A Surrender Of Hope, page 8
“I’ll watch his emotions until he wakes. The first hint of distress, I’ll let Creed know to wake him. This is the most relaxed he’s been since…” I trail off and inhale a shaky breath, deciding not to finish that sentence. No one here needs the reminder of her death and how it affected us. “This is the safest and best thing for him right now. My magic can't heal exhaustion. Let him sleep,” I tell her, moving over to her side, the physical urge to be next to her is so strong I have to grind my teeth and fold my arms in order to not scoop her up and hold her against me.
The need to soothe and remove the confusion and fear I feel drifting from her is palpable. I have to remind myself that messing with her emotions without her permission isn't something I can do.
Not yet—not until she knows what I’ve done and understands the primal needs and urges I have to care for her. Unfortunately, for male Demons, completing the mate bond makes us more territorial than normal. It’s worse the younger we are—when our power is still new to us—so most males wait until they’re older. My arrangement with the Brakatise’s daughter was made the moment I was born, but it wasn’t to be fulfilled until I reached the age of one hundred and twenty-five. Not because that’s what our families wanted, but because that’s the age most males have enough control over their physical urges to not be a menace to their mates and people around them.
I knew it was going to be hard. Father said he waited until he was over the age of two hundred to mate Mother, but this… This is like a living hell. I simultaneously want to care for my brothers, while also wanting to tear their limbs from their bodies to beat them with. And that’s with our damn Legion bond in place!
The absolute willpower I had to use when Meyer reached out to touch Ranger Jennings stole my breath from my lungs. I hated myself for being so damn weak in that moment. She hadn’t even done something that would normally set me off. The flirting I normally witness between her and the two young Rangers has been more than a little trying to watch, but I’ve been able to control myself. Now I fear I’ll have to talk to Elaine and warn her about this. The last thing I want to do is kill her boys in a fit of jealous rage.
“Thanks,” my Little Demon whispers, giving me the smallest smile, and I can feel my insides melt like a damn sap. I always teased our father for the way he rolled belly up the moment Mom batted her eyelashes, but now I understand. I’m pretty sure I would tear my heart out and gift it on a damn silver platter if Meyer asked it of me.
Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! This isn’t good. Ignoring her thanks, I frown and hold my hand facing up toward her.
“Hand,” I demand, knowing I sound like an ass, but not able to apologize for it as black magic sparks in my palm. I have too much to do, too much at stake to let this Little Demon distract me right now. I need to control myself and get our problems out of the way in order to give her a life where she can not only live, but thrive. The world as we know it now will chew her up and destroy her, and I simply can’t have that. I have to keep Meyer at a distance and make sure things are handled in the correct way before I can do anything about the mate bond thrumming in the air between us. For her safety and those of this realm and my own.
Meyer frowns, but surprises the hell out of me when she listens and places her hand in mine. Her sudden shocked expression tells me the move surprised her as well, and I brace myself for the anger I feel boiling up in her.
“Why are you always an ass?” she asks, voice calm despite the anger I feel from her. “Just when I think you might have some redeeming qualities, you flip a switch, and bam, asshole Lennox Regalis is back in all his glory.”
I bite my tongue, refusing to play into her verbal battle, knowing I deserve her anger as I let my magic flood her body. I almost groan as I clasp her small hand in mine, my eyes threatening to close in ecstasy as my magic fills her. The action is something I’ve done multiple times—since this damn girl can’t seem to stop getting hurt—but it’s changed since mating her; the feeling has become almost intimate in nature.
I feel her tense as a wave of arousal courses through her; her breath hitches, and her tight nipples pebble against the fabric of my shirt. I can’t help the smug smirk that crosses my face as I look from her hand to her face, cocking a brow at her before gesturing down to her hard nipples. And despite knowing I shouldn’t, I can't help but tease her. I want to get that fiery reaction, the fight that I crave most—the battle between us I’ve grown to love so much.
