Demon from the Dark

cabin early, getting Ruby fed and taking her out—as if he'd wanted to let Carrow sleep late.

Such a thoughtful gesture, a husbandly gesture. But later, when she'd thanked him, he'd coldly denied that he'd done it for her.

Yes, she'd been taking her knocks, singing 'Tub—thumping' to herself as she'd held her tongue and plastered on smiles. I get knocked down, but I get up again....

She'd first started falling for him because she'd felt cherished. Now this disdain was killing her. It constantly reminded her of her childhood.

When she was young, she'd thought if she was good and made her parents proud, they would thaw toward her and give her love. Now she'd begun to accept that they never would.

Would Malkom?

Yet his behavior had made her realize something. She'd done wrong by him, and if his treating her like this for a time would help them get past her betrayal, then she could endure it.

However, there was no reason for her to endure it from her parents. She'd gazed at her emerald ring, the one tie she had with them. What if she just admitted defeat? Relinquished all hope?

Then she'd wondered, What if Malkom never gets past my betrayal?

That would be a problem, she thought as she rose to go find him.

Since Carrow had already fallen in love with Malkom Slaine.

Two witches were making Malkom rethink everything he'd known. For a demon of his age, this was an uncomfortable process.

They'd settled into a routine of sorts. During the day he fished and checked the perimeter traps with Ruby tagging along. Once done, the girl would teach him to write a few words in the sand. At night, he dreamed.

Memories from Carrow had begun suppressing his own nightmares from his past. And not all of her memories were filled with loneliness, carousing, or wars.

He'd witnessed much more from her life—visions of cars, great bridges, and boats as big as mountains. He'd seen her home, a manor called Andoain, the place she'd spoken to her parents about. It was filled with other witches and surrounded by unusual creatures.

But Malkom had also begun to suffer a recurring nightmare about journeying with her to her lands. As soon as he got there, she whispered, 'I'm so sorry, Malkom.' Or, in another version, she didn't apologize; she laughed at him just as those demonesses had when he'd been starving as a boy.

Carrow had admitted that she'd been well on her way to wanting a future with him, even before they'd journeyed through that portal. You were well on your way, witch, but I was there. He'd cared about her when he'd blindly followed her. And he hurt all the worse for it—

He heard Carrow approaching.

'Why don't you ever stay inside with us?' she asked from behind him.

He shrugged.

'Do you mind if I sit?'

Sit. Talk to me. Say the one thing that will ease my mistrust. Malkom didn't want to feel like this, but four hundred years of misery couldn't be cured by a few days with her. Old fears died hard.

Sensing she was about to leave, he grated, 'Sit.'

She settled next to him on the sand. 'I need to know when you're going into the interior to search.'

He wouldn't be. Because Malkom would not be returning her to her old home. If he did go off to 'search,' he'd just return with word that there was no way to escape.

This place was paradise. For the first time ever, he was utterly satisfied with all that belonged to him.

Though he'd had no choice about coming to this island, he would choose to stay, seizing another territory to guard, one with ample room to run, water, and food.

Food from the sea. Fishing for his mate and their young one was satisfying.

More importantly, 'twas a place without the screeching sounds and blinding lights of her home. Without the wars.

'Why are you so eager to return?' he asked her. 'Is it so bad here?'

'I have to get home. That's where my life is.'

'You are my female. Your life is with me.'

'Then let's spend our lives together. In New Orleans,' she said brightly. 'Malkom, you would be happy there with us. But you'll have to trust me.'

Just accept what she offers, a part of him commanded. If she betrayed him again, he would survive. Yet then he pictured how she'd looked today, smiling down at Ruby as they'd collected shells.

No. No, I would not.

If he let himself love Carrow and she forsook him again, he would not go on. So to trust her in this would be to trust her with his very life.

Now the situation was even more complicated. He was growing to care for the witch's adopted one, too. If Carrow forsook him, she'd take the child with her.

Which was unacceptable. He'd already decided that if Carrow could adopt Ruby, then he could as well. If the girl needed a mother to love her, then she also needed a father to protect her.

Father. A new purpose for him, a new name. Something to take the place of bastard, slave, murderer. A whore's get...

When he didn't respond, she asked, 'And what about Ruby? Her friends and school are back home.'

'The girl will adjust. Just as I've had to do again and again.'

'I want more for her. I thought you would, too.'

'Tell me how I can trust this next world you want me to go to. The last time I trusted you to take me to a new place, I did not fare well.'

'But you're better off now, aren't you?'

'If I am, I've certainly earned my good fortune,' he said, recalling his capture and Chase's torture. Reminded of that man's disgust, Malkom said, 'In your world, would your people accept what I am?'

She gazed away. 'Your kind isn't ... well, there are those who'll want to make you an enemy just because of what you are. But we won't know if they can be made to see differently, not until we try it.'

'Your home cannot possibly be better than this.' The blinding lights, the sounds, her behavior...

'Maybe not better, but different. We belong to a coven there, and Ruby needs to learn from them. Malkom, she could grow up to be dangerous. The Sorceri showed a disturbing interest in her,' she said. 'And I have a bad feeling about this place. A sense of something coming. More mortals will return here. And the dangers on this island are greater than there could ever be at home.'

'Ah, you have a sense, then?'

'So you're not going to believe that either?' Her cheeks flushed with anger. 'If you think I'd lie about a potential danger, then I'm beginning to wonder if we truly can come back from this.'

' 'Tis convenient. Your sense.'

'La Dorada could still be out here. Remember her? That ghastly woman who crept through the ward, wreaking havoc?'

'She did not bother me. Aided me, in fact. She is not a concern.'

Carrow narrowed her eyes. 'You seem utterly convinced that this island is better than my home. Have you dreamed my memories?'

'Yes,' he answered shamelessly.

Her lips parted, but she quickly collected herself. 'What have you seen?'

You, dancing upon tables. 'Glimpses of your world. Cars and gadgets. Enough to know I'd prefer it here.'

'What have you seen of my life?'

Why not tell her? 'I saw your wars. Saw you fighting recklessly.'