“Saw that did you?” she asked dryly.
“Why?”
“Tomas told me all about her as she slept off the effect of his feeding.” Her dainty hand pressed against my forehead again, trying to cool me down. “She is special, isn’t she? Even if he had not explained who she was, I would still feel the need to help you. He told me it was likely you would follow her here, and that you would challenge him. He knew the chances of facing you and surviving were slim. He wanted to try and protect her as best he could, so, he gave her me.” Daphne sighed heavily and I could imagine her white-blonde braids falling over her shoulder as she titled her head. “And as for why I am not attacking you … I understand what has happened here. I accept it. Tomas knew despite Rae’s promise that when the blood tie formed it was likely the end of him. She had a high fairy mate; of course, it was over for him. He brought her here to try … to just … try and see if there was even the slightest chance he could make it work. But you and I know it was nothing but a matter of time before Gwendolyn killed her. Even with Tomas’ protection added to my own we could never hold back an entire Nest, and Rae can’t use magic in this city because of Cael’s enchantments. It was best you came for her.”
Breandan was quiet for a long time. I slipped deeper into the darkness. “I am her protector,” he said.
“Yes, and I am not trying to steal that from you, but I swore that I would guard her body with my own. Tomas is…. Tomas is gone but I will honor my promise. I have never been one to believe in destiny, but I think it might be my calling to protect her. And that is what I’m going to do whether you like it or not.”
“I have no quarrel with you.”
“Despite what you think I have none with you because she doesn’t.” Daphne touched my cheek softly.
“The day she does?” Was that humor in his tone? Breandan talking to a vampire and sounding amused?
“On that day I hope you’re ready to see how a warrior of my kind fights. But the way Rae feels about you ... I don’t think I’ll have to hurt you for a long while yet.”
“If you betray her–”
“Never,” Daphne replied fiercely then urged in the same breath, “but I don’t have time to convince you of that. We must go. We cannot be here when the Nest returns. We must get Rae out of the city. Cael will be furious when he discovers she was here and Gwendolyn kept her from him. He’ll send the Nest to find her, and we must be far from the city. Safe, so she can rest. We don’t have much time, and I’ll need to find somewhere to rest for the day.”
“Her safety is my main concern but I–” Breandan cursed the gods under his breath. “I must find the grimoire. My brother needs it.”
Daphne breathed out sharply. “I have the grimoire.”
His body tensed. “How did that happen?”
“Who do you think captured the High Lord?” Daphne sounded proud, fierce. “I am the Nest hunter. No other of my kind can match me in a fair fight.”
Breandan was quiet for what seemed an age. “He gave her your protection. He gave her his immortal life.” The hold he had on me tightened as he burrowed his face in my neck and breathed in deeply. “He loved her.” It was not a question, but a sadly spoken statement of fact.
“Yes. Yes he did.”
Breandan rubbed his cheek on my temple. “I tried to warn her,” he murmured. “I didn’t want her to see him … he left me no choice.”
Daphne’s cool hand swept my hair back from my face. Shuddering at the cold, I scrunched my eyes tighter together and curled myself into Breandan’s warmth.
“Words will never make what you did less painful for her,” Daphne said sharply. “Remember that.”
My fairy cupped my face with his hand and pressed kisses to my eyelids, my cheeks, and forehead. I gripped his wrists, feeling his pulse beat steady and strong beneath my fingertips.
Tomas had loved and betrayed me. He lured me to his Nest so his family could feed from me – to become revived as I faded. The demon had broken my heart in two. He tied himself to me in blood then turned his back on the trust I gifted to him. He was a vampire, a dark predator who was never mine, he had always belonged to another. No matter what he felt for me, he had made his choice.
In the end he had chosen them, his family … and rightly so.
I cannot keep you with me, Tomas. Should you stay it would end me. I would not be able to breathe through the pain of your loss. I cannot hide in shadows of your dark. And I choose not to.
The darkness dissipated with a sigh.
The glow pulsed; filling me with warmth and love so luminous, it threatened to blind me. For the briefest of moments, my eyes fluttered open and I glimpsed eyes of liquid silver.
“I am with you,” I breathed.
Breandan’s mouth brushed across my jaw and the tip of his tongue gathered my tears, as if losing them to another caused him pain. “Beyond forever,” he murmured and pressed his lips to mine.
The sound of vampire shrieks drawing nearer had my heart thumping erratically.
After that there was only a memory of darkness.
*
THE DEMONS
The High Fairies
**Rae (Priestess) – *Breandan
Devlin (High Lord) – Wasp (High Lady)
Conall
Lochlann (High Lord)
*Maeve
Northern City Vampire Nest
*Tomas – Gwendolyn (Queen)
Daphne
Shifter Pride
*Alec (Omega)
Amelia
Nimah
Byron (Alpha)
Blackthorn Witch Coven
~Cael (The Father)
Ana
Slum Vodoun
Papa Obe (Houngan)
Alex (Zombie Mambo)
Roland (Bokor)
The Goblin Horde
~Runt (Horde Origin Unknown)
– Mated pair
Name Deceased
Title Dethroned
* Mated demon with a special bond
~ A half-breed; half human and half demon
A NOTE FROM PENELOPE
Thank you for reading book number two of The Rae Wilder series. I hope you enjoyed delving to Rae’s world in more depth, and learning more about the supernatural creatures in the dystopian society.
If you have read book one you will know this is an Independently Published series, and feedback is greatly appreciated. Please leave a review, as I like to hear opinions on my work. Remember you can always come talk to me in person on the Facebook Fan Page or Twitter.
To learn more about me you can see my Independent Authors Network Page. My writer’s blog Fiction Fierce, or my Author Website PenelopeFletcher.com
I hope you will continue on to read the third and final chapter in Rae’s story, Demon Dark. Read on for the blurb.
thedemongirl.com
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DEMON DARK
He will love her, beyond forever....
Reeling from the brutal demise of her vampire, Rae’s fragile emotions become unhinged. Lochlann demands she keeps the bond with his brother secret, and the duties of High Priestess threaten to crush her rebellious nature. Breandan is her warrior, her light in the dark, but even he cannot hope to protect Rae from her own blood, and the extremes his need to possess her push him to. At odds with his kin, struggling with his own purpose, he fights for his claim on Rae to be honored.
The he-witch gathers power, and the land is disquieted. Cael’s evil taints everything he touches, and the sky burns red, a herald of his war. But something about him draws Rae, compels her to seek him out.
Rae must break the irons of doom to embrace her fate. She must become the Priestess demonkind cry out for, and wield magics that are hers by birthright. Or watch from the arms of her love, as the world perishes in flames.
Out September 2011
CREDITS
Cover Image
©iStockphoto.com/egorr
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Penelope Fletcher, Demon Day
Demon Day Page 34