by Grey, T. A.
Their lips clung together, neither having enough energy to actually purse their lips to kiss. “Tomorrow, we mate,” he said.
“Okay,” she said, breathless. Her eyes never opened.
He found the energy somehow to pull out of her and spoon against her. He heard her breathing deepen and spoke up before the thought left him.
“Maybe purple.”
“Huh?” she whispered.
“Maybe our children will have violet hair. A mixture of both of us.”
She sighed, a smile curling her lips up. “I like that.”
He thought of the color his brother's eyes used to be. “Yeah, I'd like that too.”
CHAPTER 46
The next morning Lily didn't get to see Telal at all. He was whisked away by peers early in the morning and all he told her was that they would prepare for the mating ceremony and see each other later.
Her stomach danced with butterflies but excitement too. Someone knocked at the door and she answered it, relieved to find her sisters.
“I'm so happy you're here! Come in!” Her sisters tugged her into a hard hug.
“God, we're so happy you're all right,” Chloe said, tears in her eyes. They'd talked over the phone since the big fight in the rift but she hadn't seen them yet.
“Yeah, me too.”
“We're proud of you,” Willow said.
Lily blushed and waved her off. “Don't get all gushy on me or you'll make me cry. So how's mom doing?”
Chloe looked grim. “Better, I guess. She won't leave her room but she talks every now and then. We've brought her some of dad's things. Old pictures, his journal and such. She just started crying when she saw them. I don't know if it'll help or make it worse to be honest.”
“She just needs time. This is a huge change for her. Is she...coming?”
Chloe looked away. “I asked her to come but she wouldn't say anything. I'm sorry, Lily.”
Lily nodded, her lips pulling into a tight smile. “It's okay. I understand.” She did even though it still hurt her. She was content with just having her mother back one way or the other. Maybe in time, who knew, she'd be able to have a normal conversation with her.
A soft knock came at the door. “Aren't I famous today?” Lily opened it to a dark-skinned stunner of a woman. The woman smiled politely and held a white box in her hands. It shined like it was made of opals.
“Hello, I'm Celine. I'm here to begin the ritual.”
Lily let her in and took a seat by the fireplace. “Ritual? This doesn't involve bloodletting or tattooing?” She laughed a bit nervously. Her sisters sat around her on the floor. Their nearness comforted her, eased the butterflies in her stomach.
“No bloodletting, but a form of tattoo, yes.”
Lily's eyebrows shot to her hairline. “Hey, I'm all for skin art, but it's not for me. What is this?”
Celine smiled in understanding then knelt before her, lifting the opal box with a small golden latch up. “This contains the ritual instruments.”
“She said instruments, this doesn't sound good,” muttered Willow.
“Shh!” Chloe said.
Celine opened the latch and pulled the top up. Lily squinted at the objects inside. Inside was a glass container the size of an ink well with a paint-like substance inside the color of chocolate and a cone-shaped object that looked like it was made out of parchment paper.
“What is all this?”
Celine picked up the ink well object. “This is the sacred bowl or durku. Inside it contains a special ink that I will use to paint onto your body. This cone, the lathu, will hold the ink so I may draw precisely onto your skin. It will look very beautiful on your paler skin.”
“Why do you do this though?”
“It is our way. When a mating occurs each demon, err,” she blushed, the look stunning on her dark skin, “person has sacred symbols and words painted onto their hands, feet, and stomach. It is the final binding.”
“Is it permanent?”
She shook her head. “No, it will come off naturally in a few days. Washing it helps, though most newly mated couples prefer to let it wear away on its own.”
“I see, let's begin then, shall we?”
Lily had to undress completely and lay down on the bed. Celine lit white and red candles around the bed on the floor. For “purifying and love” she said.
She wasn't exactly comfortable having her sisters see her naked but they were more focused on watching Celine work. Celine poured some of the liquid into the cone. The substance did pour like paint, too, Lily noted. The cone came to a very fine point to where Celine kept a finger pressed across it so none of it would spill.
