Kiss of a Demon King

'Maybe you're wearing off on me,' she said absently, gazing at his curling lips and intense green eyes. That feeling came over her again, so sharply that realization struck her like a stray punch.

I think I'm in love with the demon.

43

Later that night, Rydstrom sat in his den, staring into a glass of demon brew. He'd left Sabine sleep­ing soundly, after taking her more times than he could count.

She'd said she had something she wanted to talk to him about later, but she'd drifted off. He'd noticed her face had been pale, and he feared he'd exhausted her.

Sometimes when she was digging her nails into the backs of his thighs as he took her from behind, he forgot that she didn't have the strength of a demoness.

It was as if he were trying to bond her to him through bouts of sex-because his other efforts appeared to be failing. Though she'd seemed genuinely happy to be with him, like tonight at the bar, he'd sensed an under­lying urgency in her. And he had only two days left before her sister would return for her.

Rydstrom needed Nix's advice, but she'd been impos­sible to locate over the last few days. He had the sword, and it was time to strategize and to act. Yet he felt like

he could do nothing until he'd solidified things with Sabine-until he'd wed her and truly made her his queen. Which meant he had to come clean with her first....

Filled with doubts, he sat pounding demon brew as his brother often had-to Rydstrom's past censure.

As if any of that mattered now. He'd been so damn hard on Cadeon. And for what?

The side door opened then. Speak of the demon.

Shortly after, Cadeon strolled into the room. 'You still look like shite warmed over. But better than that last time at least.'

Though it had always been uncomfortable between the two brothers, now everything could be different. The past wasn't what they'd believed, and Cadeon had redeemed himself.

When Cadeon dropped onto the couch across from him, Rydstrom held up the bottle in offer.

'A dram, but not more.'

Once Rydstrom splashed the dark brew into a glass, he accepted the drink, inhaled, then took a sip. 'You alarmed the piss out of me the other day.'

/ alarmed myself. 'I've tried to contact you since then.'

'I've been MIA,' Cadeon said simply. 'But I've been left to my own recognizance tonight, so I thought I'd stop by.' He studied Rydstrom's face. 'I think this is where I'm s'posed to ask if you want to talk about it.'

Rydstrom gave a bitter laugh. 'Maybe after another bottle.'

'When did you start pounding demon brew?' Cadeon asked.

'When did you stop?'

'No more getting blotto. I'm responsible now, didn't you hear? I got hitched.'

Rydstrom raised a glass. 'Congratulations, brother,' he said, relieved that things had worked out between Cadeon and his female.

'That's why I haven't answered. Been keeping time with the missus at the new estate I just bought her. Nïx informed me that I couldn't keep living in my 'pool house man-cave' I shared with Rok, not if I was going to have Holly.'

Rok was a smoke demon, Cadeon's second in com­mand, and a fine soldier-except for the fact that he continually disappeared. 'Where is Rok? I haven't seen him by.'

'Told me cryptically that I might not be the only one settling down, then he blazed. Haven't seen him since.' Rydstrom would relish seeing the bed-hopping demon domesticated.

'' I want you to officially meet Holly,' Cadeon said. 'So I figured I'd come by to see if you were up for company. It looked like you had some things to work through.'

No kidding. 'Why don't you tell me what happened when I was . .. gone.'

'All right then.' With his usual excitement, his brother told him of the journey to Groot's, details about checkpoints and near-death escapes, battles with rev--enants and fire demons.

But when Cadeon talked about his new wife, his entire demeanor changed. His glass of liquor went for-

gotten on the table. 'We knew how smart she is. But who knew how sexy a mathematician could be?'

'How did you get the sword?'

'I had to give her to Groot for it. Thought you'd be proud of me for making a sacrifice for once in my life. I thought of you, of the kingdom, and the people. Still, I was planning on taking her right back, but the bastard tricked me....'

After Cadeon relayed everything that had happened. Rydstrom could hardly imagine how painful it would've been to see the betrayed look on the face of the woman he'd fallen for so completely.

Even though Cadeon had a plan to save her, Ryd­strom didn't know that he himself could have done the same.

Cadeon said Holly had . .. cried.

My brother's a stronger man than I am. It was difficult to swallow that truth, but Rydstrom was craven with his need for Sabine-the thought of even parting from her for a day made his fangs grow. 'Holly's forgiven you?'

'Almost mostly. But she still gives me slack about it when she's sick. I take it as a husbandly badge,' he said, puffing out his chest.

'Sick? You told me she was fully immortal.'

'Yeah, but she throws up some, because, well, the thing of it is . . . Ah, fuck, Rydstrom, I knocked her

up.'

'You're going to be a father?' Gods help the world.

I'm going to be an uncle?

'I got Holly, like, on the first shot. Nïx is calling me Bull's-eye and the Womb Raider.'

'Nïx is nothing if not subtle.' A month ago, Rydstrom would've been uneasy with the idea that his brother had gotten a babe on the Vessel. Now he felt confident the female would bear a warrior of ultimate good.

'That's why I'm on my own tonight-cause Nïx and Holly are out shopping for baby swords or something.' He scratched his head. 'I'm kind of hoping they were joking about that, but with Valkyries, how can you know?'

'How do you feel about having a babe?'

'At first, I was happy, because I thought it'd mean Holly'd have to forgive me, like I'd smuggled an ally on the inside who'd help me,' Cadeon said, still every bit the mercenary. 'Then I got excited. If Holls thinks I drive her crazy, imagine little Cadeons running around all over the place.'

'I have firsthand experience with one. And that was plenty.'

An awkward silence fell over the room. Rydstrom took a drink, muttering over the rim, 'Make sure you have wainscoting.'

'What?'

Rydstrom shook his head. 'Nothing.'

'No, tell me.'

'When you were little and your horns were molt­ing, they itched so bad that you'd run them against the walls. Nylson and I used to burst out laughing to see every new three-foot-high gouge running the length of a hall. We wouldn't let anyone repair them.' His lips curled until he noticed Cadeon's expression. 'Why are you looking at me like that?'

'You're talking about me. And it sounds . . . fond.' What the hell did Rydstrom have to lose? 'It nearly broke me to send you away.'

Cadeon scowled. 'So much that you visited all the

time?'