Page 73 of The Demon's Discovery
My gut lurched as I stared at her. A thought turned around and around in my mind, getting louder as it repeated itself.
“Greta. I think I could see what we’re looking for,” I said, hoping she’d understand what I meant.
“Yes,” she said, nodding firmly.
I glanced around at our significant audience and took her wrist in my hand, drawing it up near my mouth. “We must be quick, Little Dragonfly. I don’t want to waste your elixir.”
“Yes,” she breathed again, eyes her own and hazy with lust as she looked at me, my lips brushing against the soft skin just below her palm.
My brother said something, but I couldn’t hear the words, only his familiar low timbre. Someone else crowded closer, even more voices tried to intrude as I breathed in her scent, felt her pulse under my fingers, and gave myself over to my full demon form.
As my fangs plunged into her flesh, the press of panic from the others surged around me, but I paid it no attention. I snapped my wings out wide, the buffer they offered as well as the shroud of my mist buying us some space and privacy as I wrapped her inside them with me, the soft sigh she made and the way she leaned against me soothing every bit of agitation in my soul.
I wrapped my other arm around her waist, anchoring her body against mine. I slid my knee between her legs, supporting her as she sagged and gave a soft moan, her forehead heavy against my chest.
Greta’s memories washed over me in a series of flashes. Some were inconsequential moments of her life—scrubbing a floor on her hands and knees, her hair tied back with a frayed kerchief. Kneading bread dough with the cook at the Belette manor, smiling. Running through the grass somewhere with Bea in the midday sun. A shed full of odds and ends that must have been where she practiced chemistry at the country estate. A youthful smile with slightly crooked teeth, that I immediately knew belonged to the boy who had kissed her first, the one who had her attention and affections before me.
I growled and pulled her tighter against me, ignoring the muted yelling coming from all around us as her blood flowed into my mouth and I drank it down in shallow sips, seeking, searching. Willing the right memory to come into view so that we could begin to solve things once and for all.
Then it was there.
The face of a man I knew all too well, his auburn hair flared around him and that damnable grin on his mouth. And he was casting a spell on the small child that would grow into my mate.
Chapter 30
Greta
Ilooked up into Vassago’s eyes, my breath a soft gasp as he licked the place he’d bitten and then kissed it, the wound sore but already finished bleeding.
“Did you—” I stopped mid-sentence, finding the answer I sought in the hard set of his mouth, the blown-out pupils in his ruby eyes. Even his mist seemed tense, hardly moving at all as it slowly disappeared.
“I’ll kill him,” he said resolutely, relaxing his wings only after pressing a thorough kiss to my mouth. I tasted the iron tang of my blood on his tongue and the promise of violence it held.
A rush of daylight and a barrage of voices pummeled me as he removed our cozy cocoon. He shifted his stance so he was mostly in front of me, snarling back at the aggressive tone both his brother and Magnus were shouting with.
“I’m fine!” I yelled, but I was drowned out by the booms of the men’s voices.
Calla caught my eye, as did Imogen. Lovette was quickly behind and even Grace had made her way closer. On a short nod, we all yelled at once.
“It’s okay!”
“Hey!”
“Shut it!”
“Quiet!”
It was a garbled message, but our combined volume and serious tone drew their attention. As if prompted by our noise, four beating wings resounded through the space, a third body sailing toward us and landing with grace at Calla’s feet. It was a cat, but one with wings. Made of stone. I blinked several times, but that didn’t change. Calla reached down to pat the feline stone kin’s head.
Imogen cursed, ducking with her hands over her head until the birds settled.
A massive black owl perched himself in the rafters, and Belmont paced along the footboard of the bed next to the one I stood in front of, cawing loudly, then making that knocking sound. The stone kin cat, clearly annoyed, growled and hissed. The bickering stopped and silence rang throughout the infirmary once more, even the birds obeyed the quiet.
I looked down at myself, finding the golden seal had turned partially black. The circle was completely shaded, and nearly half of the other symbols were dark as well.
I shouldered my way around Vassago. “I’m fine. He wasn’t hurting me. He would never. Besides, I think it’s working?”
Rylan leaned down. “We won’t know for sure until it all changes, but yes, it appears so.” He frowned, relaxing when his mate put her hand on his shoulder. “That was reckless, Vago.”
