by Calista Fox
“Hey, I remember when your dad had you sold on Santa Claus.”
She winced. They didn’t speak of their families. Neither one enjoyed rehashing the travesties of the past. Though admittedly, Michael had her on this one.
“How can you not love the idea of a jolly old man who washes down sugar cookies with a big glass of milk and has a belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly?”
Michael chuckled, low and deep, making her less preoccupied with all the dark drama of late—including that red-hot dream she’d had about a man she’d never seen. One she didn’t even know.
Once the townsfolk had all settled in, both of the slayers at the front of the room stood.
The noise, however, did not dissipate. The concern over an emergency session had gotten the best of everyone, not just Jade. The speculation and anticipation permeated the room, creating a loud din Walker Marks wasn’t able to contain with the mere gesturing of his hand for order. Several moments slid by and Jade was on her feet.
“Stop!” she called out. “Everyone stop talking!”
The conversations instantly died. Jade glanced around the cavernous hall, the residents of Ryleigh staring expectantly at her. As though she truly were the prime authoritarian of the village.
She mentally reminded herself that she was not.
Following a brisk, “Thank you,” she returned to her seat.
“Nice work, Jade,” Toran mumbled.
“We’re here this morning because there’s been an accident.” Walker cut right to the chase. “I don’t want you to panic or read anything into it. Let us share the facts with you and please don’t interrupt.”
He gave Jade a keen look. She shrugged a shoulder. No promises.
Toran said, “I found a body on my patrol early this morning.”
Voices erupted once more, drowning out the slayers. Jade stood. This time, her mere presence quelled the racket—without her saying a word.
When there was absolute quiet, she turned to Toran and demanded, “Human or demon?”
“Human.”
Again with the public uproar, until Jade lifted her hand to silence everyone.
“Who?” she asked, her tone deceptively calm to mask the raw intensity taking hold of her.
Walker shifted uncomfortably on his booted feet and exchanged a look with his colleague.
“Damn it, Walker,” Jade said, her composure slipping. “Who? Who’s dead?”
Walker groaned.
Jade’s patience wore thin. “Walker!”
“Jinx,” the older man blurted. “It’s…Jinx.”
Jade’s heart stammered. Her mind reeled for several suspended seconds as she tried to process his words—and fight the sudden threat of tears. Then she whispered a sharp, “No.”
“Regrettably, it’s true,” the slayer continued. “Toran found him in the south woods. The king has already been alerted.”
“You said this was an accident,” Jade reiterated on a quavering breath as she waded through muddled thoughts and her shocked disbelief. Pain swelled swiftly within her, tightening her throat almost to the degree of choking her. “Why would the king need to know about this?”
“Because,” Toran said in a disconcerted tone. “It was a demon who inadvertently killed Jinx.”
Another outburst so that Jade’s head started to throb. Tremors raced through her over this horrific news. She blindly reached for Michael and he was hastily at her side, his palm splaying along the small of her back, the other hand clasping her shoulder to help steady her.
Walker and Toran attempted to subdue the distressed crowd. Jade barely heard anything over the raging of her pulse in her ears. And the shredding of her heart over losing Jinx. He’d been like a great-uncle to her. A funny, carefree spirit who told zany fortunes when one felt blue and always had a smile on his face, no matter how grim things seemed.
It took great effort, but Jade tamped down her emotions, as she always did when her feelings became unbearable.
Stepping away from Michael and into the aisle, her voice rose again as she asked the slayers, “What did the Demon King say of this?” She couldn’t bring herself to utter the word accident. It grotesquely ridiculed the very existence of their village.
The commotion tapered off as Toran said, “He’s deeply concerned. He is the one, after all, who’s advocated so strongly for peace. He questioned the vampire that attacked Jinx and, apparently, the two had struck up an experimental relationship some time ago.”
