Demon Untamed (Shadow Quest Book 4)

by Kiersten Fay

  He was not meant to go quietly into death. The ultimate sacrifice was not his final mission. Destiny called him.

  He still had a purpose.

  Chapter 38

  Not surprising, Anya was the first to spot Sonya as she descended the stairs into the great hall. After reaching the bottom, she meandered through the crowd, crossing the large, ornate room toward the table where she, Sebastian, Nadua, and Marik were seated. They all greeted her with pitying glances, concealed by plastered smiles.

  Under normal circumstances, the assorted dishes of food gathered at the center of the table would’ve enticed her. As it was, she only filled a plate to appease the others and keep from being nagged. She proceeded to pick at the items blindly chosen and imagined the grub was delicious, if only her taste buds weren’t as numb as the rest of her.

  Around the room, Faieara danced to the beat of the music performed by a lively band. The singer’s voice was enthralling as she spouted the tale of a lonely patch of flowers, squatting in the shadows at the base of a tree. Sonya sensed there was an underlying meaning to her tune.

  After a moment of watching the blurred, faceless crowd, Sonya began to recognize some of the individuals. Azule was there, smiling and laughing, surrounded by a small pack of his guild. Anya had mentioned that they’d decided to move to the village and help rebuild as well as to seek out Ru. The bastard had betrayed Kyra and Cale, practically handing them to the Kayadon for a two day torture-fest. Ina had been captured, however, and claimed not to have known of the plot perpetrated by her mate.

  Ina now resided in the dungeon alongside two fully healed Kayadon—the one from the cliff and another that had been found within the palace. Sonya had heard through Anya they were repentant for their actions and had even offered to serve the Faieara, swearing allegiance to Kyra as queen. Thankfully no one was ready to trust them just yet. If Sonya had her way, they’d be relieved of their heads directly.

  Anya nudged her and then motioned for her to continue eating. She must have been staring off into space. She did that a lot lately.

  Another familiar face caught her attention. Ivan raised his glass at her from across the room. He and his men looked to be getting acquainted with a fawning group of females. Their smiles were radiant as the men animatedly regaled stories of battle.

  Ivan sent her a questioning look, subtly asking about his friend. Sonya shook her head. Ivan frowned. The room blurred from a wave of billowing tears. She quickly blinked them away.

  “Ivan’s fleet was a godsend,” Sebastian announced, following her line of sight.

  “Oh?” Sonya replied. It was an effort just to keep that tiny word from shaking its way out of her.

  “Aye. Not that the others were any less integral. According to reports, the Kayadon had been expecting a rebellion. Had been preparing for it, in fact. They had seers of their own, I suppose, and they might have even caught a few of our ships on radar. But they hadn’t been expecting the sheer force of our defenses.” Sebastian grinned smugly. “Albeit late, the arrival of Ivan’s fleet took the Kayadon by surprise and confused their efforts.”

  Marik guffawed. “They didn’t know their asses from their elbows.”

  Sonya forced a smile and scanned the crowd. “I don’t see the dragons.”

  “They took their fallen back to their planet,” Sebastian replied. “Aidan went with them.”

  Sonya fumbled with a hard chunk of food on her plate. She recalled Aidan coming to check on her and Ethan, offering positive thoughts and saying how glad he was to have met them both. She hadn’t realized it was a goodbye. She also hadn’t realized how attached she had become, and it hurt to think she might never see the dragon again.

  The room erupted in lively cheers. Sonya turned to see Kyra and Cale enter through a large archway, the Earthling and Rex not far behind.

  Sebastian groaned and rolled his eyes. “Cale is going to be impossible to deal with now. I don’t give a fuck about all this royal crap, and I am sure as hell not calling him Your Majesty.”

  Sonya actually cracked a genuine smile at that. Since Cale was Kyra’s chosen, he had been inaugurated alongside her. Sonya had missed the entire affair, but Anya had detailed it out for her later. There had been vows and everything.

  Her smile lasted until Cale and Kyra neared. Confusion twisted her features, just as her heartbeat stuttered.

  They are mated!

