A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales – B&tB Book 1)
A Ruin of Roses: Chapter 7

This desire was something I would have to ignore, because I was not going to reduce myself to fucking this dickhead.

Maybe I did need to check into the salon for a little meow, meow.

“You done?” I asked him with a bravado I didn’t feel.

He closed the scant distance between us, his big body dwarfing mine, his sweet breath dusting my face. Fire and rage and lust charged the air between us. His breathing was shallow, matching mine. Unsaid words—dirty, filthy, sexy words—hung around us.

A vein pulsed in his jaw. His eyes bored into mine for a tense moment. It took everything I had to force my animal down.

“You’ll want to stay away from me,” he said in that voice out of a nightmare. “I was not lying—I will ruin you. I will destroy your virtue. I’ll taint your goodness.”

Why did part of me want that so badly? What were these crazy desires this man was bringing out in me?

I clenched my jaw so tightly my teeth hurt. I believed his threat, and I didn’t want to set him off. I didn’t want him to flood me with another burst of power. I didn’t know if I could stop myself from giving in.

His eyes roamed my face before he finally nodded. With a stiffness belying the state he was in, he turned and walked farther into the everlass field. He ran his fingers through his hair, rendering it more unruly.

I let out a breath and turned the other way. I needed to get my bearings.

Hadriel stood back with Leala, a picnic set up and waiting. Even from a distance, I could see the worry on both of their faces. A memory of the night before floated up—Nyfain grabbing my neck and yanking me to him, demanding information I was not willing to provide. He clearly had an incredible temper.

If only that was what I was worried about.

Once again under control, I turned back around. He was working through the field again, checking the plants and pruning as he went. His graceful movements looked like a well-practiced dance. He didn’t just pull away dying or flagging leaves, either. He fluffed up the plants, touching them almost tenderly before moving on, giving an extra bit of love and attention.

“Does that work?” I asked, working closer. “The random touches as you go?”

He glanced back before continuing on. “I don’t know, honestly. This knowledge was passed down. I didn’t question it.”

“I can test it, if you like.”

He straightened up, straddling one of the rows. The sun beat down on his wide shoulders as he glanced out over the field. “Do as you will. I want you to make that…nulling elixir, you called it. I want you to drink it first, to make sure it isn’t poison. Then I want to distribute it to a few people to see if it really works.”

“Please,” I said.

He glanced my way. “It’s an order, not a request.”

“And if it weren’t going to save people, I would tell you to shove your order up your dickhole.”

Surprisingly, he smiled. “We aren’t going to get along, Finley.”

My name in his voice flowed over my body. I shivered, now incredibly annoyed again.

“I think that was a given as soon as you took me prisoner,” I replied.

“It was a given long before that.” He worked his way back toward me. “You say you need to harvest at night?”

“Yes. Midnight seems to work best.”

“Have you tried three o’clock? That’s when the demons are strongest. If you say the elixir works better when harvested at night because of their magic, then three o’clock would be the optimal time.”

I pulled my lips down in thought. “Good tip. I don’t really know much about demons.”

“Then you didn’t…tangle with them in your village?” he growled, as though the very thought of me intimately touching a demon enraged him.

I frowned, no clue why he’d care. Maybe just an all-around hatred of them, which I completely understood.

“No,” I said, wandering the field and looking at the various plants. I wanted to choose the ones I’d harvest from. “Speaking of, does this place have an herb garden? I want to make the draught that nulls the incubi’s magic.”

“What did you say?” That got his attention.

I huffed out a laugh. “Hadriel was excited to hear that as well. That and the coffee replacement. All this time on your hands, and none of you thought to experiment? I developed that demon draught almost immediately after turning sixteen. Those bastards came on strong. I didn’t want to accidentally get caught out too late and run into one. What a thing to lose your virginity to.”

I made a sound like yuck.

“Not all of us have the gift of healing.”

His tone was somber with traces of sorrow and a hint of pride. I glanced up to gauge his expression, but he had turned away, wandering the field.

“Right, well, if you have an herb garden, I can make enough of that for everyone, if you want. Whoever wants it. If there’s enough supplies, obviously.”

