The Demon Master's Wife (Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction Romance) (FORCED TO SERVE)

by McDonald, Donna

  Conor turned away from the monitor to pace. Ania switched tactics.

  “I bore of trying to convince you of my sincerity, Conor Synar. One day I will have the outcome I want even without you—or your disposable mate. I am offering to work with you only to ensure the outcome I seek happens more rapidly. Since I currently control the demon, I lose nothing by your reticence except time. You’re the one without any access to Malachi’s power.”

  Ania watched Conor hang on the edge of deciding, and then snorted as he tipped over, pushed to take the risk by what drove him.

  “For the chance to gain back my demon, I will come,” Conor said at last.

  Ania bowed her head and then met his gaze again through the monitor. “I will find a way to obtain the amulet and prepare for the ritual. When you arrive, I will arrange a time with Issa when I know Liam will be busy on the bridge. Your life is about to change in ways you have never even imagined, Conor Synar. Now I seek to gain to your trust to strengthen our accord. Want to see a sample of how much control I have as a merged host?”

  Conor nodded.

  Ania looked at Issa.

  Malachi, go into Issa Onin and take away all her memories of bonding with Conor. Don’t let her keep anything but the awareness that her precious memories were taken, Ania directed. I want her to weep with regret.

  She felt Malachi go out of her and saw the ambassador shrink back when the black mist hovered over and around her. Ania heard Issa draw in a ragged breath when Malachi entered her body. Ania didn’t look at the monitor while Malachi was in Issa, but she could tell Conor was riveted to what was taking place.

  Issa started calling out “No,” and shaking her head.

  Then Malachi lifted from her and went immediately back into Ania.

  Conor’s gaze traveled between the two females.

  Ania smiled, saying nothing as she watched tears were streaming down Issa’s face.

  “Why would you do that? Why take the only solace I had? Why not just kill me?” Issa asked tearfully.

  “What has happened, Issa?” Conor demanded. “I sense my energy is gone from you.”

  Issa sniffed and glared at Ania, lifting her hand to point an accusing finger. “She took it from me. She had the demon take it all from me. I have no energy left of our bonding. I am alone now.”

  “The energy still exists, but now is mine to enjoy. It will prove most useful the next time I have to endure bonding with Liam,” Ania said, meeting Conor’s gaze at last. “This is just a small benefit to merging with the demon. I have not had a chance to explore all that is possible.”

  Conor smiled genuinely then, and Ania saw Liam’s face, saw the boy that Conor must once have been. He looked excited and alive. The blood sickness of wanting to control others truly did own him. A full knowing came to her that Conor Synar really was beyond redemption.

  “I look forward to meeting you,” Conor said at last, closing out their connection without saying goodbye.

  Ania stood from the table and walked back to the console and Ensign Dre. She pushed a button to end the transmission and another to erase the log of the destination. She coded back in the Peace Alliance coordinates.

  “Ensign?” she said gently, putting a hand on his shoulder as she watched him wake from the trance sleep. “I’m sorry we bored you so much. We are finished now. Please close the transmission. Thank you for assisting us.”

  “Apologies, Peace Keeper Looren. I don’t know why I drifted off like that,” the ensign said, embarrassed as he closed the connection and watched the coordinates disappear from the screen.

  Ania just patted him more. “It was no problem for us at all. Ambassador Onin and I had a productive, but boring meeting. Have a good day.”

  She walked back and looked at Issa, who was still sitting shocked at the table. “Do not fret so much, Ambassador Onin. Things are working out as they were meant to work out. From what I hear of Conor’s bonding tastes, your mate will no doubt enjoy replacing those memories.”

  “May you one day know what it is like to have a mate completely abandon you,” Issa whispered softly.

  “Didn’t Conor tell you my sad story? Just a few days after our mating ceremony, Liam put the demon in me and left me not knowing anything that had passed. I spent almost two years without the only male I mated in nine hundred years, believing that whole time that he didn’t want me,” Ania said flatly, letting herself remember the despair of those years.

  “Conor told me about the sacred contract and the protection it affords the demon masters in his family. Too bad you can’t kill your mate for treating you that way,” Issa said on a sigh, her voice holding reluctant empathy.

  “Yes it is too bad, but there are all kinds of death,” Ania said softly. “And I am feeling vengeful.”

  Issa nodded. “If you have no further need of me, I will retire to my room.”

  “Keep a low profile,” Ania ordered. “Do not risk trying to contact Conor again. I don’t want anyone finding out that he’s coming.”

  “I am not a fool,” Issa said stiffly.

  “Proof of that will be determined by your actions,” Ania said firmly. “Good day, Ambassador.”

  Chapter 26

  “Stay with me,” Dorian argued.

  Gwen looked at him, surprised to find herself honestly debating the wisdom of staying.

  Then she thought about what it would mean to have pity sex with Zade without feeling the urge to own him like she had before. Her memories of how it had been between them were still vivid, including the desperate look on his face when he’d had her plastered against the training room door. Even though her body couldn’t remember the pleasure that followed those actions, nothing was going to wipe away the memory of Zade throwing her into the air and catching her.