  Sebastian and Marik gaped at them as well.

  “How is it possible?” Marik breathed.

  Cale offered an arrogant smile and placed his arm around Kyra. “My little mate is remarkable. That’s how.” Then he delved into a tale about how their mother had discovered a drug that induced matebonds, even against a demon’s will. It had been used on Cale because Mother wanted Velicia in the family. He’d only learned of the plot recently when he’d approached Nadua to help him look into his past.

  Sonya would have been horrified at this new bit of information if she wasn’t fighting off a sick, selfish wave of jealousy. She tried to tamp it down and rationalize her way out of it, telling herself she only felt fury growing because of Ethan’s condition, but then Cale’s next words snapped something inside her.

  “Kyra healed me when she healed Ginn and that other Kayadon.”

  “You mean Ethan healed you,” she hissed, shooting to her feet and knocking her chair back in the process. “And now he can’t heal himself.”

  Cale appeared to be momentarily stunned. Then he averted his gaze as he rubbed the back of his neck. Tension exploded into thick silence. She could tell they were all scrounging for something to say, some way to comfort her, but she was on the verge of losing it. Great…now guilt over her outburst mixed with the grief that had already settled in the pit of her stomach. It wasn’t Cale’s fault, or even Kyra’s.

  Sonya pushed away from the table and mumbled, “I’m sorry,” before rushing from the room. She needed to remove herself before she sullied everyone’s good mood. They deserved to be happy and to celebrate. Hell, Cale should be screaming his joy from the towers. He’d been gifted with a second chance. Sonya could only wish to be so lucky.

  She pushed open the heavy wood door to Ethan’s room and froze. Icy dread vaulted up her spine.

  The bed was empty!

  “Ethan?” she croaked.

  Oh gods, why had she left him alone?

  The adjacent washroom door that she’d left open was now closed. Pulse pounding, she crossed the room and flung the door wide.

  Unmitigated relief surged, and she almost crumbled to her knees.

  Ethan stood looking into the mirror, a pair of sheers in his hand as he clipped the last of his long hair short. Severed white-blond tendrils lay along the counter top and at his feet.

  Her entry made him jump. Warily, he turned to her.

  Unable to temper her emotions, she threw herself into his arms and burst into incoherent sobs as she tried to ask if he was alright. He stood frozen for a moment, and then slipped his arms around her. Her crippling elation was complete, and she gripped him for support.

  Ethan threaded his fingers through the hair at her nape. “I woke, and you weren’t here. I assumed…” He paused. “I feared you…” His voice sounded scratchy and unused, with a hint of sorrow.

  She lifted her head to gaze at him, brows furrowed. “What? That I had died?”

  He shook his head, closing his eyes as if pained. “No. Not that.”

  She frowned. “That I didn’t care?”

  He grimaced.

  “Nothing could be further from the truth,” she assured, alarmed that he’d come to that conclusion. “Waiting for you to come back to me was the hardest thing I’d ever endured. I have never felt such dread. I was afraid I’d never be able to tell you how much you mean to me.”

  Ethan’s mouth parted slightly as he studied her expression. “And how is that?”

  She leaned in to capture his lips with hers. He responded instantly, molding his mouth against hers. His warmth chased
away a fraction of her anxiety.

  “You set my heart on fire,” she rasped.

  “And you command my very soul,” he countered in an equally husky tone. He bent to kiss her again, breathing her in as she did the same.

  She tightened her arms around his neck, and he recoiled slightly. “Are you still hurt?” She yanked herself away, but Ethan stayed her, his palms splayed across her back.

  “Just a little sore,” he said. “My magic is still replenishing. I can vaguely sense the kingdom is in the midst of celebration, but I’m healing the old-fashioned way.”

  “You should go back to bed. Oh, and food! I should bring you some food! Are you hungry? And blankets, if you’re cold. Or more fire crystals, perhaps?” She paused at his amused expression.

  “Just you. That’s all I want.”

  She knew her responding grin probably looked ridiculous and a bit drunken, though she’d had no liquor, but she didn’t care. “Well, you have me. And you’d better believe you’re stuck with me.”