“You are very giving in your antidotes.” Again that somberness. That sorrow.

“Maybe I’m just trying to poison everyone.” After a few moments of quiet, I let curiosity get the better of me. “Do you tend this field on your own? And the one in the Forbidden Wood?”

“Mostly. There is one gardener left on the grounds. He helps where he can.”

“Who taught you to work the plants? Not books, I imagine.”

“My mother,” he said softly.

He’d done a nearly perfect job with these plants. They were all happy and healthy. They’d make a very strong nulling elixir, except that we didn’t have any rainwater collected. I’d have to figure out a different way.

First things first—harvesting.

“I haven’t noticed any correlation between the demons’ strength and the various moon cycles, have you?” I asked as I stopped near a struggling plant. I crouched down, studying it, resting my forearms on my knees.

“No. The moon doesn’t affect them.”

I pulled my lips to the side, thinking, before looking up at the sun and then all around, marking this spot in my mind so I could avoid it.

“It affects shifters, though.” He stepped down in my line of sight, having clearly followed me through the field.

“I know that.”

“Does it affect you?”

“How could it? My animal is—or was, I guess—suppressed like everyone else’s. It’s only now, since you, that I can feel it. Her, I think. It feels like a female presence.”

“You didn’t feel your animal at all before me? Not even a whisper?”

“No.”

“And yet you can resist my commands.”

I didn’t mention that it was not a fun time resisting him.

“No one could ever resist me,” he said.

I pushed up to standing. “Maybe you’re not as strong as you once were. Maybe that’s why you can’t break the curse, whatever it is.”

“It isn’t up to me to break the curse. I am powerless within it.”

“We’re never powerless,” I muttered, a sentiment I’d always repeated to myself when I did, indeed, feel utterly powerless. Usually hopeless, too. I pointed downward. “This plant is being crowded. I assume you know what that means?”

His eyebrows stitched together. It took him a moment to look where I was pointing. He didn’t comment, and judging from our previous interactions, I took that to mean he didn’t know what to say.

I really wanted to punch him, just in general, but instead I took a deep breath and readied the lecture. This was something he needed to know if he was going to work the everlass. Something his mother should have told him. The plant’s location suggested it had been planted this way on purpose.

“This plant is basically getting bullied, to put it simply. That creates a sort of…acidic quality that’s bad for healing. It can be poisonous, actually. Someone in my village used leaves from a crowded plant for the elixir we spoke of, and it killed her husband within a few hours. She claimed to have chosen the leaves—multiple—by accident, which means it was definitely on purpose. Given she refused to marry again and spent a lot of time after that with demons in the pub…well. She’s suspect.

“Anyway, the book I read said it was often thought that crowded plants were cultivated that way on purpose, nestled among the others in the field, hidden in plain sight. Only a person who knew what they were looking for would know the crowded plant’s true nature.”

I used my finger to outline the rows. Little dips happened all over, like the horse hadn’t walked in a straight line when the fields were plowed. Only sometimes the rows dipped enough to create a crowded plant. I counted thirteen of them, a superstitious number.

“The layout of this field is masterful.” I raised my eyebrows at him. “You?”

“The former queen.”

That was surprising. I hadn’t thought royalty actually worked. Not in any physical way.

“Well, she knew what she was doing,” I said. “Too bad she wasn’t the one who taught you. To un-crowd the plant, you simply prune those around it and give it more breathing room. It’ll spread its leaves and flourish. It won’t hold a grudge. Overall, your garden won’t suffer in production, either, since all the plants are firing on all cylinders. If you then wish to crowd the plant again so you can off your husband, prune it back a little and let the other plants creep in. Easy.”

“You learned all this from a book?” He sounded incredulous.

“From a few, actually. A book on everlass, one about myths and legends, a history of the kingdom, a book on faeries, and finally just trial and error. I definitely filled in a lot of blanks.”

He stared at me for a long moment, balanced on the balls of his feet. Braced for something, or against it, I couldn’t tell which. Whatever it was, the struggle seemed internal.

He gritted his teeth against a strong emotion. For once, he didn’t shove his drama at me, for which I was grateful.