“I don’t think you mind too much. Do you, Little Demon?” I ask, keeping my voice low as I lean forward, making her eyes widen in surprise as she jerks back, trying to keep space between us. That, unfortunately, triggers my fucking caveman side; before I can think rationally about anything, I growl at her, the sound is low and threatening, demanding her submission. Meyer’s eyes light up, the green color brightening, and I inhale sharply at the flare of suddenly powerful magic that cords around my own, challenging me to back down and making me flinch in response.
“Meyer!” I warn, my eyes shifting to that of my Beast as she glares up at me with zero fear or hesitancy in her eyes. Dammit, if that doesn’t turn me on more than anything else.
“Let me go,” she snarls, trying to yank her hand out of mine before I even have a chance to heal the rest of her weak and sore muscles. I shake my head, desperately trying to grab at the fading strands of my control, hating how my mate wants space, yet loving her free and powerful spirit.
“Uhh, maybe…” Creed starts, but his concerned voice is merely an annoyance I ignore.
“Never,” I rasp back, the word is not a threat, but a fucking promise. When she tries to yank out of my hold again, my control snaps like a weak, pathetic string. Meyer shouldn’t want space from me! She is mine, and I am hers! Fuck space and fuck keeping her at a distance. Clasping her hand tighter, I yank her to me, tugging her off the bed and into my arms where she fucking belongs. I love the outraged screech that falls from her soft pink lips from the action.
“Nox,” Creed hisses in warning as Meyer’s face flushes, her knee rising in defense. I barely shift in time to miss a blow to my balls, and I glare down at her, the fury in me is so damn hot I feel like I’m about to shift!
“Get out!” I bellow at Creed when he dares to move toward us.
“Get fucked!” he shouts in response, taking another step forward, as his fingers inch toward the blade at his side. I scoff and dart out a hand, my big fingers wrapping around Creed’s throat before he can react, but the move doesn’t faze him in the least. As brothers, we have fought countless times, and it’s only been a few years since I started to win every time. Up until about ten years ago, Creed would kick my ass in every fight we had.
I glare at him, adding my magic into it to ensure he submits, hating the disapproving glint in his eyes. He knows I would never harm Meyer. Even if I wanted to, which I don’t, I wouldn’t be able to now. This back-and-forth thing between me and her is none of his business, and he needs to keep his nose out of it.
“Get out,” I repeat, letting the dominance of my position overwhelm him until he curses and yanks his eyes from mine. My triumph is short-lived, however, as my Little Demon goes absolutely feral in my arms, her tiny nails raking across my arms as she leans toward the bed, grabs a pillow, and starts pounding me over the head with the damn thing.
“You overgrown…whack…rat bastard…whack… damn infuriating Viking,” Meyer yells, the surprisingly strong hits with the pillow jar me more than I thought they would. She’s definitely stronger than she was only a few days ago, and there is a wildness surrounding her, reminding me of Razar when he gets mad. I snarl at her, unable to yank the pillow out of her hand as Creed blinks in surprise at her sudden outburst, then starts roaring with laughter, my hand still wrapped around his throat. “Get your damn hands off him!” Meyer continues to yell, her eyes darkening until small sparks of red flash from their stunning depths.
Creed’s laughter dries up the moment he spots the red magic within her eyes. I curse, letting Creed go while keeping Meyer clutched to me, despite her efforts and insistent whacking to be set free.
“Watch him!” I command, pointing to Valen and grunting in approval when Creed nods, no longer arguing with me. The fear radiating off him mimics my own as I storm from my room, trying and failing to get Meyer under control, all while ignoring the shocked looks of the Drakos Rangers I stride past on my way to Creed’s empty room.
“Enough,” I grind out as I kick his door open, stepping into the room and tossing the feral woman in my arms onto the soft bed in front of me. I slam the door shut, letting my magic take over, encompassing my skin as I stride forward and grab Meyer’s hand. The red glowing symbol of Inanis flashes with dark magic, making me hiss in anger at the sight.
“Stop manhandling me, Lennox!” Meyer snaps, yanking her hand from me as she raises up to her knees on the bed. The oversized shirt falls off one of her creamy shoulders, and like a love-sick fool, my attention is immediately drawn to it. Her long, blonde hair falls down her back, making it look like she’s encompasses by a silver halo.
