“Once again, I am sorry for my part in your—and her—suffering. I hope you can forgive me.”
“Somehow I doubt I ever will.”
Chapter Thirteen
The helicopters were met by a host of Dardaptoans, including young Josey and Mickey. Even Josey’s dog—a little Border collie named Freedom—sat waiting for the helicopters to empty their contents.
Rathan lifted his female down from the bowels of the vehicle, then watched as she approached Josey, giving her a quick inspection. Josey smiled her sweet, shy smile and said something with her hands that Mickey quickly translated. Kindara stepped back after giving a nod. Then Kindara motioned to the group debarking behind her. “And Josey, there are some people who’ve been anxious to see you for themselves.”
Jason looked up at that moment and saw his oldest daughter. His youngest let out a squeal and bounded the fifty feet separating her from her sister. Even the dog barked a happy greeting. Jason rushed to his daughter and scooped her close then pulled Jade into a three way hug; the obvious love he felt for his children clear for all to see. Rathan could only hope he felt the same for his own spawn. Rand hugged his own younger sister before setting her aside.
Rathan took a moment to study the place his female called home. It was a large, grand structure and he knew it masqueraded as a luxury hotel. In truth, it housed all the Dardaptoan governmental offices and most of the members of the royal houses.
As far as Rathan could remember, each Dardaptoan tribe had close to ten royal families, headed by one family, one king. All Dardaptoan families were denoted by the color of the sashes the individual members wore. A Dardaptoan wearing white was royalty, within the House they represented.
Josey wore the green that Rathan remembered Kindara and her daughter wearing. Mickey wore a sash the color of the richest red wine, her sister Mallory the color of turquoise. It was easy to pick out Mickey’s Rajni; he wore the same wine sash, and stood close to her. She reached for him as her brother spoke to her, weaving her fingers through the Dardaptoan male’s. It told Rathan volumes, to see the normally reserved Mickey touching a male.
The king spoke, gave some instructions before leading the group into the building. The interior was as luxurious as Rathan expected and decorated in whites and oranges of King Rydere’s House; it was equally as opulent as his own palace beneath the earth’s surface. He was hit by an unexpected wave of homesickness that he ruthlessly pushed aside. He would be in his palace soon enough, but with his female by his side. Securing her and his spawn was more important than any momentary emotional lapses on Rathan’s part.
Just inside what Rathan suspected was considered the hotel’s lobby the Dardaptoan king stopped and faced the rest of the party. He bowed slightly. “For those of you who are related to my Rajni, we will have rooms arranged for you on the family floor—for the rest of your men, Taniss, I suggest rooms on the second. They are your rooms for as long as you visit—and it is an open-ended invitation.”
His Rajni stepped to his side, drawing attention her way. Now she seemed comfortable with the attention, whereas before Rathan knew--from brushing her mind in dreams—attention had made her extremely nervous. But she’d always managed to do what her family required of her as heir. He strongly suspected the Dardaptoan king would make her happy and that pleased him greatly. Emily nodded to two female servants dressed in pale yellow tunics that had hovered unobtrusively at the group’s edge since they’d entered. “We’re arranging a celebratory dinner to be served at seven, Uncle Jason. Rand. We’ll send someone to bring you to the family dining room a few minutes before. Until then, while we wait for your rooms to be readied, maybe you’d like a tour? Kindara, Josey, Barlaam, and I have some things to discuss so we can’t join you—but Mickey and Mal can. They can answer any of your questions, I think. If not, Aodhan’s sister may be able to.” She motioned to the tall woman who’d met them just inside the lobby. She was a pretty woman with the same chestnut hair as her brother. She looked so much sturdier than Rathan’s female. He frowned again. Would he ever shake this all-consuming worry? “Aureliana?”
“Of course.”
Rathan didn’t want to be parted from his mate, but what option did he have? He would cooperate with these Dardaptoans until he had the time to confront her privately.
****
Barlaam stared at her, and Kindara could see the answer in his eyes. She dropped her chin to rest on her chest before she spoke. “It’s true, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Barlaam wrapped strong hands around her upper arms and pulled her closer. Kindara dropped her head to his broad chest, hugging him tightly. This was her best friend, her partner in the quest to find cures for their people. Nobody understood her like her fellow healer. “Kinney, did he...force you? Use some demon chemical or hormone against you?”
“Was it willing, you mean?”
“Was it? He’s a damned incubus, after all.”
“At the time, it was willing. I can’t even say that it wasn’t; he got what he wanted and I got what I demanded. Goddesses, Barlaam, what am I supposed to do? How the hell am I supposed to tell Cormac or Jierra about this?” She worried the problem for a moment before another occurred to her. “Is...is the babe ok? I mean, I’ve never heard of a Dardaptoan and demon babe before.”
“The babe will be strong and healthy because it’s father is demon. It’s your wellbeing that will be the most precarious, Kinney. You know that.” Barlaam frowned. “You might need more than just bagged blood from here on out. And you’ll need to rest more than what you do. You’ll need some supplements, as well.”