“Really?” Jade challenged. She didn’t just choose to focus on the insidious implications hovering in the air, rather than the tragic passing of a beloved man. She had to shift gears—an inherent survival tactic so she didn’t become so mired in her torment that she couldn’t even think straight. Couldn’t function. She tilted her chin as she pressed on. “Jinx and a vampire became friends? We’re supposed to accept that as an explanation?”
“He was trying his hand at predicting the future of an immortal,” Walker contended. “To see if he could do it.”
“He was bored with us and needed a more fascinating conquest?” Jade planted her hands on her hips. This had to be a fabrication concocted by the Demon King to pacify the townsfolk.
With a grieved sigh, Toran told her, “We can’t presume to know what Jinx was thinking, Jade. All we know is that they’d met several times before. Last night, Jinx decided to hypnotize the vampire. It had the opposite effect than what he’d anticipated—not a look into the future, but a jolt into the past.”
Walker said, “When tapping into the vamp’s subconscious mind, Jinx inadvertently triggered memories of the war. Though in a trance, the vampire sensed Jinx’s human presence and pounced, because he thought he was back in time, amid the attacks.”
Jade’s fury burned through her veins. “And the king bought this flimsy excuse?” she retorted.
“He investigated,” Walker announced. “Thoroughly. It’s quite evident the king is troubled by this tumultuous event. He has no intention of letting something disrupt the regulations he has vowed to uphold and he therefore—”
“Let me tell you about the king’s vows, regulations, decrees—whatever the hell you want to call them,” Jade interjected, her voice gaining strength as the stakes hitched. She turned to address the villagers and revealed her own truth. “They hold no weight. The sanctions have been violated. With Jinx, certainly and undisputedly. But also with me. Perhaps with some of you.” Her gaze slid to Michael.
“Jade,” Toran growled in warning of her treason against a kingdom that could incarcerate her—or worse—as he lunged forward and grabbed her arm.
Michael moved in, taking a protective stance.
“Release her,” came a deep, commanding voice from the back of the room. A man stood, coming to her defense in such a quiet, imposing fashion that even Michael paused.
The stranger was dressed all in black, his cloak covering his body, the hood pulled over his head, casting shadows across his face. All Jade could see of him was that he was a mountain of a man—possibly six-foot-five or -six—broad-shouldered, with glowing amber eyes.
Toran’s grip on her arm loosened and Jade ripped away from his grasp. Her gaze locked with the covert newcomer’s. There was a familiar air about him that sent tingles of the forbidden along her spine. Ignited her insides. Tightened her nipples.
All alarming sensations.
“Who are you?” she dared to ask in a near breathless voice.
The man peeled back his hood to reveal a devilishly handsome face. A chiseled-to-perfection visage, with a hard-set jaw and well-proportioned lips, not too thick, not too thin.
It was a face she’d never seen before, not even in her dream, because it had been buried in the mass of her hair as his mouth and tongue had swept over her neck, teasing her senseless with his intimate touch and gentle biting.
But she knew those onyx locks of his as well as she knew his voice. The luxurious strands enticed her, reminding her of how she’d tangled her fi
ngers in them as he sank into her, thrusting confidently, claiming her mercilessly, knowing every responsive inch of her body regardless of having never laid a hand on her in reality.
The air rushed from her lungs as realization dawned and instinct told her exactly who he was. A hot flash of awareness made her skin sizzle, but Jade stood her ground.
Her eyes still on him, she murmured, “King Davian.”
Surprise rippled through the crowd. Then the villagers slipped from their chairs and bent on one knee to bow at his feet. Even the slayers and Michael paid homage.
Jade did not.
She was the only one to remain standing, and the flicker in the king’s hypnotic eyes told her he was both impressed by her unwavering constitution, yet annoyed by her insolence.
To appease him without giving up her strategic positioning, she nodded reverently at him.
One corner of his mouth lifted in a suggestive smirk, then quickly dropped. With a gloved hand, he gestured for the congregation to return to their seats. When the upheaval dimmed, he stepped into the aisle and took three long strides toward Jade; though he was still several feet away, maintaining a respectable distance.
