But this would be the trip where we would meet her beloved mother, and I knew we had to please Dakota and her mother both. There was still a chance Dakota’s worry over her mother could overwhelm her and we would lose her. She might be bound to the demon world, but a despairing human in the Sinistral world was likely to miscarry her children and take ill herself.
I put all my focus into teaching her how to make a healing spell to give to her mother. Well, if not all of my focus, certainly a surprisingly good amount of it, especially considering that Hiron was not wrong—the binding rings surely did increase sexual desire. If even the slightest sexual thought entered my mind, which was frequent considering we now had a beautiful woman about the place, I felt as if something was teasing and stimulating me, punctuated by little pangs that practically begged me to claim her as I grew hard. Rafe and Hiron tried gallantly not to overwhelm her, but I had no such qualms. She didn’t complain as much as I might have expected.
We’ve been good for her, I thought. And it goes without saying that she’s been good for us. Dakota seemed to take to her new life very well, considering what a shock it must have been to her. She loved the shower Rafe had created, the courtyard garden, the fresh meat, and she took her magic studies seriously. She was always asking Rafe to play guitar for her, and soon enough she was singing along.
“You don’t miss electricity?” Rafe asked her.
“I should, shouldn’t I?” She rubbed her chin. “I guess it’s easier here because your life doesn’t revolve around electrical things. It just seems like there’s plenty to do…”
But once in the middle of the night, I heard her crying gently into her pillow. I stirred, wanting to comfort her, but at the tiniest sound of movement from me, she immediately stopped and pretended to be asleep.
She didn’t want us to hear her? It shattered me to know that she still had a private world of sadness. All our efforts to make her happy seemed inadequate. And we had tried very hard not to make her feel the restraints the Symposium had placed upon her, but one of us had to follow her everywhere, even in her own home.
My chest tightened with fear. We could still lose her.
Dakota
My first week in the castle slipped by easily. It felt like I was on vacation, discovering all kinds of new things and getting pampered like crazy. I worried the novelty of having a bride would wear off on these guys, but Edie showed no sign of losing the affection of her demons. And just like Edie, the biggest bedroom was mine, and they wouldn’t sleep with me unless I invited them. I guess that was how the bride got some space to be herself while dealing with three frisky demons. During the day they were all over me but at night, if I wanted them to trade off, they didn’t argue.
But like my best vacations, it also didn’t feel real. I kept thinking I would have to go back to my normal life soon.
Back to work at the cafe and the hectic world I knew. Traffic jams on 270. Sucky customers. Buying dresses online and then by the time they arrived I wondered what the point was. Nothing was magical back there.
The guys had some magical way of picking up text messages my mom sent me, which was also how all these demons knew about my message board post. Xado said they went “into the ether”, like there was a pool where all communications go, a sort of super magical internet. And through this, I relayed some messages back. I was always “too busy to talk” but I was on for the vacation and I told Mom to plan the details and I would be there. I tried to relate to her even an iota of the stuff I had planned for this trip before, like where to book dinner reservations and what rides to request for a FastPass so we could skip the lines. It was very frustrating because I couldn’t just look at my phone any time. I had to go through the guys for everything.
At some point, I started to get really restless to have some kind of a life besides this place.
“I need to go into the village to pick up some things,” Hiron said. “Does anyone need anything? Dakota, I can bring you a gift. What do you like?”
“Can I go with you?”
“Ah…it will just be a quick trip.”
“Why don’t you want me to go to town?”
“Well, there are all sorts of demons there, and—”
“That sounds interesting!” I interrupted. “Please? I need to get out of the castle! I’ve never stayed in one place this long in my life!”
“Demons are archaic,” Hiron pressed on.
“What he’s trying to say is, you think Xado’s bad? Try going into town. They’re going to be jealous that we got you. They might not treat you all that well,” Rafe said.
“It truly depends on the sort of demon,” Xado said. “We all have our own cultures.”
“Uh…I mean, Hiron will protect me, right?”
“Of course. I just suggest that you keep quiet, no matter what we encounter, seeing as you’re a newcomer for now.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll have to face it sooner or later.”
I got the idea that if I had passed the stupid witch test, they’d leave me alone. But instead I’d fucked it up. It seemed so unfair. I could cast protection spells perfectly fine here at home, and my own homemade healing tonic was brewing now. Well, at this point I could handle a few more horny men, especially if they couldn’t lay a finger on me.
Today I was wearing a gown that was a blue-green color like a vivid ocean. Hiron took my hand in his, and as we walked down the path from the castle, he said, “I must admit, I am glad I get to show you off by myself for the first time.”
“Does it ever bother you to have to share that stuff with Rafe and Xado? You guys get along so well, but are you ever competitive deep down?”
He smirked. “Of course we are. But very early on, we have to learn to suppress that instinct. Demons haven’t had the luxury of taking humans mates singly in a long time.”
“I’m impressed. You never seem to fight with Rafe and Xado either.”
“Loyalty to our bond and our bride has to come above all things,” he said. “Even our own desires.”
“You sound a little disgruntled.”
