The woman turned to face Sable and smiled sadly. “It sounds like my master. He was rather precious about them.”
Snow grunted and clumsily petted her dark hair.
“He’s definitely dead then?” Sable wasn’t sure whether she was glad to hear that or not. Had she wanted to meet her father? He probably wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with her. He wouldn’t have wanted to reveal his mistake to everyone.
Thorne slipped his hand into hers and gently squeezed it. She squeezed back.
The vampire stared down at their joined hands and then wrapped his arms around the woman in front of him again, tugging her back against his bare chest.
He nuzzled her black hair and turned fiery red eyes on Sable. “I killed him.”
She wasn’t surprised to hear that. Snow looked dangerous and a little bit crazy.
“You remind me of someone… this King of Death.”
Snow’s lips peeled back off his enormous fangs and he growled low in his throat. “Grave.”
His demeanour changed abruptly, darkening before her eyes, and he snarled again, his fangs elongating further.
“Grave.” Snow set the woman aside and glared at Sable, his red eyes narrowed and filled with the hunger to maim and kill. She edged backwards, closer to Bleu and Thorne, her heart leaping high into her throat.
“Snow… no,” the woman said but he ignored her this time and stepped towards them.
Another vampire appeared between Snow and the doors, a brunet male wearing a black robe that swirled around his ankles as it settled.
“Snow.” The male pressed his hands to Snow’s chest, holding him still as he growled and snarled and kept trying to advance, and then raised them to cup his cheeks.
Snow stilled and looked down at the new male.
“Brother? Come back to us,” the brunet whispered and Snow’s expression softened, losing its vicious edge. “Aurora.”
The woman came forwards again to take hold of Snow’s hand. She laced their fingers together and brushed her other hand over the back of his, stroking it.
The dark-haired male turned on them, his gaze as black as his brother’s had been, speaking of fury and desire to shed blood.
“What the hell is going on here? Why is there a demon, a mortal and a…” He cocked an eyebrow, his expression shifting towards disgust. “An elf… on our doorstep? State your business and leave. You are upsetting my brother.”
Snow grunted. “Grave.”
The male’s expression turned darker still and Sable could see the resemblance between the brothers. “What of that bastard?”
Sable held her hand up. “I just mentioned his name. I’m not here because of him at all. He’s just helping out with King Thorne’s demonomachy in Hell.”
She jerked a thumb a Thorne.
It might not have been her wisest move, but then how was she to have known it would make things worse?
Snow roared, the sound deafening even through the glass, and launched forwards. The angel Aurora held him back, pulling on his left arm, and his brother shifted in front of him and pushed against his chest.
“Snow!” the male barked.
Snow growled and snarled, flashing huge fangs at Thorne.
“Demon.” He pinned Thorne with a deadly glare. “Hell. Grave. Blood. Kill. Demon.”
“Grave will never bother us again, Snow,” the male said and Aurora kept pulling backwards.
Sable felt as if she had opened a very rotten, bad can of worms by mentioning Grave. The big vampire clearly had a problem with him, and his brother didn’t seem overly fond of him either. Understandable. The guy was an arsehole.
“Snow, please?” Aurora said and Snow stopped struggling. He shoved away from his brother, turned towards her and gathered her into his arms.
He squeezed her close to his chest and petted her hair, stroking as he muttered, “Won’t let Grave have you.”
Aurora looked confused but she stroked his chest anyway and whispered, “I don’t want anyone but you, Snow.”
Sable had been wrong. The guy was crazier than Grave.
“Snow,” the brother said and the larger male looked over at him, darkness back in his eyes. “Let Aurora speak with these people and then we must get you back to your room.”
Snow looked reluctant to let his female go but after a few minutes more of petting her, he loosened his grip enough that she could turn to face them again.
“I am sorry I was not able to be more help. If my master was your father, then you most probably have some or all of his abilities.”
“Such as being able to burn a demon to ashes by touching them?” Sable said and Aurora’s face softened into a look of understanding and compassion. She nodded. “Do you know how to control this power?”
“It is a difficult one to master and not one I possess. Only the Echelon have it together with an ability to sense demons at a long distance. They were born to eradicate demons.” Aurora’s gaze quickly shifted to Thorne. “Sorry.”
Thorne shrugged. “My kind do not tend to meet yours often these days. The angels do not like to enter Hell.”
“You have been there?” Aurora looked back at Sable.
She nodded. “My power awakened there.”
Aurora looked down at her wrist and then lower, taking in all of Sable. “The demon toxin in your system has hindered your power in this realm, keeping it from manifesting. It is possible that if we removed the toxin—”
“Wait? Demon toxin?” Sable really hoped Aurora wasn’t about to tell her that her mother had somehow been part demon and had passed on demon traits to her too.
Aurora nodded slowly. “Were you injured once in a fight against a demon? Many species possess a toxin on their skin or claws.”
Sable’s eyes widened. “When I was younger, before I joined Archangel. I fought a demon punk kid and he injured my leg. It’s played up ever since.”
