Page 46 of The Demon Court

Lust made her want to try things she’d never even thought about. He made her consider if she liked her life with the sorceresses or if she’d have chosen something different given the chance. These were not thoughts she’d ever been permitted to consider. Her life plan was already mapped out the day her birth mother had left her in front of the Tower.

But now she wondered what she wanted. Minerva had always made those choices for her, and now... Well, now she thought maybe she wanted to make those decisions for herself.

The thought was daunting. How did one go from not knowing to knowing? She could put all that power into Lust’s hands, but that seemed like a terrible idea. He was sweet now, but there was a demon underneath all of that. He hadn’t earned her trust enough to let him run wild with her life.

Still, his offer was tempting. To experience the world without the lens of the Tower in front of her? To know what it felt like to indulge her senses in whatever pleasure she sought?

She could do that here. Her mother and sisters would never know until the time came for her to betray him. And she would. Selene had spent her entire life training for this moment. She wouldn’t let guilt make her falter in this purpose. He would fall, and she would let him.

Or maybe not. Her thoughts were all jumbled. She hadn’t been lying when she said she didn’t like the man. He was unlikeable. He made himself so when he satisfied his own desires before others.

Still. He had a softer side that she could see buried underneath all that selfishness. Maybe he could change.

Just the thought made her snort. He would not change. He was a spirit of lust and Affection had confirmed her suspicions. Spirits were not people. They didn’t grow and change and learn. They were here as guardians of their emotion. Their one emotion.

Lust wouldn’t change any more than Affection would. Even giving him that quality turned him more into a man than a spirit, and she already knew that wasn’t the case.

Sighing, she put her brush down on the vanity they’d moved into Lust’s room. It was nicer here than in her old room. Much larger. And the plush bed in the center of the room constantly called out to her. She’d been enjoying snuggling into the plush velvet blankets that were satisfyingly heavy while also not being too hot. She’d have to ask him how they did that.

Selene had almost convinced herself to retire early until she felt the tug in her belly. The hard pull that guided her out of the room and toward an abandoned closet where a small bird waited for her on the floor.

It was a goldfinch; she thought. Bathilda was very good at summoning them for messages, though the poor things died after their message was received.

She hated it when she got a bird. Minerva knew that. Ursula certainly did. All of her sisters had seen her cry when the tiny bird burst into a puddle of feathers in her hands.

And still, this was how they sent her a message. This was how they contacted her after weeks of silence.

Gritting her teeth, she picked up the tiny finch from the floor. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered and caressed her finger down its chest.

The bird tilted its head to the side, perhaps confused by her reaction before it opened its mouth and allowed the image of her sisters to float up into the air.

“Well?” Bathilda asked, her words curt and short.

“Well what?”

“Do you have him under your thumb yet?”

Selene wanted to scream. Instead, she ground her teeth so hard she heard a creak inside her mouth, then replied, “It’s only been a few weeks, Bathilda. No, he is not yet under my thumb.”

Her sister had the nerve to look disappointed. “Really? It’s been quite a while. Do you at least have information about his weakness?”

“And he’s a thousand year old demon who has many years of experience. Give me time. It will take a while if you want to get the results that you’re expecting.”

The magic shifted hands to that of her mother. Minerva glared at her in a way that still made shivers dance down her spine. She knew that look. It was the face of a woman who wanted nothing to do with her daughter right now, but also of a woman who would suffer through this interaction. Minerva knew how to cut Selene to the core.

“Daughter,” her mother said. “Do you remember what I told you about the day you were delivered to our home?”

How could she forget? “That no one wanted me. That my real mother had left me because they did not understand my power. They feared me, just as the kingdom fears the rest of our kind.”

“We took you in. We gave you the home that your own parents did not want to give you. We led you out of that darkness and into the light. I could have left you out in that cold and watched as your tiny body froze. It is not a terrible death, though it is slow.”

She knew what a horrible death it was. Minerva had made Selene go outside when she was twelve to see a baby they hadn’t taken in. The frozen blue lips and frosted eyelashes would haunt her for the rest of her life.

“Yes, I know,” she whispered. “You gave me a life that would otherwise have been taken from me.”

“Life, Selene. I think you may have forgotten that is why you call me mother. I gave you your life. And your sisters? They were given life by my predecessor. Those before me were kind enough to see the use in their lives, even when no one else did. You need to remember that.”

And though the words were clearly wrong, Selene felt them deep in her heart. She was here only because of her mother’s kindness. That was all. Otherwise, she would have died in the cold.

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