“Of course not!” Then he gave me a look. “Well, Rafe and I do clash sometimes, and you’re bound to see it eventually…”
“Just you and Rafe?”
“Xado is always easier to deal with. He’s very single minded. You always know where he stands.”
“That’s for sure true.”
“Sometimes I get frustrated with Rafe…unfairly,” Hiron said. “He probably told you his music was a failure.”
“Yeah…”
“Well, it wasn’t.”
“Oh?”
“He had a lot of devoted fans, and he had just gotten an offer from a major label when I wrote him a letter asking him to reconsider the bond. The castle was falling apart. The magic of my family was failing. I need something strong or I was going to lose it… So Rafe cast everything aside and came home, bringing all the magic he’d sucked up from your world with him. He saved this place. I was furious; I didn’t want to need his protection, but I do.”
“But that’s sweet. It sounds like you guys are like me and Edie and Nicole. Sticking together no matter what, at least until…” I paused. “What would it be like if I had to share one husband with them? I think I would murder them. Or they would murder me. It would be like the Hunger Games.”
I’m sure he didn’t understand the reference, but he laughed and put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me against him for a step. “Well, it isn’t always easy. But what you say is true. Those two will always stand up for me, and with me, no matter what. Even to give up their own dreams. But I would never have asked it of him, and sometimes he resents his own choice. His cousin Declan ended up having the life that should been Rafe’s.”
“Why couldn’t he have both, if you had to wait around for so long?”
“If he remained in the Fixed Plane, in a human form all the time, his lifespan would have been human. He would have aged…”
“Oh
hh. I see. Well, I’m glad he didn’t choose that, then. So what about you, Hiron? If Xado is the sorcerer and hunter of the group, and Rafe is the…rebel, let’s say… Do you have a thing?”
“I’m the mortar between the stones,” he said. “I hold everything together. I suppose that isn’t as exciting. My aspirations are merely to keep my family’s castle and my own family safe and content.”
“Nah, you seem like a really steady kind of man,” I said. “I like that. I’ve never had that in my life.”
“I would slay every chimera and gorgon and undead beast in the realm to keep you safe, Dakota.”
“…that’s a little much.” I laughed nervously. “Please tell me those things don’t actually exist.”
“The zombies have been quite a nuisance in recent years, in fact,” he said. “Creatures grow stronger when your people believe in them, and I am told some humans have been preparing for a zombie apocalypse even though you have no zombies.”
I burst into laughter. “Oh my god, we are so weird, aren’t we? But…I mean…really?” I glanced nervously at the woods.
“I haven’t heard tell of any in these woods,” he said confidently, putting a hand around the sword at his waist. “But if we see one, rest assured I will spill its blood before you can blink.”
Okay sooo, they were going to have to drag me kicking and screaming out of Disney World.
Chapter Twenty
Dakota
We reached the village, which was larger and a lot more of a happening place than I could see from the castle. The forest had been blocking some of it from view, but there was a main street with shops doing a brisk business, and a sort of uptown district with large houses perched up on a hill. In the village square, some of the young townsfolk were dancing; girls in diaphanous gowns, guys with horns on their head, and in one case a guy with four arms and two tails. I blinked a few times before looking away. It was a lot to take in.
Plus there were some unattended animals making their way through town, including a huge snake and a small wildcat, and they looked like they were headed somewhere. When the snake slithered past me I leapt back and almost stepped on a wolf that immediately turned into an older guy with glasses.
“Be mindful of your step!” he said.
“Uh, s-sorry…” I slowly grabbed a fistful of the back of Hiron’s shirt and parked myself under his arm.
“Be mindful of your tone,” Hiron said to the wolf. “She is new here.”
“Lord Hiron—oh—well, congratulations,” the wolf said.
“Are you frightened of this?” Hiron asked me with some surprise. “You do have most of these animal forms in your world, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but they don’t wander around town and turn into people! And we definitely don’t have that guy.” I pointed at the four armed man, who looked up when he felt my eyes on him.
“Good day, Arkanon,” Hiron said, lifting a hand to him as if to keep the encounter from getting too awkward.
“Is that your human mate?” Arkanon asked.
“Yes, this is the Lady Dakota.”
“You certainly did well. She’s a buxom lass. Come to me when you find yourself yearning for the touch of a real man!”
“You have no bondfellows,” Hiron retorted, “and so we still have two more arms than you do.” He shrugged at me as we moved on. “You see why I had no wish to take you here. Demons can be crude.”
“I mean, it’s not really worse than going clubbing,” I said. “So what are we going to buy?”
“We’re in need of spices, arrows…and you have used up a lot of the pixie dust in making your spells. But perhaps we’ll also take you to the dressmaker for a new gown or two. These are flattering but somewhat old-fashioned.”
“Ooh, yes, clothes shopping! I’m glad I don’t have to give that up.”
So, in Ye Olde Village, of course clothes shopping was totally different. Hiron took me into this charming little shop staffed by triplet sister demons with sharp teeth and claws, each wearing a gown of a different color. I got to pick out my own fabrics and trims out of these books of samples. They made suggestions and told me what the latest demon fashions were, and they also told me about witch fashions, which were apparently a totally different thing. Witches lived in the Fixed Plane so they didn’t wear gowns but they had their own look.