“There is still toxin in your system from that demon strike. It would be difficult to remove, a long and painful process, but if it was expunged from your body, your angelic powers would finally, fully manifest.”
Sable wasn’t sure she wanted the full range of angel powers available to her. She didn’t want to have this one power that had awakened despite the demon toxin. On the other hand, she didn’t like the thought of walking around for the rest of her life with that toxin inside her, doing God only knew what to her.
“Would I be able to come back and maybe talk more about this with you at a better time?” Sable glanced at the big vampire still petting Aurora. A better time would be one when he wasn’t present, but something told her that he was unlikely to let his petite angel out of his sight, especially when she had a demon hunter visiting her.
Aurora smiled. “I would like that. Can we do that, Snow? Antoine?”
The two males sighed and then eventually nodded.
Antoine added, “The elf cannot come though.”
Bleu glared at him. Antoine glared right back.
Sable wondered who would win in a fight and then shrugged it off.
“It was lovely to meet you all,” Aurora said and Antoine closed the shutter across the doors before Sable could respond.
He seemed rather rude.
Sable stared at the glass doors and sighed. One of her parents had been an angel. That was the biggest mind fuck yet, bigger than trying to get her head around the fact that Hell was beneath her feet but not at the same time.
“Sable. We should return to Rosalind. I will bring you back here soon though.” Thorne held his hand out to her and Sable nodded and slipped hers into it.
She took hold of Bleu’s hand, forming a circle with him and Thorne, and closed her eyes as the black hole opened beneath them and they dropped into it.
She smiled.
Thorne was as protective and possessive of her as Snow was of Aurora, and she should have known that he wouldn’t let her visit the theatre alone. He would be there to support her and keep her safe from harm.
> He would be there for her.
Was this warm burst of happiness, comfort and relief what Olivia experienced when she was with Loren?
Was this what it was like to be deeply in love with someone and have them feel the same way about you?
If it was, Sable hoped this feeling never ended.
She wanted it to last forever.
CHAPTER 23
Thorne gently set Sable down at the front door of Rosalind’s tiny home. He immediately released Bleu and swept the backs of his claws across Sable’s cheek, giving her all of his attention.
She had swung from one feeling to the next while speaking with the vampires and the angel, her emotions bombarding her. They had yet to settle. She tipped her chin up, her golden gaze meeting and holding his, keeping his focus locked on her. His little female. He would take her back to the angel as soon as possible and would do all in his power to help her uncover the truth about her parents.
Sable lifted her hand and brushed her fingers across his. “I’m good. No need to look at me as if I might break at any moment.”
He didn’t think she would. His female was strong and brave, and far different from how she had been the night she had discovered her power. She was already growing accustomed to the change, growing more comfortable with herself. Perhaps it was only because she was in the mortal world though where her wrist no longer bothered her. She had touched it less and had given up wearing her cuff.
Thorne lowered his hand from her face to her wrist and gently clasped it, staring down at the mark on the inside of it, jet black against her skin.
If he took her back to the demon realms with him, it would bother her again.
He swept the pad of his thumb across it.
“I know that look,” Sable said softly, drawing his eyes back to hers. She shook her head. “I can deal with this. It was stupid of me to leave. I put your whole kingdom in jeopardy when all I wanted to do was help save it. Well, now I’m going to do that. I’m going back with you to fight those bastards and you can’t stop me. I’m not being left behind.”
He never would have dared suggest such a thing, even though he felt a pressing need to do so. He knew his female better than she thought. He knew that she would be upset, angry, and feel belittled, her strength challenged, if he told her that he didn’t want her in the coming battle for his kingdom.
He had learned when to step back and ignore his instinct to protect and coddle her.
She was a warrior, but it was more than that and her misplaced sense of guilt pressing her to threaten him and make it clear that she was coming with him back to the Third Realm whether he liked it or not.
She needed to feel useful and needed to keep her mind occupied, and she also needed to be there with her fellow hunters and her friends.
And him.
The soft imploring edge creeping into her eyes and her warm emotions pleaded him not to leave her behind and leave her wondering about him, fearing something would happen to him while they were apart.
His little huntress loved him, although she still would not admit it.
“I would never leave you behind, Sable. Your place is at my side.” He was pushing it. He knew that. She was liable to react badly to such commanding words, ones that subtly reminded her that she was his mate and hinted that he wasn’t content with their relationship as it stood.
He wanted to claim her.
He was doing his best to be patient, but now he had sampled all of her, knew her right down to her soul, and the need to mate with her and make her his forever was only growing stronger.
He wasn’t sure how much longer he could deny it.
The door behind him opened. “You’re back… and all in one piece. Did it go well?”
“It did. Thank you.” Sable stepped away from him, turning her golden gaze on Rosalind. “Aurora believes her master might have been my father. I’m going to speak with her again about it soon, and about what powers I might have.”
“Speaking of powers. I made you a present. Come on.” The petite blonde witch beckoned Sable with a jerk of her chin and shuffled back into the house.
Bleu sighed, eyeing the cramped building with loathing, and followed Sable inside, hunching his shoulders to avoid banging his head.
