Awakening the Demon's Queen (20 page)

“
I understand you have
responsibilities, my pet. But so do I. We must divide our times
between our worlds; teach our spawn to live a full life in
both.”

****

Kindara thought on his words for several long
moments. What did she want to do? The babe was a reality, and one
she must accept. And like it or not, chances were good the babe
would be male. Demon, like his father. Could she keep a demon child
from the one male who would protect and teach him? Could she do
that to her child?

No. Her child deserved his heritage. And he
or she would have it. And that meant the demon and she would spend
hundreds of years together. Could she do it? “Let’s just worry
about finding Bronwen and healing Auri. Then we’ll find the things
I need while you work on taking care of your kingdom. That’s all we
can do. We’ll work out what to do about the babe later.”

“
The babe is what I will
think of every moment of every day. When I am not thinking of you,
my pet.” His hand slipped lower, toyed with the sash of green satin
that tied her fresh tunic at her waist. Kindara’s breath caught as
the white material parted. Her nerves heated as the demon’s hand
skimmed the skin of her side. “When I am not with you, you will be
thinking of me. Won’t you, pet?”

She should have pushed him away. Kindara knew
it, but the man—the damned demon—had hands that burned her. And he
used them well.

He pulled her up, then turned her to recline
against the window seat. He pushed her tunic the rest of the way
down her arms, using the sleeves to pin her wrists behind her.
Kindara arched, knowing what position he wanted her in. He’d had
her in it before.

His eyes heated, burned the red fire she
recognized as Incubian lust. She smiled.

This was what she needed—this would make her
forget for a little while. She pulled her hands free, jerking the
white satin, causing one sleeve to rip at the seam. She didn’t
care; she wanted to touch him. To grab him and put her mark on the
golden flesh she knew waited beneath his shirt.

He was not Iavius, but he was hers. And she
would have him when she could. Her hands sank into the black silk
and she curled her fingers into claws; she ripped his shirt free of
his trousers and over his shoulders.

“
Pet?” His whispered word
held indulgence and lust. Strong heat that evoked an answering
flame inside Kindara. “Be gentle, my love. We must take
care.”

“
I don’t want gentle, demon.
I want to forget.” Kindara stood, then straddled him. “Help me
forget.”

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Auri was propped up in the bed when Kindara
entered her chambers two mornings later. Kindara stopped in the
door frame and stared at her friend. “You’re awake.”

“
I’m awake.” Auri moved with
deliberation, rising up farther in the pillows. “Was I not supposed
to be?”

“
I’ll admit it, for a moment
there I doubted you’d ever wake again.” Kindara sank to the seat
beside the bed.

“
How would you have
explained that one to Aod?” Auri’s nonchalant tone belied the pain
that Kindara read on her face. “So what exactly happened? I
remember fighting the demon warrior. I remember tasting something
not Dardaptoan and remember you sewing me up like a damned
pillow.”

“
That was pretty much it. I
used an embroidery stitch so it would look pretty. The demon
warrior carried you to the castle here and you fed from him. He
helped Rathan hold you while Bron and I sewed you back together
again. I’m not sure where he is now.”

“
Why? Why did he attack like
that?”

“
Apparently his daughter was
kidnapped.”

“
Poor child. Has she been
found?”

“
I don’t think so. But
apparently there is no big rush to retrieve the missing or taken in
Relaklonos…” Kindara leaned in to check the stitches holding Auri’s
skin in place over the wound in her back. She hesitated before
continuing. “I have something to tell you…”

“
Ok. Shoot.”

“
Apparently Relaklonos is
divided into seven semi-warring feudal kingdoms. Rathan is king of
them all, with the other kings vying for his seat. Rathan’s
advisers had one of these kings—a warrior—as hostage for a few
weeks. They were debating how much he was worth to trade back to
his people. He escaped yesterday morning. He…Bronwen was taken by
the king of warriors. Rathan is working to buy her
back.”

