Demonic Contract

by Catherine Banks

  “It’s fine. These are things we have to think about before deciding to continue our relationship,” I agreed.

  “You forgive me?” he asked, picked my hands up and pulled me closer to him.

  “I don’t know,” I said with a sigh. “Perhaps a gift might cheer me up?” I teased.

  “A gift?” he asked and leaned forward, his lips close to mine. “Would you settle for a kiss?”

  “A kiss from the Dragon Prince would likely sell for a lot at the college,” I chuckled and leaned forward.

  “You going to auction it off to the highest bidder?” he questioned with a smile.

  Closing the gap, I pressed my lips to his and wrapped my arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around my waist and my tail wrapped around his leg.

  “They’re all mine now,” I whispered.

  He rubbed his thumb across my lower lip and said, “Ditto.”

  “Children!” his mother called.

  We laughed.

  “Do you have long lifespans?” I questioned.

  He nodded. “From what I know, the same as demons.”

  “Phew,” I said and exhaled. “I thought I was going to have to deal with you being old and prune-y.”

  He bumped his hip into mine and tightened his grip on my hand. “Not for a very long time.”

  “Your fan club is going to be so sad,” I chuckled.

  He snorted. “Good. I’m so tired of them stalking me. Did you know that one of them actually cut a piece of my hair to keep? That’s why I have the haircut I have now.”

  Currently it was spiked on top and had a fade shave on the sides. It did make it harder for them to cut his hair.

  “Did she use it to perform a spell?” I wondered aloud.

  He stopped walking. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

  “It’s a possibility.”

  He sighed. “Wonderful, one more thing to worry about.”

  I nudged his side with my elbow. “I’ve got your back.”

  He smiled and kissed my cheek as we walked towards a room with a lot of boisterous activity going on inside. “That is incredibly reassuring.”

  “No, ‘ditto’?” I asked and feigned hurt.

  He rolled his eyes. “That goes without saying.”

  My tail raised and slapped his butt cheek. He stopped walking and looked over at my tail.

  “It has a mind of its own,” I said in embarrassment.

  He reached towards it, but I pulled it up to my chest and held it between my hands.

  He held out his hand, palm up. “Please.”

  Never in my life had I let a male touch my tail. He hadn’t tried to kill me when he found out I was a demon princess and had attempted to protect me from my father, so I had to assume he really did care for me. Slowly, I released my hold on it and let my tail fall into his waiting hand.

  He stroked a finger down the top flat part, making me shudder and my eyelids droop. Holy lighting, that felt amazing. He turned my tail sideways and slid his finger tip down the side, cutting himself and drawing blood.

  “It’s sharp,” I gasped and tried to pull it back.

  “It’s just a small cut,” he whispered and showed me that it was already healing.

  “I think I can change back,” I said.

  Shaking his head, he released my tail and pinned me to the wall with his arms on either side of my head. “I don’t want you to change back yet. I’d like to have more time with you in this form.”

  “You haven’t exactly had much time with me in the other form either,” I said breathlessly. He was broad, muscular, and the sexiest male alive.

  His nostrils flared and then he kissed me, pressing his body to mine, forcing my body against the stone wall. So much strength was coiled within his body, so much power and destructive capability. He was dangerous and I loved it.

  He pulled back from our kiss and traced my pointed ear. “I’ll have lots of time with your other form at school, so I’ll take as much time with you in this one as I can.”

  “I want to see you in your other form,” I said with a smirk and stroked my fingertip down his forearm beside my head.

  “Plenty of time for that,” he promised. His warm lips pressed against my neck and then over his mark. “Do I have your permission to mark you?” he asked and flicked his tongue across the mark.

  “You already did,” I reminded him.

  “Yes or no?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  He bit down, his canines pierced my skin and drew blood. Magic pressed against my shields, warm and definitely his. I opened them to his magic and suddenly we were submerged in a tidal wave of our combined powers. Edan leaned against me against the wall breathing erratically as I was. Green, blue, and purple energy swirled around us and merged as his mark fully set in. Slowly, they separated again, but a small connection remained between us. After releasing my neck, he rested his forehead against mine.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” I wheezed.

  “Your power is almost endless,” he whispered.

  His was endless. Somehow, he could tap into the other dragons and use theirs. Could I do that to the demons?

  “Tora?”

  “Hm?” I asked and looked up at him.

  “You okay?”

  I nodded and then bit his neck, drawing blood before releasing him.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  “Nothing, I just wanted to bite you too,” I said and skipped down the hallway towards his mother who had stepped out of the room ahead of us with her hands on her hips.

  Edan chuckled behind me and then jogged to catch up to me.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  My fingers twitched nervously as I opened a portal to the demon realm. One thing I had learned early on was not to disobey Father. So, Edan and I stood beside each other three days after our battle to visit him as he had ordered us.

  “It’s going to be fine,” Edan assured me, his hand in mine.

  “I can never tell with him,” I muttered. He was temperamental to say the least.

  “He already said he approved of our match,” he reminded me.

  Today he had opted for a pair of slacks and a dress shirt. He looked ready to conduct a business meeting and yet still incredibly scrumptious.

