Page 61 of Prince of Demons
Temporarily comforted by the knowledge that she was safe and not showing signs of despondence, he shoved his phone back in his pocket and concentrated on the task at hand: finding out what had happened here—something that had been covert not only to the human population, but the demon combatants as well.
He started on the hill where Aran had fought the two European lords. Pressing his palm to the ground, he let his magic penetrate deep and wide, searching for the echo of the battle. Images rushed through his mind immediately; the combined power of three demon lords throbbed through his own magic, but even that was overwhelmed by the blinding light rushing through his skull.
“Shit.” Kirigan pulled his hand from the ground, severing the connection to the echo as he blinked to regain his magical vision. There had been a Stone of Power employed in this battle, alright. That Aran had survived long enough for Kesh to save him had been a miracle. Or, more likely, suggested the wielders had been unfamiliar with the relic, and unable to use it to its full potential.
Kirigan probed the ground with his magic again, more cautiously this time. The echo flowed through him once more, the Stone of Power still overpowering everything else. Until suddenly—it didn’t. From one moment to the next, it was simply… gone.
He frowned and pulled back the the echo. Released it again, and again, until finally—there. A touch of something other, right as the Stone of Power vanished from the echo. It was only there for a half-second, but it was enough. He honed in, forced his magic to focus to a pinpoint, until?—
A shudder of revulsion crawled up his spine when the echo grasped onto the fragment long enough to reveal its origin.
Divine.
A god’s power.
A god had been here. A god had plucked the Stone of Power from its wielders, in the middle of battle, and no one had so much as noticed.
Sick dread settled in his gut as he pulled his focus back to the present.
They’d all known it would be only been a matter of time before the gods took advantage of the internal war raging within demon ranks. It was an inevitability they’d expected. Planned for.
But this?
Somewhere out there, a god now had possession of one of the three most powerful demonic relics on Earth.
There was no preparing for the consequences of a god wielding a Stone of Power against them, no way to predict the outcome. The only certainty was that the biggest threat to his family’s life was now the holder of this stone.
31
Georgia
“I expect you to pick a mate from among my men before the end of the week.”
There were a lot of emotions that statement should have evoked—anger and fear being chief among them. Hurt should not have made the list, and yet hurt was what she felt most keenly, in a way that had her fighting back tears of rejection.
Stupid. What had she expected—that his gentleness had meant anything? He'd needed her to lower her guard so he could train her to accept a demon lover, and he'd manipulated her, like the demon he was. He’d told her from the start what would happen—what was expected of her.
And still. She’d let herself soften. Let him lull her into a fantasy that there was a real connection between them. That he genuinely cared about her, beyond his fucked-up responsibility to turn her into a compliant womb for another demon.
Knowing the mistake was entirely on her end did nothing to soothe the ache. She’d been so desperate for comfort amidst the horrors of her new reality, she’d thought she’d found human connection. With a monster.
More fool her.
She was grateful Kesh spent most of the day out of the apartment. Not looking at him made it easier to come to terms with her own idiocy. To accept reality. And this morning, when he laid out a pretty blue silk dress for her and told her she would be officially introduced to the men he had selected as her suitors, she didn’t object. She dressed in silence, ate in silence, and followed him out of his apartment and into a waiting car. In silence.
The prince, for his part, seemed unfazed by her compliance. She supposed he would be expecting it, given how she’d been successfully trained for her new life as a demon’s prospective mate. He exchanged a few words with the driver—instructions on which route to take—and then leaned back in the seat next to her, staring straight ahead.
“How will this be done?” she asked, finally breaking the silence. “Is there a process, or do I just… eeny-meeny-miny-moe?”
“Don’t be absurd. This is your lifemate—you will never make a more important choice. Each man will court you for the week, and you will select the one you find most compatible.” His tone was stiff.
Georgia blew out an exasperated breath. “They’re all demons. I’m guessing ‘won’t eat brain matter in front of me’ is as high a bar as I’m gonna hope for.”
If her dig about the time she saw him eat a guy went through, he pretended it didn’t.
“Out of the thousands of demons in my territory who would kill to claim you, I have handpicked five worthy of the honor. Each is a formidable warrior capable of protecting you and your offspring, should the need ever arise. They are also honorable men, who will treat you well. Beyond that, you should pick a mate whose temperament and interests best suit your preferences.”
“Interests? What interests do demons have outside sex, war, and human misery?” She looked up at him, irritation fizzing in her veins, but he didn’t so much as glance her way.
