by Mandi Casey
“Selected, I’ve learned through unpleasant measures which spell the treacherous bastard had put on you, which means we can have it undone.” The demon strolled to the couch and took a seat on the cushion closest to the roaring fireplace.
Kasdeya, being a fire demon, was attracted to the flames like a moth. I would have to remember for the future that her obsessive nature toward fire could be used against her, if we ever got into a fight. Kasdeya hated cold. More specifically, she hated wet cold, as in snow, which was another fun fact I’d keep in my arsenal against her.
“Oh, and what did my new demon friend do for this information? Did it have anything to do with a demon with blue hair?” Rage, Kasdeya’s ex, was hot. His sexual allure was fiery when I was affected by the spell, but the thought of him since the spell broke didn’t diminish the fact he was downright scrumptious looking. Too bad he was a rotten demon bent on furthering his quest for power using all means necessary.
Kasdeya extended her fingers toward the flames and said, “Don’t worry, Sydney, Rage agreed not to bother you again. He told me the spell and what I need to acquire to fix it.”
The demon didn’t look my way while she spoke. I assumed it was to keep the sad expression aging her facial features from Blake and me.
“Well, I’m really sorry you did that.”
She whipped her head toward me and squinted her red glowing eyes. “What do mean? What have you done, Selected?” Kasdeya stood and paced the splintered wooden floor. “I knew Daire would complicate matters, that damned halfling.”
At the mention of Daire’s name, Blake took his turn to give me an accusing look. I could tell he had a lot to say from the gaping drop of his jaw and darkened facial expression.
I put my hands up and said, “What?”
Blake’s biceps bunched as he crossed his arms over his chest. “What does she mean about the half-vampire, half-demon, Sydney?”
It hurt to hear contempt in Blake’s voice while he spoke my name. We had just had a wonderful morning in my bed, and Kasdeya, the same demon who’d said to me the other day that us girls had to stick together, had ruined the afterglow with the mention of another man.
“I don’t know what she’s talking about, Blake.” I said his name with an added emphasis, letting him know I wasn’t going to put up with him throwing a mantrum in the middle of my store.
He put his palms in the air and curled his fingers upward in frustration.
Kasdeya stopped pacing and said with feigned innocence, “All I wanted to know was how you satisfied the effects of the spell. If you weren’t with Blake all this time, I figured it must have been with Daire.”
My face flushed with anger and the tips of my ears began to burn. I hadn’t done a dang thing wrong with Daire. Sure, I was tempted, and he offered himself with open arms, but I hadn’t taken him up on it, at least not now in the real, waking world, and I didn’t think I deserved to be setup by Kasdeya.
Blake’s chest began to heave and I knew he was losing control of his inner beast, and I didn’t want him to break something else in the store. Aunt Judith and I couldn’t afford to keep fixing all the damage caused from Others coming in and smashing things.
I stared at Kasdeya and chastised her through pursed lips. “I was doing just fine before you came into our lives, demon. Now you’re trying to start trouble.”
She put her hands to her chest and said, “Selected, mind your words lest you really want to find yourself in hot water.”
Sick and tired of Others messing with every aspect of my life, I said, “Both of you, get out.”
I stuck my jaw out to show that neither of them was going to change my mind.
Blake decided to move first. He shook his head and went to the front door. “See you tonight, Sydney. My father sent me the notice of your summons to the house. Nice of you to mention his call, by the way. I can’t believe I have to find out what’s going on with you from my father.”
Then Blake was gone, taking his warmth with him. The air in the store felt cool as Kasdeya and I stood facing one another in a standoff.
“You’re a bitch. You intentionally put doubt in Blake’s mind. You’re miserable with your own lot in life, and now, for fun, you’ve decided for some sick reason to mess with mine.” I positioned myself a few feet in front of her, but far enough away to move if she came at me.
Kasdeya blinked in silence.
“Well? Don’t you have anything to say for yourself? Maybe some lame excuse telling me you didn’t mean to hurt Blake? Because hurting people is all you’re capable of doing.”
Kasdeya’s silver patterns began to swirl with furious agitation. I wasn’t going to let her intimidate me, although watching power ooze off her body was a bit unnerving.
If she wanted me dead, I’d be dead.
The vampire king and Kieran had ordered my safety, no matter what, and that included hindering her from outright harming me herself, but I didn’t know how deep her loyalty ran.
Her earlier words had stung, because they had a hint of truth to them, even if I didn’t want to admit it to myself.
“Kas, just stay out of my business and I’ll stay out of yours, okay?” I said, trying to soften my words.
Without warning, the fire demon lifted her arm into the air and whipped a flaming ball of fire toward my head.
With a screech, I ducked out of the way in the nick of time, but the end of my ponytail didn’t fare as well. The smell of fried hair hit my nose as I rolled to the ground and landed in a crouch. My eyes remained trained on the ball of flames flying through the air. Before it hit the wall and set my store on fire, I threw my own magic with everything I had. I’d been thinking of using water on the demon if she ever attacked me with her fire. My reflexive defense was to throw a ball of water, bigger than the flames, onto her fire to distinguish it.
