Daemon didn’t dare raise his head, but he kept himself linked to both witches through their minds to watch, in case things got too heated.
Kaila hadn’t been planning to murder him after all, but she had been angry about Elizabeth, and she couldn’t resist the chance to test him.
His mother was the one he had to be more worried about murdering him after he let the perfect witch get away from him, when his mother had gone to so much trouble to send her his way.
Those two scheming witches were doing this out of love for their children, the only thing that stopped Daemon from leaving the room in a fit of masculine dignity as they hashed out their differences.
Linking their minds together, so each witch could see the other’s intents as he shared their thoughts, Daemon tried to discreetly probe for Elizabeth’s presence.
His runaway witch ought to be down here, suffering with him.
A few more glares were shot across his father’s body before Kaila looked over to Daemon.
“Oh, do get up, Prince Daemon. Stop pretending you weren’t hip deep in schemes as well,” Kaila said to him.
He raised his head and caught his mother’s chiding glance.
“You put your familiar on her, Daemon. Really, is that any way to treat a witch you’re trying to woo?” his mother asked. “It’s one step above knocking her out with a club and dragging her into a cave.”
His mother looked over to Kaila. “I raised him better than this, but his father was always letting him play in the barracks. It may as well have been a barn for all the good it did his manners.”
Kaila made sympathizing noises. “Elizabeth stabbed your son on the first night, at the tasting ball, in front of the entire court. I took away all of her stakes but she made a weapon out of her fan.”
“It was kind of my fault,” Daemon admitted. “I didn’t know how to introduce myself, so I jumped in front of her,” he said.
“While she was trying to stake another of the ball guests,” Kaila said. “Staking the wrong male does not excuse her behaviour.”
His father stirred, drawing the attention of both of the witches.
“Dae?” his father asked, trying to sit up.
He didn’t make it, his mother’s gentle hands catching his father under the shoulders and pulling him up to rest on her lap.
“You need more healing, King Nicholas,” Kaila said. She held his hand again, pushing more magic into his body. “If you rest here for a few more hours, then it should be safe to go back to Maeren.” She looked over at the destroyed portal. “We will need to take the car to the portal in town.”
Daemon moved closer to his father, reaching over to grasp one of his hands.
No matter how the poisons had weakened his father’s body, the strong hands he remembered from his youth had remained the same.
Hands that could hold a sword as well as pick thorny berries for his mother, a dependable strength he had almost lost.
“She is right, father. I know you hate healers but this time it couldn’t be helped, and luckily for you, she is the best.”
Daemon cleared his throat, determined not to get too emotional in front of the witches, even if one was his own mother.
His father would want him to be stoic.
“As you may remember, there was a serious attempt on your life. Unfortunately, I needed to leave the castle with you and I’m not sure we’ll be able to return right away.”
Daemon could feel Kaila examining his face.
She had suspected him of foully taking his father’s place, this much he suspected from her family’s hasty departure, but he wondered what she thought now.
It was tempting to tell her more to clear his name, but without his father’s permission, Daemon would keep his silence.
“I remember some of what happened, Dae,” his father said. “I’m only surprised that it took William this long to act. The poisonings have been going on so long that it couldn’t have been just him. I’ve always known William wanted the throne but not the work involved in ruling. I thought he would be satisfied sharing it with Phillip.”
Daemon looked at his mother before he spoke, accepting her nod as permission to disclose things no outsider to the throne had heard.
“William may have acted hastily due to the maid’s indiscretion. I don’t feel that poison was his original intent, although I could be wrong, but it seemed sloppy and rushed. Why would he use the one method that would be the most suspicious for someone with earth?”
Daemon looked at Kaila again, meeting her observant gaze before continuing.
“I never overhead any thoughts about poisoning you from William, although he did frequently whine about the overindulgence of fire in the court and he didn’t socialize with any of us much. I had thought it was just his personality, introverted like some healers can be, more for books than people.”
“How many times were you poisoned?” asked his mother.
She looked at her husband and the temper in her voice didn't bode well for a male that had barely escaped death.
“Perhaps we should leave the two of them to get better acquainted again?” Daemon said to Kaila. “That is, if you think he’s well enough for it?”
Kaila smiled. Daemon was a bit unnerved.
“He’s well enough to lie down on a pallet in the dojo. We have a few made up. Your mother can give him some of the rice porridge we made for breakfast and ask her questions.”
Daemon picked his father up and carried him up the stairs. He didn’t need directions to the dojo and he was sure Kaila noticed.
His mother and Kaila went to her kitchen to get his father a light meal as Daemon settled him on a futon.
Lying on the floor was his mother’s preference, even though she had a large four poster bed that Daemon had put together for her.
She told him it went back to her youth during the wars when hearing the vibrations and noise from invaders would wake her from sleep, ready to defend herself and her clan.
His father was used to more plush accommodations. Daemon propped him up on a folded comforter and then a pillow, choosing one with a silk pillowcase that he knew his mother had embroidered.