“Our gardens aren’t up to par for a witch,” he said with disdain, but I could tell his heart wasn’t really in it.

“I hear sometimes it’s more work to be a dick than to be a nice guy,” I said softly.

“Do you know from experience?”

“No. For me it’s always been easier to be a dick. Nice people make me nervous.”

A genuine smile stretched across his face, softening his severe appearance. He’d definitely been a looker at one time, before all those scars crisscrossed his skin.

“If you can shift, why don’t you also heal?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me as I helped him work through the field, pruning and now lightly petting the plants. Very high-maintenance, this everlass. Worth the effort.

His expression fell, quickly turning broody again. His muscles tensed. “I can only shift because of sheer determination and a tight connection with my animal. I refused to lose my grip on him, and he was able to force the shift. Our bond is strong, and together we are more powerful than the demon king. We paid the price, though. The magic sheared off our wings with that first change, leaving us ground bound and disfigured. My healing ability is mostly suppressed, too. When I sustain wounds, they last. What woman would want to be stuck with a ground-bound dragon and a scarred man…” He turned and bent, his back to me. “If you had stabbed through my heart with that pocketknife, I would’ve died. You would’ve done what no one else has been able to do these last sixteen years. You would’ve ended this eternal nightmare.”

Pain lanced my heart. Not just for him, but for all of us. I wished someone could explain the curse to me so I could figure out a way to end it. So I could do more than fuss around with finicky plants.

“What would happen if I’d killed you?” I asked, walking closer to him.

“The curse would end and the demon king would finally rule. After that, he’d likely turn everyone into servants or just kill them outright. I don’t know.”

The breath left me. “Well…” I stood and looked down at the plants for a moment, hopelessness welling up. As always in my past, I only let myself dwell for a moment. I let the feeling sink in, and then I rallied. “Where there is life, there is hope. You’re not dead yet, and neither am I. We can find a way. What happens if we kill the demon king?”

He straightened and turned, his beautiful eyes devoid of anger for once. “The power he wields over us will be transferred to the next in line for the demon throne.”

“And if we kill them all?”

A grin worked at his lips. “We don’t have the resources for that.”

I braced my hands on my hips. “I’ll figure it out. There must be something that can be done.”

“Would you sacrifice your life to save this kingdom?”

His voice was thick, and it sounded like a trick question. Regardless, I didn’t need to think about the answer.

“Of course,” I said. “I thought I was sacrificing my life for my family. To do it for the kingdom would be an honor.”

“As easy as that, huh?”

“Yes. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d be scared out of my mind, and I’d try to run and escape like I did last night, but in the end, I’d do it. Of course I would. Anyone would.”

He sneered. “Not anyone. Some people aren’t as honorable or selfless as you claim to be.” He squared up to me, rage once again burning brightly in his eyes. Something else glimmered there as well. Pain. “You should be more careful when you make such claims, princess. You don’t know of which you speak. There are worse fates than death.”

“Like being disfigured?” I met his stare. “Like losing your wings? At least you can change into your animal. Most people long to do that and can’t. What woman would love a wingless, scarred dragon? A woman who doesn’t give a shit about appearances, that’s who. Why don’t you ask what you’re really afraid of—what woman would like you for you? You’re not a noble anymore. You’re not a dragon anymore. You’re just as fucked as the rest of us. Sure, you prance around this castle and patrol the royal grounds, but the demons run this place. You’re in make-believe land if you think otherwise. The demons run your life as surely as they control the rest of us. The lines between commoners and royals have been blurred. Now it’s just you and me and everyone else. So, no, you’re not worried about being disfigured—you’re worried about the ugliness of your personality being the only thing people have to judge you by.”

“You dare to speak to me that way?”

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

His fists opened and closed, and his temper broke. Suddenly he was storming toward me, rage and power let loose. He stopped in front of me, still careful of the everlass plants but not careful of me. A fast movement, and his fingers curled around my throat. I didn’t have my knife. I did have my foot.

I hopped up so that he would take my weight, all of my body held up by one of his hands. My air completely cut off, but I didn’t waste the opportunity. I swung my foot as hard as I could.