Thorne watched him and realised that since waking in Sable’s apartment at dawn, holding her tucked close against him, her bare body moulded to his, he no longer felt any animosity towards the elf male. The way she acted around Thorne, the way she looked at him, and how she responded to every touch he dared, told him that she was his now. All he had to do was somehow convince her to go through with the claiming and become his forever.
He ducked and followed the tiny corridor to the open area where Rosalind and Sable sat opposite each other in front of the fireplace, deep in discussion. Bleu stood off to one side, his rich purple eyes documenting everything in the room but never once settling on Sable. The male knew better than to risk provoking him. Perhaps Bleu’s behaviour was also responsible for his lack of need to kill him. Had Sable spoken to Bleu while he had been unconscious?
Had she told him of her feelings?
Thorne wanted to ask him whether she had but held his tongue. Sable would tell him when she was ready. If he forced Bleu to tell him, she would be angry with him, and he would be another step further away from claiming her.
“I made this for you.” Rosalind held something out to Sable. A silver cuff. “It’s enchanted. It should help you control your power.”
“Thank you.” Sable took the delicate silver cuff and opened it. Thorne walked to the back of the dark green armchair and peered over her shoulder at it. The inside of the three-inch-wide metal band had symbols carved into it, covering most of the surface. Sable placed her right wrist into it and closed it. The latch clicked.
“It suits you,” Thorne said and Sable looked up at him and smiled as she held her arm up and turned it this way and that, flashing the silver cuff.
“Snazzy, huh?” Sable tapped it, bringing his attention to the elegant scrollwork and the cross on the front that matched her mark. “Bonus is that if I’m ever strapped for cash, I could pawn it.”
Rosalind looked mortified.
“She jests.” Thorne reassured her with a smile. “Her sense of humour can be an acquired taste.”
Sable frowned at him and then turned away, facing Rosalind again. “I was kidding though. I’ve never been one to accessorise, but this is pretty cool.”
Thorne couldn’t stop himself from imagining Sable dressed in nothing but the silver cuff and how it would feel cool against his skin while her flesh felt hot.
He felt her gaze come back to him, heating his blood to a thousand degrees, and shifted to relieve the tight ache in his leather trousers.
“Did you make progress on the pathways?” Thorne tried to ignore the way Sable stared at him. It was difficult, especially when he picked up a flutter of desire in her emotions.
Bleu shattered her hold on him by coming to stand beside him. “Do we have an entry point?”
Rosalind shook her head. “I probed all of the pathways into your realm but there are layers of spells in place, going deep. I can’t unravel them all from here.”
Thorne frowned. “Is there a better chance of breaching the barrier around my realm than reopening the portal pathways?”
“Probably. The spell would likely be single or maybe triple layer at the most. It would be quicker than attempting to negate or reverse all the spells blocking the pathways.”
“Then we shall attempt to breach the barrier.”
She looked uneasy. “But I can’t do that from here. I need to know what spells were used… oh… you’re not suggesting… you mean… I have a ticket to Hell with my name on it?”
Thorne nodded. “It is most pleasant at this time of year.”
“I really don’t think it is. Listen, I want to help, I really do… but going to Hell? That isn’t really on my bucket list.” Rosalind toyed with the black lacing down
the front of her dress. “Isn’t there another witch you can hit up for help?”
He shook his head this time and folded his arms across his chest, and her eyes widened. He lowered his arms to his sides again, realising that she was interpreting his body language and didn’t like it one bit. He wasn’t going to force her to help him, but he would not give up until she agreed to it.
“Thorne and Bleu will keep us both safe, and we’ll test the barrier from the First Realm. It’s okay there, apparently.” Sable leaned forwards and Rosalind’s gaze fell to her, her blue eyes still enormous. Sable reached over and touched Rosalind’s hand on her knee. “I was pretty freaked out the first time I went to Hell too, and it wasn’t by choice, but the realm I went to was nice and no one tried to hurt me.”
What realm had she been forcibly taken to?
Guilt flickered in Bleu’s purple eyes. Thorne growled at him, desire to throttle the male instantly surging through him, so powerful that he couldn’t tamp it down or contain his rage. The male had abducted Sable, taking her against her will to the elf realm.
Sable sighed and looked over her shoulder at him. “He took me there because Loren had taken Olivia there. It was just to keep me with my friend.”
Thorne still couldn’t forgive him for doing such a thing and frightening Sable in the process.
Bleu muttered in the demon tongue, “I already apologised to her. I do not need to apologise to you too.”
Thorne flashed his fangs at the bastard elf and folded his arms across his bare chest.
“Just ignore them. They do this a lot.” Sable turned back to the witch. “The First Realm is safe, Rosalind. I promise. It’s neutral and isn’t at war with anyone, and it borders part of the Third Realm.”
Rosalind looked up at him, her fair eyebrows raised high on her forehead. “She speaks the truth?”
Thorne nodded. “Always. We will petition the First King and ask for access to the land along the border. I swear upon my kingdom that I will keep you safe while you are in my care, Rosalind.”
Claimed by a Demon King Page 27
