Page 24 of The Curse of a Kingdom
The silence extended for longer than she’d expected; Devon was a bit too close for comfort, and his scent of mint and blackberries hit her straight in the face. She pulled her head back, eyeing him warily.
His skin had lost whatever little color he had to begin with. “What did he take?”
“It’s not like I could know, would I?” she said between clenched teeth. “I can’t remember what I lost, only that it feels important.”
Devon tsked before bringing the brass goblet to his lips and taking a healthy swig of fruity wine. “I warned you it will take your first thought. Not a smart move to think of something important.”
“It wasn’t like I consciously picked.” Nava tried to keep her voice down. “It felt like he took my first simple thought, and it pushed me to spiral. He took more and more, until it left me with emptiness.”
“It might’ve been the Lord of the Shadows. The ruler of the place in-between. We don’t know if these legends are true or not, but he is supposed to be a demigod. It's said he likes to lurk between worlds.” Devon put his glass down and warily looked at the king at the end of the table.
“Have you met him before?”
He let out what sounded like a forced laugh, shaking his head. “No, he doesn’t just show up to people. Even if he is claiming his portal fee.” Devon's eyes narrowed on her. “Which makes me think, what is it you have to capture his interest?”
Well, so much for getting unfiltered information. She had gotten too close to the lion, and it had scented fresh blood. “You know well who I am,” she blurted. “I was living my very peaceful life, in my boring-ass town, until you showed up.”
“Kitten, I showed up way before that.”
“Right, but you weren’t alone then.” She looked across the table toward Arkimedes and found his green eyes staring right back at her. He stiffened as his attention moved from her to Devon.
When had this all gotten so messed up? How would she be able to get him out of here when he was so keen to play the prince?
“I enjoyed finding a flustered miniature version of your mother eleven years ago in the manor,” Devon said with a side smile, his focus lost somewhere in the room. “I didn’t expect what followed, but that afternoon was entertaining.”
“How are we going to get hi—”
“Shh.” He dipped his head and gave her a hard look. “Long, pointy ears are bound to hear you.”
She growled. “You thought to remind me of this now that we’ve been talking for a while?” Her tone was so low, she was surprised he even heard her at all.
“Talking about a payment for crossing is something our host knows.”
“Right,” she said, and silence descended over them, while they just listened to the muted conversations around. No one else paid them any attention, but Nava knew better.
“You have my interest now. When we can talk at ease, I can’t wait to hear more about you speaking to a shadow figure while crossing a portal,” he whispered.
Dropping her fork, Nava gave him a hard look. The sound of metal against porcelain echoed across the room. “I’m not one hundred percent confident I want to confide in you with anything.”
“You must.” Devon’s poised stance grated further on her nerves. His grin extended through his features. “After all, we are in this together, fiancée.”
The lie hung heavy over her; she allowed herself to look upon her mate one more time. He had been away from both Devon and her the whole evening, chatting with the king and all the women who’d come with him.
Devon was her ally in this. She had been the one to release him after the king kidnapped her mate. What she hadn’t expected was eleven years of his memories gone, taking away not only her and their bond but all the emotional growth he had done while away from politics and power.
CHAPTERNINE
NAVA
The air was heavy, like the storm raging above. Wet ash and smoke burned her eyes. She stood perched on the tree. Embers of red-and-yellow fire lit beneath blackened wood. A soft cry escaped her lips, encouraging the critters around the forest to scurry and survive.
The scent of death hung thickly in the air. Sulfur and burnt flesh.
The roar of the flames competed with the thunder in the sky. A dark shape of a demon surfaced from the smoke. Two horns shaped like antennas grew from each side of its head. Charcoal skin wrapped tightly against a plated thorax, a narrow waist, and long, segmented legs that bent in weird directions.
It looked like a wasp, except its face was demonic, with a flat, wide nose and a mouth that opened with jagged teeth.
It wore no clothes, nothing to shield it from the elements, much less from the fire it was causing. Hell had arrived in this land, burning it to ashes with fire from below, leaving no life behind.