  “Good.” He claimed her lips once more, hard and demanding, delving his tongue past her lips. By the time he pulled back, her breath had become labored and liquid desire pooled between her thighs. Then his tone turned rough. “How about we make it official.”

  She stilled. “You mean claim you?” Her throat went dry as her body thrilled at the idea.

  He nodded, his eyes darkening with lust. She loved the way they did that. The more he wanted her, the darker they’d become. And right now, his irises were nearly black.

  She shivered, her fangs making an appearance. His hooded gaze turned rapt as she slid her tongue over one. Then she eased backward, delighted when he followed as though unable to take his eyes from her.

  “I think we should get you cleaned up first. You have hair all over you. Why did you cut it anyway?” She crossed to the shower stall and turned the water to a pleasantly warm temperature.

  “So as not to resemble someone horrid from your past,” he said from behind.

  She jerked her head around, her throat thickening from a wave of emotion. “Oh, Ethan, you didn’t have to do that.”

  He shrugged. “It was by far my least painful sacrifice.”

  “Speaking of, I forbid you to ever do anything like what you did on that cliff.” She undid the buttons of his white shirt and slid the fabric over his broad shoulders, marveling at his muscular physique.

  “Haven’t even made me yours and already making demands?” He smirked.

  “I’m serious. You nearly died. Please promise me.”

  “How about this?” He unlaced the strings of her bodice. “I promise to never knowingly do something that would take me from you, if you agree to the same.”

  She agreed without hesitation, her breath coming in spurts as he freed her of the bodice. Their remaining clothing soon joined the puddles of cloth on the stone floor.

  He guided her under the shower spray, his hand caressing its way down her spine and over the swells of her backside. She allowed her fingertips to roam the hard planes of his shoulders and chest, committing every crevice to memory. White-hot desire made attempting to wash a bumbling endeavor.

  She gripped his engorged shaft, loving the heavy shudder that ran through him. While stroking him, she leaned in to nibble his earlobe, pulling another rumbling moan from deep in his chest. The sound was like a drug, dulling her mind and yet strengthening her senses. His scent was more acute, his heartbeat like the rush of wind against her eardrums.

  Her fangs throbbed, begging to sink into his flesh. It was almost like being on the Edge, but all she wished to contrive was pleasure.

  She sank to her knees and took him into her mouth, being careful with her fangs. He let out a guttural moan and, almost as if he couldn’t help himself, thrust into her mouth. But then he stilled and allowed her to slip her tongue over his soft flesh at her leisure. She teased the tip for a moment before drawing him deep.

  Foreign oaths escaped him as his body shook from her efforts. “You’re going to make me come if you keep that up,” he warned.

  She shot him a wry look, and then sucked him deeply, relentlessly.

  “Ah, gods, Sonya. You wicked female.” Hot liquid spurted the back of her throat, and she drank him down, wringing every last drop, reveling in the rolling shudders that raked over his body.

  He pulled her to stand and their lips connected under the spray, the water cascading over their heated skin. His thick finger slid between her legs, and he groaned in approval when he found her slick. He pressed her against the damp wall and teased her budding clitoris.

  “I want to hear you scream,” he growled.

  His forceful actions called to a primal corner of her brain that begged for more. Yet she was already on the verge of coming. He dipped his head to her neck and latched on with his teeth. The orgasm burst through her like a mini-explosion and her lungs rumbled as she cried out.

  Roughly, he pulled her into his embrace, branding her with a devastatingly blissful kiss that rendered her mindless for more. His thickening shaft was hard as stone against her stomach.

  She wasn’t entirely sure how they’d reached the bed without tripping over every item on the way—there may have been a crash that went ignored by both of them—and they were still covered in a patchwork of suds.

  She had, however, registered Ethan’s unusually stiff movements. Bruises and cuts still marred his body.

  “Sit against the headboard,” she ordered. When he did, she crawled across the mattress to straddle his lap, resting her elbows on his shoulders. They gazed at each other for a moment. Then Sonya inched down, impaling herself on his rigid shaft. Rapture surrounded them both, their eyelids sliding to half-mast.

