Page 52 of Demonchild

Droanna advanced, her steps achingly slow, her footfalls all but silent. There was a large tree directly in front of her, blocking her view of the clearing. She pressed herself against the trunk. Then, carefully, she peered around the side of it.

What she saw made her blood freeze in her veins.

She opened her mouth to scream, but her throat seemed to swell shut, and thank the Creator for that.

For a long, long time, Droanna just stood there, frozen in terror, her eyes as wide as a pair of dinner plates. She didn’t want to watch, yet she couldn’t seem to look away.

When she was finally able to move again, she carefully backed away from the tree trunk. She wanted very badly to break into a run, but she knew if she did that, the queen might hear.

The queen and thethingthat was with her.

After what seemed like an eternity, Droanna found the last piece of mushroom she had dropped on the ground. She picked it up and put it back in her pouch. Then she found the next, and the next, slowly wending her way back through the black forest toward the safety of Drachenval. Her skin felt clammy with fear, and her clothes were soaked with sweat.

But she was smiling now, and as she ventured onward, her smile grew and grew, for now she possessed a piece of knowledge that was more valuable than all the gold in the realm. She wouldn’t even have to get rid of Malissa herself. Her dear Wulfgang would do that for her, as soon as Droanna told him what she now knew.

The child in the queen’s belly was not the king’s.

CHAPTER 27

Afterward, Beliath held his little queen and purred to her soothingly. The top of the altar was a little too small for him to lie down on it comfortably, so instead he sat on the ground next to it while his mate curled up on his lap like a cat and rested. He caressed her long hair, and it slipped through his fingers like strands of liquified night. The air around them was heavy with the scent of sex and candle wax, the bitter green aroma of lush grass, and the forest smells of tree sap and fertile soil.

The woman made soft, pleasant sounds while he petted her. Sounds that tugged at his heart in ways he’d never experienced before. It pained him whenever she had to leave him to return to her castle. As long as she was here within the darkstone ring, he knew he could protect her and the child she was carrying inside her.

Once he was free, he would be able to protect both of them all the time.

His queen stirred lightly on his lap.

“Beliath?”

“Yes, angel?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

She turned her head and looked up at him with her big, dark eyes.

“How did you come to be trapped inside this darkstone ring in the first place?”

“I don’t think you want to hear about that.”

She pouted. “You said I could ask.” Her pout shifted into a concerned frown. “Unless it’s painful for you to talk about it.”

Beliath just shook his head.

“Not painful, little one. Just… embarrassing.”

“I promise I won’t make fun of you.”

That wasn’t what Beliath was worried about. He considered lying to his little queen, to spare her the hurt he feared his story might cause her, but quickly discarded that idea. He had already lied to her once before, and now he felt terrible about it. He wouldn’t lie to her again.

With a sigh, Beliath began his tale.

“It was a woman named Sykora who trapped me here, a long, long time ago. She was the first high priestess of the cult that formed around this particular darkstone ring. She called to me using witchcraft, chanting arcane chants and burning secret herbs. It wasn’t long before her rituals caught the attention of a wandering Sabaoth, and that Sabaoth, unfortunately, was me.”

He saidunfortunately, but now he wasn’t so sure. If he hadn’t been trapped within the darkstone ring all those years ago, he never would have met his little dark queen. Perhaps the Creator really did have a plan after all.

Malissa’s voice snapped him out of his reverie.

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