Witch Darkness Follows (Maeren Series Book 3)

by Mercedes Jade

  "Our parents sent me here to overthrow the kingdom and kick a lot of asses. I think your mother believes it an appropriate honeymoon for you."

  That was a tall order.

  "And what am I, your runaway bride?" Elizabeth nervously joked.

  Her heart was racing. Daemon was too serious, so intense. He seemed determined to get what he wanted.

  "You are a thief that stole my heart,” Daemon whispered into her mind.

  Oh, Maeren. That sounded terribly romantic.

  It also put Daemon firmly on the side of the good. A hero that had come to her rescue.

  Her mother wouldn’t have sent him if he was anything less than a hero. The real question was if her mother had indeed approved of Daemon’s suit.

  She only had Daemon’s word on it.

  When Daemon had contacted them from the human realm, it could have all been illusions. Even being in the human realm could have been a trick!

  Yet, how had he known about Kim’s current appearance? The dojo? How Elizabeth had tickled Koi in the pond as a child?

  He couldn’t be faking all of it.

  "I stole your heart? You barely know me. I’ve met you a few weeks ago at a society function. A couple play dates and an accidental taste hardly make us a mated-pair,” Elizabeth protested.

  "I already told you that I’ve known you a very long time."

  "That isn’t fair to count that time before I saw you. Nothing before the ball counts,” Elizabeth insisted.

  "Don’t think I’m going to play fair. I’m a demon. Besides, we both know that I am one of your three—or possibly, four—mates. How long do you plan to fight fate?"

  Daemon had talked to Geer with the bond when she’d been attacked by the zombie vampires.

  He knew George was here and acting possessive.

  Perhaps he’d even picked up on the connection between her and Phillip when he’d helped call Dragomir back.

  Somehow, all of her secrets were becoming revealed.

  She still didn’t know enough about him. Half of her wanted to run, but the other half needed to stay in his arms and talk.

  “I think Pan’s shoulder is healed enough to move,” George said.

  Reality had intruded. Talking was for when they were out of this situation. Those dragons could come back.

  “Excellent. Dae-” Elizabeth broke off, remembering Daemon didn’t want Pan to know who he was yet. “Dae is done feeding as well.”

  "Do you really think you’re going to be able to hide your demon magic from Pan for long? How many lightning demons do you think Pan’s heard of in Maeren?" George asked, rejoining their private conversation.

  "It’s temporary,” Daemon replied.

  “Dae and I will grab the belongings. Can you carry Pan on your back?” Elizabeth asked George.

  She stood up, feeling the heat of Daemon’s larger body just behind her.

  “I can walk,” Pan said, sounding drowsy.

  What had George done to her?

  “You will save your strength for transforming,” George said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

  "Let’s grab the bag. Don’t forget the chalk" Daemon said, seemingly unconcerned about Pan’s post-healing drowsiness.

  Daemon reached down and grabbed for Elizabeth’s hand giving it a quick squeeze.

  “Don’t worry,” he whispered into her mind.

  It sounded a little sad.

  They were having an important conversation a few moments ago. He might have wished for a bit more time before they got distracted.

  She squeezed his hand back, then let go.

  She couldn’t let Daemon’s love declaration go without a response, no matter how tempting it was to allow George’s interruption to give her an easy out.

  "I don’t hate you. Yes, you are one of my . . . four mates. We will talk more later.”

  She quickly walked over and grabbed the chalk from the ground, after blurting out her own declaration of feelings to Daemon’s mind.

  Hers didn’t sound as romantic. Would he understand?

  "It’s a start, but not enough,” Daemon said.

  He still seemed pleased by her response.

  "It’s a new start. Last time things were complicated by both of our secrets. We were forced together, without really giving it a chance,” Elizabeth said.

  "Are you telling me to seduce you?" Daemon asked in a more teasing tone.

  "You can try,” Elizabeth teased back.