“Dae, I never thought I would see your mother again,” his father said as Daemon arranged a blanket over him.
Whether his father thought he would be killed by assassins first, or merely never regain his health enough to visit, he didn’t clarify.
Either reason made Daemon feel his failure all over again.
“The earth witch is powerful. Trust in her, father. I believe she will be able to restore your health.”
“She can’t restore your throne, Dae,” his father said.
It wasn’t to pressure Daemon, he knew, but his father felt guilty himself.
Daemon met his father’s eyes then lowered himself in a bow, so his head was below his father’s own.
Respectfully, he looked up at his father’s still tired and worn appearance.
“Maeren deserves a king in your vein, strong enough to bring the clans under control and wise enough to know where to seek the right help. I hope to prove myself worthy by supporting Phillip to unseat William and his ambitions.”
He prostrated himself to his father again.
“Don’t you seek the throne yourself, Prince Daemon?” asked Kaila as she entered the room. “You are the eldest and most obvious for an heir with your magic,” she stated.
“No, I do not believe Maeren is ready for rule from a demon,” he answered.
He rose from his bow into a simple kneeling position beside his father.
“To be honest, Lady Norwood, the last couple weeks have been hell. It seems I started off my temporary rule with a foolish show that I can only blame on bonded male nonsense and that I now regret, wholeheartedly.”
“She didn’t believe us,” Kaila said. “My daughter fought me on leaving you without an explanation, but like you, she is obedient. I was afraid for her autonomy to be swallowed up by someone larger than li
fe, like yourself,” Kaila told Daemon. “My daughter’s strength is also her greatest weakness, but you already figured that out, didn’t you?”
“I always knew since we share the same strength and weakness,” Daemon replied, sending the telepathic thought to all of them.
Daemon looked at his mother and then his father.
“Father, you may have seen Elizabeth on the day the potential harem witches were introduced to you. She is sister to the witch that knocked the scent enhancer all over the ballroom and she is the girl I told you about from the human realm. Mother knows Elizabeth well, I presume.”
Both of his parents nodded acknowledgement.
“Daemon, I knew she was the right witch for you but with everything going on in Maeren and then the demons coming here, I couldn’t think of anything, other than to send Elizabeth to you in a bit of a sham,” his mother admitted.
“You sent my daughter on a blind date in the pretence of hunting down a traitor to the crown for assassination?” Kaila asked, arching one eyebrow sky high.
“Well, it sounds bad when you put it like that, but the secrets I would have had to reveal could have exposed my husband and my son. It was a matter of family. Please understand,” his mother said.
Daemon could tell Kaila’s friendship meant a lot to his mother but she had not taken her sacrifices lightly to save his father and himself.
Even if it cost her only true friend in the human realm and led to an even lonelier existence, his mother would not bend.
“Most mothers wouldn’t object to a blind date for their daughters with a prince,” his father injected, sounding proud. “You picked well, love,” he told his wife.
“Daemon was chasing his tail trying to get your beautiful, talented daughter to take his claim but she was frightened and now I understand why,” his father said to Kaila.
Daemon had told his father a greatly edited version of the events, but the poison’s effects had made those conversations mostly one sided. He didn’t realize how much his father had understood.
“There’s still a lot to explain, but I suppose, given the circumstances and your honesty now, you should have the chance to discuss things with Elizabeth,” Kaila said.
“When will Elizabeth be back?”
“Any minute now, I’m sure. She’s just out with Victoria on . . .” Kaila trailed off.
“I already know she goes out to stake the odd vampire breaking the feeding laws. I’ve watched her do it a few times, when my visit coincided with a . . . well, you call it a hunt, right?” Daemon asked.
“Is this why you wanted to borrow my Buffy videotapes?” Kaila asked his mother.
“Daemon was pretty upset about the idea of Elizabeth hunting until I showed him how a strong witch like Elizabeth could handle a vampire stupid enough to be breaking the law, with the right training,” his mother said.
She was telling the truth.
Daemon still hadn’t liked the idea, even after watching the videos. He also didn’t feel he had the right to put an end to it when they were younger and he was a stranger to Elizabeth.
His mother must have recognized the protective male instincts he expressed then were the first hint of his interest.
“I’ll be back, I’m going to check my phone for any texts from the girls,” Kaila said, rising up from her seat on the floor to get her phone.
“Is this why you were so strict on maintaining order on the feeding laws in the edge towns?” his father asked. “Vampires are so afraid to illegally trade for blood that the lords have been asking me to open a public donation site for the desperate and down on their luck. If there is interest amongst the witches, it may be worth—”
“Elizabeth needs us!” Kaila ran back into the dojo with her phone. “Jill says she lost contact with Elizabeth during the hunt, but she thinks Elizabeth was hurt, maybe knocked unconscious.”
Daemon jumped up. “What? Where are they? I’ll go immediately.”
He started burning with blue, his hands fisted at his sides.