Once the water magic left them, I observed my hands. They appeared the same as always, with maybe a hint of a blue glow coming from them in the low-lit corner of the store where I crouched.
“Don’t tell me what to do and use my nickname in the same sentence, human. You don’t even realize what you have with Blake and you’re hurting his feelings, hurling rejection at him time and time again. I’m sick of watching you deny your feelings for him. Since you can’t admit them to me or anyone else, at least admit them to yourself.” Her words spewed with venom and, as she continued to talk, wisps of smoke puffed from her nostrils.
I shook my head and turned toward the back wall of the store where her fireball was aimed. The flames were out, but the books and magazines lining the wall of wooden bookshelves were covered with a thick layer of wet, black soot.
Turning back to confront my attacker, I held the end of my hair out so she could see the damage she’d caused, I sniffed the ends and smelled the repulsive odor of singed hair and growled at her.
“Do you mind not damaging me and my store every time you get irritated?”
My heart was pounding. The demon scared the heck out of me.
“I apologize for damaging your store. Do you realize we wouldn’t argue about anything if those damned men weren’t involved?”
Shaking my head, I stomped over to the storeroom and grabbed empty boxes to put the damaged material in, along with bleach water and a few rags. Nothing got the smell of fire and smoke out like the power of bleach.
Warm water mixed with bleach sloshed over the sides of the bucket onto the floor as I exited the storeroom. I gave an inward groan at the bigger mess I had created. No matter, I needed to mop anyway.
“Selected, I’m only trying to help you see in your time of blindness. I come from a hostile relationship where my mate was so hungry for power he betrayed me and sold me into the contract I now am obligated to fulfill.”
Dumping the ruined books into the box sitting on the fl
oor, I turned to gaze at the demon I thought I could be friends with one day.
“You said he didn’t know where you’ve been all this time, and now you’re saying he’s the one who put you here in this reality? Figure your story out and let me know when you have it down straight. I’m sick of being lied to all the time, by everyone.” I took the rag from the bucket of water and began wiping the top shelf. I was so furious, I struggled not to soak the rag with the water and douse her with it. She’d be mortified.
It would take hundreds of dollars to replace what she’d ruined. I’d have to check to see what damage the store’s insurance would cover. I hoped the agency wouldn’t look into the cause too closely, because I didn’t know how many times they’d accept the made up stories about why the store was always getting trashed. Not all of them could be explained in human terms, like the wood floor being split down the center of the store because a big blue demon got mad and stomped his foot. No human had the strength to do such a thing, and Wisconsin didn’t experience earthquakes.
The flames in the fireplace roared and the flame tips licked the stone top. Kasdeya was growing agitated again.
“I will have you know, human, I told you the truth from the start. Rage and my father joined in a coup together against me, because I’m a lowly woman in their eyes. They felt I had more worth in being sold then keeping around. In their ploy for power, they sold me to the Dark Lord to do with as he pleased. My father was already indebted to him so my dear, beloved ex concocted the idea to use me as a bartering tool.”
Continuing to clean, I asked, “So, if it was Rage’s idea to sell you to the Devil himself, how’d he not know where you were assigned?” I wasn’t sure I believed a word she said.
“The Dark Lord doesn’t owe anyone in my home. But he does here, in yours. King Alexander was recalling a favor he’d given the Dark Lord. The king needed to replace one of his precious Judges gone rogue.” She clicked her silver nails together before continuing. “Rage was at the Dark Lord’s door, offering me up on a silver platter at the right time. The Dark Lord took the offer. Once the deal was sealed with my blood, to relieve my father of his debt and to provide Rage with a legion of minions at his disposal, I found myself here, serving the king.”
I dropped the rag into the bucket then dumped the next shelf’s ruined books into the box and said, “But that still doesn’t explain why Rage had to look for you.”
Kasdeya came close to me, as in nose-to-nose close.
I cringed inside, but tried my hardest not to let her see me flinch. When she picked up the box of sopping wet reading material—which must have weighed close to a hundred pounds—she went through the front door without a word.
When she returned, I had finished wiping the second shelf off and was ready to start the next one down. I went into the storeroom for another box and she followed me to the doorway.
Leaning against the wooden frame, she said, “The Dark Lord doesn’t care to give details of his dealings, especially since he used me to settle a debt with a vampire in this reality. It doesn’t look good to his followers if he owes a debt, especially to a vampire. He wouldn’t have given Rage or my father my location unless they came up with something he’d want worth the information. So, it taking this long for Rage to find me tells me Rage didn’t get his information from the Dark Lord. He sent out his minions to find me. It’s been a while since I’ve been gone, making me believe he must have used a lot of resources in his search.”
Her smile wasn’t one of sadness. The sneering lift of her lip told me she’d hoped Rage had overtaxed himself in his search for her.
She moved out of my way when I headed toward the door of the storeroom. If she hadn’t, I was in the mood to push her with the box in my arms, which I’m sure would have ended in another fight. I just wanted her out of my store.
“Don’t you have anything better to do than harass me about my love life?”