  "My sweet, stormy witch, I never just try at anything,” Daemon bragged.

  Elizabeth turned around to look him in the eyes, so she could properly judge the sincerity of his words.

  Sure, she had a window to his mind, but that couldn’t replicate the look a male gave when he was interested and engaged in a pursuit.

  George’s deep blues crossed hers before she reached Daemon’s gaze and its dark promise.

  She threw up her mental barrier, keeping the males away from her conflicted inner thoughts.

  She only left enough room for telepathy to slip through her mind.

  "You’re not accepting another claim from him?" George asked in disbelief.

  No wonder, he was upset. She’d been so adamant about getting Daemon’s familiar off of her skin, it did seem incongruous to ask for his claim back, so suddenly.

  That wasn’t what was happening.

  "Nobody is claiming me, George. There are more important matters than claims right now,” she replied.

  "Didn’t you say Daemon was a mistake?"

  She had never said that to George. He was purposely stirring up trouble. He had shared his thoughts with Daemon, too.

  She met George’s angry stare with her own glare.

  Daemon didn’t seem that bothered by the implication. Of course, he had apologized.

  George didn’t know yet that they’d made up.

  "Elizabeth is forgetting past mistakes, for which you should be the most thankful, George."

  Well, now George knew. Fresh beginnings, for everyone.

  It wasn’t like she had much choice with the mate-bonds chasing her heels.

  "I can express my gratitude to Elizabeth when we stop to rest again. You can take care of this little bird and I will make up for that incredibly boring feed you took. I thought I saw Elizabeth yawning. If you can’t even keep awake for it, kerashemeria, he’s definitely doing it wrong,” George said, his tone turning seductive.

  "Some of us aren’t newborns to lightning magic. How do you know I didn’t make Elizabeth scream her pleasure in her mind?" Daemon taunted.

  The romance of a few moments ago was lost in the cheap gibe.

  She knew a fang measuring contest when she saw one.

  She turned her back on both of them, slamming her mind shut even on telepathy.

  Multiple mates was a terrible idea! She was already tired of being stuck in between them and their squabbles.

  “You’re both idiots,” she muttered, stomping off.

  “Where are you going?” yelled George.

  “I don’t know!” she yelled back.

  “Pan said there are some abandoned caves a couple miles ahead!” Daemon shouted.

  She kept putting distance between them.

  “It’s the opposite direction,” he helpfully added.

  She pivoted. The two idiots hadn’t moved a step.

  “Don’t even speak a word to me,” she warned as she neared them again and marched on past.

  Her mother had been right. Boys meant trouble.

  When a Cage becomes a Prison

  Her mates were driving her bonkers!

  Their conversation had certainly taken a crazy turn, although she should have seen it coming. Neither of her mates had demonstrated control over their more volatile emotions lately.

  Fiery hot heads.

  Elizabeth stomping off—after George and Daemon got her mad—had also given the wrong idea to their impressionable new friend.

  “If that’s how feeding makes you feel, then I
’m never doing it,” Pan commented, finally breaking the angry silence of their group’s march.

  Pan was being carried on George’s back as they walked towards the close by caves that Pan had directed them to go to for her to safely transform and finish her healing.

  Elizabeth gave Pan a sideways glance.

  George was focused on where he was going, up ahead, so the two females shared a silly look.

  What a dramatic, teenager type of thing for Pan to say.

  Never feeding a vampire? Yeah, that was doubtful.

  The right one would eventually tempt Pan to give it a try. Curiosity was a powerful motivator at that age.

  Elizabeth had to admit, she wondered what it would be like to have more than one of her mates at her neck.

  The thought of being between George and Daemon on a bed had crossed her mind more than once today—before they’d pissed her off.

  They were both big, dominant males. She should be frightened at the idea of being broken by them with all the possessive vibes they were radiating, but all her mind could imagine was their heat and passion.

  Two bites would likely result in multiple orgasms.

