He pushed his fingers through his hair, and I was struck at just how soft it looked.
"Your father was supposed to guide you, and eventually, tell you everything. He chose not to. He thought he could protect you by keeping you ignorant. Then he was killed before he could share everything with you—"
"Woah, woah. My father wasn't killed. Maybe you've got the wrong person." This was getting fucked up. "My dad died of cancer."
"Six weeks ago, he went on a mystery mission. He didn't tell the Elders what he was doing, and he was gone for almost two weeks."
I shook my head, attempting to dislodge the memories from the vault. This wasn't true, was it? No. No. This was some elaborate hoax, and I was falling for the lies. But he had taken a holiday, he'd said.
I looked at Jaz where he'd stood up now. He moved closer, and I was very aware that he was maybe a good ten inches taller than my own height of five foot seven inches.
"We don't know what happened. He failed to report. But he came back sick from silver poisoning. The symptoms are very much like cancer. Your doctors wouldn't know the difference."
"This is all bullshit. You expect me to believe this?" I turned on my heel and marched over to a window. There was a small slither of glass in the tiny opening, and I looked out. I was maybe three storeys up, but the landscape was foreign to me. Just where the hell was I? My castle? Fuck me.
"Buddy, you need to bedazzle me out of here and take me back to my car. This is nuts. You're nuts."
"Don't believe me yet? That's fine. We do this in every incarnation. All you have to do is listen to me."
"No, I don't." I said, turning around to face him. "This isn't my life—"
My words cut off in my throat as he strode over and grabbed me by the shoulder. Both hands now held my upper arms in a strong grip. Fear snaked down my spine and made my legs not respond to my fight or flight plan.
"You are the royal heir to a demon kingdom. Your real parents were killed when you were days old. This has happened in many of your past lives, and we have been your guardians in all of them. You have been protected from this all your current life, but for some reason, the guardian who we assigned to be your father betrayed you. He told those who seek your powers your whereabouts, and that puts you in grave danger." Jaz shook me gently. "Do you understand me? This is of the utmost importance. We need to keep you safe. We need to protect the people of your kingdom. You need to take the throne, so we can overthrow your enemies."
I didn't know what to say to that. My father had betrayed me, and he wasn't even my dad? I took a deep, shaky breath. Demons? Powers? Jaz must be mistaken, right? But there was that weird part of me again. The part that found Jaz so familiar to me. The part that had listened to my father's death ramblings and believed him, no matter how outlandish they had been.
Jaz's biting fingers loosened into a soft caress. I looked up into his eyes, and his mouth lifted into a slight smile.
"Trust me, Carina. I will give my life to protect you. And you have given yours to protect me in the past."
"Why?" My voice broke on the one word so I repeated it, stronger this time. "Why?"
"Because you're beautiful, and I want to. Because I'm loyal, and you're my queen."
Well, shit. I glanced over to my bag of chocolate and wondered if all the sugar was going to be enough to dim the ache I felt at this almost stranger's words.
"We need to act fast. We don't know how much your father told your enemies." His voice was still soft, but his fingers lifted into my hair. "You get your silver hair from your mother."
It was a simple statement, but one that completely floored me. My mother. I'd never had a maternal figure in my life, and the father I had was apparently not my blood?
"What about my family? Aunts and uncles, cousins. Who are they to me?"
"Nothing. Demons who were hired to surround you in this life. Protect you until otherwise told. You have no blood relatives. Not anymore. That's what makes you so valuable. That, and your abilities."
"Fucking demons." I couldn't believe I was buying into this, but it actually felt...right. "I always said Aunt Tricia and Uncle Atticus were straight from hell. Apparently, I've been right all along."
The small chuckle from Jaz had me grinning, too.
"Come." He took my hand, and then I was following him across the room and out the door. "We need to make plans. We don't know who might have seen me come for you, and I need help in protecting you."
How the hell had I managed to end up like this? In a stone castle, with a sexy protector, and with demon blood.
"I haven't got any powers." I was practically jogging to keep up with him as he moved down a dark stone staircase.
"When your father died, the enchantment he gave you to hide your powers stopped working."
"So...what sort of powers do I have?" I was sucking in air like I was doing a full cardio workout. It definitely wasn't anything to do with endurance. I had a stitch the size of the Tower of London.
"Nobody knows until they appear for you," he said.
"And I'm apparently a demon, correct?"
"Yep." We'd made it down to the bottom of the spiral staircase, and now we were outside. The moonlight lit the way as we hurried across a grassy area. I didn't have a chance to look around too much, but apparently, this was all mine? Shit.
"Where are we going now?" I pulled my jeans out of my arse
