Page 41 of Grabbed By the Guard

GLAINE

Apollyon paces in front of me, hands folded behind his back. The clan leader has his horns bowed, chin tucked to his chest. We’re just outside my home, having left Lilith and Billie together inside. Due to the constraints on a Sombra demon male, I cannot go that far from my mate—a fact that Apollyon recognizes as he keeps his voice low without moving further from the front door.

“You have put me in the most awkward of positions, Glaine,” he announces after a few strained moments.

“I didn’t mean to, Apollyon.”

“I know. Your instincts were at work.” He purses his lips, fangs overhanging the bottommost one. “I know that better than other demons. When you see your mate for the first time, you think of nothing else but bonding her to you.”

Even if she is being wooed by another male who falsely believed she was his…

That was centuries ago. Any anger I felt toward the clan leader disappeared as soon as Lilith came to me, admitting what we both had senses in some way: that I was not her mate, Apollyon was, and she was moving from my home to his. She chose him. She recognized him as her fated mate instead of a male who might be, and since she denied giving me her essence or taking mine, she was free to bond with Apollyon.

It hurt to be denied. It was the doppelseers’ prophecy come true: that I would find her in another world only for her to refuse me in the end. But now I have Billie—and Lucian confirmed that my Fate has not changed.

As for Damien… before I left their cabin with Billie, he spoke to me for the first time. In the same melodic voice as before, he repeated the second prophecy that has ruled my life for so long:

In chains of gold and magic bound,

You linger close, yet far profound.

To win the heart you hold so dear,

Release the spell that chains you here.

For love’s true call is not in grasp,

But in the freedom you unfasten at last…

He warned me not to take it so literally. How can I not? For the first time, I understand what it means. In chains of gold… he was referring to the chains that kept Billie tethered to me. When I asked her what she wanted of me to prove myself to her, she wanted her freedom. From the dungeon. From the chains. From me.

To win the heart… I used my sway over a younger demon to earn our escape. I knew Loki would release us from the chains because he has a weakness when it comes to his human mate. To know that I had one… of course he would help me. I didn’t ask him to open the travel spell just yet because I was selfish. I wanted to cleave Billie close to me for a little longer.

And now, as Apollyon confesses that Duke Haures sent a messenger to Nuit to speak with him while we were still on our way… I know that I’ve made another mistake.

My mate wanted her freedom to return to the human realm, but that is the one thing I cannot give her.

“Out of respect for all you’ve done for Nuit…” He shakes his head, looking away from me… “Out of respect for you bringing Lilith to me, I have agreed to harbor you and your mate. But that means you must stay in Nuit. Both of you.”

There’s more to the warning. Duke Haures reminds me of the final conversation we shared before he gave his permission for me to join Billie in the dungeon. I’m barely listening since I’m thinking about how I’m going to explain this to my mate, but Apollyon takes my silence as agreement.

Then, ending the conversation quickly, he joins me in my living room. My eyes immediately go to Billie. She’s standing in her prickly pose, arms crossed over her chest, legs folded together as she leans against the far wall. Lilith has moved from her place on the couch, putting some distance between her and my human mate.

My upset human mate.

Her emotions slam into me like a commander’s hand to the back of your horns. She is trying to hide them, but failing, and I know that whatever has passed between the females while Apollyon and I were occupied outside… I had made a mistake by leaving Billie behind. I should’ve insisted she come with me to speak with Apollyon, even if his words weren’t to her liking.

Now? I wait for the clan leader and the clanmother to make leave of my home, then turn, knowing that Billie will have questions for me.

Questions I will do my best to answer.

“Who is Lilith?”

That… that is not the question I expected her to start with. Luckily for me, it is an easy one.

“Apollyon’s mate.”

Billie uncrosses her arms from over her chest, planting them on her hips instead. “Glaine. Please. Don’t insult me. I don’t want to use your essence because… I don’t know. It just seems like a huge invasion of privacy?—”

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