  Thinking of such, Pan was too young to be worried about feeding anyone. Bites led to sex, eventually.

  The girl should feel confident and ready before her first time. Only then, when Pan wanted to explore the whole feeding and sex dynamic of their kind, should she have to consider what she wanted.

  That was likely a few years off.

  “You’ve never been bitten? Keep it that way. Excellent notion,” Elizabeth said encouragingly to Pan, slowing her march down. “We’re going to have to work on your disguise if you don’t want to be hit on for your vein.”

  “You can’t tell her that!” George interrupted, sounding shocked.

  Bonus hit.

  “You’re not talking to me,” Elizabeth reminded George. “Pan wants to be a boy dragon. Surely the idea of keeping fangs out of his neck isn’t that radical?”

  “Pan is a girl,” George insisted.

  “No, he’s not,” Elizabeth overrode. “He’s too young to even worry about it right now.”

  “He’s really not that young,” Daemon said, interfering, but at least, referring to Pan in his stated gender. “Most teenagers start to explore with little nibbles in dark corners or at dances. You shouldn’t make him afraid of it,” he gently rebuked.

  Was Pan’s preference to be male just about feeding fears and not sexual orientation? It was hard to suss out when feeding and sex were such gender specific activities in Maeren.

  “Feedings aren’t like that with dragons,” Pan said. “Markus likes to make his captives scream before he—”

  “You’ve watched?” Elizabeth asked, horrified.

  She was ashamed that she’d let Daemon bite her in front of Pan, when Pan had seen what sounded like forced feedings that had scarred her.

  Perhaps there really were more sinister reasons for why Pan hid her gender.

  “Did Dae do it wrong? You seemed so relaxed about it, but now you’re mad,” Pan said.

  “No. I’m not mad or upset about the feeding. Dae got on my ‘naughty list’ for other reasons. Honestly, feedings can be a very simple transfer of a little blood and magic, with no pain involved,” Elizabeth admitted.

  “Males should be taught how to make it pleasant for a witch,” George said. “What you have seen before isn’t right.”

  Elizabeth thought about the demons that had force fed from Victoria.

  It was surprising to hear that George had strong feelings on the subject of making feedings pleasant.

  Perhaps he’d not known what had happened to Victoria?

  That mother of his knew, though—Elizabeth was positive that any mother capable of scarring her own child was insensitive to another’s suffering.

  “The king really ought to regulate and punish males who feed from unwilling witches,” Elizabeth said, testing Daemon.

  “He will,” Daemon promised. It sounded certain.

  “That’s not going to help dragons. The king of Maeren does not rule over them,” Pan pointed out.

  “Really? Who rules the dragons?” Daemon asked.

  “King Rael rules the light. Prince Raphael rules the dark,” Pan answered. She said it quite matter-of-factly.

  Elizabeth knew about the dragon prince because he was after Victoria.

  Was that Prince Raphael? Who was King Rael?

  Better to check out how much George and Daemon knew before she started asking questions and sharing more information than Pan intended.

  This felt like fooling a child into a confession. Pan needed someone on her side.

  "The dragon royals are still alive? That isn’t what Victoria told us. Do you know these dragons?" Elizabeth asked along their telepathy, excluding Pan.

  The dragon would probably be frightened out of her mind if one of them connected to her mind. Their power was best kept a secret to avoid panicking Pan.

  "We don’t know how the dragons decided to run their society after they split from the rest of Maeren’s clans,” Daemon simply answered.

  "They live very secretively,” George added.

  The princes didn’t know much. They seemed to be in the dark as much as her. Although, she hadn’t lived in Maeren for a couple of decades, which definitely made her the least in the know.

  “When did the dragons split into clans?” George asked Pan, displaying what seemed like a natural curiosity.

  He was in charge of the castle’s defences and spies. It was more likely he was searching for military intelligence. Troops, leaders, and position with his question.

