Too much may be just that—too much for a Dardaptoan body to handle properly.
It could leave Aureliana changed in ways Kindara could not yet predict.
Still, she’d rather have her friend alive and changed than dead.
“I will have some brought up. We do have other creatures besides demons in Relaklonos, and several bloodsucking demon Kinds as well. Midreno would work. There is blood here for those who need it.”
“I will give. My blood is strong and has the properties of both warrior and Incubi demon. And she already has a preference.” Ren pulled his hair back to reveal Aureliana’s face. She was already feeding from him, tucked as close as a lover.
Kindara didn’t like it, but the faster the volume Aureliana lost was replenished, the better it would be for her friend. “She’ll stop when she has enough.”
“It’s not as if he’ll bleed to death, pet. A demon such as Renakletos never runs out of blood.” Rathan brushed a hand down Kindara’s arm. She found the touch soothing, comforting in a way that would have shocked her only three days before.
“Why? What does flow in your veins?”
“It is a blood of sorts, but not based on oxygen and cells the way yours is. Phelius will describe it to you later.”
Kindara nodded. “Demon, I’ll need you to hold her as steady as you possibly can. Bronwen, prepare me two needles. The back we can use a small, 6-0 thread. The front is more gaping, I want 4-0.” Kindara waited until her assistant handed her the two packages. “Rathan, it’s vitally important that she does not move for this. We’ll take a break in between front and back. This is going to be utter agony for her. Think of the worst pain you’ve ever felt—and multiply it.”
The males both nodded; Rathan braced his arms around the sides of Aureliana’s waist. His brother tightened his grip around Aureliana’s shoulders, tucking her head tighter to his chest. “I will keep her tight against me.”
“Ok. Here we go.” Kindara plunged the first stitch through the flesh of her best friend.
Aureliana keened, the sound tearing through the room. Sweat beaded on Kindara’s forehead.
“Is this normal for their people?” Ren’s arms were clenched tightly around Aureliana, all that prevented her from jerking away from the needle.
“Females of my Kind are cursed to feel pain more than the average Kind. To be weaker than all but humans. To have little medical care. Every time I stitch through her skin, it’s like I’m stabbing her with your sword over and over again.”
Leo Taniss had taken great advantage of that fact when he’d had her and Iavius trapped in his lab. Studying them like rats beneath a microscope. In her own research, Kindara refused to use live subjects—even rats—unless it was absolutely necessary. Instead, she tested everything out on herself that she could.
But this… they were testing demon blood out in a trial by fire.
If it worked for Aureliana, Kindara would give the demon anything he wanted if he’d provide more demon blood for her people.
If he helped her save her people, there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t give him. Even herself.
Finally, the incision on Aureliana’s back was closed. Kindara stood, wiped the blood off her hands. “We need to lay her flat for this. You’ll still have to hold her.”
“Can you give her nothing to help the pain?” Renakletos asked, running a large hand through Aureliana’s now unbraided hair. He must have done that for some strange reason.
“I’ve been a healer for four hundred years, warrior. This magic potion in your brother’s horns is the first potion or anything to ever work on my people.” Kindara prepped the skin around Aureliana’s laceration. “She’s out from it, but she still feels everything. Every. Thing. And she will not forget it.” They spoke little while Kindara closed the wound. Once she was finished, the maids moved in to strip the soiled bed clothing and finish prepping Aureliana for sleep. “Hopefully, she will rest now. Let the healing begin.”
“Phelius will be here shortly. He was called away to tend an injured child. He will sit with her.” Rathan stepped to her side, ignoring the rest of the room’s occupants. “You, pet, need to change out of that soaked clothing and eat something. You’ve done all you can for your friend.”
“I can’t leave her here. She may wake.” Kindara knew he was right; she wasn’t doing anyone any favors by being in wet, blood-soaked clothing—not Aureliana, not herself—not the babe.
That alone had her pausing. Her babe.
“I will stay, Kinney. I won’t leave her.” Bronwen stood by the bed, holding one of Aureliana’s hands in hers. “You’ve been through a lot these past several days—take a break.” The younger female nodded toward the bed as she spoke. “I know what to look for and what to do. If not, I can send for you easily, I’m sure.”
Kindara nodded. “Watch for fever. It’s almost a given, and you’ll know the signs.”
They stared at Aureliana for a moment. They both knew the odds. If the initial blood loss didn’t take Aureliana, fever or blood infection very well could. It had taken so many.
Kindara just didn’t know.
48
His female was nearly staggering as he led her down the long hall to the king’s suite. His suite, decorated in the colors of his family, as it had been for thousands of years. She’d sleep there for the first time tonight and for every night for the rest of their nights together. He wrapped a supportive hand around her waist. “Come, precious.”
“Where?” Kindara’s voice was so soft he almost struggled to hear her.
“To sleep is all. And to drink.” Rathan stopped walking and pulled her to him. He lifted her, with no resistance from her. That, more than anything, told him her true state. Kindara had fought him from the moment he had first touched her. “Tuck close, female. You will be sleeping in moments.”
