Page 59 of Hunted By Her Demon Wolves

Phoenix slipped off Damon’s lap, despite his protests, and filled him in on everything and then some, surprising Cadmus, too, with stories of the Ancients, her mother, and the succubi demons, including Balban, that had attacked the Amaroki. She also told them of the jorogumos, the spider demons that had possessed her friends. Those demons had almost ended the entire Amaroki race, the entire world.

“By the flame,” Damon said on a breath of air, “I still don’t believe it.”

“I know,” Cadmus said with a grimace, “it’s a lot to process, but I remember a jorogumo. Gorgo uses her to do his bidding.”

Phoenix swallowed at that. The jorogumos had been so unpredictable, so difficult to control. Even Eilea had a hard time wielding them with her magic. What would happen if Gorgo used his jorogumo against them?

Cadmus thoughtfully rubbed his chin. “That demon, Balban, I remember it, too.”

She leaned toward him, the only sound the wild pounding of her heart and the crackling of the flames. Even the gentle lapping of the lake’s waves muted, as if the water itself held its breath. Phoenix had never known her alpha father because Balban had killed him along with Tori’s (now Daeva’s) mother. Not to mention, Balban had kidnapped and possessed her friends Annie and Tatiana, who were more like sisters to her. Last year her sister’s mates had caught the demon in hell and let it go in exchange for information, but Balban wouldn’t be so lucky if Phoenix caught it.

“Did it look like a cross between a bat and a dragon?” she asked.

Cadmus nodded. “It didn’t meet a pleasant end.”

Her pounding heart stilled. “What happened?”

“After Gorgo tortured it and drained its blood,” Cadmus answered with a grimace, “he fed it to his fire.”

Phoenix clutched her throat. “Fed it to the fire?”

“Obliterated it. There’s no coming back from obliteration unless it knows the spells to protect its spirit,” Damon said.

“Doubtful.” Cadmus laughed. “Balban didn’t seem very smart.”

A numb feeling crawled over Phoenix’s skin, burrowing into her bones. She didn’t know if she should’ve been angry that she didn’t get to enact her vengeance on the creature, or relieved that it wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else. One thing she knew for certain, it got what it had coming after the way it treated the Amaroki.

“I won’t lose any sleep over Balban,” she finally said to her mates, “I have too many other things to worry about.” Namely, what if Gorgo obliterated her or her mates? They could be parted for another three thousand years or worse if her spirit couldn’t return a second time. She wasn’t sure how that magic worked. The thought soured her stomach. She’d only just found them. She couldn’t lose them again.

Phoenix was saddened when they told her Gorgo had tortured and obliterated all kinds of demons and witches. Her heart came to a thudding halt when they told her a few wolf shifters had been obliterated, too, one a pretty blonde woman, and several middle-aged men. She knew they were Katarina Lupescu, Stefan Albescu, and the Devoras. She wondered how her sister would react to the news.

“So do you prefer to be called Bennu or Phoenix?” Damon asked while pressing his knee against hers.

Biting her bottom lip, she looked down at where their knees pressed together. Such a simple touch shouldn’t have caused her insides to turn to jelly, but she couldn’t deny the feelings of desire that stirred low in her belly. “Phoenix,” she blurted, recalling how easily Tori had given up her name for Daeva.

He leaned closer, a soft smile tugging at his lips. “Why?”

“Do I need a reason?” Bennu was a name given to her by her creator, and Phoenix was given to her by her mother. Her mother. How strange it felt to think of Jezebeth now. She’d always been so ashamed of her mother, had always treated her poorly, yet Jezebeth’s love had been unwavering. Though she hated to admit it, she missed her mother now. She wondered if her mother was worrying over her. No doubt she’d already chewed her nails down to the quick and driven Tor and the others mad with her incessant fretting. If she never found a way to heal the broken crystal, she prayed her mother would find a way to rescue them.

Damon leaned close enough that she could smell the sweetness of the juice on his breath. “You have to understand, it feels like just yesterday when we were holding you in our arms and you were raking your nails down our backs.”

Heat crept into her cheeks, and she felt compelled to look away from his mesmerizing gaze.

“Why do you blush?” he purred, his deep, sensual voice sending a trill along her spine.

“She doesn’t have any of Bennu’s memories,” Cadmus answered before she could respond.

“That’s okay,” he teased, licking his lips. “We can make new ones.”

She swallowed back her apprehension. She could smell desire radiating from his pores, and though she knew Bennu had made love to her mates, she had none of those memories and had no clue what to do.

“Why do you look at me that way?” she asked, feeling uneasy in her own skin as his gaze raked over her body.

He scented the air like a hound smelling roasting meat. “I can smell your virginity.”

“Oh.” Her face heated as she smoothed her hands across her legs.

“It’s a liability.”

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