Page 20 of Stolen By the Demon

“My little flame, so strong, so brave.” He sat down next to me and caressed my cheek, which I instantly pressed into his hand, reveling in his touch, needing it.

We didn’t say another word. Instead, I lost myself in his hypnotizing gaze. A shudder moved through me. Memories didn’t assault me all at once. It was more like a story that slowly unfolded, just like it had back then.

… I was collecting berries when my father’s men came upon me. I tried to run, but there were too many of them, and they were too strong. Within a few hours, I found myself in my father’s basement.

“You stupid bitch. Do you have any idea what you have done?” My father asked, striking me so hard in the face that I was propelled against the wall, where I lay shivering.

“Making a deal with Satan is hard enough, standing him up… a death wish. Is that what you want? To see me dead?”

I preferred not to answer his question. Devon told me that my father had planned to have me mated to Satan. As much as I trusted and loved Devon, a part of me had still held on to hope that he had been mistaken. Hearing the admission now from my father’s lips hurt so deeply it stung my heart.

“You bargained me out to the Devil?” I managed.

He rolled his eyes. “That’s all you’re worth. Do you truly think any reputable man would marry you? You should have been killed the moment your cursed mother gave birth to you.”

My mother. He seldom spoke of her; when he did, it was only to curse her.

“I’m your daughter,” I objected.

“Ha! Daughter, I have no children. I raised you as mine because Satan asked me to. And now that he has finally come to collect you, you run away.”

“Not your daughter,” I whispered, and for some reason, the very idea of that filled me with immense gratitude. I wasn’t his daughter. I nearly jubilated.

“Whose daughter am I, then?” I asked, getting back to my feet with the help of the rocky wall behind me.

“The last fae named Cecily gave birth to you twenty-one years ago in preparation for the Magnus Eventus Walpurgisnach, the most celebrated event during which Satan himself presided. An event that is now past, because of you!”

I had to know. “Who is my father?”

He stared at me derisively, “Your father was Aglain du Cumpoun. He was the last great, real archdruid.”

Nothing he said meant anything to me. The names he threw at me were those of strangers, but I was glad I wasn’t his daughter. Still, my father had been an archdruid and my mother a fae?

I thought I was dizzy when the barrels along the wall began to shift, but then I realized they were being moved. A tall man emerged from the other side, and for a moment, I thought it was Devon, but then I looked at the man’s eyes and realized my mistake. His eyes looked like Devon’s, but they were dead and cold.

“You dared request my company?” the man said in a voice that sounded like Devon’s.

“Forgive me, Your Highness. I thought you might like to know that I finally got my ungrateful daughter back.”

The man didn’t even look at me. Instead, he stared balefully and full of loathing at my father. “Why my father hasn’t disposed of you yet is beyond me. You failed to deliver human. You mocked the King of the Underworld.”

“It wasn’t my fault that the stupid child ran aw—"

The man waved his hand, and my father fell silent. “In whose care did the great King of Hell leave the girl?”

“Mine, Your Highness, but—"

“Yours!” the man nodded. “I will inform my father that the maiden has been found. He will decide on how to punish you both.”

“Please, my prince, surely it’s not too late to—”

“How often does the Magnus Eventus Walpurgisnacht happen?” the Devon twin asked in a dangerously soft voice that sent shivers down my spine.

“Every four hundred and thirty years,” my father responded without appearing intimidated.

“Every four hundred and thirty years.” The stranger repeated. “And how long does a human live? How long does a human woman retain the ability to give birth?”

“I will have her ready for the king of the underworld in four hundred and thirty years. I swear to you. She will be at the Brocken, just like she is now. Able to bear the king of hell another son.”

---