Understand me, demon: if you release me now, I might be persuaded to leave this pathetic excuse for a castle standing. If not, I'll bring it down around your ears."
EIGHT
Why was she not afraid of Sian? In his new form, he terrified most beings. No one had ever naysaid him.
And he'd been fully demonic, bellowing at her as his horns had straightened from lust and anger.
Even the powerful Melanthe had flinched at his appearance. Sian's mate was threatening him. "Are you deranged in this life? You must be." Then how would he control her? She'd already refused an order, calling his bluff on his promise to kill her.
And he would never thrash a female, regardless of how much she deserved it. His gut had clenched just to see her struggling in the water, even though an immortal couldn't drown to death.
"I'm not deranged. I'm pissed off to be treated this way." Her language might be coarse, but her imperious tone still sounded like a princess's. With her chin raised, she looked like one too.
Her outrage sat ill with him. There was a possibility--however minuscule--that she had no idea about any of this. Nix might be using her as an unwitting pawn.
No matter. He'd still punish Kari for the past.
He grabbed her arm to teleport her again. They arrived back in the tower, dripping water. He released his grip on her--only to catch her when her legs buckled.
"Damn it, stop tracing me, demon!"
He stepped away, letting her drop to her knees. He shook his hair out and sluiced water from his skin.
She stayed down, pressing the back of her hand against her mouth to stifle her coughs.
At the sight of his mate in naught but tiny scraps of pink silk, he shuffled his feet apart
to keep himself standing.
Though Kari had teased him in the past, allowing him a sliver of hope that she would be his, she'd never offered him a glimpse of her body.
His eyes drank her in, blood pooling in his groin. She was a touch slimmer than she'd been before, but still entrancing.
Her bra molded to her breasts and nipples, highlighting more than concealing. His fists opened and closed, the urge to knead her nigh overwhelming him. Cock gone hard as stone, he raked his gaze down her torso, then lower.
Gods almighty. The thin material of her panties clung to her, giving him maddening hints of what her sex would look like. His horns straightened as he imagined tonguing his mate, tasting her orgasm at last. . . .
He took a step back to see her from behind. Her panties had ridden up to reveal the taut cleft of her ass. He barely stifled a growl.
"Enjoying the view of my ass, demon?" She scrambled to stand.
He had to clear his throat before he could speak. "It's adequate."
"Then you'll have no trouble tearing your gaze away."
He faced her, daring her to say something about his swollen shaft, but she refused to look at him. "When were you born, female?" If he'd found her mere months ago, he would've still possessed his old looks, would've been a physical match for such a beauty.
She didn't seem to hear him--or she was ignoring him. She backed up to lean against a wall, only to scream and stumble forward. Tears welling, she glanced wildly behind her. She'd brushed against one of the fire vines. The contact had left a burn on her skin, as if it'd been a flame.
"Those are fire vines. They cover the exterior of the tower as well, in case you're stupid enough to attempt climbing down."
Her fists balled, as if she were willing back her tears.
"I'm told the pain is intense, even for an immortal. You'll sicken from that poison over the night."
Misery radiated off her. Despite his hatred, he still struggled against his primal need to care for his mate.
So he recalled some of the last words Kari had ever spoken to him. As blood had streamed down his face, she'd said, "You almost look like a person now."
Rage seethed. Punish her. His gaze darted. Perhaps she'd retained phobias from her previous life. "Do you still have a deathly fear of spiders?" Her shudder told him yes.
Ah, a tool to use against her. He waved a hand, conjuring a spinning wheel and a chair. "Harvest all the cobwebs in this tower and spin them into thread before dawn."
She glanced from the wheel to him and back. "Are you joking? I don't know how to spin."
Using magic, he dragged down a matted wad of webbing from a doorway. As if an invisible person manned the wheel, the pedal began to move, the wheel to turn. Bits of the thick web attached to a starter length of thread. "Finish all of the webs before sunrise, or their inhabitants will return to wrap you in silk. Blood-meal spiders are quite large--and poisonous."
Her face paled even more. "I'll jump." Her coughing started up again.
"If you want to meet my legions, all you have to do is ask." Before he traced away, he said, "Take care not to prick your finger on the spindle."
When he returned to the throne room, Uthyr awaited him.
--That could have gone better.-- With his acute senses, the dragon would've heard everything. He probably knew as much of the castle's intrigues as Sian did. --You believe she's working for Nix?--
"Yes, wittingly or not." Pacing in front of his marble throne, he said, "My mate satisfies me not at all! She is senseless." Kari had been one of the most intelligent beings he'd ever known. He'd expected the same of her in this life.
What a disappointment.
--Or she is bold. Demon, your mind is suffering from your change, and your thoughts are in chaos. If you mistreat her, she will come to hate you. Have you not even considered a fresh start with her? Forgiveness?--
"I'll forgive my mate as soon as you shift back to a man." Why the dragon refused to return to his humanoid form baffled Sian.
--It will not and cannot happen.--
"Precisely. I want revenge only. She deserves nothing more."
