Page 14 of Flirting with Death

Ruling didn't seem so awful with the prospect of someone by my side to help. And if anyone could keep the Horde in line, it would be Samantha. Of course, if she didn't want me, or the crown, then the entire plan would go out the window. Because as much as I tried to convince Tristan to force Juliana into the position, doing that to someone I liked wasn't something I could do. Maybe I had become soft.

I pushed open the doors for the throne room, and it was empty. Without wasting time, I turned on my heel to go to my dad's chamber. It also was empty. Not even a wrinkle lined his bed. A sense of dread filtered into my senses as an intense fear held me immobile. My heart felt as though it would crack my ribs as it raced, and quick, short breaths filled the space. There was no way to contact my father if he was already on his way. It wasn't like he had a phone. He never went to the mortal world, and we have no use for them in a place with no way to use them.

I raced through the halls that separated his chambers from my brother's. The door hit the wall of Tristan's room, it was the only place that still had a mirror. The single way that I could get to the mortal world without the help of a portal maker. I wasn't an expert at surface portaling, but I had watched him do it enough to know the basics. I could only travel or see places I had been before. The problem was the only place I was bringing to mind was Alastor's room, here in Tartus and the hotel he had stayed at. I knew I had seen a mirror at Lex's, but I couldn't pull at the memory before the penthouse bathroom was shimmering on the surface.

Without hesitation, I stumbled through and out onto the counter. Trial size lotion, soap, and a still wrapped toothbrush tumbled off of the surface. Well, that was less than graceful, and I had made a ton of noise. Quickly moving to the doorway, I came up short when Alastor was standing in front of me.

He was flawless, his suit and tie back in place, not even a hair dared to lay wrong on his head. With a growl, I pushed past the barrier he had made with his body. Ignoring the awareness that my incubus shot through me at the contact, I stalked to the elevator. There was no time for this. The longer I took to reach Samantha, the more time my father had to find her.

"If I knew you'd be coming back, we could have traveled together. It would have made less of a mess," he said.

"You knew I was returning," I said. I didn't bother to stop and have a conversation. I tossed the words over my shoulder.

"How do you plan to find her?" he asked, closer now that I had to wait for the elevator.

I punched the button again, as if that would make it arrive faster. "I marked her, remember?"

He leaned against the frame of the elevator door and studied me. "You marked me too. What does that mean?"

"Oh, the all-powerful God doesn't know what it means to be marked by an incubus?" I sneered at him.

All of my frustration needed an outlet, and he was standing right here, ready to take it. I hadn't meant to mark him. Having that connection I felt with Sam and Lex snap in place with him too had been too much. He made me raw, and it probably had something to do with my little crush when I was younger.

A flower bloomed in a pot that had a miniature tree in it. The purple flower slowly opened, the sweet scent filled the space. I snorted.

"Guess you have a little power after all," I said as the doors slid open.

Cerberus startled me when his teeth clamped onto my tail and held me in place. I had been so focused on Alastor I hadn't noticed his pet. Alastor flicked his tongue along his lower lip, and I trailed the movement.

"What does being marked by you mean?" He folded his arms over his chest, the shoulders of his jacket tightening over his lean muscles.

"For fuck's sake, call your dog off," I grumbled.

He nodded at Cer, and the animal let go. Their mental connection was a little scary. Alastor had taken the moment to hit the stop button on the elevator, keeping it in place. I would have pressed all the buttons and sent it on its way. Because that was the type of asshole I was.

With a sigh, I ran my fingers over my damaged tail. It wasn't bleeding, but his teeth had scraped my skin.

"Stop being a baby, it's only a scratch," he said.

Narrowing my gaze on him, I let go of my tail, then wrapped it around my leg. There would be no more grabbing me by it again today.

"I said nothing."

"You didn't have to. The pout on your face said it all."

He widened his legs like that would stop me if I wanted to tackle him to the ground. Too bad my incubus ability didn't work on Gods, not in the same way it worked on mortals, at least. If he were human, I could have him panting on the ground, begging me to fill him up, then leave him that way. That wasn't what would happen if I did it to him. Still, some leaked out. His shoulders loosened, and he eyed me slowly from my boots to my head.

"Maybe you should kiss it and make it better," I suggested. His gaze dipped to where my tail was wrapped around my leg, and I was positive he was moments away from dropping to his knees in front of me. Honestly, I should let him, just as a little payback. But I had other things to think of at the moment, so I cut my influence off. "Marking you means I can find you. It means if you are in trouble, I can sense it. Can I go now?"

"You might need help. I'm coming too." He followed me into the small space, and Cerberus squeezed in with us. I rolled my eyes as he pressed the resume button, and the doors closed, taking us to ground level.

"You're just coming so you can be a hero." I leaned against the railing, as the elevator made the slowest trip known to man down to the lobby. I thought this was a high-end place. Shouldn't we be moving faster?

Cerberus shivered and then shifted into a large dog, Alastor picked up the leash attached to him seconds before the door opened. He met my stare and lifted his brow. He could shove his judgment up his ass, because I was not putting on a glamor.

"You really should pretend, at least. The cosplay story will only work so long," he said as we stepped out of the cramped box.

"I don't really care what they do or don't believe." I shrugged.

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