Awakening the Demon's Queen (16 page)

She stood glaring up at her brother for a
long moment. Then her attention shifted to Rathan. “Get up, you
look ridiculous. I know the two of you are idiots; I want you to
leave me alone, demon. Or it will not be my brother knocking your
head into the wall.”

“
Your brother and I were
just getting to know one another.” Rathan nodded toward the other
male. “It will only serve us well to understand each
other.”

Her eyes narrowed on his face as she watched
him.

She sighed. “I am thinking you are meaning
something entirely different. Stay away from my brother.”

Rathan ignored her brother. “Why? He will not
hurt me, not like you fear. And I will be sure not to hurt
him.”

“
Sure you won’t. What was
just happening here?”

“
We were merely getting more
acquainted.” Rathan tried to look innocent.

“
Cormac?”

“
Don’t be a nagging mother,
Kinney.” The Dardaptoan male chided her. “It does nothing for
you.”

Kindara froze, a startled deer look on her
face. Rathan sobered. Had the brother read something in Rathan’s
mind? Did he know about the spawn?

“
What adventures do you seek
today, my pet? And how may I assist you? Your brother understands
the urgency of your research.”

“
Blood tests. Of our people,
the converted Taniss’s, and probably Jade. I need to see what is so
different.” Kindara frowned. “I’m missing something. I need to find
out what. I’ll also need to test you and those damned horns of
yours.”

“
Why? What do you hope to
find from him?” her brother demanded, glaring at Rathan. “I don’t
want you near this freak anymore. Demon are trash, all of
them.”

“
That’s for me to decide.
His horns contain painkillers, Cormac. That work. If I can
replicate it...would you deny our people something so simple?” His
woman glared at the male. “Wish that I had had something to help
Josey.”

The male’s eyes flashed pain. Rathan knew of
the fury with which a Dardaptoan male would protect his woman. To
see her suffer...Rathan would wish it on no male, of any race or
Kind.

The male’s visage darkened further. “See that
he causes little trouble. And I will be keeping eyes upon him, as
well.”

****

Kindara wanted to lock them both in a cage
and leave them there. She decided her life, her fate. Why did those
idiots insist on thinking differently?

Maybe it would be best if she took the babe
and Jierra and moved to another tribe. Raise the babe without the
interference of its father or uncle.

The demon moved again, his lazy gestures a
lie. Everyone could see the danger beneath his skin. Kindara
resisted the urge to shake her head. He would never let her leave,
would find her wherever she went. It was best not to even try. But
that didn’t mean he—or her brother—would control her actions any
longer. She had hidden behind the safety of her brother’s shoulders
for thirty years now. But she had no choice—if she was going to
help her people, that had to end. “Come with me, demon.”

“
To the ends of this world.
And the next.” His smirk was evident on his face as he nodded at
her brother. Did he think he had won something over
Cormac?

“
Oh, stuff it and come
on.”

****

“
You’re beautiful in your
lab coat, my pet.” Rathan tried to bury his face in the blonde hair
brushing the back of his woman’s blue robe. It was a lab coat of
sorts, but was no way similar to a simple human white coat. Rathan
had unintentionally brushed her mind—human lab coats were
nightmarish for her. Leo Taniss had worn a white lab coat when he
tortured her. “Blue brings out the cream in your cheeks and the
gold in your hair. Pretty.”

“
Hold still.” She wiped a
sterile cloth against one of his horns and Rathan shivered. Her
delicate touch to one of his most sensitive areas of his being had
fire building in his gut. Would that she would touch him much
lower...

She bagged the sample and studied him. “What
else can you do? I know you floated something in that cave.”

“
I have a bit of the
witchly
skills. From my
mother’s side, you understand?”

“
So you are half witch. Will
the babe...”

“
Maybe a bit. If it’s a
girl, which I doubt. My family tends to spawn mostly males.” The
robes she wore hid her stomach, not that his babe would be visible
just yet. He brushed his hand against the babe’s current home.
“Strong, beautiful, healthy boys.”

