Kiara was sending a carriage for me, and not going to lie, I was nervous. I’d be without Mal and Conah for the first time in the Underealm while playing a guy. I took a deep breath and stared at my male reflection. I looked good. I’d totally do me.
Mal and Conah had been summoned by Lilith half an hour ago, but Mal had left a guard outside the quarters to show me to the carriage. This place was a fucking maze, and I wasn’t even going to pretend to find my way around.
Cloak on, I headed out of the quarters to meet my guard.
The corridor was empty.
Mal wouldn’t have forgotten. Would he?
“Waiting for an escort?”
My head whipped up to find Keon crouched on a ledge high up on the wall. He was watching me, head canted to the side.
“There’s supposed to be a guard here to take me to my carriage.”
“Maybe. Maybe I ate him.” He showcased fangs.
I locked my knees to stop myself from backing up. “Or maybe you like messing with people.”
He leaped off the ledge and landed neatly in front of me. His mouth was smeared with red stuff, and his long fingers were coated in it.
“Is that…blood?”
He put his index finger in his mouth and licked it clean. “You want to taste?” He held out his hand.
I turned my face away, heart thudding hard. “No, thank you.”
He circled me. “You smell wrong,” he said. “You smell distorted.”
Oh, fuck.
He moved fast, and then I was shoved against the wall, and his nose was buried in my neck, hands pinning my wrists to my side. If he moved another inch, his body would be pressed to my very female form.
I summoned indignation and anger. “Get off me this instant. How dare you accost a Dominus.”
He released my wrists and stepped back. “You smell of women’s juices and sex.”
Fucking hell. I lifted my chin. “Last I checked it wasn’t a crime to fuck.”
He snorted and shook his head.
“Keon!” Conah strode toward us. “Back off.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Keon smirked and turned to Conah. “You don’t give me orders.”
“No. Lilith does. And I’m pretty sure her orders don’t involve harassing the new Dominus.”
Keon stepped away from me, his cat’s eyes filled with malice. “I don’t like you,” he said. “You make no sense.” He leaped up onto the ledge and then slipped through the window and was gone.
I sagged against the wall, hand going to my chest, where my heart was finishing off an epic crescendo.
“You all right?” Conah asked.
“Yeah. But the sooner we get out of here, the better.”
“You’ll be safe with Kiara,” he said. “Best to stay away from Keon. His instincts may be too sharp to be fooled by the amulet for long.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
He licked his lips, his expression troubled as if he was mulling over a decision, and then he pushed open the door to the quarters and ushered me through.
“What? Conah, what is it?”
“Take it off,” he said softly.
“What?”
“The amulet. Just take it off.”
“Why?”
His jaw ticked, and he looked pained. “I promise you I’ll never speak of it again. After tomorrow, I’ll never look at you in an inappropriate way or tell you how I feel, but right now, I need to see you one last time.”
My pulse fluttered in my veins, and my throat pinched. “Conah…”
“I won’t touch you, I promise. I just… I need to see you.”
I pulled the amulet out from under my shirt, and my skin pricked as the magic left me.
Conah exhaled, his gaze roving over my face hungrily, eyes darkening in that tell-tale manner that told me exactly what he wanted. His attention dropped to my lips, and my breath hitched. I shook my head slightly, and he nodded.
I took a deliberate step away from him and tucked the amulet back under my shirt so it kissed my skin, reactivating the glamour. I noted his hands were balled into fists.
He slowly unfurled them. “Come on. I’ll take you to the carriage.”
The carriage dropped me off outside a dome where a guard was waiting to greet me. “Dominus.” He inclined his head. “Mistress Kiara is waiting for you.”
“Lead the way.”
The inside of the dome was huge. Light streamed in from the glass ceiling, and heat blasted my chilled skin. The center of the dome was a lounge area, and doors and arches led away from it. Kiara was sipping from a cup and facing the main doors. Three other females sat with her.
She looked up at the clip of my boots. Her eyes widened, and then a grin broke across her face.
“Felton!” She put her cup down and rushed toward me.
We met in a hug, and I lifted her off her feet for a moment before setting her down. It seemed like a manly thing to do.
She beamed up at me. “You look…manly.”
I bit back a smile and gave her a stern look. “Don’t I always?”
She canted her head to the side. “Not really.”
One of the female demons giggled, and I turned my mock stern glare on her. “You think that’s funny?”
Her eyes widened, and she ducked her head.
“There is absolutely nothing wrong with a man enjoying pink fluffy slippers.”
They all burst out laughing.
Kiara leaned in and whispered, “You’re good at this. This glamour is perfection.”
“You should see me naked.” I wiggled my brows.
She rolled her lips into her mouth, eyes shining. “Yes, and if my maids found out, that story will be all over Imperium in an hour.”
“Bride-to-be sees Dominus cock—Not her groom’s.”
Kiara linked her arm through mine. “I’m so glad you’re here. We’re going to have so much fun.”
She led me over to the seating area, and I spotted the yarn and the embroidery and the tea.
Wait…was this her idea of fun? “Kiara, please tell me you’re not about to spend the night before your wedding knitting and sewing.”
