Page 3 of King's Obsession

Yes.They would, but only when they had the answers they needed,

Ho-hum.

The troll picked his way through the young growth, caressing a leaf here and there, crooning softly to the seeds pushing to grow through the virgin earth. He kept returning to that one spot, no, not a spot, a sizable patch of ground, because the troll was a generous being, that still smelled of the demon’s release. His hand hovered over it, the troll absorbed the essence, letting his senses roam free as they searched for the connection.

Mine.Those had been the demon’s words, but alone, the troll chuckled and sent his senses deeper—into the very roots of the earth realm and beyond.

“Ah, so that’s how it is,” he said softly. Looking up at the sky, he shook his head. “You’re really going to make me wait that long?”

Picking up a handful of the cum-soaked dirt, the troll raised it to his nose and sniffed deeply.So be it.

He smiled. Trolls were known for their patience, and he had something worth waiting for.

I think this is a good place to build a house.

Chapter One

Asmodeus

Asmodeus had had enough. The only interesting part of the visit thus far was Scott’s arrival with his blissful one, who smelled of something that was unmistakable to Asmodeus.

The bear has been to the forest.

Yes.

He’s been in his company… today.

Yes.

I want to see him.

We saw him only last month.The draw—connection, stop lying to yourself—was worse than it had ever been. His demon and human side fought continually of late, and it was getting very wearing.

He focused his gaze back on the couple, looking for a distraction. He had never understood how these two assholes had created a son like Scott. The demon worked hard, kept his nose clean, and didn’t cause Asmodeus any problems, just how he liked it. The problem was the old established demon families; they believed they mattered more than they did. They believed that what happened centuries ago, should continue. Their entitled asses were owed nothing. They had not worked for their position or money, they inherited it. Their match was that of a pair looking to create a merger between strong bloodlines.

Their strongest bloodline was in the demon whom they had shunned for his difference. Their son, Scott, would bear them their first grandchild. Asmodeus had felt life growing inside the demon. This pair would be lucky to ever see it. The life was already strong and pure of heart. It would be a force to be reckoned with once grown. His foresight could see beyond the now, only never when it came to himself. A gift that was also a curse.

No matter the searching he had done, the one answer, until Dakata, eluded him. Was a blissful one, the truth? The heart of what troubled him?

Four demons, four had found their blissful ones in a matter of months. Why was this? Was this what had cast him into a purgatory of his own making? A touch?

Centuries ago, he had sought answers to one question. The one that would explain the hold on his soul. For a time, he’d lost all hope of ever escaping his own prison. Yet, here he was, witnessing the truth behind Fate’s choices for demons. And why, when most of the time, Asmodeus didn’t involve himself in pettiness such as he witnessed here, but this time he would intervene. Just not in the way Randal and Olivia wanted.

The silence left in the wake of Scott, after his declaration and threat, which Asmodeus chose to ignore for now, was deafening.

“Why do you believe Fate is wrong?” he questioned, sounding bored, but it was a façade. He was interested in the answer. The historians had never clarified, satisfactorily, the facts behind a blissful one. Or not in a way that made sense to someone as analytical as Asmodeus. A thinker, he needed to fully grasp the meaning of something before he came to a conclusion.

Randal, not one to read the room, glowered at him, looking down his pointy nose despite the height difference between them. “That creature isn’t worthy of our name. Our connections within this realm. Fate should have nothing to do with that. I am part of one of the oldest demon families in the realm, I’ll have you know.”

“I see,” he said flatly. Asmodeus' family was the oldest bloodline in the demon realm he’d discovered in his quest for information.

“Yes. Can’t you see that by mixing races in this way, the bloodlines will become weaker?” His expression was haughty as he paced in front of Asmodeus. In his perfect suit, his hair was coiffed so not a strand was out of place. Shoes that shone enough to catch a reflection, he looked nothing like the demon he professed to want to protect, that he never allowed out.

Asmodeus’s eyes narrowed in warning. “Yet, here you stand, dressed and acting as your human half.”

His demon side had forbidden him to shift into his human form unless…

“What is wrong with that?” he spluttered, while Olivia paled.

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