Page 23 of Gemini Hunted
I give him my most suspicious and skeptical look. “So you didn’t have a choice?”
The demon shrugs one burly shoulder. “I mean, I coulda said no, but then your dude would have banished me, and I woulda gone straight back to the demonical realm. Which is one place I don’t wanna go. Once I agreed to do his task, kinda like a genie in a bottle, your guy broke my summoning circle and let me run loose.”
Eyes dancing like this whole thing’s one big joke, Mordred swings back around to grin at me. “And his thing was, I needed to find the Horn of Ceres and give it toyou.”
Then he extends his tattooed arm, encased in an inky sleeve of scales, and offers the pouch—and the Horn—to me.
Startled by the sudden plot twist, I fall back a step. Then I stare at that pouch like it’s a sack full of rattlesnakes.
There’s probably some arcane rule about not accepting gifts from demons. There’s definitely one about not accepting gifts from the Dark Fae. And this dude’s half Fae.
But, sweet Jesus, I need that Horn.
If I don’t take it, Cleo or one of the other teams in the contest definitely will.
Pushing past my weird hesitation, suppressing the clamor of warning bells in my head, I lift my chin and reach for it—
“Actually, I’d advise younotto take it just yet.” Whiplash-sharp, Vasili’s warning freezes me in my tracks. My gaze flies to his—intent and glittering like ice behind a veil of cobalt lashes.
I scrunch up my brow and tap my toes on the carpet. “Um, isn’t the whole point of you summoning him for me to take the Horn?”
“My power over this creature,” he says precisely, “only remains intact until you do. Once his task is complete, his summoning bond shatters, and the demon is free.”
“Well, dayum,” I say softly into the sudden silence.
Naturally, we all look at Mordred.
Who’s suddenly inscrutable, the way only a Dark Fae royal can be. His indigo eyes lock on mine without blinking. He’s still holding the pouch extended. Even hidden from sight, the Horn hums and murmurs in a way I suspect only I can hear.
In that one way, this artifact is like the Dark Fae crown I have locked in the yacht’s safe. A crown I can still hear crooning my name through the hull.
Zaaaarrraa.That’s the crown right now, whispering in my fucked-up head.Claim my power.
Now here’s the Horn of Ceres.
Sounding, like, similar.
Maybe I’m fated to have it. I mean, if it’s gonna help me save the witching world. Until now, I’ve wondered, but I couldn’t be sure.
Now, feeling the powerful tug of the thing’s magnetic pull, I know.
That Horn is meant to be mine.
Without looking away from the demon, I ask V, “If I don’t take it now, what are we supposed to do we do with it?”
“To complete the Dean’s Challenge,” Vasili says calmly, “the artifact must be returned to the Vault. Until then, we keep this creature—and his prize—securely at our side.”
My gaze swerves back to my alpha. My mouth falls open in protest.
“So, what, now we’re adding demon trafficking-slash-kidnapping… I mean, since the demon doesn’t really have a choice about coming with… to our list of legally questionable actions?” I fold my arms across my chest. “This is no way to run a queendom, V.”
Vasili’s own mouth, slick with the pale pink gloss he favors, turns down in a moue of distaste. “Well, darling, I’d like to getrid of him too, believe me. For now, I’ll simply command the demon to guard the Horn in that unfashionable man purse—”
“Hey now, don’t be mean,” Mordred teases, but his cocky grin has slipped. “It’s a messenger bag.”
“—and he’ll remain bound to my will,” Vasili wraps up with a sigh. “Zara,dostop glaring at me and hating me for biting him. Simply imagine what this means! An actual demon at our beck and call. A kraken to give your sea dragon ex the fate she deserves in the briny deep. That’s the only reason I bit him.Obviously.”
“Easy as pie, right, beautiful?” Ash says to V grimly. The Seelie Prince hasn’t budged from my side since he planted himself there when that sex demon sauntered in. “This hootenanny ends when the thingy’s returned to the Academy Vault. Is that right, Lucius?”