With a demanding look, he said, “Please, explain why you believe I’ve broken all the regulations I’ve put into place in order to preserve peace in this region.”
Jade pulled in a ragged breath, then let it out slowly.
Not only was the king the largest and strongest-looking man she’d ever laid eyes on, he was also the most mesmerizing. And visions of him doing naughty things to her would absolutely not leave her mind. It was almost impossible for her to concentrate, especially with every nerve ending reacting so innately to him. His close proximity sparked all the unexpected, intense sensations from the previous evening, causing her pussy to clench as it pulsed radiantly—and traitorously—with need and desire.
But she found the moxie—from Lord only knew where—to forge on.
Squaring her shoulders, she said, “At least one, perhaps more, of your wraiths have tracked me for over a month. Stalking me. Which is, by your own proclamation, illegal. Correct?”
“Yes.”
His simple answer infuriated Jade, as though he gave no credence to her accusation. And accurate verdict.
Because she was a mere mortal?
Resisting the urge to grind her teeth, she added, “I’ve been followed through the forest on numerous occasions. Last night, someone on horseback watched me as I left the tavern where I work. Now Jinx is dead by a demon attack and I think you may as well lay your cards on the table and tell us whether or not we’re on the verge of another war.”
The villagers gasped and fretted. Rightfully so.
The king’s tolerance with Jade wilted on the vine.
“There will be no more war,” he said in a steely tone. “I’ve given my oath and I will stick by it. As for what happened with your friend Jinx…” His gaze narrowed on Jade. “I did not interrogate lightly, I assure you. And after hours of recounting the incident in the south woods, I’ve concluded the event truly was an accident. Tragic, certainly. But an accident nonetheless. The experiments were a risk your human friend was willing to take.”
“And what of the vampire who killed him?” Jade’s voice softened as she thought of Jinx. Tears pricked the backs of her eyes once more at the notion she’d never see his bright smile again. Conversely, her fists balled at her sides from the anger coursing through her.
“He’s remorseful.” The king’s expression turned humble as he took a few steps closer and murmured, “As am I.”
His dark, masculine scent wafted under her nose. An earthy aroma so alluring, it pebbled her nipples tighter, making her extremely uncomfortable. Yet she wouldn’t show her weakness for him…or his magnificent physique and soul-stirring eyes.
“That’s supposed to mollify us?” she asked. “Comfort us?”
Where her bravado at this moment came from, she didn’t know. Except she’d never kowtowed to anyone when an injustice was done.
Granted, this wasn’t some minor scuffle she’d dealt with on occasion at the tavern over whose turn it was to buy the next round or who’d allegedly won a game of darts. Or who’d shortchanged another at the farmer’s market.
This was deathly serious and she was standing toe-to-toe with a man who could have her in chains and locked in a cell with nothing more than a nod of his head. But her heartbreak over Jinx’s murder and the blatant violation of protocols and codes of conduct had her irrational and willing to press further.
King Davian’s brow furrowed as he said, “Of course you’re not comforted by my sentiments.” His intent gaze on her did not falter, as though he tried to see deep within her. It unnerved Jade, particularly after that dream she’d had. “And I will punish him. I came here this morning to tell you as much. Everyone,” he corrected, giving a slight shake of his head to clear his mind from a trancelike state while he still stared so raptly at her. “To tell everyone.”
Jade found his faux pas disarming. For a man who had more power than God, he did not currently wield it in the tyrannical way she would expect. He was, in all honesty, an enigma. But she couldn’t get lost in his scintillating voice, piercing gaze and six-foot-something-inches of pure virility.
The proverbial ice beneath her feet was much too fragile. She couldn’t forget that.
Yet it did not keep her from inquiring, “What about me? What are you going to do about the fact that someone from your kingdom shadows me on almost a nightly basis?”