My boot smacked between his legs. His breath swooshed across my face with the impact. He squinted in pain and nearly crumpled, groaning as he lowered.

My feet hit the ground, and then I threw his hand off me. Normal people would’ve run away, but normal people didn’t have a kingdom resting on the strength of these everlass plants.

“Keep standing,” I commanded, and my animal swirled within me, lending power to my words.

His wobbling knees locked straight, jerking him upright. His upper body still bowed, though, as he cupped his balls.

“Do not crush these plants.” I hooked my arms around his middle, and he draped over me, his weight a bit more than I could comfortably handle. “Get a hold of yourself. It’s just your dick. Deal with the pain.”

He issued a shaky laugh before coughing. “That was a damn good kick.”

One of his big, scarred hands rested on my shoulder, and he straightened up painfully. He looked down at our feet before pulling one of his back a little, giving the everlass plant more room. His gaze then tracked up my body, searing heat following in its wake. His smell delighted my senses. His other hand traveled up my arm and over my collarbone to the base of my neck.

“So fierce,” he whispered, tracing his thumb across my heated flesh. “So strong.” He breathed out, our breath mingling now. His fingertips brushed my jaw line before applying pressure, making me look up at him as he bent. “So powerful.”

I braced my hands against his chest to push him away even as my eyelids grew heavy and desire curled through me.

His lips neared my ear. “Do you want me to touch you, Finley?”

His tongue traced the edge of my earlobe, and I shivered.

“Tell me,” he commanded softly, and my stupid animal surged power through me. Tried to take over.

“Hmm,” he groaned, tightening his grip on my jaw, keeping my head tilted up to him. “That’s right. Let your animal feed your arousal. I can feel her in you. I can feel how much you want me.”

The hand on my shoulder slipped down my collarbone and over the swell of my breast. His thumb pressed against the bud of my nipple. A shock of pleasure speared me.

I clenched the fabric of his shirt and willed myself to push him away.

His thumb moved in lazy circles, stroking my inner fire. My lips opened wider as I panted.

“Where do you want me to touch you?” he coaxed, pulling away from my breast so he could push the fabric off and down my shoulder. The neck was so big that it slid down easily. His tricky fingers edged down again, gliding across my bare flesh. At the top of my binding, he ran his finger just under the fabric.

I jerked my fisted hands a little, yanking him a bit toward me. I gritted my teeth and stopped myself. My animal tried to surge up, but I was ready this time. I pushed her down, suppressing the power that rolled through me, trying to keep my head.

His chuckle was dark and sinister as he worked my binding lower. His other hand held my face, and he bent until his lips grazed mine. A shock of electricity lit me up as our lips touched.

“I want to taste you,” he murmured.

I clutched his shirt tighter and braced myself, in a battle for control. Logic said to push him away. My animal had me locked up tight, though. She wanted this, and she was about to take over and get it.

His tongue darted out, skimming the seam of my lips. I opened my mouth before I could stop myself. His lips curled, and he finished pulling my breast free, now reaching in my shirt. He pulled back, our gazes locking, as he pinched my taut nipple.

I whimpered at his touch as he manipulated the hard bud with the rough pad of his finger. His pupils dilated, showing his delight in the effect he was having on me.

“Um…sir?”

The voice was insistent. Anger kindled within me that anyone would interrupt. My animal beat power through my blood.

Nyfain pulled my shirt farther down. Fabric ripped, giving him more access. He bent and raked a hot tongue across my nipple.

I groaned, lost in the sensations now.

I moved my hand to the side of his face and arched, pushing my breast toward his mouth. He enveloped it, sucking greedily.

With me holding on to his neck, he freed one of his hands and reached between my thighs. His firm touch rubbed right where I needed it, building me up higher. I gyrated against it, utterly out of control.

“Sir? Sir!” The voice was incessant, and I vaguely recognized it.

I also wanted to kill the owner so he’d fuck off.

Nyfain licked and flicked my nipple as he rubbed the seam of my pants, working me. Building.

“Master, sir. Sir!”