  “You’re ogling me again,” he said with a smirk.

  “Was not,” I lied and focused on the portal before us, being sure to open it into the castle, specifically the throne room.

  “We could be a few more minutes late,” he offered in a husky voice.

  “You’re terrible,” I accused before stepping through and pulling Edan into the demon world with me.

  The room was empty save for Father on his throne. He was glaring at the wall while strumming his fingers on his throne. I hurried forward and bowed before him.

  “Ah, you are here,” he said in greeting.

  “As you requested,” I agreed.

  “Stand.”

  I obeyed and stood beside Edan as we faced my father. “Why did you ask us here?”

  “You are Princess and in order to court you, Edan has to pass a few tests,” Father explained with a smirk.

  I groaned. “Really? You’re going to make him go through the tests?”

  “Yes.”

  “He won’t be able to break the records,” I said smugly.

  “I’m standing right here,” Edan reminded me.

  “Sorry, but you won’t break the records.”

  “And if I do?” Edan asked.

  “If you break the records, I will marry you on the spot,” Father said.

  “What!” I screamed.

  “Quiet. I could have married you off to some random demon eons ago.”

  “You already gave us your approval,” I reminded him.

  “Yes, but he still has to pass the tests.”

  “And if he doesn’t?”

  “Then you won’t be allowed to wed.”

  “This is ludicrous,” I growled.

&n
bsp; “Don’t make me put you in the dungeon,” Father threatened.

  It wasn’t an idle threat.

  “What type of tests?” Edan asked Father.

  “If I told you beforehand, that would ruin the fun,” Father replied with a smile.

  “You don’t have to do this,” I reminded Edan softly.

  He looked at me with fire in his eyes and sternly said, “I will do this, so that I can marry you.”

  “Okay, but you still won’t beat the records.”

  Edan bent down and kissed me. “Don’t faint after witnessing my glory.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ll try to contain myself.”

  Dad walked up to me and twirled his finger as though wrapping a string around it and tugged. It felt as though he jerked on my heart. “What is this?”

  “Ow!” I snapped. “Stop.”

  “Did you mark her?” he asked Edan.

  Edan nodded his head.

  “But you haven’t marked him yet?” Dad asked.

  “Wait, you can mark me too?” Edan asked.

  “Demon marks are different,” I mumbled. “They have different side effects.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Edan asked.

  “I had to talk to Dad first about the side effects. I’ve never done it before, so I wanted to check with him about something that I’ve heard.”

  “We’ll talk later,” Dad promised.

  He snapped his fingers and transported us to the Pits, a large area they’d filled with sand to make an arena and surrounded with stands that were filled with demons, ready to watch.

  “You already summoned everyone?” I asked.

  Dad smiled. “Duh.”

  Edan stood in the center of the pit facing Tarlok, the strongest demon, next to my father. Tarlok looked up at me and blew me a kiss. “I’ll make this quick so I can spend some time with you, Princess.”

  “What’s the test?” Edan asked.

  “You have to defeat Tarlok, our strongest fighter,” Dad explained.

  “Why am I not fighting the one who has the record?” he asked.

  “The record is how fast you can defeat Tarlok,” I explained.

  “What’s the record?”

  “Two and a half minutes,” Dad answered.

  “No problem,” Edan said with a cocky smirk.

  “Princess, when I finish this you’ll owe me a kiss.”

  “You only get a kiss if you defeat me.”

  “Then I’ll defeat the dragon and you next.”

  “You won’t be defeating me or getting a kiss from her,” Edan growled.

  Tarlok winked at me and Edan growled loudly. His skin shifted, but instead of taking on his dragon form, he shifted his skin into scales that glimmered like polished steel.

  “I didn’t know he could do that,” I whispered in shock.

  Tarlok smiled and then shifted into a larger version of his demon form. “This is going to be fun.”

  “You’ve pissed me off, so I won’t be going easy on you,” Edan informed him.

  “Kick his ass!” I yelled.

  Tarlok bowed to me and said, “As the Princess wishes.”

  “She was talking to me!” Edan growled and lashed out at Tarlok with clawed hands.

  The two began moving so fast, that I could hardly keep track of them.

  “He’s quite talented,” Dad said as he watched Edan closely.

  “Why are you really doing this?” I asked without taking my eyes off of the fight.

  “He appears strong, but I have to make sure that he’ll be strong enough to protect you,” he replied.

  “That’s dumb. I’m not going to stop seeing him if he doesn’t meet your strength requirements.”

  “It’s not about that, child. If he isn’t strong enough, then I’ll have to either make you stronger or make him stronger.”

  Oh.

  “You can do that?”

  He smiled and it sent chills down my spine. “There’s a lot of things I can do that you don’t know about.”

  “About the marking…”

  “Unlike Dragons, it’s permanent for us,” he informed her.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “I would suggest waiting until after you’re mated. Not that you listen to me anyway…”

  I rolled my eyes and then stared in shock at Edan standing over Tarlok, unconscious on the ground. “What?”

  “How long?” Dad asked one of the demons beside him.

  “Two minutes flat.”

