Page 40 of Wickedly Yours

I frowned. “It’s a possibility, but…” I’d been careful when I’d crossed between realms. Plus, the witches had wards that should have kept them out.

“Or someone sent them.”

“Fuck,” I cursed under my breath. There was only one person who would have stooped so low.

“He has everything to lose from you bringing her back here—and you have everything to gain. It makes sense.”

I growled, the sound slipping through my lips before I could think better of it. Because maybe there was more to me wanting to keep her hidden in the human realm these last few weeks. There, I had her all to myself. Here, everyone would want a piece of her.

They would want her to prove herself repeatedly. And she didn’t even know how to use her magic.

“What am I supposed to do, Kai?” There was more at play here than that. And Luna was the key to all of it. “I have to keep her safe.”

“We need to move forward to the next phase, Zain. You know he can’t be bargained with.”

“I know. Fates, I know. That’s the problem.” I rubbed at the spot between my brows.

“So, let the people see their future queen.”

I turned to look at him. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“If they see her, fall in love with her—it’s less likely that he can cause any harm to come to her.”

“But they might not accept her.” I shook my head. “She’s still just ahuman,” I reminded him. Like he could forget. Maybe that wasn’t the issue at all, though—just that she wasn’t a demon.

She was strong willed, but being human here made her weak. I needed to bump my plans up, and I knew it.

“But she’s a witch. And a powerful one.”

I shut my eyes. “That changes nothing.” Until after the ceremony, she’d be at risk.

“Are you sure?” He asked, eyes sparking with humor even as I scowled at him, shadows pooling around me. “Because I think it changeseverything.”

I grumbled, Luna’s serene face filling my mind. The way her smile rocked me down to my foundation, splitting me open. There was only her.

“Fine. Plan a ball for tonight, and we’ll announce our engagement there.”

We’d dance and mingle, and the demons could meet the woman I was tying to me in marriage. And hopefully, they’d fall in love with her. It was all I could hope for. All I could offer her.

It could work.

He nodded. “I’ll find the girls. They should be able to help.”

A snort left me, thinking of Asura and Lilith in ball gowns instead of leathers. They were warriors, honed and bred. Pretty dresses? I looked forward to seeing that.

“I don’t know how to do this,” I admitted. “How to be everything that everyone needs me to be.”

Maybe the only thing that mattered was how to be what Luna needed me to be.

Kai slapped me on the back. “If there’s anyone who can figure it out, it’s you. Or has three hundred years of life experience taught you nothing?”

Without another word, I left him, closing the door behind me.

I needed to head back to my future bride.

“Oh.” Luna squeaked, covering her breasts with her hands as I entered the bathing pool. Bubbles covered the surface of the water, keeping her bottom half covered from view. Her lightblonde strands were piled on the top of her head in a messy bun.

A wicked grin spread across my face, my tongue running over my canine teeth that seemed to ache from the view of her bare neck. “You don’t have to hide from me, Moonbeam.” I’d already seen it all, anyway.

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