Nyfain pulled back with a growl, my nipple popping out of his mouth. He clutched me possessively, as though there was danger from this third party and he didn’t intend to let it reach me.

“Sir.” Hadriel was waving from the edge of the field. “Sorry to interrupt, but sir, it’s time to go.”

It took a moment for Nyfain’s eyes to clear. His eyebrows dipped, and he blinked rapidly. When his gaze swung back to me, it was accusatory. He pushed me away as he pulled back. He glanced down at my feet, checking to make sure I wasn’t trampling the everlass.

“I told you to keep a tight hold on your animal,” he snarled, his face flushed.

Cold washed over my previously fevered skin. I shivered with the change, pulling up my binding. My nipple throbbed against the fabric, still shooting pleasure through my body. Tingling from his hard, delicious suction.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I pulled my shirt so it looped around my neck again, now stretched out. “Which of us has ever even met their animal? You’re the one with experience. This is your fault, not mine.”

“Stay away from me, Finley. I’m not a nice man. I will destroy you.” He walked toward Hadriel.

“Stay away from— I wasn’t the one with my nipple in his mouth,” I yelled, the sting of rejection tight in my chest.

This was a good thing. Him pulling back and walking away was good news. I should’ve been the one to do that. I should’ve pushed him away almost immediately.

So why did it feel like I wasn’t good enough? Like I was dirty?

I walked farther into the everlass to quiet the mad thoughts. My animal was messing with my head. That’s what was happening. For some reason, she had taken a liking to that dickhead, and she was taking me along for the ride. His animal was pushing him, too, I guessed. But that man and I just did not get along. For one, the fucker had imprisoned me. Granted, yes, he could’ve killed me and didn’t. And sure, it was technically within his jurisdiction to pass judgment and execute a punishment. But people were dying left and right, and I’d only trespassed in that field to save my family. What sort of asshole would imprison someone for that? It was nothing but a power trip.

Second, he simply was not likable. He was brooding and angry and tough to get along with. If he wasn’t pissing me off, he was trying to force me to do something. Um…no thanks.

So any feeling of rejection was just ridiculous. I needed to pull on my big-girl panties and let logic rule. My animal was cut off, and as soon as I could figure out a way to further suppress her, I’d do it.

The pang of remorse and guilt that followed that thought was unexpected. Fuck it all, I just couldn’t win.

“So, how’d it go?” Hadriel asked in a singsong voice with a grimace. “Get those plants sorted?”

My face burned with embarrassment. In the moment, I hadn’t thought about people watching. I wouldn’t have cared.

“You didn’t turn away, did you?” I asked as I sat down to the lovely spread of food on the bright pink and orange blanket.

“Turn away? Love, please, you must be kidding me.” He sat down with me. “I couldn’t look away! I didn’t know if he was going to bang you or break you. It was wonderfully tense.”

“Hey.” Leala batted his shoulder. “What are you doing? That’s for her. You’re not supposed to sit with them.”

“She’s not a them, first, and I will let her eat it. But you heard the master; I’m supposed to keep her safe…somehow. If she gets into trouble, he’ll kill me.” He smoothed his hair back. “So I’ve got that going for me now. It’s like…I think my life can’t get any worse, and then bam. Here’s a shit sandwich, Hadriel. Enjoy your lunch!”

I stared at him incredulously. “When did he tell you to keep me safe?”

“Just right now when he went away. I’m to let you find a garden that you can grow your herbs in. And I’m to watch over you. If you get into trouble, he expects me to call him immediately.”

“That’s not keeping her safe,” Leala said. “That’s just tattling on her.”

“Keeping her safe, tattling on her—either way, he has his eye on me and wants me to report to him. And do you know what will happen if the demons find out?” He gestured between him and me. “We’ll both be killed.”

I held up my hands. “I do not understand that guy. He essentially just told me to fuck off and leave him alone, and yet he’s setting someone to guard me? To tattle on me?”

“Oh, no way can Hadriel guard you, milady,” Leala said, laughing. “If anything were to go down, he’d probably soil himself as he ran away.”

Hadriel turned to her. “Leala, honey, eat glass.”

“Walk off a cliff,” she responded pleasantly.

