Chapter 18
Mikael
Once I’d reached my room, I looked at my manservant. “Send a phoenix to the emperor, if you would, Vastial.”
Then pulling out a sheaf of parchment from my desk, I quickly jotted down a note to Emperor Claude and sealed it with wax, stamping it with my royal seal. A crescent moon with a thorn-wrapped sword piercing it.
I handed him the note.
Vastial looked confused. “Master? But Prince Damian rejected your offer.”
I snorted and then gently slapped his cheek. “Did he really, Vastial, or did he only wish listening ears to believe so?”
Vastial took the note from me, a bewildered gleam in his dark red eyes.
He’d heard all I’d said about Blue.
And there was a look in his eyes now, confusion, annoyance, possibly even empathy. Not for me though, for her. Vastial knew I’d been in talks with her, it was surprising to me that he should so visibly seem to care about her now, considering he’d only physically seen her for the first time tonight. But he was aware that Blue was my ally. Still, I could no more reveal the truth of my plot to Vastial than I could to the prince.
I trusted Vastial, to an extent, but anyone could be bought for the right price, I knew very well that my own spy Raydos had been bought by her, until recently he’d been actively thwarting my moves. A part of me wanted to kill Raydos for treason, but the little rat was working diligently for her. So long as his loyalties remained true to Blue I would not interfere. I would never place Blue in harm’s way. Not so long as she was loyal to my cause.
“You may go,” I said, a clear warning in my tone.
Without another word, he turned and walked out of my private chamber. I was in enemy territory, I was not fool enough to believe that Damian didn’t have ears and eyes on me.
Undressing myself, I reached for my royal blue robe, sitting on the edge of the bed. My leg ached fiercely tonight. But the dance had been worth all the pain.
“Blue,” I whispered her name, calling out to her.
A moment later an image of her face hovered before me. She was so clearly of light fae ancestry. With rounded ears and waves of pale blue hair that fell down to her knees. Rosebud lips. Honey kissed skin. Clear blue eyes. She was smeared in blood.
I didn’t mind the look. It was savage.
I grinned. “By the looks of it appears you fought a dragon and won, my lady.”
Annoyance flickered in her crystalline blue eyes. “What do you want?” she snapped, irritation heavy in her voice. But I wasn’t sure it was me that she was angry with. Something had happened to her. My gaze rolled over her face once more. “I did not think you would come if I called,” I said honestly.
She sighed, crossing her arms. “You knew I would, devil take you.”
I opened my mouth and she rolled her eyes.
“And before you ask, yes, our conversation is encrypted. How did it go with father?”
Gods, she was cheeky. “Why are you so bloody, you never did answer my question?”
She thinned her lips, hesitating for a moment. Finally, she said, “I butchered a rapist. Cut out his tongue. Brought it home. Would you like to look at it?”
I wasn’t sure if she was joking. Her face was too pale, her eyes looked haunted. My heart clenched. What had happened to her? I would have to ask Severos.
“I miss you,” I said huskily.
“Prince, I do not have the energy for this game. Please just tell me what Father said.”
I rubbed my right thigh, a little irritated that she didn’t realize I wasn’t joking. In truth, I was even a little shocked that I cared so much. She was simply my ally. Right. I took a deep breath. “Exactly as you’d expect. He ranted and raved, claiming you were his beloved daughter. Blah, blah, blah.”
Her bright eyes twinkled and I could see her trying to hide a smile. Oh, she liked it when I mocked him. I grinned. She and I were similar in that pastime.
“Of course, I concocted a lie about your blood being a drug to us. And that I wished you to be in my bed for my own dark proclivities. A lie he would surely believe.”
“And yet you did proposition me,” she said softly, no hint of laughter in her tone.
I pinched my lips together. She had me there. “I apologize, Blue. I did not mean it as you took it.”
“So, you do not want me in your bed?” she asked without preamble, not even a hint of a smile.
“Oh,” I leaned forward, staring at her full, pouty mouth wishing I could kiss it right now, “I want you.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“But not as my captive, or as my dirty little secret. You enchant me, little bird. I want every part of you. Your body. Your mind. And your soul.”
The second I said it I recognized that I’d meant every word. I did want her. And the fire to possess her burned hotter and brighter with each second I spent in her company.
I peered at her, hoping to see something. A softening in her gaze, a slight curve of her lips, and a flush in her cheeks, but her face was a stony mask that was impossible even for me to read. Perhaps I shouldn’t have admitted that to her.
But she had to know already.
Intelligent as she was, she had to see my desire for her. Maybe it was that she simply didn’t want me as I wanted her. I bit down on my molars.
I sighed, leaning back as I rubbed at my thigh. “I respect you, Blue. That is all.”
“How many lovers have you had, Prince?”
I stopped massaging my thigh, staring at her questioningly. Why would she ask me such a thing? In Demonia matters of the flesh were far from taboo. And being loyal only to one was a trait unheard of amongst the fae. Since nobility rarely married for love we had no qualms when it came to sharing our beds.
But she was a half-blood, she would not think as I did.
She looked away and if I wasn’t mistaken, I noted a hint of red staining her cheeks.
“More than you, I’d imagine. Blue, look at me,” I said softly, a hint of gravel in my tone.
She looked. She was like a cobra, deadly, and powerful, but she listened to me and it was empowering in a way that I couldn’t quite explain. She did not do this from fear, she listened because it pleased her to do so. But should I ever betray her trust, she would not hesitate to strike at me.
Perhaps that was why she mesmerized me so. When I looked at Blue, I truly felt I was among an equal.
“We are partners, nothing more. I will never make you feel small again. You have my word.”
Swallowing visibly, she nodded once, and then she lifted her hand. Instantly, a flare of brilliant blue surrounded my thigh. I hissed, feeling the warmth sink into my flesh.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” I said awed, all traces of that pain completely gone from me. I would not even need to drink the foul tea Vastial prepared for me each night so that I might gain even an hour of uninterrupted sleep.
“I owed you for the dance. Goodnight, Prince Mikael. Do not call for me again. And oh, whatever cologne that is that you wear around me, don’t. It’s annoying.”
I frowned. “Cologne?”
She rolled her eyes, tapping a blood-red fingernail against her bicep. “Cyprus. I hate it.”
I blinked. What?
“You smell… me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Keep playing your silly games. Goodnight.”
“Cheeky bird,” I grinned.
When her face vanished from my sight, I sighed. I missed her already. Had I ever had so much fun with another female? I didn’t think so. In fact, I wasn’t sure I’d ever even been so entertained in all my life.
Lifting my arm, I smelled my wrist. I wore no cologne, ever. I stilled, suddenly growing warm all over. Wait, was it possible?
There was a legend in Demonia, that when a fated pair crossed paths the female would smell her mate’s scent. A scent only she could ever smell, it would let her know that she’d found her match.
But the males could not scent their female, instead, they formed an attachment that went deeper than any familial bond. It was called imprinting, or so the stories went.
Imprinting was little more than legend because nobles married for power never for love.
I leaned back on the bed, staring into space.
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