Page 29 of Desired By her Alien Prince

"Alex was chosen by the Order to be your mate. I suspect he would have tried to convert you once your sex drive awoke," Lorraine said, and Fay's face reddened even more.

"Anyway, now you know." Maxmilian cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable with the direction of their conversation.

My tablet vibrated, and I gave it a cursory glance before I cursed. "I'm sorry to have to cut this visit short, but the King of Darkness wishes to see me immediately."

"Is everything alright?" Fay asked worriedly.

"He just wants to see me with mybridesto make sure I toe the line, produce more sons, try to figure out how to kill my brothers."

"What does that mean? Brides?" Maxmilian blustered.

"It's a long story, Dad," Fay said before I had a chance. "Azazel is one of the seven princes who each take a maiden as their bride."

"So why does he have more than one?" Maxmilian demanded justifiably, poking a finger in my direction.

"Because we seven sons are supposed to kill each other over the next few months or years, however long it takes. Usually the victor takes the bride of the fallen brother as his, but this time things have been a bit more… complicated. I assure you though that Fay is and will be safe."

"As long as you stay alive," Maxmilian pointed out.

"I have no intentions of dying." I stood my ground. "Now, I need to leave. We came to ease your mind regarding your daughter's safety and to extend an invitation for you to accompany us. You have my word that you will be safe aboard theAsphodel."

"As I said, as long—"

Lorraine interrupted Maxmilian again by putting her hand on his arm and giving him a glance I didn't like. My alarm bells went off. This female was up to something. "A generous offer, let us think about it. We don't have to come with you right now, do we?"

I shook my head. "No, we can come back."

"Please," Fay pleaded with her parents. "Come with us now, it's not that easy to come here. Azazel—"

This time I interrupted her by pulling her into my arms. "We will make it work, I swear, karamia." And to her parents, I said, "My offer stands and we will return. You have my word."

"Fay, please. Stay here," Fay's mom pleaded, grabbing a hold of Fay.

For a moment, I feared Fay would choose to stay with her parents until I realized how much safer she would be in this bunker. It wouldn't be easy, but I could come here to see her. Be with her.

As if reading my mind, Fay shook her head. "No, I will go with you. It will give you so much more of an incentive to stay alive."

A war broke out inside of me, but in the end, I couldn't deny her wish, especially since it would mean denying myself her company, so I relented even though I should have known better.

AzazelandIdidn'tspeak much on the way back to the ship. I was in an emotional turmoil, and he seemed to sense it. He didn't try to make conversation; instead, he held me tightly pressed against his chest as I stared outside with burning eyes, refusing to let the tears fall.

I had so many reasons to cry that I didn't even know where to start, and I definitely didn't want to give my parents the satisfaction, even though they wouldn't have ever known it.

So I kept them at bay and tried to unravel the knots of thoughts inside my head. One thread led to another and another, and it seemed impossible for me to not make the knot even tighter than it already was.

I was angry at my mother, because she was the one who should have explained all this to me a long time ago. She should have explained why I had been so frigid, why nothing had ever aroused me.

I couldn't even count the number of times I visited a therapist because of it. How many times had I railed against myself? How many times I had blamed myself? How many hormones and drugs had I taken to experience something? Something I now knew I never had a chance of experiencing until I met Azazel or until I would have been older.

I had felt inadequate; a failure for as long as I could remember.

It wouldn't have taken much for my mother to explain since she had gone through the same thing. For a moment I considered that I could have gone to her; still, it had been her role to teach me, to explain why I was different.

I was angry with my father for trying to kill Azazel, or me for that matter. He hadn't even cared that I had been in the line of fire. What if he had succeeded? He hadn't even stopped to ask how I felt about him. He hadn't considered how he could have broken my heart, not to mention killed me.

I was furious with both of them for withholding my brother from me and for what they did to him. I wondered how he felt about me. About the sister who had grown up beloved, wanted. If he wondered why our parents had defied the Order for me and not for him.

Thinking of the Order confused me, but what it meant confused me even more. Where had the Nayphyllym come from? If they were aliens, where were their spaceships? Had they crashed here? And what was their connection with the Daemons?

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