She made an ‘o’ with her mouth. “It is what a bride does.”
“We have an intricate puzzle to solve also,” one of the other demons said.
Oh, boy. I had two choices. Either shut up and deal with it and spend an incredibly boring evening with my friend or shake things up and do it Necro-style.
The demon held out a set of knitting needles. “I can teach you,” she said coyly.
Yep. Decision made. “Okay, everyone. Change of plan. We’re going out, and we’re going to get ever so slightly shit-faced.”
So, turns out that going out with the future key to an important treaty is no easy feat. Four guards loaded with weapons hovered on the corners of the tavern while we’d been forced to dress as commoners, which meant furs and itchy cotton, but after a couple of ales, none of that mattered. My belly was warm, and my cheeks ached from laughing. Kiara’s face was flushed and happy. Her maids catered to her, making sure her plate was full and her goblet topped up. The music was a little scratchy, but it loaned the event a little atmosphere, and yeah, it was no night club, but it was something.
“Thank you.” Kiara touched my hand lightly. “I needed this.”
“Me too.” I slung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a sideways hug. “I love you, chick.”
“Chick?”
“It’s an endearment. Just go with it.”
She pulled away slightly to look up at me. “I’ve never had a female friend before. Not really.”
“Yeah, well, you do now, and me and you, we’re gonna be besties.”
She smiled shyly. “I’d like that.”
“Can I get you anything else?” The bar lady I’d ordered from stood by our table, but her gaze was on Kiara. “My lady?” She frowned. “Kiara, is that you?”
Kiara froze for a moment, and then h
er mouth turned down. “Orla. What are you doing here?”
“I own this place,” Orla said. “I…Is Malachi with you? Has he come home for the wedding?”
Kiara nodded. “But he won’t see you. You know that.”
“I just. I need to speak to him. Just once.”
Kiara’s gaze softened. “Leave it, Orla. He moved on a long time ago.”
“It’s not that. I…you don’t understand. There’s something he needs to know.”
“All he knows is that he chose you over Gailan and Gailan died. Please, Orla, leave him in peace. He’s suffered enough.”
“But that’s just it,” Orla said. “There is no need for him to suffer. It was my fault. The whole thing, and I’ve paid for it. I lost two children and a husband. I lost my mind for a while, and now I know the only way to fix things is to confess. I need to confess.”
The maids were staring at Orla, enraptured.
Was this the daemon Mal had been with when Gailan died? “What do you need to confess?”
She looked at me and frowned. “Who are you?”
“A Dominus, and Malachi’s…friend. Tell me, and I’ll make sure he gets the message.”
“You know what happened to Gailan?”
“Yes.”
“I owed money to some bad people. I couldn’t pay, so I told them that Gailan and Malachi had the money, that I’d given it to them to pass on. I sent these collectors to the tavern. I knew Malachi and Gailan would be able to handle the thugs. Those two were…they were a solid team. But things went wrong. Malachi turned up on my doorstep that night instead of going to the tavern. I could have sent him away, I should have, but I’d wanted him for so long…I let him in, telling myself Gailan would be fine.”
“But he wasn’t.” I stared at her. “It’s your fault.”
She lifted her chin, her expression resolute. “And I’ve paid for my mistake over and over. I need him to know so I can be free of the cosmic debt.”
So she could be free. She was doing this for herself, not for him. I pushed back my seat and stared down at her. “I’ll tell him, but not because you deserve to be free, but because he does. You could have confessed decades ago, but you kept your mouth shut. You make me sick.”
The party mood was over, and Kiara must have sensed it because she stood and took my arm. “Let’s go, the air in here is suffocating.”
I led her toward the doors, and like lethal shadows, the guards followed us out into the night.
I had what I wanted. An out for Mal, so why did I feel so sick?
“When will you tell him?” Kiara asked from her bed.
I was bunked on the floor on a mattress, arm hooked behind my head, staring at the ceiling in a very manly pose. Damn, I was getting good at this.
“I don’t know. I’m worried it might bring it all back, you know?”
“Yes, I was thinking the same thing. Conah told me you and Mal were getting close. He hopes that Mal’s feelings for you will help him overcome his guilt and want to live.”
“Mal and I…I think we’re a thing now?” I rolled onto my side. “I think I love him. No, I know I love him.”
She scooted to the edge of the bed to look down at me. “Have you two…”
I felt my cheeks grow hot. “Yes.”
“Oh, Fee. I’m so happy for you, and…I’m scared too.”
My stomach churned. “I know, but I have to focus on the now. I can’t let what might happen spoil the present for me. I won’t live in fear.”
She smiled. “You could have taken him from me so easily.”
“What?”
“Conah,” she sighed. “I’ve loved him forever, you know. My father, Mammon, has many children and many descendants. He helped forge the Underealm alongside Lilith, and his power is undeniable. All his offspring have inherited something, except me. I used to question why I was born with no special ability, and then I found my soulmate, Conah, and I knew that was my gift. He was my gift. Being his soulmate, loving him, was what made me special. When I found out we were to be married, it was a dream come true, but a part of me knew he didn’t love me the way I loved him. Time, I told myself, time would bring love, and it did. I saw it in his eyes, but then you came…” She sighed. “You came, and I saw the way he looked at you, with a yearning I’d never seen in his eyes for me.”
