Page 23 of Hunting Her
I turn my back on the demon twins and run.
CHAPTER EIGHT
DAMEK
My queen is just as ambitious as I thought she would be.
I’ve been watching her since the game began, of course—though not with the intent to catch her like Lorcan and Izoran have been. I just want to see what she does, how she plays her cards. She doesn’t have a full hand, and she’s well aware she’s at a massive disadvantage.
And yet, she fights anyway.
If she used that knife on anyone other than Iz, we might have been stunned enough for her to wiggle free and run. Unfortunately, she picked the masochist to stab repeatedly. I’m surprised it didn’t make him come in his pants.
As Nova flees into the woods, I step out into the clearing with my advisors. “I wonder if that thirty-minute head start will give her the leverage she needs to win,” I comment.
My lips curve up into a smirk even as I say it. No, there’s no way. It does give her hope, though, and the more she hopes the harder she’ll fight. By the time I take my turn with her, I betshe’ll be near feral, achingly close to the finish line, but unable to reach it.
“I had to give her something, or she was going to try and bite my dick off,” Lorcan mutters.
Iz pushes himself off the ground, wiping dirt and dead leaves from the knees of his pants. “You could have chosen a different hole. One without teeth.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “It’s better this way. It’ll be much harder to make her accept her place as queen if we’re shoving her around and taking whatever we please. This way, she’s in control—to an extent. She chooses the terms. She accepts the bargain.”
“Are you saying I should offer her something when I catch her?” The brush rustles as Brellan steps out.
My second in command has barely taken his attention off Nova either, but I know his intentions are different than mine. I already know she’s the queen. He’s trying to decide if she’s worthy of me and worthy enough to lead.
She’s convincing him.
I can see it from the glint in his eyes and the determined set to his jaw. He wants to catch her for me… and for himself.
“Yes. But see if you can make her pay more… and receive less,” I say.
“How so?” Brellan asks.
“Letting Lorcan fuck her throat was simple. She only had to let them hold her in place without doing anything to harm them. When you catch up with her, make her do something more active.”
His lips twitch, teasing a smile, but he maintains his impassive mask. “I have some ideas. And what do I offer her?”
“Give her a weapon and ten minutes to hide.”
“That might be pushing it close to dawn.”
“And that’s why she’ll accept the gamble. Our Nova will do whatever you want her to do so she doesn’t have to give up hope.”
“I hate to question you,” Iz breaks in. “But she’s smart. Are you sure you’ll be able to find her in time?”
Looking at each of them in turn, I can sense their anxiety and desperation to win. She captured their hearts and mine from the first moment she stole that knife in the baron’s castle. “If I can’t, then I’m not worthy of having her as my queen.”
Fuck, if I can’t win a game of chase against a human, the Underworld shouldn’t be under my control either.
The words silence my advisors, bringing a hush to the clearing. It smells of her sweat and cum, the sweet notes of her arousal and pleasure. I want to taste her like Izoran did. I want her to swallow me down like she did to Lorcan.
If she evades me and wins the game, I’ll never have a chance. All my advisors will have to live with knowing what she feels like against them in the throes of pleasure, and I’ll have to live with the fact that I’ll never find out.
I’m not sure which would be worse.
“Give her that head start, Brellan, and then head out on the hunt,” I order. “The quicker you find her, the better.”
