Page 88 of Of Mercury and Mist

As if he could read my mind, he said, “I couldn’t tell you.”

I gave him a curt nod of my head. I wanted everyone gone; I needed to concentrate and plan. The Second Realm was the last place I should be going—the risk was high. I needed a clear head and an actionable plan and all the other nonsense surrounding me was interfering with my concentration. The reality of what Josiah had subjected me to, and Kiam’s subterfuge could be addressed later, if necessary.

“We need to plan for the future, especially given our unique state of being crossbreeds. More are coming. More demons, more vampires. Word is spreading and we need the backing of a group that accepts us for what we are,” Josiah explained.

It wasn’t something I thought of often, living primarily as a vampire, but our rare blood made us targets. We had the combined gifts of both species and had been taken advantage of, used, abused and deprived, for most of our lives. We’d played the long game, Josiah and I, biding our time and found no freedom until we’d arrived here in the Third Realm.

We’d convinced the Collective we were doing this for them, creating a financial stronghold, but the whole time we’d been working on forging our own path and becoming untouchable.

Our timeline sped up significantly when Josiah met Della; and farther still when he’d slaughtered Ezra.

It irritated me, but I had to admit I understood where Alastair was coming from. Josiah and I were the enemy, so to speak. There truly was no reason to trust us. At least not until we’d proven ourselves.

My actions likely didn’t help with building the needed foundation but that wasn’t my concern at the moment.

“I have things to take care of,” I stated.

“Where is Ashley?” Della asked, staring me down.

“The Second Realm,” I replied.

Her face drained of color before her gaze frantically sought her husband. “Oh no,” she whimpered.

Josiah hugged her to his side, and she buried her face against him. She’d been taken to the Realm in the past, and underwent an ordeal that’d almost turned her into a medical experiment before the two of us could intervene. She’d fought her way out best she could, but she wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for us.

“She went willingly,” Kiam said.

“I did, too. Kind of.” What Della meant was she’d been tricked into going.

I moved past my uninvited guests and sank into the sofa, snagging my half-full beverage on the way. “She requested to be taken there,” Kiam said to me. “She wanted to go.”

“A demon named Samuel took her. She knows him, somehow. I’m not clear on all the details but she has some type of relationship with the man,” I stated. Josiah eyed me, curiosity written across his face. “Not a romantic type of relationship,” I added.

“Do we know who this Samuel is?” Josiah asked.

“I can look into it. I was going to when I got around to it,” Kiam offered.

Della spoke up. “Do you think he’s part of the Collective?”

“That’s what we’ll find out,” Kiam said.

“Everyone has the possibility of being associated with them,” Josiah said, helping himself to more blood. He filled his glass almost to the brim. “I wonder if he went after her because of your relationship with her? Exploit a weakness.”

“We’re assuming an issue when there might not be one. It's possible they were just friends.”

I glared at Kiam. “Really? Are you joking right now? He’s a demon. He either wants to fuck her or use her. There’s no in between when it comes to them and human females.”

“Why couldn’t they just be friends?” Della asked.

“You’re cattle, that’s why,” I answered her. “It doesn’t matter what he wants with her; I’m getting her back,” I turned my gaze back to the men.

Josiah rubbed his chin. “Something had to have drawn his attention to her. Has he been to Ipomoea?”

“I’ll grab the footage from the gala and cross reference.” Kiam leaned back, running a hand down his pants, smoothing the material.

It dawned on me that my foray into the Second Realm was likely what caused Samuel to home in on Della. Many demons, especially the upper echelons, felt the frequency differences when another species entered their Realm. Entry affected the vibrations, working as an alarm system. A human female would be prioritized immediately.

None of this was mentioned by me. None of it mattered.

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