“I’ll drive,” Kaila said. “Suck your magic back in for the car ride,” she curtly demanded.
He tried pinging Elizabeth as they raced out the door but all he got were millions of other minds without her unique signature. There wasn’t a spark of her lightning anywhere.
Pulling his magic into his chest as he had seen Elizabeth do so many times, Daemon got into a car for the first time.
“Can you control your magic and your temper?” Kaila asked.
Daemon looked to her as she buckled her seatbelt. He did the same, not wanting any trouble with human authorities.
“Yes,” he said.
“I don’t have all the details. Jill left me a message, and now, she's not answering her phone. Jill said her sister was hunting three vampires at once. Elizabeth knows better but she’s been out of sorts since we got back,” Kaila said.
Daemon worked really hard to control his temper. Getting angry about the dragons was what started this mess.
“You said she had Victoria with her? How about Jill? You said Jill thinks she lost consciousness. Didn’t Jill see it happen?”
“Victoria did go with Elizabeth but Jill is at work. Usually, Elizabeth uses her lightning to let us see what is happening during a hunt, for safety reasons. I haven’t had to accompany Elizabeth on a hunt since she was sixteen.”
Daemon should have put a stop to these hunts earlier. All this damned secrecy between them was dangerous.
The first time he followed her on a hunt she had been with her mother, but he had known she’d started hunting alone.
What if he had stepped out one of those times, once the ash had settled, and given her a good scare, taught her what happened to brave little witches who took their magic superiority for granted?
He could have disguised himself in her mind but still let her know that there were others with her unique lightning, made her think twice about her reckless hunts.
He should have done more to keep her safe.
He only hoped he wasn’t too late.
Rocky Introduction
Human Realm
Victoria
There was an old joke about dragons. It said they were given fire so that their balls wouldn’t freeze off when they were flying.
There would be very few dragonlings, otherwise.
Victoria had to, unfortunately, agree that this was entirely true.
She regretted using up her fire on her tiger with every chattering second she stayed clutched in the dragon’s claws, telling him just how she was going to pay him back for this outrageous attack on her person.
Outlining various tortures, from plucking his scales out with one of his toothy fangs to painting his snout fire-engine red with a matching mani-pedi to boot, so he could be seen flying like Rudolph, she tried to ignore just how high they were soaring.
Trying to bite him again had been a mistake.
Trying to kick him backwards in the balls had been a bigger mistake.
Trying to tickle him had been a waste of time.
Begging didn’t stop him from twisting her body around until she was flying upside down.
“Listen to me you overgrown salamander!” she shouted. “Your damned dick isn’t going to grow back like a tail if it gets cut off, and I swear, I will turn my brother’s sword on your scaly jewels if you don’t land and let me go.”
The dragon ignored her.
She had an upfront and personal look at the anatomy at risk, waving around in the wind, as he carried her like a sack of potatoes, one-handed, her ass up in the air with his winged back.
Nothing was scaly, but overgrown was a fair assessment. Maybe that part of him grew with the rest of him in half-form. At least, she wasn’t doing this naked like him, but her clothes were more mall appropriate than flying with the stars.
If she hadn’t bundled George’s weapons so tightly, then she could have pulled something useful out to threaten him with more thoroughly than her high-pitched screams.
<
br /> She swore he flew high and then dipped and dived just to get a rise out of her. There were no other objects in the air he had to avoid at this height.
The nearest portal wasn’t that far by dragon to travel. It was impossible for her to tell if they were headed there, buildings and cars blurring by, with bright lights that were like a kaleidoscope from this dizzying height and their erratic flight.
He had to be taking her back to Maeren, especially now that George had reduced the dragon’s power by cutting down his familiar’s form.
Once they were back in the magic realm, then her kidnapper only had to find the closest portal to Dragos and she would be locked away in some dark and dreary cave, with little chance of escape.
Nobody knew guarding a treasure trove like dragons.
Locked up, she wasn’t going to be able to do any good.
No matter how powerful the dragon, they were subject to the same laws set for all Maerenians.
Her father would have had heads roll for that stunt in the human park.
Daemon was the enforcer for keeping the human realm free from magical influences and ensuring the king's laws were followed.
How was she supposed to keep this dragon alive, if he kept showing such blatant disregard for the rules?
She didn’t want to be chained to his side, but something inside her also preferred he kept his freedom.
There was no denying that there was a bond between them. She could feel his magic calling to her own, like a puzzle piece she didn’t know fit until she was up against him, felt how each of his corners curved into her soul.
Their familiars only glimpsed each other for a moment, but Victoria knew her tiger wanted to curl up against his dragon’s scaly hide.
She sighed, half in disgust and defeat.
“Hey, Dragon!” Victoria called.
She wiggled a little, but just a little. She wanted his attention, not butterfingers, when she was being held so far from the ground.
“Raphael,” his voice rumbled from his chest.
She supposed that was his name.
“Dragon,” Victoria said, with emphasis this time. “Bad idea,” she said, wiggling against him again.
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