  “You feel so damn good,” he ground out as she began moving atop him.

  Again a muddled—profoundly euphoric—version of the Edge had overcome her. Her fangs descended, throbbing painfully.

  “You want to put your pretty fangs in me?”

  She nodded, nearly whimpering with the need. Her hips undulated faster as if to punctuate her answer. He gripped her hips, his fingers digging into flesh as he gave one hard thrust. She moaned. Then his palms came around to cup to her ass as his shaft slid in and out of her. Her movements grew frenzied, her craving ravenous.

  Ethan watched her in riveted anticipation.

  Her heart fluttered wildly as her panting turned urgent. She leaned close, bringing her lips to hover over his neck. He turned his head to give her better access, the only encouragement she needed.

  His flesh gave way to her sharp little fangs.

  Exquisite ecstasy blasted her mind into oblivion, submerging her body into pleasure that was so intense it bordered on agony. Succulent, anguishing, merciless pleasure.

  She drew greedily from his pierced neck. Bliss bombarded her senses as the deluge bombarded her every cell.

  The great rumbling moan that came from him vibrated through her. His hips now drove into her with savage abandon, his shaft thick and invading.

  He let out a harsh groan, tensing for his impending release. She threw her head back on a rapturous scream as a succession of erotic spasms assailed her.

  She went limp, nuzzling her forehead against his shoulder. He hooked his arms around her and pulled her to him as they rode the tremors and fought to catch their breaths.

  Everything was changed.

  Chapter 39

  Sonya stretched out beside Ethan in utter contentment. His fingers lightly grazed her side and along her hipbone while she ran hers over his chest.

  They hadn’t spoken as their bodies descended from the impossible high of their passion. Sonya snuck a glance at him, finding his lids closed, a small curve to his lips. He peeked an eye at her.

  “How do you feel?” she asked.

  “A little sad.” His widening grin contradicted his words. “What a tragedy that can only be experienced once.”

  Sonya snorted. “If that happened every time, we would never get out of bed.” />
  “A meager sacrifice.”

  She laughed.

  With a hungry rumble from his chest, he rolled on top of her and planted kisses in the crevasse of her breasts.

  Sonya arched into his touch. “Again? You must be starving.”

  “Indeed.” His lips roamed lower, over her mid-section.

  Her tummy grumbled, and he tilted his head back to look up at her. Her cheeks flushed. “I’ve only eaten slightly more than you over the last couple of weeks.”

  He hid his surprise with an admonishing frown and stood. “Then let’s get you fed so I can have you back in bed with your body’s full attention.”

  She rolled off the mattress and slipped into a fresh skirt and top. After stepping into her boots, she ran her fingers through her disheveled hair.

  Ethan watched her with dark eyes as he buttoned his white shirt. He’d already donned a pair of black pants that had been neatly folded by the palace servants and placed alongside her clothing in their shared dresser.

  Then he escorted her into the hallway. As they made their way to the great hall, Sonya realized she actually felt nervous, but as they came to the top of the wide staircase, it was like seeing the space anew. No longer annoyingly miserable—filled with too many happy party-goers—it was brightly lit, ordained with intricate, architectural nuances that added an old-world and elegant atmosphere. Columns lined the walls, their smooth surfaces decorated by vine carvings in the stone. Tall windows on one wall cast shadows along the geometric notches in the high ceiling. Even the music sounded more jubilant.

  They had but reached the bottom of the stairs when Anya cried out with glee and raced toward them. She threw her arms around Ethan, and he stumbled back from the enthusiastic embrace.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she sputtered.

  The others approached, not far behind. Sonya caught the knowing look in both of her brothers’ features and flushed. She lifted her chin.

  Alarm spiked when they moved in to greet Ethan. “He’s still healing,” she warned. Cale’s palm halted mid-air, seconds from planting a harsh congratulation on Ethan’s back. Instead, he gripped Ethan’s shoulder and pulled him in for one of those quick masculine half-hugs. Sebastian and Marik did the same. Rex just offered his hand. Zoey, a kind smile. And Nadua and Kyra fretted over his still visible bruises.