  “The division of the light and dark clans happened when Prince Raphael came back. The earth curse had been lifted a few years prior. King Rael had taken over the throne—with the rest of the royal family dead. He refused to give it over to a boy prince, even if Raphael was the next in line. My uncle told me that the prince had been changed by the curse, awakened as a monster who could freeze the blood in a dragon’s heart to stop it from beating.”

  Elizabeth stumbled. Victoria’s dragon was a monster?

  “That sounds like a fairytale told to children to scare them into good behaviour,” said George dismissively.

  “Dragon children aren’t the ones that should have nightmares,” Pan said. “Prince Raphael has been content with his half of the mountain for many years, but something awoke a hunger in him last full moon. It unleashed the monster within his body. He’s hunting, tearing up the mountains for the one that called to his dragon’s thirst.”

  Elizabeth shivered, although it should be Victoria that felt hunted. This didn’t sound like the kind of suitor the princess could spurn with an icy look.

  “You seem to know a lot,” George commented.

  Geez, he was laying it on a bit thick.

  “I hear a lot,” Pan replied. “There isn’t much else to do, locked up in the mountain.”

  Pan made it sound as if she was imprisoned. That would explain why everyone else thought there were no more female dragons—but why?

  “Are all the female dragons hiding?” Elizabeth asked.

  Pan nodded. “King Rael insists upon it for our safety. A dragoness was the one tricked by her earth-lord lover into allowing him access to the water supply. That lord poisoned our water for the curse that doomed our clan at the peak of our power.”

  That sounded less like protection and more like a punishment.

  “So, Rael blamed all of the females? What an asshole!” Elizabeth angrily commented.

  “I would concur,” Daemon said. “The Maerenian king at that time would have poisoned the well no matter who he had to trick in order to win the war. It was a dark time in our history.”

  “Isn’t it too late for regrets?” Pan asked.

  She sounded too old for her age. Resigned and given up, accepting her poor lot because it was hopeless.

  Elizabeth hated it.

  “There should always be ti
me to right a wrong,” Elizabeth said.

  “Perhaps,” Pan answered non-committally.

  “Which clan of the dragons has more warriors?” Daemon asked, probing once more.

  “Male or female?” Pan asked.

  “Does it matter?” Elizabeth asked, although she knew Maeren was a male-dominated society.

  “The greater number and skill is what matters in battle, not their gender,” Daemon said, surprising her.

  Pan thought about it for a moment. There was a little smile on her lips before she answered, as if she’d liked Daemon’s response.

  “The dark prince has the most warriors, males who preferred to stay with the royal line. The females are all with King Rael’s light clan, some literally chained to keep them from escaping. You’ll find the dark warriors a bitter lot, cut off from dragonesses and forced to beg Maerenian witches for a feed. They are outcasts who refused to bend to King Rael’s rule. The light clan has fewer warriors, but they are older and better armed. Even the light dragonesses who showed interest have been trained, although none have been allowed to fight for fear they would be kidnapped by the dark clan if let outside.”

  Everyone stopped walking while Pan talked.

  Her story was captivating. Elizabeth didn’t think she was the only one hearing about the dragon politics for the first time.

  Did Pan realize the value of what she was telling them?

  “How many dragons are there?” George asked.

  “The mountains,” Pan answered, giving another shrug. “Let me down. I can walk now.”

  “Are you saying the entire area of caves in the mountains is stuffed full of dragons?” Elizabeth asked, watching as Pan slipped off of George’s back.

  She was still holding her shoulder gingerly, but overall, looked capable of walking on her own. George’s healing had done her well.

  “The curse has been lifted. Dragons have been hiding for decades, waiting for the old Maerenian king to kick off. I heard one of his kids finally got around to serving him some of his own poison with the porridge,” Pan said, the disdainful contempt dripping from her voice.

  Oh, that didn’t bode well for Daemon’s chances of gathering dragon support. From what Elizabeth had heard, however, the dragons had justification for their bitter attitude.