“Kiara, I—”
“No. I need to say this. I need to get it off my chest.”
I pressed my lips together and nodded.
She gave me a shaky smile. “I knew I couldn’t compete with what was growing in his heart for you. I knew if you gave him any inkling that you were amenable, then he would be yours, and so I decided to make you my friend. I was nice to you, so you’d like me and would think twice before doing anything to hurt me. I needed you to be his conscience. I pretended to like you, Fee, and somewhere along the way the fake friendship became real.”
Okay, yeah, that stung a little.
“Fee?” She was looking at me expectantly.
“I understand why you did it, Kiara, but just so you know, even if you’d been a raging fucking bitch to me, I’d never have done anything with Conah, not while he was in a relationship with someone else. I’m not that kind of girl.”
“I know that now. You could have taken him, Fee, and you didn’t.”
Words dried up in my throat because denying it was pointless. There were moments that a push, a nudge, a kiss could have pushed Conah over the edge and taken our almost romance into an affair, but neither of us had taken that step. It wasn’t who we were. Liking Kiara, becoming her friend, had just solidified my position.
I noted the sheen of tears in her eyes, and it hit me that she was going into a marriage with her soulmate, believing that, given the encouragement, he may have chosen me. That without the treaty to contend with, he may have left her.
I sat up. “Listen to me, Kiara, and you listen good. Conah loves you in a way he will never love anyone else. You are his soulmate, his best friend, and his lover. You are everything, and no one can ever come between you. Don’t you ever think otherwise.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded.
“You two are going to have a wonderful life together.”
“We are?”
“Yes, you fucking are, and I’m so honored that you chose me to be your Companion. Tomorrow is the start of a new era. It’s going to be epic.”
“It is, isn’t it?” She sniffed and laughed tearily.
“It bloody is. Now get some sleep. We can’t have puffy eyes in the morning.”
She held her hand out, and I clasped it. We stayed like that until sleep took us both.
Tomorrow would be the start of a new era not only for the Underealm, Conah and Kiara, but for me and Conah, too. I knew him well enough to know once he was married, any lingering feelings, any connection he felt for me, would be completely tempered. He was an honorable man. I’d felt it. It was what had drawn me to him in the first place.
Tomorrow was a new beginning for us all.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Mal
No Azazel yet, and I have to wonder if Conah would have chosen him as his Companion if he were here. The Dominus is cutting it fine with only two hours until the ceremony. But Lilith will forgive him his absence at the actual wedding. That part isn’t as important as the gathering afterward. Demons from all over the Underealm will be in attendance, and Lilith will need to show power. Keon and her blades, Azazel and the Dominus will give her the show of strength she needs to remind anyone thinking the word uprising to sit the fuck down, and the icing on the cake will be Mammon at her side as an ally bound by treaty.
Yeah, if Azazel misses the after-party, Lilith will make him pay.
I finish buttoning my shirt and slick back my hair before turning to Conah. He’s standing in front of the full-length mirror, cravat in hand, just staring at his reflection like a deer in headlights.
Poor bastard. He never thought it would come to this day. The
treaty has been modified so many times, pushed around and delayed…He probably thought this wedding would never happen.
Now here he is. “You nervous?”
Conah puffs out his cheeks. “Fucking terrified.”
“It’ll be over before you know it.” I give him a sly grin. “And then you get to unwrap Kiara.”
Conah chuckles. “Yes, there is that to look forward to, but we need to be on our guard. There is someone out there who doesn’t want this wedding to go ahead.”
“It could still be Lilith.”
“It could be someone using her seal. We just don’t know.”
“Earnest is missing.” I zip up my boots and meet his eye in the mirror. His face is paler than usual. “I think he may have been in on it.”
“Stands to reason. He did plot the route for the drakes.” Conah meets my gaze. “Have you told Lilith Earnest is gone?”
“I found out from Keon. Lilith ordered him to reprimand Earnest about the dodgy carriage.”
“And now Keon says Earnest is missing…”
“You think Keon?” I run a finger across my throat.
Conah looks exhausted. “I don’t know. I just want to do this and go home.”
“With your wife.”
“With my wife.” He gives me a tight smile.
Guilt, empathy, not my things, but he’s pining for the woman that I’ve claimed, and fuck, I know how shitty it is to want Fee and not be able to have her. I’m lucky. So damn lucky.
I want to say something, anything to put a genuine smile on his face, but there are no words. Conah is about to sacrifice his heart for duty, and I know he loves Kiara, we all fucking do, but what he feels for Fee is passion and head-over-heels love and fuck, if things were different, if it were possible, I’d share her with him. I’d be glad knowing there’s someone to pick up the pieces once I’m gone.
Conah brushes his golden hair back from his forehead and takes a deep breath. “It’s time.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Cora
Leana set another mug of hot chocolate in front of me. “I’m not one to turn away customers, but honey, if you drink any more hot chocolate, you’re going to turn into a cocoa bean.”
Reaper Unveiled (Deadside Reapers Book 4) Page 15