“Why can’t anything be easy, demon?” Her head fell to his shoulder, and she turned her face into his neck instinctively. Slipped her arms around his neck and melted him completely.
“Because then it would not matter as much, pet.” Rathan stroked the blond hair that was matted with sweat. He had already ordered a hot bath drawn for her and robes laid out. Robes that denoted her high position as his mate.
Despite the events of the last few hours, a part of him was filled with utter jubilance. She was his, in his world, and in his home. Now, she would sleep in his arms.
“I don’t think I can do much more for Aureliana. It’s in the Goddess’s hands. They are always in the Goddess’s hands, and she’s been remarkably inattentive lately.”
He carried her into the suite, missing the fanfare the moment deserved. But she did not need that. She needed loved; someone to take the burden off her shoulders.
He had not realized only a few nights ago how important to him she would be. Now, she was everything; more so even than his kingdom. More so than the spawn.
Maybe it was the bonds of gamata changing him, but he did not mind. He wanted this. With her.
Demons did not often find true mates, but every once in a while, a pair of demons would find a tie so wondrous all envied it. Gamatas. His parents had not. He would soon feel that tie for this delicate, yet stubborn creature in his arms.
He helped her through her bath, surprised and concerned at her lack of resistance. It took little prodding for her to drink the juice he’d spiked with a strong dose of his blood.
He had sent the maids eager to serve them away and carried his female to their bed. She looked so frail against the purple-and-black silk that dominated the bed. So ethereal. Like the angel he first thought she looked like.
Tonight, she would rest; he would see to it. Tomorrow was soon enough for her quest to resume.
49
Rathan just stared at his three brothers. "Why was I not informed he was being held?"
"In the confusion caused by the injury to the Dardaptoan female and the fact that you brought what many consider an enemy to our castle," Lachial said, in hi
s typical unruffled tone, "Agmendias thought it more prudent to wait until tomorrow to mention it."
Rathan bit back a curse. He'd sent out his top twelve warriors to search for word of his father within the regions of Relaklonos—two weeks before he had traveled to Gaia to assist Rand in his search. A dozen brothers that he trusted. Lachial and Joru were the first two to return, having been sent to smaller, less populated regions. Had his brothers been in residence while Rathan was gone, this wouldn't have happened.
"I've been trying for five hundred years to broker peace with the Twin Kings." All of that work had been for nothing. Because of Agmendias. That whiny upstart asshole who thought that his position on Rathan's father's previous council made him above the laws of Rathan. "Now, all of that has been undone."
"And the females?" Ren asked. "Any word on the Dardaptoan blind healer? On Danae?"
Joru shook his head. "We can confirm that as of this morning, both females were seen within the castle at Lozicano. But as to what condition they are in, we don't know."
"Sinrik and Koios?" Twin brothers who had ruled the territory of Lozicano for fifteen hundred years now. They were of the Warrior caste, much like Ren. Obstinate, but excellent leaders of their Demon Kind. He had needed them on his side, not only for the warriors they could provide for the armies of Relaklonos, but also for the rich resources their territory manufactured. In exchange, he had offered many resources in return.
He had sent Danae as an ambassador to Lozicano six weeks ago. His sister hadn't been heard from since. Intel made it clear she had been kept by Sinrik. No one knew if it had been a political abduction or what. But with Sinrik's twin also being held by Rathan's council, things had just gotten really screwed up.
Koios had escaped where the council had chained him for whatever comments he had made that pissed them off, and taken Kindara’s young healer. As hostage.
A blind Dardaptoan female healer, as hostage. Damn him.
Now, Rathan had to go through the complex and time-consuming steps to get her back. And Danae. And make reparations for Agmendias's foolishness.
"I don't have time for this." No. He had a queen to seduce into loving him forever. Had his heir to plan for. "Send Enogh and Phelius. Their top priority is to get the females back here quickly and safely. Pay the ransom, plus ten percent as reparation for Agmendias's actions. Just get them here as fast as possible."
Joru and Lachial both nodded. Lachial shot Rathan a pointed look. "Sometimes, the snake in the field needs to be beheaded, before it goes toward the cattle."
Rathan nodded, understanding what his most cryptic brother was meaning. "I'll deal with him. And soon. But if anyone on the council knows where father is, it is him. I want that information. Then I'll kill that bastard myself."
"Just watch your back," Joru said, sending Ren a significant look. Rathan tried not to bristle. His brothers had taken it upon themselves to see to it that Rathan faced no threats now.
Rathan, and their new queen. The heir she carried.
They would be protected—from outside threats. It was Rathan's job to deal with those dangers from within.
50
Rathan stared at the top advisers for his entire realm. More than sixty males and females sat at the long conference table, waiting for their King to speak. Many of them were lesser kings and queens.
Many were his brothers. Half, as his own mother was a consort of his father’s eleven thousand five hundred plus years ago. But that did not matter. He looked at those the closest to him—both physically and emotionally. Renakletos, Joru, Quorok, Serimok, several other of his brothers.
Quorok, the king of the Midreno demons.
Midrenos were known for being deadly, mercenary, and relentless.