Kasdeya followed me back to the bookshelf and waited for me to fill the box with more ruined books. Maybe she felt guilty for damaging my store’s goods?
“I told you, Sydney. I only want to help you see how Blake truly loves you and would never do such traitorous things as Rage has done to me. Sydney, I never saw it coming. I was in love, or so I thought. I thought he was, too.” Her words slowed and she averted her gaze to the flames in the fireplace.
I filled the box and gave it a kick, hoping she’d carry it out to the dumpster in the alley next to the building, the same alley where I’d been bitten by the rogue wolf, when my Selected powers had been trigged.
When my entire life had changed.
She didn’t take the hint.
“I think it would be best if you didn’t interfere with Blake and me, and I’ll do the same with relationships in your life. Deal?”
“I feel pity for you, Selected. You are so blinded by your own fears. You do not see what is standing right before you. I only hope your vision and heart clears before it is too late.”
She picked up the last box and carried it out. I waited to hear the jangling sound of the door chimes signaling her return, but it never came.
To my relief, Kasdeya didn’t come back to debate more on love and life.
I stood next to the clean, but empty, bookshelf and let out a deep breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
Life sucked, and she had a good point. Actually, she had a few good points.
Blake loved me.
I knew I had at least started to fall in love with him.
So what was my problem?
The problem was the prophecy. The bit about spilling blood of my blood upon the birth of my child with a wolf sat in my gut like sharp-cornered bricks. Plus, I didn’t know how the vampires would react once they found out I’d shacked up with a wolf.
Would they kill me or my family, or would they go after Morris, Blake, and their pack to make sure the wolves never fulfilled their prophecy?
Chapter 16
I pulled into the long driveway of the wolves’ den and parked close to the entrance. One of the younger pack members answered the door with a wide, toothy smile. Her warm welcome made me feel at ease as I followed her down the corridor to the dining hall.
I thought Morris wanted to meet with me in private, in his office where he could block out the other wolves from hearing what he had to say.
Morris and Blake’s mother, Adaira, sat at the dining table along the side of the room having a private meal together.
When I entered, Morris motioned for me to take the seat opposite his half-human, half-werewolf wife. I’d met Blake’s mother a few times, and liked her more with every encounter. She was a loving mother and able to think with reason instead of letting her wolf rise, demanding to fight everything and everyone around her, like her male counterparts tended to do.
“Sydney, honey, we had an extra plate set for you. You must be starving.” Adaira smiled as she spread butter on a dinner roll. The sight of the butter melting on the warm bread made my insides cramp. I hadn’t eaten dinner after work. There wasn’t enough time to even stop at home to change before the meeting.
“Thank you, I will.” I grabbed a plate, dished up an individual-sized pile of warm veggies, then grabbed two rolls and the dish with butter on it. I spread the butter on a roll, tore a chunk off, and stuck it into my mouth. The taste of cinnamon was a pleasant surprise and made the bread divine. I studied the butter on the small glass platter and saw the tiny brown speckles mixed within.
I’d have to tell Aunt Judith to see if we could make cinnamon butter for the house.
Morris wiped his chin and dabbed the corners of his mouth before he spoke. “Sydney, I brought you here because we need to talk about the trouble we’re having with the Mobile, Alabama, wolf pack. They want proof we’re keeping watch over you and that we’ve a handle on the rogues i
n the city.”
I nodded and swallowed another wad of delicious bread. I could have sat there all night just eating the bread and nothing else, it was that good.
“We’ve talked about it before, Morris. I said I’d do whatever you needed to help the pack and I meant it. I know I haven’t gone rogue hunting with Blake, but I will, don’t worry.” I didn’t know if that’s all he wanted to talk about, but from the sideways glance Morris and Adaira shared, I knew there was more to the summons.
“Sydney, we’ve spoken and all agree. If you were to move in with us, here, at the den, the Mobile pack would leave us be. I’m sorry to burden you with this. I know you feel we involve you too much in our problems—”
A ruckus occurring outside the door of the dining room hall interrupted Adaira.
I couldn’t have been more pleased when Blake and Matt strutted into the hall and approached us at the table.
The scars on my hip from Matt’s branding seared me with an uncomfortable burn as his eyes raked me from head to toe. The Mobile wolf did nothing to hide his physical appreciation at the sight of me. Blake stepped toward the wolf and shoved Matt away from me while puffing his chest out to almost double its normal size.
“You will not unclothe my mate with your eyes again, or I will consider your disrespect as a direct challenge. Do you understand your place, or do you have to be shown?”
Blake’s and Matt’s eyes changed to their battle hues and I shot to my feet. I didn’t want to get in the way if they decided to get into another physical altercation.
Blake’s mother screamed as Matt lunged toward Blake. Morris’ face half-shifted into his wolf form as he leapt over the dining table. He caught Matt in the middle of him swinging his arm before his fist could connect with Blake’s jaw.
“Get off of him, Dad. It’s my fight he wants, so it will be me he gets.” Blake crouched lower to the floor and spaced his legs shoulder-width apart while positioning his arms in readiness for grappling.