She reaches up, tucking back the tiny braid Valen wove into her hair, making the small silver protection charm he added sparkle in the sunlight. She looks so soft and delicate in this moment, a complete contradiction to the fiery power and anger in her beautiful eyes. Growling, I shake my head, gritting my teeth and hating how undone I am. I need to keep her safe, but that’s not going to happen when I’m near her.
Frustrated, I reach for her again, needing to feel the magic inside her with my own in order to figure out what I should do next. But I spring back the moment our fingers touch, because the red magic attacks, making red-hot pain shoot through my hand and into my arm.
I look down at my hand, mouth agape at the burns Meyer inflicted without uttering a single word. There’s a brief moment of tense silence as Meyer stares at my burnt hand, and then she’s up on her feet, rushing toward me with a gasp on her lips.
“Oh, my god! What… what did I do? I felt it… him. Nox, there’s a man, he’s been in my dreams… in my mind! And I can see things better at night, and my temper is getting worse. Like a lot worse! Creed mentioned a girl seeing him naked when we were sparring a while back, and I wanted to…” she trails off, probably not wanting to admit she was contemplating murder, and I arch a brow in surprise at all that information. By the sounds of it, she’s been scared of Inanis for longer than I thought, and if I’m not mistaken, her Demon traits are making an appearance. “Shit, I’m going crazy, aren’t I?!” she rasps, staring down at my hand and then the glowing red mark on her wrist.
I can feel her panic bubbling up as her eyes lose the red sparks and return to the normal dark green I love so much. She hesitantly reaches for me, then stops and shakes her head, afraid to touch me again.
“Meyer,” I whisper as her heart starts to thunder in her chest. Her eyes dart from me to her wrist to the door of the room, and I know she’s about to bolt. I step forward, gathering her tense body into my arms, and shake my head. “I don’t think you are, Little Demon,” I whisper into her hair and swallow hard when she slowly softens into my hold. “I think it’s time I tell you a few things about our realm… and us,” I add, hoping like hell she’s in the mood to listen and not kill me once I’ve told her everything.
EIGHT
Meyer
“Inanis?” I repeat as Lennox paces the length of the room in front of me. He grunts and nods, running a hand through his long black hair while pacing, making the small silver charms woven into the braids clink together. His shoulders are tense, his muscles are practically bulging under the tight black shirt he’s wearing, and it’s way too distracting. “And he’s a king?” I ask, trying to keep up with the story. I wring my hands together, feeling exhausted, like I could lay down on this bed and sleep for days, yet there’s a nervous energy in me, dancing just beneath my skin. It started right after I woke up and keeps growing by the minute.
“More like the Devil. Inanis was once the ruler of his kingdom, lording over a race of Demons similar to mine, in the way that the Royalty could shift into larger, more monstrous forms. But they also controlled the Therion,” he says, hands moving from his hair to his hips as he turns and looks at me. “The beasts they created to protect their lands.”
“Okay,” I murmur, letting that information sink in. “And I’m guessing something went wrong to cause a war,” I add, thinking about the dreams I’ve had. Nox frowns and nods, head tilting to the side as he studies me. I rub at the weird ache in my chest, trying to get it to go away as I keep piecing together parts of this Demon puzzle.
“Yes, Inanis wanted more control. He felt our kingdoms should unite and remove the Veil between the human and Fae realms. Both realms had resources that ours lacked, so instead of coming up with a solution to help revive and restore our world, he wanted to take them from the other realms. To strip them of their inhabitants and replace them with Demons. One kingdom per realm.”
“That’s insane,” I whisper, trying not to get too distracted by the mentions of Fae. It’s not the time or place, but we’re totally circling back to that topic once we have a moment.
“It is, and the problem was that Inanis had supporters on every side. Ones in my father's very house—his family—who felt that being the strongest of the three realms meant we could take from those weaker than us. The Dark Wars began when my father and Varick refused to follow Inanis’ plans. Inanis took his Therion and made them more monstrous and deadly to even the strongest Demons to have more power.”
