Page 57 of The Book Reader
“They are protected; as well as your house and our hounds are there.” He steps back and clothes appear on his body; it’s some kind of black leather with dark blue armor that looks soft to touch, but I know it’s not—how I know that, I don’t know—he seems like a knight. “I have been without you for far too long, my Rose. Now I want you all to myself for a while.”
I worry about my lower lip. “I need to tell Lucy, then we can go.”
“I’ll wait here for you. Be quick.” He lowers his head and growls in my ear, “I’ve been wanting to fuck you since I came downstairs.”
Chapter 24
GAELAN
Ablush covers Ari’s cheeks at my words before she rushes out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I was worried for a moment that she was going to make me leave; I would have bent her over my knee and spanked her until she begged me to stay and fuck her. She’ll see in time that she’s mine, that she’s always been mine.
She took what I told her better than I thought she would. In the past, I’ve had to fight to get her to believe me. She’s still going to second-guess it, and I know she’ll have more questions; the ones about our past will be easier to answer in my realm. But the questions about the book… I’m not sure about. Only her soul knows that, but I’ll help her as much as I can.
Trelor purrs in my head, happy that our mate is coming home with us. I tell him to calm down. He wants to show her his nest; he’s been waiting for her to see it for a while now. The castle is mine, but my daemon has his own place he calls home; it’s in one of my high towers that can only be accessed by flying up to it.
“Safe,”he growls in my head.
“I know, but let’s not scare her too much, she’s only just learnt about her and me. You will come later.”
He growls again and pushes against me in warning. He can’t take over my body fully without my permission, but he likes to try it. Daemons in their proper form are more dominant and have less control over their anger, as well as their carnal needs. I growl back, warning him to stop. I don’t want Ari to come back downstairs and see a seven-foot, black-and-blue daemon standing in her kitchen; it might just push her over the edge.
Rex comes padding over to me, and I reach down to scratch his head. “Go and make sure our path is clear; we’re bringing her home.”
He growls and looks over at the door; he knows, just as I do, that time is ticking and Ari needs to find her book soon. Macy knows she’s alive, and it won’t be long before Tate finds out too, then all the underworlds will be after her and her power. She needs to find it before that happens. Wewillbe stronger.
I lean down and nuzzle his head. “She’ll be safe, we’ll do better this time.” He licks my cheek, his eyes blazing red before vanishing.
Walking back into the living room, I move to one of the unopened boxes and lift the lid. Inside are letters and papers that are from me—love letters and mission information. Ari cast a spell on these boxes the last time she was alive, but I didn’t know it was a Seeker spell—one that will send these boxes to her next life. It also makes me wonder if she knew something. Sometimes, the voices she would always hear would guide her into doing things. This must have been them telling her to do this.
I wave my hand over the boxes, sending them to my office. They’ll be safe there, and if Ari wishes to look through them again, she can.
Turning to the window, I summon Leah, my most trusted bodyguard, to my side. Seconds later, she shimmers in and bows before me.
“My Lord?”
“I’m bringing Ari back to the realm. I need the guards assembled and out of their guard uniforms. Tell them I want to patrol in the village. I don’t want Ari to know they’re there.” Or for the villagers to worry about why extra guards have been stationed in the village center. We have many daemons from other realms coming to Illis, while most of them would never join Tate. We still need to be careful.
“Anything else, my Lord?” Leah asks me.
“I will also need guards posted outside of any room she’s in—unseen—use the Hellhounds if you have to.”
“My lord, are they not posted at the house topside?”
I nod. “Withdraw two and keep the other four there.”
She bows again and shimmers out of the room. I know she’ll have everything set up for us. I just hope that’s enough.
“Gaelan, what do I need to pack?” Ari says, sounding flustered.
Turning, I can’t help but smile when I see Ari holding a bag stuffed with clothes. I wave my hand and shimmer it to our bedroom at my castle before walking over to her and pulling her close. Looking down, I can feel my eyes responding to her. “You will not be needing any clothes for what I have planned for us.”
She goes to open her mouth, but I lower my head and capture her lips in a kiss as I shimmer us to my realm.
The Illis lands.
Chapter 25
ARIANNA