--Immortals so love their vengeance.-- Uthyr sighed, a flame gusting from his lips, scorching another wall. --But not often at the expense of matehood.--
Sian gave a bitter laugh. "Don't you understand, dragon? Matehood is an impossibility." He had once asked Rune, his closest friend, what having a mate was like. Rune had answered, "I get more happiness in one second of loving Josie than I did in seven thousand years of life without her."
Sian had accepted he would never experience such satisfaction. At times he imagined that some other trickster demon had stolen into his body to replace Sian's heart with a cold lava rock. What had once been fiery and alive was now crumbling and black.
"Even if I didn't despise my female--even if she isn't Nix's bait for my downfall at best and a spy at worst--do you really believe a fey that exquisite could accept me in this form?" When he'd signaled his interest, she'd sneered, You've got to be kidding. "Or survive in hell? Her kind don't belong in Pandemonia." The ash had made her cough after mere minutes here. "And how do you predict she'll feel about me when I wage war on the fey?"
Sian had hungered for vengeance against Sylvan for ages, but Orion had asked him to wait till this Accession. Finally, that time had come. "I might as well get some sport out of my mate." He'd made sure she could never finish spinning. Yes, he loved trickery and games, but in the end the jest would always be on him--he would never know a mate's bond.
He traced to the terrace railing to survey his legions.
Uthyr joined him. Though each of the great dragon's steps shook the terrace, he could move with a catlike grace when he wanted to, a boon whenever he used his other talent: chameleon cloaking to the point of invisibility. --I can give you counsel, friend, but I need to know more about your past. What made you hate her?--
Sian didn't answer. Couldn't. Not yet.
--Why would you even have met her so long ago? Fey and demons didn't run in the same circles.--
Back then, the fey had still been known as elves, and Sian's twin, Gourlav, had just inherited the crown of Pandemonia. "An explorer discovered a portal between our kingdoms, but wariness rose on both sides, the species having nothing in common. So the king of Sylvan agreed to foster me in his realm for a season."
A spell had enabled Sian to speak Elvish. For security reasons, it had also bound his abilities to trace and mind-read.
No spell in existence could have helped Sian understand the elves' stifled emotions, calculating ways, and superior airs. Many considered the demons little better than beasts.
Yet Gourlav had ordered him to go, wielding his power over his twin for the first time, infuriating Sian. . . .
"Why can we not simply attack these uncanny newcomers?"
"Your thoughts are forever turned to conflict." Gourlav exhaled. "We can always go to war with them. Yet a chance for peace is fleeting. I should at least try for it before the hell-change robs me of reason." He clamped Sian's shoulder. "If this works, if you help me make this work, we could all know prosperity as never before. Our realms need each other's resources; with trade, we could better the lives of all elven-and demonkind. . . ."
Sian had resisted right up until he'd scented Kari on the other side.
Uthyr said, --At least tell me, demon: Why make her spin?--
"Because she can never complete her task, and it will please me to watch her fail."
The dragon winced, his scales rippling. --Sometimes you forget there's a difference between trickery and cruelty.--
"That female taught me much about cruelty." She'd used his feelings for her to manipulate him, digging for demon weaknesses without a qualm--because she'd seen him as a lesser being. Her bigoted parents had taught her that all beings were vastly inferior to the elves.
Sian recalled when Kari had asked if demons formed bond pairs. He'd figured she would need to know all of the details about demon matehood--
graphic though they were. . . .
"A male can sense a female is his. Yet the only way to be absolutely certain is through intercourse." Pulling on his collar, he said, "A demon cannot spill seed for the first time with any but his fated female. Some males bed many with this hope. It's called attempting."
"How convenient," she sniffed. "And primitive."
Though the elves formed bond pairs, no physical limitations constrained them; they could marry where they pleased. With so much control over their emotions, they could repress any instinctive drives.
He'd found them to be like unfeeling shells. But Kari was different.
She asked, "And if attempting is successful, do demons wed?"
"Only royals. But marriage is just a formality. If a male finds his mate, he will mark her neck. That is a lifelong pledge."
"Mark?" Realization flashed in her dual-colored eyes. "A demon would . . . bite a female?" She was appalled. "Like those disgusting vampires? How barbaric!"
"Have you ever even spoken to a vampire, Kari?"
She blinked in confusion. "Talk to a vampire? Why would I bother?"
He'd told himself that he would introduce her to other species, expanding her views--that once she was separated from her parents, she could shed their narrow-mindedness. He hadn't realized how deeply ingrained her beliefs had been.
Kari's reincarnation was fey once more, so he had little doubt she'd been raised the same way.
And her godsdamned eyes matched.
All the same flaws--yet none of the charms.
NINE
It might take me more than a week to crack this prison.
Other than stone, Lila hadn't found anything she could use to attack her captor--no materials to create a projectile, or a sneak blade, or a trap.
Nor could she find a single door leading into the castle. That large archway to the terrace was the tower's only opening.
Taking care to avoid those excruciating fire vines, she crossed to the railing once more. She gazed out from what must be a league in the air and surveyed hell, disbelieving she was here.
The landscape boggled her mind. The night sky was black and choked with ash. In the distance, a gigantic volcano spewed lava. A river of it coursed through the valley below. Was that the legendary Styx?
The air reeked of misery, ruin, and death. Like a horror theme park on steroids.