“He gave me his blood.” Kindara resisted the urge to lick her lips as she remembered how the damned demon had tasted. “Will demon blood effect anything? Negative or positive?”
“I’ve never studied demon blood, Kinney. I just don’t know. If I had some to test, compare with ours, I’d maybe be able to answer that.”
“Oh, you’ll get plenty of demon blood, because I’m going to go drain him dry. Right now.”
Chapter Fourteen
He would much rather be with his woman than touring the hotel. But she had needed the time from him, he had had no difficulty understanding or seeing that. He’d give her that time, for when she realized that he was in the right of it, she would have little time away from him. A proper demon woman would know that her place was beside her demon’s side, especially while carrying his spawn.
He must keep her safe.
“Where does Kindara sleep?” His question was bold and it earned him surprised looks from all but Rand and Jason. They knew him well enough to know that if he didn’t receive a satisfactory answer he would simply find her rooms himself. Nothing would keep him from her side.
“I doubt that she would want me sharing that information with you.” Aureliana, their redheaded host, eyed Rathan with a considering glint in yellow eyes. One feminine hand rested lightly on the hilt of a sword as she looked at him. This was a woman warrior, but it mattered little to Rathan. Kindara was his; they could not keep him from her. “She’s extremely private, and I’ve made it one of my jobs to preserve that privacy.”
“I will find her myself, then. Thank you for your time.” He nodded politely to her, and smiled at Mal and the rest of the Taniss women who had accompanied their group. He flashed, his woman in him mind as his ultimate destination.
****
She took the back way, past the indoor pool where Jierra and Jambu used to spend so much of their time while in high school. Jambu’s treachery would still have to be dealt with, but Kindara felt the medical needs and research of her people must ultimately come first.
How was she to reconcile a babe’s needs with her peoples? Could she do it? When Ji was young, Kindara was focused on her exclusively. Had needed to be to heal from her loss. But now the stakes for the Dardaptoan race was so much larger. Would it be fair—could she be fair to a babe in the midst of trying to save her people?
Damn him. And damn herself for
not even considering...
Had she ever heard of a half demon half Dardaptoan babe before? They weren’t even of the same worlds, demons and Dardaptoans. Demons lived in what she understood to be a completely other realm created by gods far different than the ones who’d created her peoples, the Kinds of her worlds. Yes, humans inhabited her world, but they came after. Were transplanted after the waters of Eiophon came down. Humans attributed the flood to their Noah, but Kindara knew it was the god who’d created the Lupoiux wreaking havoc with their world. Demons followed the humans to this world occasionally—so Cormac had said—usually for nefarious reasons. No Dardaptoan and demon had cross mated, that Kindara had ever heard.
Lucky her to be the first.
A pop behind her had her spinning to face the bastard who’d ruined her careful plans. “You!”
He grinned, sending his eyes flashing flame. Kindara could actually smell the heat of him. “Me. I’ve come for you, pet.”
“To do what? Ruin another plan I’ve made?”
“To determine what it is we are to do. For you, for our spawn. Rathan the Second will be a great leader someday.”
It took every ounce of her willpower to refrain from thunking him on his thick head. “Iustis will be a great healer. If it’s a boy. If it’s a girl, I don’t know what I will call her.”
“Of course it will not be female. First born Malickus spawn are always male. We will have daughters later. At least one daughter would be nice. If you can safely carry more spawn.” He stepped closer, sending her retreating. She stopped only when she felt the cold of the wall behind her. He loomed in front of her, his silk-clad chest brushing her bare arms where she’d crossed them in front of herself. “We have all the time in the world to discuss it. Come, I think you’ve been on your feet long enough for today, don’t you?”
“I am not going anywhere with you.”
“What if I simply took you again? I vowed to get you home safely. I’ve done that. Nothing says I cannot take you again.” His words slipped against the skin of her neck and Kindara fought not to react. She had admitted to herself earlier that she did find him attractive. Almost as much as she had Iavius. “And again, and again. As many times each night and day as you want me to.”
Disloyalty had her hating herself. Hating him so much more. Of course she would find him attractive, his kind was designed to lure women physically. But she should be stronger than that. Her hands flattened against his chest. She tried to push, but he was as hard as granite against her. “Back off, demon!”
“Or what?” Sharp teeth grazed her along her chin. “You’ll deny me—us—this? I don’t think you can. I know you enjoyed what we did as much as I. You’re a healthy and beautiful female. You have needs as much as any other woman does. Why should I not be good enough to fulfill your needs? I am a king, after all. Who better? I can give you everything you want, pet. And will do so happily. It is my right as your lover.”
“You coerced me under conditions that were false.” Tears of anger had her words choking out. “How does that give you rights over me? You consider me less than real, more like property. You want, you take. How is that right?”
Confusion covered his face when he pulled back slightly. “Of course I consider you real. That’s a ridiculous assumption. Don’t you understand? I would die for you and our spawn. Willingly. And I would give you all that I can. And that is a considerable amount. How can that be so wrong? A demon woman would kill for what I am offering—”
“But that’s just it. I’m no demon woman and you are no Dardaptoan. And this should never have come to be.”
