Page 97 of The Demon Court

Hissing out an angry breath, she spun and crossed her arms over her chest. She couldn’t go back into his room. He’d laugh and assume that was her admitting her own fault, but that wasn’t at all what she was doing.

She was...

She was....

“Can I help you?” Lara’s voice cut through her thoughts, although the woman’s voice was at least a little kinder this time.

When Selene glanced up, she almost flinched at the sympathy in Lara’s eyes. “I’d like to find another room.”

Her words apparently only solidified the theory that Lara had made for herself. The maid’s sympathy grew even stronger as she set aside the broom in her hand and brushed her beautiful blonde hair off her shoulders. “Come on, then. No one touched your old room, and you’re more than welcome to stay there again.”

“I don’t—” Selene didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to correct the other woman. Selene hadn’t fallen out of Lust’s favor. She’d just... well. Hadn’t she fallen out of his favor? She’d stepped in it this time and she didn’t know how to fix it.

Sighing, she ducked her head and let the other woman lead her through the hall.

The last person she’d wanted to see was Lara. The maid was a favorite of Lust’s, and it felt strange to speak to another woman who had shared his bed. But was it really all that strange? After all, everyone in this castle had likely been in his bed at one point or another. Lara was just another woman who had been there, and she’d handled it like Selene was handling it now.

The awkwardness only deepened when Lara stopped in front of Selene’s old door and pulled out a small ring of keys. “He insisted we keep it locked. Some of your things are still in here, and he didn’t want anyone else getting ideas. Even though the dresses you brought were ugly.”

Selene had stiffened at the insult, but she was prepared to take it. Until Lara glanced over her shoulder and blushed.

“Sorry,” Lara muttered. “Ugly isn’t very nice. They aren’t clothes anyone else wears, and certainly not in the castle.”

The door swung open. The room beyond was clean and tidy, just as she’d left it. Strangely, Selene had been expecting dust even though she hadn’t been gone that long.

Pursing her lips, she shook her head and started into the room. “I’m going to have to get used to your style sooner rather than later, I suppose. I think I’ve been fighting against it.”

“You have.”

Of course she had. The castle and its inhabitants went against everything she believed in. She’d wanted nothing to do with any of them! And now their damned king had made it so that she couldn’t even think straight here.

“If I could be so bold?” Lara asked.

“What is it?”

“You’ve been here for months now. You know how to carry yourself like a noble, but there are many nobles here. You are strange because you can resist his powers, but there are plenty of strange people in the world.” Lara shrugged. “If you want to keep him, then might I suggest trying something different?”

“And if I don’t want to keep him?” Selene held the other woman’s gaze. “If I have no interest in him other than a means to an end?”

“We both know that’s a lie. I’ve seen the way you look at him. And the way he looks at you.” The last bit seemed almost hard for Lara to admit. “He’s different with you. I don’t understand it, but I don’t think it’s for me to understand.”

Some of her anger deflated at the admission. Sighing, she shook her head. “I don’t know what’s happening between us. But what would you suggest? If I wanted to keep him?”

The hardened expression on Lara’s face softened. “Love him. I know many people who have spent hours in his bed, myself included. We all talk. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone in his bed who wanted to be there just for him and not for what he could offer them. I don’t know if anyone’s ever loved him, to be honest. I’m not sure it’s even possible.”

It was. And she was so afraid it had already happened to her.

Selene swallowed hard. “That will be all.”

“Think about it.”

“I said that will be all, Lara.”

The maid bowed and closed the door behind her. Selene had no idea what to do now. Her heart twisted to know that he’d suffered, without even realizing why he was suffering. All he wanted was the same thing she wanted.

Someone to love him. To care for him and him alone. He wanted to matter to someone. Anyone. And here she was, running from being that person for him.

With those complicated thoughts on her mind, Selene turned and found a single white letter with a red ribbon waiting on her bed. The glittering silver wax seal was stamped with the shape of a single pale tower.

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