She settled on her knees at the end of the bed, one of her feet pulled up on her lap. “I shall begin now if you're ready.”
Lily nodded and Celine set to work. What unraveled was a piece of art on her foot that covered her toes up to her ankle. The lines were intricate, the design incredible. Lily looked at her sisters’ faces and saw that they, too, had their jaws on the ground.
“How can you make such fine detail with that little cone?”
Celine smiled. “A lot of practice, my lady.”
What looked like small flowers colored the edge of each toe with leaves coming off to cover the toes. Extending off of that, leaf-like patterns swept up her feet intermixed with demonic letters. Around her ankles thin lines were drawn then branched upward in triangles with wavy lines off them.
Similar yet different patterns were pained onto her stomach from hip to hip and then each of her hands. The design covered the top and bottom of her hand extending from fingernail to wrist. Her fingers had the lines traveling down them with little ticks coming off each side. But that was only a small part of the major design that was a flower in full bloom drawn in the middle of her palm.
“It's so beautiful,” Lily said in awe.
Celine finished and packed up her tools. “Thank you very much.” Celine went into the hall then came back a few seconds later. “This is your gown.”
Lily whistled. The black dress looked sexy, flowing, and half see-through. “Telal will like this.” Chloe slapped her in the arm. “I probably deserve that one.”
With the help of her sisters, Lily dressed. A black slip went first and felt like real silk—soft and luscious against her skin. It didn't completely cover her shoulder, and it slid down, barely, to mid-thigh. Lily kept looking down at her painted feet, which, in a way, resembled sandals and her hands, gloves.
“It's beautiful, Lily.” Chloe sighed with a look of longing. “I'll have to get a henna artist to color me up some time. I think Tyrian will like it.”
“Count Lyonis in too,” added Willow.
Over the slip went the lace, gauzy-like material that she could see her skin through. It was a wrap that she had to hold the fringed ends to keep on. It also fell to mid-thigh.
“Is this all I wear?”
Celine nodded, her eyes bright. “You look very lovely. No shoes, no gloves, wear only this! The ceremony will begin when you come out front. Someone will be waiting for you downstairs to ensure you do everything properly.” She left and Lily turned to her sisters.
“I almost feel insulted by that but, hell, I have no idea what I'm doing.”
“You'll be fine,” Chloe said. She hugged her and kissed her. “I'm going downstairs. I can't wait to see this. I'd tell you that if you are still undecided I have a car parked at the curb, but let's just say I have Draven downstairs and he's prepared to port you out, if necessary.”
Lily laughed. “That won't be necessary. I love him.”
Chloe's eyes softened. “I know.” She left then it was Willow's turn.
“I love you so much, little sis. We wouldn’t be able to survive without you. You've always been special, different. Lucky for both of us, I got over my envious stage when I was eighteen.” Willow wrapped her in a hug. “I love you. Take care of yourself and your demon. And if he ever pisses you off, let me know. I have a man that can
shapeshift.”
Lily laughed, tears wobbling and falling from her eyes. She started to wipe them away but Willow caught her hand with an unsteady sigh. She used her own hand to wipe them away.
“Don't use your hands on those tears now. This shit might wash off.”
“Right, good point.” Willow gave her a smile and wink then left.
Lily waited a few minutes then peered out the window. She faced the wrong side of the castle but she could hear what sounded like a crowd of people. Her stomach tightened again, rolling around like she'd eaten something bad. Unable to wait anymore, Lily stepped out of the room and made her way downstairs.
Two women waited for her. From their expensive clothing, she placed them to be royalty. They smiled at her.
“My lady,” the first with bright red hair said, bowing, “I am honored to present you. This is Prucilla and I am Jordana. We are but old friends of Telal's.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“You are so beautiful,” Prucilla said, her face breaking into tears.