Aureliana would have jumped from the bed if
Kindara had not blocked her. “Stay. Rathan is getting her
back.”

“
How? Has he organized
parties to intercept this warrior bastard? Are you sure she’s still
alive? What is he doing? Have you contacted Aodhan or
Theo?”

“
He is sending his cousin to
the warrior king’s home. They will trade her back or purchase her
back. Apparently they cannot release prisoners here without some
sort of face saving measure. But Rathan assures me she will not be
harmed or killed. And he will get her back for us.”

“
You trust him, don’t you?
Despite everything that has happened, you’re beginning to depend
upon him. Are you sure you should?”

“
I think I have no choice.
Not anymore.” Kindara brushed a hand over the spot she knew the
babe rested. He was so tiny, but the healer and mother in her knew
where her babe slept.

Aureliana’s eyes narrowed and she stared at
Kindara for several long moments. “Kinney…what do you mean?”

“
I’m carrying his child,
Auri. A babe. A babe who will be king of this world.” Kindara was
inexplicably nervous. Auri was the first person other than Barlaam
that she’d told. Her friend knew her best of all, and would
understand the situation from her vantage point.

“
Holy goddesses, Kinney! Are
you crazy? He’s a demon! Can we even have demon babies? Is it
possible?”

In four hundred years, Kindara had never seen
Auri as shocked as she was.

“
It is. Barlaam confirmed it
before we left. And…and I feel it. There’s a babe.” Kindara’s eyes
welled as she remembered telling Aureliana about the first babe she
had carried. Carried and lost. “I will not lose this one, Auri.
I…cannot.”

Auri’s eyes filled. She’d
held Kindara for days after Cormac and
Dhar
Rydere had found her, found
Iavius’s body. Held her while she miscarried Iavius’s babe. “You
won’t. Kinney, you won’t.”

“
Barlaam agrees. So does the
demon. Said they rarely ever lose one. There’s a strong, very high
chance of a successful pregnancy.”

“
And after the babe is born?
What will you do then? With the demon?”

“
Somehow split our time
between Colorado and Relaklonos. It will take years, possibly
decades to study the medical practices of Relaklonos and the seven
realms. Then even longer to create possible medications for our
people. My time here could be justified…”

“
That is not what matters,
Kinney. Your time doesn’t have to be justified. It’s your time. And
you deserve it.” Auri draped an arm around Kindara, her move slower
and more deliberate than usual to accommodate the fresh stitches.
“I think after all that has happened to you, you deserve time for
yourself that is not devoted solely to our people. Iavius and
Erastine would have wanted that. You deserve to be
happy.”

“
Happy with an arrogant
demon who expects everything to go his own way?” Kindara thought of
the first time he had touched her, thought of the heat in his eyes.
Then of the moment he’d told her of the babe, the tenderness on his
face. She thought of the way he spoke of Josey and Mickey and the
rest of the Taniss women. How he’d hugged Jade back at the Taniss
vacation cabin. The tenderness with which he spoke of his younger
sister and Renakletos’s young daughter.

He cared. And she knew he cared for her.
“He’s not my Rajni, Auri. I never contemplated life with someone
other than Iavius.”

Aureliana stared at her for a moment. “Iavius
would not have wanted you to be alone forever. He’d want you to
find someone to be happy with. He would want you happy. And you
haven’t been.”

“
Life is a long time to be
with someone other than a Rajni, Auri.”

Aureliana sighed before settling back into
the pillows. “Life is a long time to spend alone. I have done it
for over four hundred years. Wake up, Kin. Take your chance when
you can.”

Chapter
Twenty-Three

Rathan rammed the sword into his brother’s
side. “I have taken you, brother. Yield.”

Ren countered with a ham-handed blow to
Rathan’s abdomen. “Never. The fight ends when you are down.”

“
Then we will be here for
more hours than I care to spend. I wish to spend the evening with
my female, not bludgeoning you until you turn blue.”

“
I can turn blue any time I
wish.” Ren demonstrated, his skin going cold blue in an instant.
“Just bow down to superior fighting skills, and go get your
consolation kisses.”