“The Beastia,” I whisper, and Nox nods.
“He needed an army to take Orcus and Varick’s Kingdoms.”
“Varick?” I ask, having an idea of who Nox is talking about, but wanting to make sure.
“The Dream Walker King,” Nox says, confirming my suspicions.
“Right,” I mutter and frown. “The Dark Wars… really? That’s the best your so-called superior race could come up with?” I tease, making Nox crack a smile. He looks at me from the corner of his eye and chuckles as he walks over and sits on the bed beside me. My heart skips a beat from his close proximity, the ache in my chest doubling, making me curl my shoulders in to help relieve it.
“Yeah, it’s not the best name, but at least it’s better than the Beast Feud,” he says, and I blink at him, shaking my head in disappointment.
“The… Beast Feud? Who the hell is in charge of the names? They need to be fired.”
“Agreed,” Nox grumbles, then sighs and reaches out his hand slowly, holding it between us in a silent offer. I wrinkle my nose, but eventually take hold of his hand, trying not to shiver at the warmth from his rough skin. “This,” he says in a deep voice, his big thumb gently running over the bright red mark on my wrist, “is Inanis’ mark. The sigil for his kingdom. The fact that it’s on you is concerning.” I snort at that remark, then grin when Nox glares at me.
“Sorry, but that isn't shocking information. From my dreams alone, I could tell this guy was… is bad. Trust me, I’m not excited about having it on me any more than you are. This is the first time it came back with me from a dream, though,” I muse, looking down to where Nox is still grazing the tender skin etched with the red mark. Nox’s thumb freezes, and I can hear a soft snarl making its way up from his throat, the sound reminding me of what Milo does when Razar gets too close to him.
“How long have you been seeing Inanis?” His voice is deceptively calm, and I frown, trying to think back to the first time I saw the man show up in the field. It had been the night Valen had woken me and… I smile at the reminder of how sweet my dream man was, my body heating as I think about how he had kissed me, touched me, and made me feel things I didn’t know were possible. “Meyer!” Nox snaps, jolting me out of my lust-induced fog. I shake my head, more confused than ever. Sure, I’ve always had a healthy appetite for sex, but hell, it feels like I’m some kind of horn dog right now.
“Sorry. Uh, last week sometime? It’s not been too long,” I add when Nox’s face flushes a weird purple color. His hand tightens on mine, and I roll my eyes, knowing sweet Nox is gone, and I’m back with the asshole version of him.
“Why didn’t you tell me the moment he showed up? This is serious, Meyer. I need to bring you back to Versipellis so we can figure out how to remove it,” he grinds out.
“You have to bring me where?”
“Home. There is no way for us to remove this mark. Valen and I both tried. We need my father’s help,” he admits, and I shake my head.
“I’m not going to Hell,” I say, not sure how I feel about all this. Do I want the mark on me? No. Especially after the last visit I had from this Inanis guy. But to go to Hell… or Versipellis. Yeah, not liking that plan. And meeting the King of the Demons? That's a hard pass.
“It’s not Hell, or I guess for humans it is, but it’s not all fire and brimstone.” Nox’s frustration is clear in his voice as he glares at me. “You should’ve told me about this the moment it happened. Have I not saved your life multiple times? Why didn’t you come to me?” he practically roars, the sound far too loud and making the ache in my already throbbing head worsen. I scoff and yank my hand from his, standing from the bed and trying to put some distance between us. My body feels funny. All flushed and weird, and I’m pretty sure I’m running a fever or something.
“Why would I? I appreciate you saving me, Lennox, but my life wasn’t in danger at the time; I thought they were bad dreams. You haven't exactly been very kind with our encounters, and I had no idea who the dude was. I thought I was going crazy! If I’d told you I was seeing a giant man who touched my—”
“He touched you?!” Lennox roars, leaping to his feet like the dramatic princess he is. His chest heaves as his shoulders tremble and grow, while large horns appear at his temples. I can hear the seams of his clothes rip just as his magic cords around his body, a dark shadow appearing behind him as huge, bat-like wings slowly materialize.