Jordana slapped Prucilla's arm. “Don't cry now. The ceremony hasn't even begun yet. Now, my lady, once you step outside you will walk to Telal. Trust me, he'll be straight ahead. Then he will guide you in front of the people. There he will recite sacred vows to you and you will return them. And that is all, okay?”
Lilly nodded fast. “Yes, okay.” Her heart pounded and she tried to slow it but that only made her start to perspire.
“Please relax; once you see him you'll know everything's is fine.”
Lily took a deep breath and decided it best not to wait. Better to just get this over with. So she opened the door by the metal rung and stepped outside and into a massive crowd of royalty and non-royalty, of friends and family. She had only a moment to be overwhelmed when her eyes caught on Telal. He waited for her at the bottom of the stairs in a pair of fitted black trousers that stopped above the knee and nothing else. His stomach, hands and feet held the same painted drawings as hers did. On his golden skin, it looked breathtakingly beautiful.
Lily smiled and went to him. His own smile melted her heart and made it beat fast like a galloping horse. He locked their hands together, the paintings meshing perfectly as if they'd been meant to do so and then he walked down a path that had been carved out of the crowd. Everyone hushed and only the sound of the wind stirring the grass and trees graced her ears.
A man wearing a ceremonial gown of red, gold, and blue stood at the end of the row, his hands clasped behind his back.
“Nervous?” Telal said so only she could hear.
“Yes.”
“Don't be, I love you.”
She sighed and some of the weight on her shoulders eased. “I love you too.”
The ceremony began announcing her as the new queen of the shahoulin demons and mate to King Telal Demuzi. Everything passed in a rush as the leader in the robe, a holy man, she learned, shared words of love, trust, honor, and commitment. Then he ordered them to stand across from each other and hold out their hands.
Lily's gaze was captivated on the design as their fingertips just met. The design perfectly mirrored by his and she smiled at it, her eyes meeting his in wonder. He looked so young and happy, as if the worries of everything that had happened were erased, if only for this moment.
The holy man turned to Telal and said, “It is your turn.”
Telal's smile faded into a solemn expression. “Lily Bellum, I vow to love and honor you in the ways a man should from now until forever. Let these designs be a symbol of the ties that bind us together, that were created out of love, anger, trust, and friendship. May these ties never break even after the paint is washed away. May our love never sway but grow stronger, tying us closer for the rest of our days.”
His speech ended and tears fell from Lily's eyes. He smiled gently at her and looked so humbled that she wanted to squeeze him in her arms and kiss him for a very long time. The crowd looked onto her now, waiting for her.
With help from him repeating certain lines, she performed her part of the vows feeling her heart pouring into every single word. The last word fell from her trembling lips and the crowd stood full of cheers and cries.
Telal smiled down at her, then pulled her into his arms in a smooth move, bent her over his arm, leaned down in a dancer's move, then kissed her in front of all.
“I love you,” she said against his lips.
“I love you, my lilit.”
They turned to the crowd and he held up their painted hands. The holy man behind them yelled in a great booming voice, “King Telal Demuzi and his mate Queen Lily Demuzi!”
Through the sea of crowded faces, one person stood out. She didn’t cheer but wore a small smile that caught her attention. Her breath stalled in her lungs. Telal noticed the change and looked at her in question.
“My mother,” she said, her voice strained. “She came.”
In the back of the crowd, dressed in a pretty dress stood her mother, not clapping or shouting but looking at her with lucid eyes and a smile. Lily cried hard, smiling at her mother the whole way though.
“You look so much like her.”
Lily blinked back the tears and waved to the crowd once more. “Let's feast!”
They stood there, watching the crowd disperse into the castle to celebrate. “I do, don’t I?”
Telal pulled her against him, flattening their painted hands together. “I love you, Lily.” He said it in such a serious voice she laughed.
“And I love you.”