  “Shit,” I grumbled. He had beaten my time.

  “Impressive,” Dad said and clapped his hands.

  The crowd cheered while Edan flexed and posed for them.

  “Oh brother,” I mumbled.

  A couple demons drug Tarlok out of the arena to get ready for the next test.

  I flew down with a bottle of water and held it out to him.

  “Cooling yourself off after witnessing me?” he asked.

  I rolled my eyes and handed it to him. “Yes,” I lied.

  “What’s the next test?” he asked as he chugged some water.

  “I didn’t know you could grow scales in human form,” I said instead of answering him.

  “There’s a lot of things I can do that you don’t know about yet,” he purred and kissed my cheek.

  “Ten minute break,” Dad called down.

  “No tips or hints?” Edan asked.

  “No, you already beat the first test’s record,” I snapped.

  “Oh, come on, what’s the next one?”

  “You’ll have to wait to find out,” I said despite the nervousness that I felt. The next test was one I was not looking forward to.

  I gave him a deep kiss and then Dad clapped his hands and I disappeared from the arena. I opened my eyes and groaned. I was chained inside of a cage, which hung over lava inside of a dungeon. Edan would have to find me and rescue me before time ran out. If he failed, the cage would fall into the lava and I would die.

  “Why me?” I asked angrily.

  “You’re the only thing he’ll care about saving,” Dad answered. He provided me a view of Edan so I could watch his progress. Edan had shifted and was roaring angrily. “He’s rather upset.”

  “Explain it quickly. I’d rather not be dropped into lava.”

  “Where is she!” Edan bellowed.

  “That’s for you to figure out. You have thirty minutes to rescue her before she’s dropped into lava and burned alive.”

  “She’s your daughter!” He yelled.

  “Son, I’m the Demon King. I can make more heirs.”

  Dad was rather convincing. It made my blood run cold. Well, if it could.

  Edan roared again and then closed his eyes and stood very still. I felt a tug on our connection. He tugged once more and then opened his eyes.

  “Found her,” he replied smugly.

  “Knowing her location and rescuing her are two different things,” Dad replied and returned the smugness tenfold.

  Edan growled and headed out of the arena.

  “I’ll provide some screens for you to watch his progress,” Dad informed me.

  “Thanks,” I muttered.

  Three screens appeared in front of me, offering several views of Edan as he marched down the hallways towards the dungeon. He pushed open the first door and Kerberos growled and barked at him with all three heads at the same time.

  Edan smirked and then roared at Kerberos, his roar shook everything even down to where I was, the cage rattled. Kerberos, not one to be deterred by a good roar, rushed forward, each head coming in at a different angle to bite him. Edan’s body shifted, becoming taller and broader, his face grew a snout and his hands turned into dragon talons. He dodged the heads and leapt up on top of Kerberos’ back.

  “Don’t kill him!” I screamed and gripped my cage’s bars.

  Edan paused with his talon just above Kerberos’ jugular.

  “You may proceed,” Dad informed him. “Kerberos, down.”

  Ke
rberos lay down and huffed angrily.

  Edan shifted back into his human form and continued past Kerberos into the next hallway. I didn’t think he could actually hear me. Had he heard me? Or had Dad stopped him?

  The next hallway was pitch black, but Edan’s eyes began to glow and somehow, I knew that it allowed him to see. That was a skill that would definitely come in handy.

  Something cold and wet dripped from the ceiling onto Edan’s face. He wiped it with the back of his hand and looked up just as several small goblin shaped clay creatures fell onto him. He grabbed them and tossed them away, but there were dozens and they kept coming. He threw a bunch in front of him and then exhaled a jet of flames over them. They hardened, broke, and then turned to dust. Dozens more came and no matter how many times he repeated the process, more came to replace their fallen brethren.

  Edan growled angrily, but continued doing what he was doing.

  Tarlok appeared next to me and smiled. “Sorry about this,” he whispered.

  “About what?” I asked.

  He stabbed my leg and twisted the knife. I screamed in pain and tried to grab it from him.

  Edan’s head jerked up and his entire body glowed. He roared and the hallway he was in filled with fire, destroying all of the clay goblins in an instant. He rushed forward, slamming the next doors open and nearly fell face first into a pit of spikes.

  Tarlok removed the knife and then healed my leg.

  “I’m going to get you back for that,” I promised him.

  “King’s orders,” he explained and then disappeared.

  I grumbled angrily, but there was little I could do about it.

  Edan grew wings and flew over the pit of spikes to land on a small square of land. All around it were spikes and directly above him were three harpies.

  The harpies swooped down onto him, but he took flight and began to fight them in a deadly aerial combat.

  “Will you be stabbing me again?” I asked.

  “No, that was the last time,” Dad said and I knew he was smiling.

  “You could have just asked me to yell.”

  “I had to make it convincing. Plus, he can feel whether you’re in pain through your connection.”

  “What? How?”

  “It’s a Dragon thing,” he replied vaguely. “Their connections work differently than others.”

  “Good to know.”

  Edan defeated the harpies, their bodies strewn about over spikes, and continued on. The next room was my favorite room. The minotaur.