Rathan snorted. He had seen his brother turn
his skin various colors like the Gaian chameleon many times before.
It was a trait many warriors possessed, and one Ren was good at
exploiting. “And if I do? What will you gain?”

“
Cerridwen.”

“
Your daughter is more than
fine. She’s having a grand adventure, kidnapped and kept in a
castle.”

“
Complete with a daddy
prince on his way to rescue her.” Ren lashed out with a long leg
and Rathan avoided. “Which I should be getting to. Had you had
anything to do with it, I would be wiping the floor with your
blood.”

“
I did not take the wee
Cerri. And had I known my court was as filled with traitors as it
is, I would have seen to it she was taken to Gaia and kept far from
this place. You know that, right?” And Rathan would have. The
five-year-old was as dear to him as Danae. He may not have been in
his realm often during the child’s lifetime, but he would make a
point of visiting his kingdom for an afternoon or two each month.
“I would not risk her life for anything. Her or Danae.”

“
You suspect Agmendias.”
Renakletos’s tone said he held no surprise. “I have for a long
time. And he was particularly close to our father, if you
remember.”

Rathan lowered his sword. “Are you implying
Agmendias holds responsibility for Galveston? For Father?”

“
Someone does. I know you
think it was me.” Ren gave one more good blow to Rathan’s arm
before he too lowered his sword. “I’ve made my peace with that.
Decades ago. Had I been in your position, I may have seen it the
same way. But I knew it was not me…therefore it must have been
someone else close enough to Father to have had access.”

“
And you’ve spent the last
century proving that.” Rathan felt shame hit him. It was not his
brother, and he should not have doubted him. But all the evidence
he had collected in over a hundred years had said otherwise. “In
one hundred years, I have found nothing to implicate
Agmendias.”

“
Yet you have found much to
convict me in that same time.” Ren’s eyes flashed with warrior
pride, anger, and to Rathan’s shame, hurt. “And have not confronted
me with it. Just assumed I was out to displace you. Take from you
what is yours by right of birth.”

“
I am ashamed,
brother.”

“
What you do not seem to
realize, is that I have never wanted what you have had. I am more
warrior than diplomat. I would never be king, and I do not want
it.” Renakletos’s voice rose and he dropped the sword he held. “I
do not want what is yours!”

Rathan let his brother strike him. He
deserved it. He grappled with his brother until they were fighting
hand to hand over the thin mat. “Do you think I wanted to think it
was you? I bled over it. Grieved both my father and my brother for
decades. And then I just accepted it and did my best to give my
people the time they needed to accept me as their new ruler.”

“
From Gaia? A completely
different realm? How did that benefit Relaklonos?” Ren snorted as
he attempted to pin Rathan to the mat. “Admit it, you could not
face me thinking as you did. Do.”

“
Did. And that was not true.
I ruled this realm from Gaia. I saw to it that my peoples’ needs
were met through Phelius and Danae.”

“
While you searched for
proof of my treachery! How was that being a good king?”

“
While I searched for proof
of your innocence! That may not have been being a good king, but
being a good brother was more important to me! Do you not
understand? What proof I found only convinced me of your guilt! Had
I returned to Relaklonos, I would have had no choice but to arrest
you for treachery! To watch you hang! I would not do that for all
of the realm!”

Both men stopped. Stared at one another.
Finally, Ren spoke. “Someone has made it look like I betrayed and
killed our own father. Someone manipulated us both. Why?”

“
Because after one hundred
and ten years of my inattention, they could stage a political coup.
If they could support their claims. Manufacture enough
proof.”

“
So they needed to keep the
two of us distracted for ten more months, until the one hundred
tenth anniversary of Father’s death. Then they could convene a
Council of Realms and displace you from the throne.” Ren echoed the
thoughts running through Rathan’s head. “Yet you chose now to
return, and will be convening your own council within the week. You
have a mate and a spawn on the way.”