“You can always spot a witch once you know,” they said. “Usually the first clue is if they wear a hat or a hair ribbon or something. Witches love to put things on their heads!”
“That’s true. They’re very picky about tailoring as well. They would rather have one good suit than ten bad ones.”
They gossiped about witches to me while one of them brought out iced tea. Hiron tried not to look too impatient. They admired him a lot, which I’m sure helped.
“We’ve never seen you in here before, Lord Hiron! It is certainly an honor. Are you sure we can’t interest you in a velvet suit?”
“Ooh, now that the dragons have a bride perhaps we shall see all of them!”
This was how a fancy sorceress lady should be doing her shopping for sure. I wanted to tell Mom about it. Heck, I wanted to bring Mom here.
Oof. I got hit with a really bad pang of missing her, and my mood instantly flipped and I was swallowing down tears. I’m a terrible daughter. I’m having so much fun, and I’m sure she’s wondering why I haven’t called…
Hiron still had other shopping to do, though, so I pulled myself together as we walked back out into the road.
That was when I saw a spider the size of a child coming down the road.
Oh, fuck no. Fuuuck no. I made no attempt to compose myself. I ran, screaming my face off.
And then I felt myself jerk back at the wrists and ankles. I was running so fast that when I hit the spell that bound me to Hiron, I fell backward on my ass. Bands of glowing light circled me where the bindings had activated. I heard laughter around me from the other people on the street, and a green-skinned demoness standing outside of a bar came prowling over, laughing. She was wearing dark glasses and as she approached I noticed her hair was made out of snakes that writhed around her head.
“Poor little human prisoner,” she said. “What are you afraid of? Or do you need help? Tired of being some demon’s toy? Well, I can’t help you if you’ve gotten yourself stuck here.”
I shied back from her and covered my eyes.
“Couldn’t pass the magic test? No, of course not. Hmm!” She poked my arm. “Where is your master?”
“Here,” Hiron barked, swooping towards us. He swept his sword within an inch of the gorgon woman’s throat. “Don’t touch her. Keep your eyes away.”
“I didn’t do anything.” The woman turned away. “I certainly have no interest in something so useless.”
Hiron dragoned out right on the spot. Suddenly he leapt into the woman’s path as his body shifted into a huge, scaled form and he blocked her path and growled at her.
Her smug face immediately dropped. “I could turn you to stone,” she said, but she sounded much less tough than before.
“If I ever see you in this town again, I will turn you to ash,” he roared.
“I am just passing through, good sir. I have no wish for trouble.” She held up her hands. He let her pass, but he didn’t take his eyes off her until she was well down the road.
Hiron looked awesome when he turned into a dragon and gave her this reptilian death glare, then turned back into a man and threw his arms around me. But that was the only good thing about this encounter.
“Why didn’t you run when I ran?” I screamed. “You know I can’t go anywhere without you! And the giant spider…”
“The spider was much more polite than that woman,” Hiron muttered. “As soon as you ran away, she transformed into human form and hastened to reassure me that she didn’t want to frighten you. That delayed me for just a moment. But I’m here now.”
I rubbed my wrists. The glow of the binding spell was abating, but for the firs
t time I really felt it. I was trapped with them, like it or not. And to the demons, I was just a human bride. I felt inferior. Tears sprang to my eyes but I stamped to my feet.
“Stay close to me,” I snapped. “I didn’t want this.”
“Nor did we!” he snapped back.
“She made fun of me,” I said. “Like I’m just a slave. Not a witch. Worse than nothing.”
“It doesn’t matter what some foul gorgon thinks of you.”
“But I am bound to you. And in the end, you need me for my magic and to have your children. You wouldn’t let me go even if you didn’t like me. Rafe gave up his whole dream to save the place already.”
“Dakota.” He grabbed my chin and gave my forehead a fierce kiss. “I thought we had settled all this. There is not one moment I have felt stuck with you. You are not just very fair but also a delight, and I love you.”
“You love me? In one week?”
He huffed. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Do you just want me to admit that yes, if we didn’t like you we would have to make the best of it? The fact is, this is the situation we have, and we are all equally and genuinely enamored with you. It’s a stroke of great fortune. And just an hour ago you were telling me that you have never known a man to be steady or true. I know you feel it now. You know we are all committed to making this marriage a long and happy one. That doesn’t mean we won’t sometimes argue, just as Rafe and I do, but I want to hear no more of this. You should be proud of your bonds just as we are proud of ours. It means you are ours.” He kissed me roughly before I could say a word.
“Mmm,” I grumbled, but then I started to enjoy the kiss after all. Hiron didn’t expect anything of me that he wouldn’t expect of himself.
He pulled his mouth back as forcefully as he had started. “You’re ours,” he repeated. “And I would truly mourn if anything happened to you. But I swear that the next time the sight of something here frightens you, I will run with you.”
Captured by Dragons: A Reverse Harem Paranormal (Brides of the Sinistral Realms Book 2) Page 12