She nodded, but the worry was still on her
face. The confusion. She shook her head. “I’ll test this; see if it
can be synthesized. Reproduced somehow.”

“
I have been
thinking.”

“
About what?”

“
Emily told me of the
Dardaptoan creation legend, and I am not so certain that it is mere
myth.”

“
How do you
mean?”

“
It is said your
goddess...”

“
Kennera. It’s an older
version of Kindara.”

“
Said she was cursed by the
Lupoiux god to not be altered medically by anything of your world.
What if his edict only applies to medications made from ingredients
found on your own world?”

Her eyes widened. “It would explain...”

“
Why the chemical I have
worked when nothing else does. I am not of your world.” Rathan
leaned forward, brushed his lips against hers. He paused for a long
moment while his words sank in. “I think, my pet, that the next
step in your journey to discovery, is to be taken on my world. I
think you need to come home with me.”

Chapter
Eighteen

Relaklonos was gray. That was Kindara’s first
thought, that and the chill of the demon’s home realm was enough to
sink into her. Would she ever be warm again?

She pulled her coat around her shoulders,
shivering despite the layers she wore. The demon had warned her
that his home would be colder than what she was used to.

“
Colder than hell?”
Aureliana’s tone was wry as she stepped up to Kindara’s side. “What
are the odds?”

“
No kidding.” Kindara said.
Auri hadn’t balked when Kindara had asked her to join the
expedition; in fact, the other woman had seemed excited. Aodhan
hadn’t been happy to see his sister off, but Kindara had reminded
him that it was for the good of their entire species that she have
a team she could trust and depend on in this strange
land.

Convincing her own brother hadn’t gone as
well. Cormac had thrown the biggest fit Kindara could remember.
He’d been so adamantly against her going that several people had
fled the great hall, afraid of his legendary temper. Kindara had
for a moment been frightened. It was only when the king had stepped
into the discussion that Cormac had relented. Her brother had
pulled Josey from the room, his visage filled with anger. Kindara
had momentarily felt sorry for her sister-in-law.

Kindara had gotten the team she wanted—Auri,
Belnus, and Bronwen. Theo had been remarkably easy with his young
sister joining the expedition, stating only that her inclusion was
the will of the gods. That was all the prophesier would say on the
subject, but his face had been sad when he’d kissed Bronwen
farewell.

Kindara feared what he had seen, but he had
pulled her aside and told her the answers she sought were down this
path.

Bronwen shivered uncontrollably in the coat
that dwarfed her smaller frame. Theo’s sister was remarkably
delicate, and always had been. Kindara had assisted at the girl’s
birth nearly fifty years ago; and it had been close then. Her
mother had been one they had lost. Kindara had felt a
responsibility toward the girl ever since. “Bron, pull your coat
tighter. You don’t need to catch a chill.”

“
I’m fine, Kinney. What are
we going to do first?” Bronwen’s excitement was clear in her canary
eyes. Her first love was herbs; she often helped Kindara with the
experiments to find drugs for their people. So far those
experiments had all failed epically.

“
We need samples, first,”
Kindara said. “Once the demon arrives to get us settled in
wherever.”

“
I suggest we wait until the
morning to start the collecting,” Belnus spoke, his words low and
ponderous as usual. He was charged with their safety, and Kindara
knew he took the responsibility seriously. “I think the demon said
the sun sets early here.”

“
He did.” Kindara fought the
urge to worry. The demon had opened a portal less than an hour
earlier and led their party through to his Relaklonos. He’d
promptly abandoned them. He’d given instructions for them to wait
for his return and had flashed himself away. “He also said he’d be
back as soon as he could. In the meantime, we can take samples of
this area. I want everything we can get—soil composition, moisture
density, plant samples. Bron, you and I will handle that. Auri and
Bel—”

“
Perimeter.” Belnus nodded.
“We’ve done this before, you know.”

