ALTHEA. I was about to turn around and look for Lucy or Patrea when Blade blocked my way. His arm snaked around my waist as he brought me to the dance floor. My eyebrows hiked up as I scoffed softly. "Don’t you have manners, Blade? It’s not polite to just grab a girl and force her to dance with you." "I’d been polite for the last thirty minutes, Althea, restraining myself from growling and grabbing someone and killing the life out of him." "You know the only reason I am not throwing you out is that I don’t want to make a scene and let everyone know things about my life." "The only reason he hasn't broken any bones in his body is that I don't want to make a scene and ruin your birthday," he said. "Thank you, and I appreciate that. But it still doesn’t change anything between us. I have a boyfriend, Blade." "I know. I feel it every time," he said in a very cold voice. So he felt it. But did he say every time? I only did it once. "So tell me, why are you here? Is this the part
BLADE. I knew I wasn’t invited here and that I shouldn’t be here, but I wanted to see the guy that was getting her attention. Not that I could do something about it, but if I were to lose Althea to someone, he better be worth it and he better be someone who could protect her. But looking at him holding her in his arms, I doubted all of that. Althea looked stronger and smarter than him. Not that I judged people. Hell, fuck that! Of course, I judged people. I was never nice and had never given any compliments. Not even to Althea, even if I wanted to. She looked so fucking perfect in that short black dress that hugged her body perfectly. The only thing missing was me beside her, and that’s why I was here, trying to look comfortable in these formal clothes when I just wanted to rip them off my body. These clothes were made as if I was not allowed to put a crease in them. What the fuck was I supposed to do — stand still all night and not move my arms so it would remain perfect? These
PATREA. "Because nobody fucking bothered to tell me that my mate was being hunted by a fucking demon!" I could feel Blade’s anger radiating from his body, and if I hadn’t been worried about Lucius or thought that Althea was in his arms, I would have stunned him for being grumpy. "The demon was after me, and I had no idea she would come for Althea," I told him. "And why did you come here if you were aware that you were putting her in danger with your presence?" My eyes squinted, and I was so close to snapping and frying his brain if I didn’t remember how my granddaughter protected him. Everything happened so fast earlier, but it didn’t slip my eyes that despite the flames burning her skin, Althea conjured a spell to shield Blade the moment this giant shifted into his wolf. She placed a protective spell around him even if she was the one in real danger, and it only told me my granddaughter still cares about him, and that alone was enough reason for me not to punish him for his at
LUCIUS. I knew I wanted to kill Nyneve, but I didn’t want to do it too fast. I wanted her to feel every pain so that even if her dead soul were roaming the depths of hell, she would still remember the pain I gave her, but the bitch was letting out her seductive aura, and there was nothing I could do about it, but I tried my best to ignore it. I was thinking Stone would be affected too, but it seemed that being marked by Lucy gave him the luck not to feel Nyneve’s aura. And I got confirmation that I was right when Lucy and Patrea arrived. Lucy did not even flinch and went straight to her man, whereas I could see my female being affected. My female. Mine. Jealousy coursed through my whole body as I watched Patrea stare at Nyneve as if she wanted to pull her down from being tied up and ravage her. It was the same look she would give me whenever she wanted to have sex. I had felt this jealousy over her neighbor, but it was not at this intensity. I was fearing that the seduction woul
LUCIUS. "No! No! I’m sorry! Patrea! I said I’m sorry." I watched as black veins crawled on the skin of her neck, starting from where the bite was, and watched in terror as she choked in front of me. I didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t breathe. The pain in my chest was killing me, and I just wanted to succumb to it, but I couldn’t just let Patrea go. Her eyes fluttered before they shut, and the veins disappeared from her skin, and I knew I was losing her. My hand reached for her neck as I summoned my power to remove my mark, but I couldn’t. Marks and wounds from the underworld were permanent. Why the fuck did I forget a demon mark was deadly? My whole body shook as the agony of my action washed over me. I was losing the only female I ever cared about, and it was entirely my fault. I leaned my head closer to her naked chest. Her heart was still beating. I got up from the bed before I scooped up her body and transported us back to the cave where we came from. All the while
LUCIUS. "The demons of the Kingdom of Athwart, led by King Arturos, stand by the border between the two kingdoms. They wanted to avenge Princess Nyneve’s death." Dorian stated, his eyes fixed on mine. I was right. It was only a matter of time before he would come for her the moment he felt a descendant’s soul disconnect from him. But I was sure Nyneve meant nothing to him, and he perhaps just wanted a reason to take my kingdom. I didn’t say anything and just kept staring at my second-in-command. I wanted to tell him to just let King Arturos destroy Kalmerus. Maybe it was the right time to just succumb and let my own life perish. I had nothing to keep fighting for, nothing to live for. ‘You’re fucking stupid if you just let him destroy your kingdom!' Lucija’s words rang in my head. She could read me. But I kept my silence. I felt numb. Lucija stepped forward, and Dorian’s attention went to her. "Prepare your demon guards, but make sure that the tower is fully secured. We wil
PATREA."Adora?" I asked as the tears finally trickled down my face at the exact moment the figure came into the light, revealing the girl I was so longing to see.She still looked the same as the last time I saw her, and despite the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes, she looked happier."Am I dead? Why am I seeing you? Where are we?" I asked. "We are in between realms, Mama?""What do you mean? Are you stuck in between realms?"She shook her head as she sat at the end of my bed. "I am with the spirits. I only came here for you — to ask you if you want to come with me to the spirit world.""Am I dead?""Lucius bit you."I shook my head. "He didn’t mean to."A spark in the darkness flashed before my eyes, and my arms instinctively covered my eyes. After a while, I slowly lowered my arms to see another female standing beside Adora.Her eyes were pure black, as was her long hair. And from the runes that were covering her body, I already knew who she was. I was now fully
ALTHEA. "Mommy didn’t take you? She let you stay?" I asked her, overwhelmed that she was back with me and happy that she had met Mom again. Patrea nodded her head before she hugged me again. "Lucius marked me. I chose to accept the mark, Althea. I hope you will never judge me…" "No. Never, mama." I cut her off before I withdrew from her hugs. "If Lucius makes you happy, then he can have you. He kept crying the whole time you were unconscious. He thought he killed you. He keeps saying he loves you." Tears trickled down Patrea’s face, but this time a smile graced her lips. "Do you think it’s possible for him to love me?" "If I didn’t see him, I would never believe it. But I saw it with my own eyes. Do you love him, Mama?" She nodded her head as a red tint crept across her cheeks. "I might be too old for this." "No one is too old for love, and even demons deserve a chance to be loved back," I told her as I wiped the tears off her face. "Where is Lucius?" "Kalmerus is at war," Bl