I chuckled. “What sort of trouble can I get into?”

Hadriel pointed at the everlass field. “You just made out with the most dangerous, unhinged guy in this kingdom—”

“Except for the demon king,” Leala said. “He’s more dangerous.”

“He is not more dangerous than the master,” Hadriel shot back.

“Of course he is. He can control the master.”

While I listened to them bicker, I selected a sandwich and took a bite. Cured ham and cheese. Delicious.

Hadriel half turned toward her. “The demon king can only control the master by using the curse as a leash. The master isn’t even supposed to have jurisdiction, remember? In the beginning, he was just supposed to stick to the castle like the rest of us did. But he killed any demon that tried to keep him from the Royal Wood. Tell me that the demon king is more powerful than that!”

“But the demon king does have the curse as a leash, so technically he is.”

“Technically you’re a waste of resources.”

“Suck an asshole.”

“Whoa, okay…” I put my hands out.

“My point was”—he gave Leala a poignant stare; she rolled her eyes—“you clearly don’t make the best decisions.”

“What about the girls he bangs?” I asked. “Do they have a guard detail, too?”

An awkward silence greeted my question. I lifted my eyebrows.

“He doesn’t bang girls,” Hadriel responded as Leala said, “He hasn’t been with anyone since the curse, I don’t think.”

“Wait…” I lowered my half-eaten sandwich. “What?”

“Yes, you might have to take a second with that one.” Hadriel patted my knee. “I cannot even fathom what his blue balls must be like. I mean, shame-fucking warps the brain, yes, but being backed up for years and years? That would drive a man mental.”

“He has some…issues,” Leala said carefully. “He won’t have sex with a demon because they moved in and ruined our lives. He has a lot more self-control than the rest of us do, obviously. I didn’t want to touch those demons either, I really didn’t. But the incubi are really handsome, and eventually I got tired of everyone else, and then…”

“Shame-fucking,” Hadriel finished. Leala shrugged and nodded. “That leaves the household staff. We assumed he was secretly fucking some of us, but all the secrets and then some have come out by now, and no. He’s not fucking anyone in the castle. So then we assumed he might be fucking some of the villagers. Stands to reason. They feed him information, and then he probably gets a little whisper and a poke down that way. But he seems to only meet with men.”

“He’s not into men,” Leala said.

“Right. He’s not into men.”

“Wait a minute.” I pushed my last bite to the side of my cheek. “He’s meeting with villagers?”

“That’s how he gets his information,” Leala said. She put her finger to her mouth. “But don’t tell anyone. If the demon king found out, he’d kill the villagers. It’s happened in the past.”

“He doesn’t meet with anyone from my village,” I said, strangely offended.

Hadriel pulled his lips to the side of his face. “He clearly should’ve been, huh? Because you have that elixir thing. I’m supposed to bring you down to harvest the everlass tonight. Good thing, too, or I might’ve gone for the hair of the dog, and then the demons would’ve made a fool of me.”

“You make a fool of yourself just fine without the demons’ help,” Leala said.

“I know what you’re doing.” Hadriel held up a finger. “You’re trying to rile me up so that I’ll get behind the paddle next time you want to be spanked. I’ll say it again, Leala, I am not into that kinda kink. I do not find spanking a tied-up girl a good time. It stresses me out. So stop coming at me about it.”

“But you really put your all into it. I can feel your passion.”

“That’s anger, Leala. It is anger, and I’m being very violent when I do it.”

“Hmm,” she said with a little smile, and ran her fingers down the side of her neck.

He shook his head and looked away. “I don’t understand hate-fucking. If I hated you, I wouldn’t want to fuck you.”

I felt my face flush as I thought of my complicated feelings for Nyfain. Our anger, our rage, our mutual dislike for each other, and how damn good his tongue had felt stroking my nipple. The pounding of desire as his fingers rubbed between my thighs. I was pretty sure hate-fucking him would be a real good time. A real good time.

I was also sure something was wrong with me, and Hadriel was right—I was not making good decisions! I needed to stay away from that guy. At all costs, I needed distance between him and me.