“
I know. But hopefully, this
time will bring more positive results.” This expedition was just
the beginning of her work in the demon lands. She knew that
thorough study would take years to complete—finding even one drug
that worked would take a considerable amount of time. That they
were searching for everything would multiply that time
exponentially. And they needed it all—painkillers, antibiotics,
anti-inflammatories. Coagulants. Even a simple blood replacement
other than human blood would work wonders in situations where blood
transfusions could save Dardaptoan lives.

Bronwen immediately set to work, taking
samples of the gray plants slightly to the north of them. Kindara
started on the southwest. Auri kept one hand on her weapon—a sword
inlaid with the insignia of her family line—and her eyes trained on
the flat and barren area the demon had referred to as ??. Belnus
stood with his arms crossed over his chest and watched the area
behind them.

Kindara wasn’t concerned; she doubted the
demon would leave her in an area that he didn’t feel was entirely
safe…Although…hadn’t he left her before? When the Lupoiux had
attacked her? She pulled the small knife she carried from her
pocket, keeping it close in her left hand. It never hurt to be
prepared, and they were in a realm—a world—they knew nothing
about.

“
So, Kinney, what’s up with
you and this demon guy anyway?” Auri asked, though her attention
never broke from the landscape. “Ji said he’s an
incubus.”

“
He is. King of. And of all
Demonkin apparently.” Kindara slipped her knife into the thick leaf
in front of her, pulling a strange lavender substance from its
veins. “Just my luck, he’s also relentless.”

“
So is it true?” Auri looked
over her shoulder at Kindara. “About Incubi?”

“
Is what true?” Bronwen
asked.

“
That they can make a woman
do anything…gladly?” Auri’s eyes sparked with lust and humor. “He’s
one hot piece of demon, Kin. Tell me nothing happened.”

“
Let’s just focus on why
we’re here.” Kindara felt the heat hitting her face as she thought
of the things the demon had done to her—and she to him. “That’s
what’s important. Not this thing between the demon and
I.”

“
So there is something
between you?” Auri asked, swinging her sword expertly. Kindara knew
the woman spent countless hours practicing with the sword that had
been her great-uncle’s. The Dardaptoan had died with no issue and
had left the sword to Auri. “Was it good? And was it
hot?”

“
Auri! I’m sure this is not
something Belnus wants to hear about!”

“
No. Keep going. I’m always
interested in hearing about…other creatures’ habits.” Belnus’s dry
humor had Kindara’s own lips twitching. Until she noticed the blush
on Bronwen’s face. The child was kept closely sheltered in her
brother’s hall, and if she’d had even a simple date in the last
twenty years, Kindara doubted it. Teasing about sex, even just
implied sex, apparently upset the girl.

“
Auri, knock it off and
let’s get back to work.” Kindara nodded toward Bronwen, who’d
turned back to the plants in front of her. Auri got the message and
nodded. But the wicked spark in her friend’s eyes told Kindara that
the discussion wasn’t over. Auri would want all the details,
everything that had happened between the demon and her. Kindara
just had to decide how much of those details she’d be
sharing.

Soon, one significant detail would be made
clear to all of her people. Kindara knew her body would show the
signs of the ripening child within her. How was she to tell her
people? Her brother? Her friends?

Jierra?

Leaving her daughter behind at this crucially
vulnerable time had been horrible for Kindara, but only the
knowledge that Theo had promised her the answers she needed were
here had separated Kindara from her child.

These drugs could very well be used to help
her daughter safely through pregnancy. Dardaptoan women rarely, if
ever, had twins, at least not successfully. Kindara would do
everything in her power—even travel to other realms—in search of
ways to ensure her daughter’s safe delivery. And the safety of her
daughter’s children. And her babe. Dear goddess, if she could
ensure the babe’s safety she would.

“
Kinney? Did we lose you
there for a moment?” Auri drew her attention back in her direction.
“You kind of went away for a while. Anything you want to
share?”