Awakening the Demon's Queen (13 page)

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.

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.

Kindara knew she should resist him, pull away
before he kissed her yet again. Hadn’t her easily giving him what
he wanted caused this situation in the first place.

He had lied to her, manipulated her into
giving him what he wanted from her physically. Now he was as caught
in the consequences as she. How she dealt with him now would set
the map for all of their interactions in the future. And she had no
doubt he would try to be a part of her future—he would want the
babe that badly. Yet she wanted his lips on hers, wanted some sort
of escape from the world she found herself in.

And when he touched her that was exactly what
happened. She forgot all that had shaped her, all that she had lost
and all that she feared. And she so wanted to forget again.

That desire shamed her and had her pushing
him away. “No. Do not! I must go!”

Chapter Fifteen

Rathan allowed her to step away from him,
sensing that she needed the space. Her face was tormented and her
slight body shook. He ran a soothing hand down her arm and stepped
back. “Of course, my love. I will be with Rand.”

He slipped his ring off his finger, the ring
given to him by his father. He placed it in her hand and wrapped
her fingers around it. “If you have need of me, touch this and say
my name. It will bring me to you instantly.”

She nodded, staring down at the ring. “From
anywhere?”

“
Anywhere in this world. I
must be in the same world as the wearer for it to work.”

****

He popped into the room where Rand sat
staring at the Dardaptoans surrounding him. Mallory sat on her
twin’s left and only she didn’t start with his appearance. “Hey,
Rath, Kindara kick you to the curb?”

“
She was called to a
meeting. What is this? Everyone glare at Rand time?”

“
How could you guys do it?
And why did you keep all of...what you are secret? Didn’t we have a
right to know?” Mallory’s temper sparked in her green eyes. “We get
that grandfather was a great bastard to these people. Hell, we know
he wasn’t that great of a guy to us. But you took innocent people
in retaliation. Not smart, there, boys.”

“
Back off, Mal,” Rand said.
“We did what we had to do.”

“
Did you, then?” Mal’s words
hissed between her newly acquired fangs. Rathan had to admit she
made a beautiful Dardaptoan female. Fangs suited her. “Just as the
king here thought they were doing what they were supposed to, as
well.”

“
So all is not what you
would have it?” Rathan knelt beside her. Took her hands in his. “Do
you wish to leave this place, then? Are you not happy with your
Rajni? Mickey? Are you not?”

“
I’m very happy with Theo!”
Rand’s younger sister shook her head. “That’s not what Mal is
saying. We just want to know if this is the end of all of it. We
need to focus on the future. Apparently, it’s going to be a lot
longer than we first thought.”

Mal didn’t answer Rathan’s questions, and he
did not overlook that. Was the girl still troubled by her past? She
was at ease with her large Dardaptoan protector, though he was not
in the room with her now. Rathan had had no trouble seeing that
earlier. And for Mallory that was truly remarkable; after the
events of her twenty-first year several years ago all had feared
she would never let a male touch her again. Had she told her Rajni
about that bastard who had attacked her as revenge against
her...grandfather.

The sick horror of it settled into Rathan’s
mind. Mallory had been raped as revenge against her grandfather
when the older man had fired one of his inventors, causing the man
to lose everything he’d had. Mallory had paid the price when the
man caught her walking through the parking lot alone the next
evening. Rathan could only hope her Rajni had been gentle with
her.

“
It does end for me, here. I
must focus on other things.” He hesitated. “I must eventually
return to my realm. I have unfinished business I must attend
to.”

“
Other realms? Come on,
Rath. This isn’t exactly Sci-Fi.” Mallory challenged him openly.
She always had; it was one of the things he loved about the
girl.

“
Is it not? Your brother and
uncle are werewolves. And you are a vampire, my fiery brat.” Rathan
smiled, flashing fangs before throwing his head back to expose the
horns his hair normally covered. “And I am demon. Head demon, king
of all Kinds. I have whiled away so much time among your family,
but it is getting closer to the hour when I—and my family—must
return.”

“
You have a family? There
are more of you?” Mickey asked.

“
I have several
siblings—half siblings, mostly. My father is gone—I think. And he
left me the throne, to assume when the time was right.”

“
Why would the timing not be
right?” Mallory asked, suspicion on her face. She at least realized
his story had a few holes.

“
Politics made it impossible
for me to take over in 1900. Yet I have people who are working to
rectify that. I also have a half-brother bent on taking my place;
he has the backing of a faction of my people, yet not enough to do
it. My world is as complex as this one, pet. With kingdoms and
factions and even different species vying for control of it all.
That control is currently in the hands of my court, but that could
change so easily. It is time I returned as leader of my
peoples.”

“
And where does my mother
fit into this?” A feminine voice asked him from the door. Rathan
caught the tightening of Rand’s features out of the corner of his
eye. Rand’s mate stood trembling in the door, though she looked not
at the wolf.