Page 50 of Witch Queen

Vlad recoiled. “What?!”

“She was the strongest Fire Magic witch your world had seen in centuries, nay, millennia. Her powers were so potent an attraction that I, who had lived in the Underworld for thousands of years, could not help but visit the human realm to see with my own eyes who could harbor such immense power within their mortal coil.”

A hundred questions stormed Vlad’s mind. He swallowed past the lump in his throat and asked the one that mattered the most.

“Did you…love my mother?”

Ilmon’s expression turned brooding. “I am an incubus. It is in my nature to seduce women.” He faltered. “But I can honestly say that she was the first to touch my cold, demon heart in a long, long time.”

A stilted silence fell between them.

“Then why did you abandon her?” Vlad asked miserably.

“Because she asked me to leave once I fulfilled the promise I made to her.”

Vlad grew as still as stone then. “What promise?”

A muscle jumped in Ilmon’s jawline. He gripped the balustrade overlooking the courtyard, his knuckles white.

“Your mother knew she was dying when I met her. And she wanted something only I could give her.” The Incubus king’s tone turned harrowed. “She wanted it more than she’d ever wanted anything in the whole wide world.”

The truth struck Vlad like lightning and made his chest tighten until he could barely breathe.

“A baby?” he said numbly. “She wanted a baby?!”

“Yes. She knew it was within my power to grant her that wish. That my incubus energy and her Fire Magic together would keep her alive long enough to carry and birth a child. Katarina was an incredibly shrewd witch.” Ilmon’s voice shook slightly. “I begged her to let me stay at her side until the end. But she would not have it so. She told me she did not want me to see her in that state.” The Incubus king squeezed his eyes shut. “She wanted me to remember her still looking beautiful and healthy.”

Vlad’s knees buckled. Blood pounded dully in his ears as he gazed blindly at the demon who had sired him.

Everything—everything I thought I knew about my past was wrong!

He sat down heavily on the ground, his body shaking uncontrollably. Tarang made an anxious sound and plopped down next to him.

Ilmon lowered himself beside them.

“All this time.” Vlad swallowed heavily and met his father’s eyes. He could see the kindness and immutable love shining in the incubus’s patient gaze. “All this time, I hated you.” A harsh bark of laughter left him. “Hell, I didn’t even know who you were until a few months ago.”

Ilmon hesitated before putting an arm gingerly around his shoulders. “Yuliy did a grand job raising you. You’ve become a fine man indeed, my son. I am sure Katarina is smiling upon us both from Heaven.”

They stayed like that for a while, Tarang’s tail curled around them.

“Vlad?” Ilmon said.

“Yeah?”

Ilmon’s eyes twinkled with hope. “About that kiss?—”

“No.”

The Incubus king sighed at his mutinous expression. “Alright, then how about I teach you how to take your incubus powers to the next level? It will help in your battle with that Sorcerer King.”

Vlad stared. “There’s a next level?”

Tarang cocked his head inquisitively.

Ilmon smiled. “There are many levels.”

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

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