  She might not remember his desire or her reaction, but Gwen was still sure she had never been wanted that much by any male before Zade.

  “No, I can’t stay. Until we decide what we’re going to be to each other, I want to maintain my own space. I might sleep over again soon if we both want that to happen,” Gwen said.

  “Fine. I wish it to happen today,” Dorian said firmly, frowning and putting his hands in his pockets to keep from touching Gwen.

  He didn’t need the mating lust to want Gwen’s company now that they weren’t fighting any more. The only thing missing from their connection was the insatiable bonding lust, but most relationships lost that over time anyway.

  “I may not be as intuitive as you, but I still realize you’re just worrying about me the same way you worry about everyone. You’re just wondering if I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and forget where I am again,” Gwen argued. “Well it might happen, but I still don’t want to stay here just for that reason.”

  “I can see you want me to hold you and comfort you. Your reasoning for going against what you want eludes me more now than ever, especially when all I want is the same,” Dorian said sincerely.

  “I get that—I do. But I need my own space, Zade,” Gwen said. “I need to feel normal again. I need not to need you so much that I fear fading into nothing when you’re not around.”

  Gwen ran a hand through her hair, angry that Zade had forced her to say what she hadn’t wanted him to even know she was feeling. Part of her knew she was being unreasonable, but the other part was just trying to survive.

  “But you do need me, Gwen,” Dorian said, willing his voice to be reasonable and not sharp. “I need you too.”

  “Not really—not the way you did. I just don’t have the energy to work on a relationship that may or may not be good again, especially since I still vividly remember how it was. I would rather we just . . .” Gwen faded off.

  What did she want? Looking at the male who had pity in his eyes for her instead of desire now, it was only clear to her what she didn’t want. Gwen didn’t want to see that look of sorrow over the situation every time her gaze collided with Dorian Zade’s.

  “I swear to God—I mean—I swe
ar by the creators that I’m not interested in doing anything intimate with anyone else. I just need some space for a while. I need you to give it to me and stop worrying,” Gwen said gruffly.

  Dorian searched her energy, saw her fear of becoming more reliant on him, and had to steel himself against confronting her with it. Instead, he forced himself to settle for a truth reading of her last statement and knew he was going to have to be content with what he found.

  Not that he believed Gwen would ever really desire other males over him, but with Earthlings you could never trust their physical loyalties completely. You had to continue to meet their needs to keep them truly happy. He had learned that from his other two mates.

  “Fine—but you cannot stop me from worrying when you are not with me,” Dorian told her. “It is unreasonable to expect me to just be okay with you sleeping alone without me to hold you.”

  Gwen snorted at his reluctant agreement. Turning her back to avoid looking at him, she made herself admit a truth he deserved to hear even though it made her feel like the biggest wimp to say it.

  “Everyone knows I’m still wearing the Siren’s property sign you hung on me even if my energy doesn’t reflect it now,” Gwen joked. “And I’m not inclined to take it off anytime soon. Can’t that be enough?”

  It wasn’t like she had ever wanted to be considered Zade’s property, but she had gotten used to other males instantly knowing they were a couple. Now that wasn’t the case anymore and she was back to deflecting as many bonding offers as she’d ever had, even though Chiang had told her he’d warned the other men to stay away.

  What would Dorian do if he knew she was getting them?

  Dorian walked up and put his arms around Gwen’s tense body from the back. “What would Dorian do if he knew? He would thank his faithful mate for turning down other males and try not to kill them when he saw them in the halls,” he whispered in her ear, enjoying the little shiver it caused in her.

  “Reading my thoughts?” Gwen asked, surprised that Zade could still do that and more pleased about it than was wise probably.

  “The ability seems to have lingered despite everything else we lost. I believe it is because of how much I want a way to connect with you,” Dorian said. “It only works within a certain range.”

  Gwen laughed. “So does my lowest stun setting.”

  Dorian smiled against the top of her head. “I see your evil sense of humor is returning.”

  Gwen laughed then. And though she didn’t know completely why, she turned in Zade’s arms and wrapped hers around him tightly, holding him to her fiercely. She looked up into his face, thinking once again how astoundingly attractive he was. “You can trust me to be faithful. I swear by the creators.”

  “Sweet joy—I trust you completely,” Dorian whispered, amazed to be meaning it. “It is the unmated males on this ship that I do not trust.”

  Gwen put her forehead against his chest, stroking his back with long sweeps of her hands.

  “If I find myself wanting to bond, I’ll be sure and let you know before I act,” she teased. “As spiritual counselor, you could pray for me.”

  “As your mate, I could meet your needs,” Dorian corrected softly. “I’d pray instead for the males that disrespected you, that they get wiser about not propositioning someone else’s mate. Then I’d make them sorry they did.”

  Gwen pushed out of his arms. “Zade, I can’t—I can’t be with you knowing it’s only pity. No female wants that.”

  Dorian frowned. “What I offer of myself is not out of pity,” he said, watching her walk to the door. “It is honor, duty, caring.”

  “Yes—well it’s also just not happening again until it can be like it was,” Gwen said firmly. “We both deserve more than what you are offering me right now.”