“I’m not clear on the rules here,” I said, rubbing my temples as though that would get Nyfain out of my head and the simmering heat out of my core. “I thought the beast couldn’t pass through the edge of the Forbidden Wood.”

“Well, that’s where the power thing comes into effect,” Hadriel said. “Back in the day, the magic fortifying that line was potent. It hurt the master a great deal to cross it. But the magic has dissipated a bit over the last sixteen years. The demon king has not re-fortified it, and the master can make the crossing without too much pain now. He just has to do it sparingly because he doesn’t want any of the demons to find out. Luckily for him and unluckily for us, we keep the demons pretty well occupied. As do the villages, I hear.”

“And so when he goes to meet these villagers…” I squinted an eye.

Hadriel flung out his hand to silence Leala, but he was too late.

“They usually meet him in the wood. The villagers can come and go without the magic affecting them. Which is also supposed to be a secret from the demon king. I mean, he probably knows, but he doesn’t think villagers pose any threat anymore…”

She trailed off. Hadriel looked at me with a blank face. As well he should have.

“And just how many other prisoners has he taken?” I asked in a measured voice. This time I let my animal rise to the surface, fueling me with power. My senses strengthened, smell and eyesight and hearing more acute. That might come in handy. “How many?”

“Um…” Leala cleared her throat. “We’re really not at liberty to—”

“Tell me,” I barked.

“None,” they both said quickly, clutching their chests. Hadriel’s eyes widened, and Leala smiled and bent a little, looking inward again.

After a moment, Hadriel took a deep breath.

“Never, and I mean never…” He stuck up a finger. “Never do that in the presence of the demon king. Ever. Or he’ll take you away without a word.”

“Do what?” I asked, allowing my animal a little more freedom now that Nyfain wasn’t kicking around.

Hadriel gave Leala a look before pushing to standing. “Nothing. The master will figure it out. Right. Let’s get cracking, doll. I’ll show you around to all the hobby stations so you don’t go crazy and give in to the demons, then we need to find you that garden for your herbs—I hope you can work miracles—and get you measured so you don’t look like a fourteen-year-old boy running around the place. We have standards around here.”

“So he took me prisoner—”

“Don’t.” He held up his finger again.

“But seriously, he’s—”

“Nope.” He shook the finger.

“Why am I—”

“Zzzzzip it.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me up, leading me away from Leala, who would presumably pick up the largely uneaten picnic, and to the side of the back door.

“Listen to me,” he said seriously. “There are three people you can trust in this place, okay?” He ticked off a finger. “There is me because I had no choice in the matter.” He ticked off a second finger. “There is Leala because she is a damn fine lady’s maid and will keep every one of your secrets. Don’t tell her I said nice things, she’ll just taunt me.” Third finger. “Finally, there’s the master.” He spread his hands. “That’s it. We’re the only ones you can trust. Just us three. And that isn’t because the rest of the house staff mean you harm. The problem is that the survivors are mediocre at best. Remember me telling you that? We tend to make things worse instead of better. So if you tell someone something, they’ll spread it around. If they don’t tell a demon during a pleasure session, they’ll tell someone else on the house staff, and they’ll pass it on. When it comes to you, we do not want any details getting around. As far as they are concerned, Nyfain found someone stealing, and he’s going to use her as a plaything before he kills her. That is something the demons will understand. They’ll think they’re finally getting to him. They’ll give him a little leeway with it. At least”—he grimaced—“he seems to think so. I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out, huh?”

“But…I still don’t understand. If he never takes anyone else prisoner, why me?”

“Sometimes to protect something, we need to hide it in plain sight.”

“Protect me from what?”

“You’ll have to ask the master. I’m not at liberty to say, and if you go too far in making me answer your questions, you might accidentally ask the wrong one. I’ll try to spill things covered by the magical gag, and it’ll kill me. Your grievances need to be taken up with the master and no one else. Preferably where you can’t be overheard.”

I brushed my hair out of my face, nervousness swirling in my gut.

“Fine.” I lifted my chin in defiance. “I will take it up with him directly.”

So much for staying away from Nyfain. I just hoped the next meeting didn’t end up with my tit in his mouth.