He no longer knew if he could trust the brother in front of him.
Any of them.
“This is my kingdom,” Rathan stated with a snarl. “Do I need to remind you all of this?”
Phelius, one of his closest cousins, raised his hands. “Of course not, but you have been gone for several weeks. There have been concerns. Apparently.”
“I have been gone less than two months, repaying a blood debt that was earned by keeping my own sister safe. That should cause no concerns for anyone.” He studied his cousin’s face. Phelius gave a small nod, and an eye roll.
Nothing perturbed him. He had been more than capable of helping run the council in Rathan’s stead.
“You know how some of these little birds can be,” Renakletos said. “And you have brought back strangers to our world. While they are not an unfamiliar Kind to me, there are some who fear the changes these strangers will bring to Relaklonos.”
Politics.
Rathan bit back another snarl. He had been raised from the cradle to know how the high demon king’s court worked. Everyone had known from his birth he would be the high king.
But he had other, more important things to do with his time now than deal with petty fears. “You are telling me the greatest kings of the realm fear the damage four Dardaptoans can bring? One of them is a near-blind healer, you fools. The other, a small healer no bigger than a fifteen-year-old demon female.”
“And the other two? Rumor has it they were injured in battle?” One of the whinier lesser kings practically snorted. “How dangerous are they?”
“It was a minor skirmish. Play. The injuries to the Dardaptoan male and female were accidental at my hands,” Ren stated dismissively. “I will be making reparations when they awake. I agree with the great king. Dardaptoans bring no threats.”
“How do we know that this is not an advance party? Assassins?” Glohrois asked in her particularly nasal voice. “They could be dangerous. We must keep our borders closed. Dardaptoan Predatoi are vicious killers.”
“Not all of the Dardaptoans are Predatoi. And only rarely has a Predatoi ventured into our world. It has always been our rogues going to Gaia that they have targeted. Mercenaries, at the most. And these females—they are not dangerous. Far too weak for that. Even the beautiful one who carries a sword.” Ren practically growled it. “You are being cowardly fools here.”
Rathan had had enough. The longer they stalled, the further away the bastard twin king who had stolen the blind healer was getting.
Rathan had always thought Koios a noble demon. A notable king who was just, reasonable and fair—even though he was of the warrior ways.
Instead, the bastard had taken an innocent female healer as captive.
After these fool assholes around him took that demon king as a political hostage when he’d said something that pissed some of them off weeks ago.
They’d held him as a prisoner, chained in a damned hallway for two weeks.
That was just guaranteed to piss Koios off even more.
Apparently, Kindara’s blind healer girl had stumbled over him. Quite literally.
He’d broken free of the chains holding him and taken the girl as vengeance against the council. Just scooped her up and taken her away.
Now, Rathan had to clean up the mess.
Had Quorok or Joru or Ren been present, this situation wouldn’t have presented itself. But they had been off on other business, and the foolish upstarts beneath them had overreacted.
Leaving the demon twin king far too damned close to an innocent female for comfort.
Now, Rathan had to find her.
All the reassurance he had about the girl’s safety was that Koios would not want to piss Rathan off—and the demon twin kings were honorable demons.
The girl had most likely been taken as a political prisoner.
Much as Kindara had been by Rathan.
He doubted that would console the female he had claimed. Not until her little chick was back with her would she be content. He had yet to tell Kindara what he had learned, though she knew the blind healer female was missing.
He threw his head back, revealing the horns his hair normally covered. He let his rage seep through. “The Dardaptoans are our allies now. More…
the Dardaptoan Great Healer, Kindara Jareth—” He ignored the gasps at the formal name, as Jareths had been synonymous with Predatoi for hundreds of years. Just one obstacle he and his queen would have to overcome. “She carries the next high demon king. Any who even look at her in a cross manner will be committing high treason, as she is now the gamata of your king. Your queen. Something for you all to consider. Now…I have more pressing matters to attend to.”
He looked at the brothers closest to him in age as the council erupted into ridiculous questions.
He had a lot of housekeeping in his council to deal with when he got a chance. They had become quite idiotic.
Politicians of any Kind had that nasty habit.
Quorok and Ren and Joru waited for his instructions. “See to it that the castle is prepared. For once I get the blind girl back, there will be a celebration for our people to rejoice in my return. In the naming of their new queen. See it done.”
51
“Have you found her yet?” Kindara met the demon at the door to the suite one of the maids had led her back to, after they had learned about Bronwen.
She knew it had to be the demon’s. It smelled like him and was decorated in bold colors that reminded her of him.
It looked like a suite befitting the high king as well. She had never felt more out of place in her life, even though she was used to being royalty. What he had had been built over tens of thousands of years, no doubt.
He claimed it would one day belong to their babe.
She didn’t know what to think about that. She could not protect her babe from what threats this would bring. She knew it in her very soul.
“We are looking, my love. I will be sending an envoy in moments. I just need to decide whom I trust the most to handle these negotiations diplomatically. My sister…was last seen in this warrior king’s hall as well. That complicates things.”
Bound To The Demon Page 19