  “Is this contrariness another human female thing?” Dorian asked, totally confused by her insistence that she didn’t want to bond with him when he could feel that she did. His other two mates had never refused him. He didn’t know what to do with a female who turned him down despite her own desires.

  “No,” she said. “It’s not a human female thing—it’s a Gwen Jet thing. I’m not settling for less with you when I have memories of how it was still floating around in my mind. I want it to be that way between us again. I intend to be a lot more willing next time you—do the claiming thing. Just wait for me to get my head straight. Okay?”

  Then she closed the door softly behind her and mourned what she had lost as she walked the corridor to her own room.

  ***

  Synar walked to a wall, gave a command, and out slid a drawer. From the drawer, he lifted out a small chest and carried it to the desk.

  Ania slid the training books back and out of the way to make room for it. She could feel the power radiating from the chest as Synar set it down.

  “The amulet is the container for the curse and the chest holds the words to send Malachi into the void,” he explained. “Conor thinks it’s all in the amulet, but that’s because the next master doesn’t get to see inside the chest until the demon is being passed. The demon goes into the amulet, the ritual is performed, and the new master calls him out.”

  He put his hands above the top of the chest, hovering over what looked to Ania to be palm prints burnt into the container.

  “Only the master can open the chest,” Synar said. “It is demon proof and cannot be destroyed by the demon’s power.”

  “I read the amulet can function like a prison. Has Malachi ever been locked away in the amulet?” Ania asked.

  “Yes,” Synar said, frowning as he carefully searched for the right words. “In the early generations, sometimes a person would decide they just couldn’t handle the responsibility. So the master would lock him away until it was time to pass him to the next generation.”

  “What was the longest time Malachi spent in there?” Ania asked.

  “The longest time was around four hundred Earth years,” Synar said. “I had intended to lock him away myself. I was just waiting for Jonas to die.”

  Ania looked at Liam, not really surprised at his revelation, but she felt Malachi ripple inside her. “I can tell Malachi’s power excites even you, Liam Synar. You are stronger, more capable when he is near you. Why do you not embrace what he brings to you?”

  Synar stepped away from the desk to pace. “My mother was attacked once by a group of Norblade males who coveted Malachi’s power. She was tortured and physically abused. They were without wisdom and thought to trade what was left of her life to my father for the amulet and Malachi. My father took their lives instead, but he waited a long time to do so and tried to reason with them first. He did not like to kill those who did not realize the demon’s power. Neither do I.”

  Synar stopped pacing to look at Ania, whose gaze was locked on him as she listened.

  “When it was over, my mother was restored to us. What could not be undone though was what had already happened to her. The death of the males who abused her did nothing to heal her internal wounds. She was never the same afterwards and never forgave my father for Malachi being the reason she was hurt,” Synar explained. “Fearing for those who share your life, that is the price of holding Malachi’s power. Like my father, I never wanted it either, yet now I have that situation anyway. The demon may be my legacy, but being his master will never be my willing choice. I keep him only because there is no one else. If I hadn’t used him to save your life, he would already be locked away.”

  Ania had no argument to make that would comfort Synar about what happened to his mother. Access to unlimited power did not sit comfortably on everyone’s shoulders, but she thought Liam did a better job of handling things than he gave himself credit for since outside of using Malachi’s power to save her life, he was never tempted at all to abuse it.

  Being so free of power lust was not something she could claim herself. She had not been content to rescue the captives from Fener Sel and his kind. She had purposely sent Malachi to punish them. And t
hough she regretted the actions, she felt no true remorse.

  “Do you sometimes wonder what it would have been like if you had let me die instead of saving me?” Ania asked.

  “No,” Synar said firmly. “That choice was beyond my power to make. Of all the decisions in my life I question, that one is very clear as having been right.”

  “Then do not look back in time nor to either side of what you have agreed to do as the demon’s master. Do not wonder if you are doing the right thing now in helping me stop Conor,” Ania said. “You are still answering to a higher purpose than my desires or yours.”

  “Perhaps—but I live knowing that because of my choices, you will never be without the demon, and might never know again the peace you spent your life obtaining,” Synar said. “My part in your fate helps me understand my father more. I’m completely sure he felt this guilty about my mother, but guilt does not change things.”

  “What you say is true, but what you don’t see yet is that I understand Malachi in way few other hosts likely have. What’s more, I spent over eight hundred years choosing to do things differently than he has done. I know what it is to work at being good. The creators of all redeemed me. I believe they can do the same for Malachi,” Ania said. “I even believe I am to be his teacher.”

  “What do you feel about Conor now that you have spoken with him? Can my brother be redeemed?” Synar asked. “It seems like if you can have such faith in being able to save a demon, you should be able to do the same for most anyone.”

  Ania thought carefully about how to explain Conor’s true motivations. It was going to be difficult for a fundamentally good male like Liam Synar to understand a fundamentally darker one no matter what she said. If he had an aversion to understanding and accepting Malachi who have lived his punishment for over a thousand years, Synar was never going to understand his brother who had not been exposed to anything in his current life that had a chance of redeeming him. Not even his mate.