Page 62 of To Hunt a Demon King

“He’s on patrol until dawn,” she replied, giving him a sidelong look. “Not all of us can get away from our duties as long as you can.”

“It was official business,” Carnon said, waving a hand dismissively.

Cerridwen snorted. “I’m sure,” she said, casting a look from him to me, then smiling warmly at me. “I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Cerridwen, and Herne is my mate. Carnon told us that he stumbled upon you needing help in the Bloodwood, but not much else.” She trailed off a bit at this, and Carnon stood abruptly.

“Storytime will have to wait, Cerridwen,” he said, indicating that I should stand as well. I stuffed the bread into my mouth quickly and stood, chewing thickly as the woman raised her brows at Carnon. “We’ve been traveling all night, and I think Elara might be about to drop.”

Surprisingly, I wasn’t feeling all that tired. A buzz of energy, similar to that I had felt at the other villages, had filled me, and I felt rather alert for having been awake all night. But I played along, pretending to yawn only semi convincingly, making Cerridwen raise her eyebrows at me.

“Fine,” she said slowly, narrowing her eyes at Carnon. “Keep your secrets for now. Herne will no doubt get them out of you later. You know the way?” Carnon nodded, taking my hand and giving me a swift warning look as we left the kitchen and headed toward the back of the house.

“What are you hiding?” I hissed as Carnon nudged me up a staircase to the second floor.

“In a minute,” he said, guiding me with a hand on the small of my back to one of four identical doors in the upper hallway. The room was small but comfortably furnished, with a tiny bathing chamber attached and a window that looked down onto the street. Carnon locked the door behind him, falling back against it and studying me.

“Well?” I asked, raising a brow at him and waiting for an explanation about why he had rushed me out of the kitchen. Instead of replying, Carnon stalked toward me, grabbing me around the waist and kissing me so fiercely that for a second, I didn’t even respond. Once my brain caught up to my body, I lifted on my toes, wrapping my arms around his neck and returning the kiss. It was fierce and desperate, almost like he had been restraining himself for hours, and I pushed back a little breathless.

“What in the name of the Goddess has gotten into you?” I asked, backing up toward the bed as he prowled toward me like a predator closing in on its prey. He closed the distance, pulling me toward him again and resuming the kiss I had broken. I let him kiss me another moment more before pushing him away again, panting.

“Carnon,” I breathed. “What’s going on?”

“Sorry,” he rumbled, pressing his forehead to mine. “You spent the night pressed against me on that damned horse. I’ve been waiting to do that since about an hour into the ride.”

“Oh,” I said, blushing a little as he brushed gentle lips over mine again, the urgency in him seeming to have been momentarily sated. “What didn’t you want me to tell your friend?”

Carnon sat, pulling me down onto the bed with him and lying back, keeping me clasped to his chest. “I think it would be wise,” he said slowly, “that you not tell anyone else who your grandmother is. Or who you are.” I looked up, only able to see his scratchy chin from my position in his arms.

“Okay,” I said.

He looked down, eyebrows raised in shock. “No arguing?” he teased.

I shrugged. “I don’t know these people or this place,” I said, feeling a little self conscious. Carnon propped himself up on an elbow and I did the same. “If you think it wouldn’t be safe, I’ll try to keep that to myself. Although I’ll have to tell the king, I expect.”

Carnon lifted a hand, brushing his thumb against my cheekbone. “Hmm,” he mused, stroking my check absently and looking like he was mulling over a plan in his head. “Cerridwen and Herne will probably figure out you’re a witch fairly quickly. Your magic smells different, although your demon gifts may throw them off for a bit.”

I frowned. “My magic smells?” I asked, pursing my lips at him.

He grinned. “Like vanilla,” he said, leaning forward to brush his lips against mine. “It’s lovely, but obvious.”

“Oh,” I said, mollified by the compliment. “What exactly did you tell them about me?” I asked, wanting to make sure our stories aligned.

“As much of the truth as I could,” he replied. “That I stumbled upon you in the Bloodwood, and that we struck a bargain,” he added, reaching out a hand to stroke a thumb over the shadow stone necklace that had slipped out from beneath my blouse.

I frowned. “Will they not want it too?” I asked, lifting my hand to meet his on the stone. “You said these were valuable.”

“Very,” Carnon agreed, his green eyes flashing a little possessively as he watched me. “But this one has particular importance for me alone. They won’t try to take it.”

“What importance?” I asked, frowning at him.

He brushed his lips against mine again. “It doesn’t matter right now.”

I sighed, unclasping the necklace and looking at it one last time. I hoped Mama would understand why I gave it up. I put my hand over Carnon’s, prying his fingers apart to drop the necklace in his open palm.

“Here,” I said. “You fulfilled the blood bargain. You may as well take this now.”

He looked at me in shock, then down at the necklace, running a finger over it reverently. I felt a stinging pain on my wrist as the red line of the blood bargain disappeared, the oath fulfilled. Carnon looked at his own wrist as his line disappeared as well.

When he looked back up at me, his eyes were gleaming with a different kind of light. Suddenly he sat up, pulling me with him, and holding the necklace out to me.

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