****
“But it has. I never intended to spawn with you. But I am not displeased that it is you who carry my first spawn.” Rathan ran his knuckles over the skin of her cheek. She lowered her eyes from him and tried to turn away. He wouldn’t let her. “We can make the best of this, pet. Make a family for our spawn. Do we not owe it to him...or her?”
“How? I’ve a purpose for my people. One I will not give up, even for a babe. Especially for a babe! Do you know how many of our women are taken by blood loss during childbirth? Or strange infections that weaken our bodies afterword? Making it difficult to nurse our babes—who often are lost to starvation in the months past birth? It is my task, my calling, to find a way to stop this!”
Fear was a cold sword through him. It wasn’t just her people who faced that; it was Mickey and Mallory, Josey and Emily, now. They would face the same threats. His girls, his loves. His family. Kindara. Her daughter. All faced such threats now. “I know of your women’s plight. And if it will help you, I pledge all my people’s resources to assist you in your search for answers. A mate is to help, and isn’t that what we now are?”
“We will never be mates. I have had only one mate, and you are not him.” Venom soaked each of her words.
“I will not be him. But I will not compete with a dead man, either, pet. You and I have a future together. What we make of it is up to us. Do not tempt me to just take you from this place altogether. I can do it, easily. I just have to open a single porthole and you and I can pass through to my lands. Do you want me to do that? Just take you from your home and your child? I don’t want to do that. But this is my child and my heir growing here.” He cupped a hand over her stomach, ignoring her hissing and arching away. “I will stop at nothing to protect him—or you.”
“And if I tell my brother to kill you? To set his men after you? What will you do then?”
“Think you that he would do it? Josey is a particular friend for me, like a wee sister to me. Think you she would allow your brother to hurt one of her family? Would he choose you over his mate?” Rathan smiled at the anger and uncertainty on a stubborn yet beautiful face. “Might as well accept it, my love. I am yours and you are mine. We might not be Rajnis in the true sense of the word for your people but we will be forming a life together. It is up to you how pleasant that life will be.”
He would have said more but the sound of running feet—feet of a youth from the sounds—silenced him. A boy of about ten rounded the corner, his garb of gray stating he was a servant, his sash of orange shouting royal line. “Lady Kindara! I’ve been searching for you.”
“Yes, Briken?” No hint of their conversation and its effects on her was evident in her tone or manner as she spoke to the child. “What is it?”
“Lady Aureliana and Lord Aodhan requested your presence in the Green Room.” The boy eyed Rathan with fascination and fear. Rathan considered flashing his horns at the child, but knew the boy would be thrilled if he did. To the Dardaptoans, demons were the bogeymen in many stories. And here he was, a living one in their home—he would be a true curiosity for many. “About your trip that was interrupted, milady.”
Kindara nodded. “Thank you, Briken. You did well to deliver the message. Now run along. I think some of your friends are gathering around the pools.”
He nodded and bowed before taking off at an almost run.
Rathan wrapped a hand around her arm. “You will not be going on anymore of such trips. It is too dangerous.”
“I will not be told what I can and cannot do by one such as you.” Her words were calmer now, yet he sensed the true resolve behind them. “I’ve made my own decisions for decades, even centuries. That has not changed despite your delusions.”
“If you insist, I will stop you. Count on it, pet. You can continue this quest to help your peoples, and I will help you, but it will be done safely.” On that he was not wavering. “Now where is this green room the boy spoke of? I will accompany you before taking my leave for a while.”
****
Kindara felt the weight of their entire conversation sitting on her shoulders as she allowed him to walk beside her. Allowed him? She could not stop him; he’d made that more than adequately clear to her from the moment he had pushed her over the hood of her car.
He was stronger physically and much more powerful. And thought his words would become law over her.
&
nbsp; But they were in her home, where she had her people—her brother, her king—to protect her. He would not take her from them.
But could she fault him for wanting his child? Even though he saw such child as only a possession, as his precious heir, he still wanted that babe. And was willing to take her to get what he wanted.
If she was completely honest that chafed. He did not want her for who she was; he wanted her for the child she carried. He had taken her originally because of her connection to Cormac and to King Rydere. He had wanted her for position and circumstance only. Now it was because of the babe. Could she accept that? How was she to stop him without him being killed?
She did not want that to eventualize. She didn’t want another man’s death upon her hands. How would she explain that to the babe someday? Mommy had your father killed because he thought he owned her?
He would not own her, but how was she to prevent him taking her? She stopped outside the hall leading to the conference room. “Look...demon. I cannot do this. I need time to think this through.”
“Cannot do what? The babe? That is already a given; neither of us have much choice where the child is concerned. You will be his mother, I his father.”
“But how? Where? I cannot leave my people. I do not even know where or who your people are! Are you going to stay here with me then? You, King of the Demonkin? Would that be feasible, even if I wanted you to?”
“We will find the answers as we need to, my love. We have time. Nothing needs to be answered now, does it? Speak with your friends regarding your quest. Tell me how I can help you in this journey. We can always work together.” He slipped his hand in the nape of her hair, wrapped the other around her waist.
Awakening the Demon's Queen Page 9