Page 109 of The Demon Court

She had much to learn about pleasure, and he wanted to show her all of it.

Dragging the blanket over her shoulders, he made sure she wouldn’t be cold before he left. And then he quickly dressed, so he didn’t do something foolish. Like barricade the door and roll her onto her back.

Lust tried his best not to look over his shoulder at the sleeping beauty, who would never even know he was gone. At least, if he got this over with soon.

Minerva didn’t like to wait. She’d set up this meeting with a letter after he’d returned to town, apparently an attempt at being civil after their rather explosive conversation. If she wanted to play that game, he wouldn’t complain. He didn’t need her permission to stay the night with Selene, after all. And now she would expect to find him outside of her Tower for their meeting. He would relish the look of surprise on her face when she saw him.

Her expectations were that she’d condemned him to an uncomfortable night in his carriage. That he’d arrive, half asleep, in no state to talk with her about dangerous things like deals and who would have the castle when all of this was done.

Instead, she’d get an even more powerful version of him.

He slipped through the halls, sneaking past any of the sorceresses who were blinking through the early morning exhaustion. They were stumbling to the dining hall for coffee, most likely. A delicacy that he provided them because no one else could afford it.

Sighing, he slipped out into the courtyard and walked toward the front door. There was only one entrance here. And only one exit.

Minerva stood with her back to him, the icy wind of the mountains blasting her hair back from her face. She was beautiful. Even he could admit that. But she wasn’t nearly as beautiful as his own sorceress.

Tucking his hands into his pockets, he ignored the cold. The power that he’d siphoned off Selene last night would keep him warm enough for days to come.

“You wanted to speak with me,” he said, letting the wind carry his voice to her. “And yet here you are. Waiting for me like you weren’t aware that I was comfortably under your roof all night.”

The sorceress whirled. Her hands raised and eddies of snow gathered at her feet. The wind altered its course to cling to her form, and he knew those icy daggers that hovered in the air were sharp. Minerva liked people to think she’d gotten her position as High Sorceress because she was intelligent. And she was. But she was just as dangerous with her power as she was with that sharp wit.

“Demon,” she snarled. “You are not supposed to be inside.”

“No, I am not.” He held his hands lax at his sides, drawing them up in a shrug. “Yet, here I am.”

“True to your cursed nature.”

“Now, now. That’s not very pleasant to say about your new son-in-law.” He tilted his head to the side and grinned. “That was the plan, after all. Wasn’t it? You gave me your daughter so that you would wriggle your way back into the castle. Such a shame that she’s bent to my side rather than yours.”

He had the distinct pleasure of watching Minerva’s face turn red with anger. She was usually such a beautiful woman, but right now? She was ugly with rage, and that was the most rewarding thing he’d seen in ages.

“I banish you from this Tower, Demon,” Minerva snarled. “If I see you within its walls, I will cut you down.”

“You couldn’t even if you tried.”

“That has always been your greatest fault. For centuries you have underestimated those with power in your kingdom and I will be the first to watch the horror on your features when you realize just how capable we are.”

He shook his head, hands turning to fists in his pockets. “Oh, you are so very wrong. Many have tried to do what you are attempting, Minerva. You are not the first person to think that you can capture me. Neither are you the first to think you could sway me, or find out secrets about who or what I am. Just be happy that you’ve named me demon and surrounded yourself with others who believe the same tale.”

“You know I will not. Asking me to do such a thing is asking us all to deny our purpose.”

“Which is?” He watched the swirl of a small storm gather around her. It made her appear as though standing in the center of a whirlpool with glittering snow and ice floating around her in wide circles. “You think your purpose is to destroy me?”

“My purpose is to rule this kingdom with the other sorceresses. This place was meant to be a Tower dedicated to the people. Our power will bring the kingdom out of a period of debauchery and lust.”

He nodded slowly. “Yes, of course. That is what you would think. But you are all so incessant about that last fact, aren’t you? Lust is evil. My people are feeding their baser instincts when they should be piously begging the world to forgive them for ever having such needs. The people use me as an excuse to do what their hearts desire. Is that what you think, Minerva? You call me demon because you do not want to see it in yourself.”

Her mouth gaped open before shards of ice flew at his face. But she had expected him to be weak when he was not.

Lust didn’t want to play all his cards just yet. He didn’t want Minerva to know that while she had elemental power, he had them all. He and his brothers were more than mortal. They were spirits taken flesh, and that gave them more magic than she or any of the other sorceresses could beg to have.

So he threw up his cloak and let the ice strike it. All the while, he whispered spells beneath it so they melted on impact. She’d think someone had given him an enchanted cloak, likely another sorceress who he had seduced to perform spells in his own castle. Hubris had always been her weakness.

When the sorceress had exhausted herself, he let the cloak fall back down and straightened. “I do not have any interest in whatever madness you wish to spout, Minerva. I am merely here to tell you that the girl is mine. Not yours.”

“Selene will never be yours,” she hissed. “She is my daughter. I raised her for this purpose and she will never back away from it.”

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