His eyes flicked to the castle, his eyes darkening in a way that tightened things inside her, made her breath catch. “Why don't we sneak upstairs for a minute and...?”
She snatched him by the head, bringing his lips to hers. “I thought you'd never ask.” Then she kissed him and let him take her away.
EPILOGUE
Twigs and leaves crunched under his boots. Crunch, crunch, thump. He managed two more steps before he collapsed against a tree, panting.
His chest felt like it’d been shredded, ravaged from the inside out. His fingers prodded his chest expecting to find black blood, but alas, his skin was whole. It was his heart that hurt. That seemed to make every inch of his body heavy and ache with pain.
With heavy steps, he kept moving. Going further and further into unknown lands, out of the shahoulin territory. He kept seeing her. Alive one moment, gone the next. Blood-pumping rage pulsated inside him, demanding someone’s blood. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Telal’s he wanted.
He shook his head. That couldn’t be right. His mind was messed up, not acting correctly. He’d seen Telal’s spell tear into his Arianna, saw the life die from her eyes. He choked, tears wetting his eyelashes. He stumbled, tripped, and fell hard to the ground. He grunted, and pulled out a rock from beneath him that had jabbed against his hip.
Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the sky. Night had come. How long had he been walking?
“Arianna…” He choked on her name, saying it seemed to squeeze the pain around his heart even tighter until it reached an unbearable level. He wanted to curl on his side and cry until every ounce of his strength was sapped. Leave himself there to die. Let the animals get him. He didn’t need to live. He was a monster.
No. He had to move. Bracing one hand, then the other, he slowly sat up, put one knee on the ground then the other and pushed himself up. He wobbled but he kept walking. His mind was the only thing he had in the silent woods. And his mind was working overtime.
Telal hadn’t killed him. God, he wished he’d done it. Ended his unnatural, dark existence once and for all. Was that why he no longer felt anger at him? No…no. His thoughts spun, twirled, and came together slowly as he walked further and further, the sky growing hazier with night.
No, only one person deserved his wrath. Only one person was the cause of all this. The master manipulator using him, turning him from who he used to be. If not, then he’d still had enough goodness in him to heal Arianna.
I could have save
d her.
His arms flexed, bunching hard until pain flared up. He gave a harsh shout and slammed his fist into a tree. The whipping crack and broken branches that rained down over him relieved his anger—if only slightly.
His eyes cleared from the tears. He stared off into the night with a clarity he hadn’t felt in a long, long time. The realization was so sudden, he quickly glanced down at his hands, wondering if they’d be golden again.
His hands curled into hard fists at the sight of the dark black color. No, it wouldn’t be that easy. Nothing was. His mother. She was the answer to everything. He had to find her, and he had to kill her.
A garbling sound, crackling like teeth clicking together stole his attention. Alrik’s head whipped to the side his ears twitching to hear. A high-pitched cry tore through the air, then running steps came straight towards him.
Fuck. Alrik tore off to the side running as fast as his weak body would take him. The sounds, the cries came closer. Idummi. He focused as his chest pumped hard and his lungs burned. Four of them, eight feet stomping into the ground after him. He had no goddamned weapons on him or he’d relish the fight. Alrik slowed at the thought. A fight…the thought brought him to a stop, turning around.
With Arianna’s death fresh in his mind, he stood, waiting and let them come to their death.
Read on for a sneek peek at Alrik’s book—The Fallen King. Coming in 2012!
The body lay lifeless on its back facing whoever ended her life, left arm bent curved around her head, right knee bent out towards the street.
“All right, Krenshaw, do your thing,” Abbigail’s supervisor, Mike Waxell said.
Abbigail took a deep breath and let it out through her nose. She already had her latex gloves donned and cloth booties over her shoes. The booties weren’t always necessary, but in this case, there was so much blood, they all had to wear them. Everything would have to be processed, with stabbing victims often the murderer cut himself too. Some of this blood might be the murderers.