He took her in from the top of her head to the tip of her boots as he seemed to mentally debate his options. When his shimmering eyes met hers once more, he said, “That is a matter about which we will speak in private.”
Chapter Four
Michael reached for Jade, pulling her toward her chair—and him. “That’s hardly a reasonable request, your Majesty.”
“Michael,” she blasted under her breath. “Let me handle this.”
Were Michael to suffer any repercussions for trying to protect her... That was something Jade couldn’t live with. She wiggled out of his clutches and returned to her spot before the Demon King. She didn’t miss the flicker of irritation in his eyes—at the way Michael had so quickly and fiercely stood up for her?
She had no idea…
To divert the king’s attention from her friend, she said, “I’m sure the people of this community would like to hear what you have to say on the subject.”
Another shake of his head. “No one else has been followed. This isn’t about the people of the community. It’s only about you.”
Her pulse jumped at his words. An ache of longing flared deep in her core. She couldn’t help but recall her dream. It had been King Davian she’d fantasized making love with—but how could that be? She’d never even seen him before today.
She’d had no knowledge of what he looked like, because he didn’t come into the village as far as she knew. If he had something to say to the humans, he sent a messenger. Only the slayers interacted personally with him, and even that was a rare occasion, as they primarily dealt with his general.
A disturbing mixture of cagey anxiety and erotic stimulation swirled in her belly and ribboned through her. She was fascinated by the hulking king, but he was a demon. A dominant and potentially deadly one. As was her attraction to him.
Yet his insistence of conversing with her in private was too intriguing to pass up. She had more questions. And Jade wanted answers.
“Fine,” she conceded, whether it was in her best interest or not. “You may speak with me alone.” Yes, he was that persuasive; though when all was said and done, what choice did she really have? He was the one in charge. Still, Jade told him, “Here in the village, not at the castle.”
Demands. Who was she to make them? And yet she did.
A hint of amusement crossed his prominent facial features. With a nod, he said, “The library, then.” He eyed Lisette. “Do you mind?”
Her worried g
aze flitted to Jade, who gave her a small smile of reassurance.
“Of course not,” Lisette consented. What choice did she have?
“Jade.” Michael’s imploring tone tugged at her heartstrings. Certainly, he’d obsess over her safety.
“It’ll be okay,” she told him. “His Majesty merely wishes a discussion behind closed doors and everyone here knows when and where we’re meeting. Should anything happen to me, the king could hardly expect it to be dismissed. Particularly by the slayers, right?”
She glanced over her shoulder and found Walker and Toran rigid and at the ready—for what, she wasn’t sure. It wasn’t as though the two of them could take on an entire kingdom on her behalf, if something went awry. Even with Lisette’s vanquishing spells to help. Regardless, having everyone bear witness as she made the arrangement with the most superior of immortals provided a modicum of relief.
So she said, “Lead the way, my Lord.”
They marched down the aisle, out the door and along the walkway, Jade’s strides wide enough to keep up with the Demon King’s. Though, given his powerful legs, she suspected he’d slowed his usual pace a tad so she could match it. When they reached the library, he burst into it and turned swiftly to confront her.
“First,” he said as he wagged a finger in front of her, as though she were a disobedient child who needed to be scolded, “enough with challenging me. Do not forget, I am the king.”
“I know you’re the king,” she said. “I meant no disrespect. I’m simply hoping for honest answers. And while you may not believe I’m entitled to them, I disagree, given that your laws have been broken by your…creatures. Possibly even by you,” she added as she moved away. She crossed to the fireplace to warm her hands, since she’d left the meeting hall without slipping into her jacket.
“Take this.” Davian removed his gloves and cloak, and offered the latter to her.
She stared at the garment, wary. To not accept the grand gesture would only annoy him further when it came to her impudence. And though he’d demonstrated a measure of admiration for her determined resolve, she knew not to push her luck. There was such a thing as being too stubborn for one’s own good.