Page 138 of The Demon's Pet

“I presume Cayne will join us shortly,” Orpheus said. “He likes to greet new arrivals and show them around. Or, rather, explain the rules. I will have food delivered to you both. Would you prefer a shared room or separate?”

“Separate,” Griffin and I both said quickly. I liked the guy, but we weren’t close like that.

Orpheus looked somewhat surprised but nodded and motioned for Griffin to follow him back into the hall. “I’ll put you side by side. Cayne may move you when he returns.”

“I’ll be right next door,” Griffin said. “As soon as I’m settled, I’ll be over.”

Orpheus paused, then removed the huge, pitted iron key that he’d used to unlock the door. He handed it to me. “The only one.”

I gaped at it. “Thank you.”

Orpheus gave a polite nod and moved out, leaving me alone in the room.

I walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. The rich silk and velvet cover crackled beneath me, and I smoothed my hands over it.

Then I pushed back and flopped down on the bed on my back, staring up at the canopy over my head.

Compared to my tiny little room at the haven, this room was huge. I loved the feel of it. The covers sank in beneath me, and my weary bones and muscles relaxed at the sheer luxury of it all.

There was a knock on the door, and Griffin poked his head in.

“Come in,” I said, and he did.

His blond hair was mussed from running his hand through it, and his blue eyes were somewhat hectic, but he smiled as he walked over and flopped next to me on the massive bed. “How are you doing?”

“Good,” I lied. Things had improved, but until I saw Sam and Os again, and knew both of them were fine and that no one had to pay for my stupidity, I couldn’t relax.

“It’s not your fault,” Griffin said. “It really isn’t, Cleo. Blood magic… that’s only for demons. I think the fae will go easier on Sam, knowing that.”

I looked at Griffin, panicked. “Could they do anything to Sam? Since he’s ninth realm?”

Griffin looked up at the canopy as if searching for the answer there. “I don’t know a great deal about the fae. I’m sorry. But I don’t think they can do anything to him. They can report him to the ninth celestial realm, though.”

“Even though Zadis imprisoned me?”

Griffin let out a growl. “Those stupid fae don’t see demons as creatures worthy of anything, let alone freedom or life. I worry that, even with the blood-bonding, they will not be happy to have lost a prince.”

“I don’t blame them,” I said. “Even though that guy was more psychotic than Sam.”

“No one is,” Griffin said with a shudder. “Did you see what he did to that guy?”

I swallowed, throat tight and sticky. “Yeah. I watched the whole thing.”

“Dear gods, Cleo. He did it in front of you?” Griffin asked with wide eyes.

“I was frozen at the time. I couldn’t move.”

Griffin cleared his throat. “You want to talk about it?”

I smiled because I knew he would have, for me, but I didn’t think he had the stomach for it. “I’m okay for now. I just want to forget about it.”

Zadis’s begging. His staring eyes after he died.

I’d never seen Sam lose it like that. Even when he killed, it was cold and calculated. When he exploded Zadis’s house and came to save me, calm was the last thing he’d been.

But what did it all mean?

He needed me for something. It could just have been because of that.

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