Demon Untamed (26 page)

From that point on, he had struggled to be worthy of his future bride. As a pirate, he must have been one of the most merciful to be sure, though he spread rumors to the contrary. A pirate needed his reputation, after all. Fear defeated opponents just as easily as warmongering or severing heads from bodies.

But it was the
if
in the king’s statement that had haunted him over the years, spreading doubt through him like a virus. Which was why, aside from honing his gift, he’d spent years studying every manner of weaponry and combat.

The king’s visions were never certain, and there was neither a guarantee Ethan would survive the insurgent, nor that any of them would be triumphant in the attempt.

But if they did succeed…

He thought of Kyra as his wife, the only unmated princess and the future queen of their people. He searched the depths of his soul for the pride he’d once felt for such an outcome, finding hollowness in its stead. Yet it was more than he had hoped for, wasn’t it?

Then why had he not thought of that the moment Kyra stepped foot on the ship? Or, for that matter, informed her of the king’s promise and initiated the courtship? He should have been ecstatic…doting on her and winning her affections.

However, when he imagined marrying her, excitement was not what settled in his gut. The weight of all his efforts, a lifetime of struggle, of fighting, with more still to come pressed down on him. Exhaustion plastered his body to the mattress, and his musings transformed into a foggy mist as his body gave over to sleep.

The sensation of others in the room woke him. Two sets of fire-red eyes glowered down at him.

“Get dressed, pirate.” Cale’s tone was as menacing as he’d probably intended. “We’re going to have ourselves a little chat in the training room.”

Right. Because that’s the ideal location for a rational conversation.

Ethan blinked groggily and rubbed a hand down his face. So much for thinking they would want him awake. At least they hadn’t yanked him out of bed and started whaling on him. After scanning them, he found less rage than expected.

He planted his feet on the floor and took a moment to stretch his muscles before making his way to his clothing compartment across the room.

While he rummaged for a shirt, Sebastian said, “I get the feeling you know what this is about.”

Ethan turned back and quirked a cocky grin. “I’m surprised it took you so long to figure out what was going on. I thought demons were supposed to be intelligent.”

They frowned, expressions turning dark. Cale spit out a colorful curse before taking an aggressive step in Ethan’s direction. Sebastian barred an arm across Cale’s chest. “Don’t cripple him just yet. Marik wants a piece.”

“Three on one?” Ethan retrieved a thin white shirt and slipped it over his head.

Cale’s lips spread into a menacing smile. “Any last words?”

“Yeah. Don’t expect me to go easy on you.”

Both demons let out a guffaw.

Cale slapped him hard on the back. “This is going to be fun,” he said before escorting him from the room by the back of the neck.

Marik awaited them in the training room with his arms crossed and his lips set in a grim line.

Ethan ignored the deadly stare as he crossed to the other side of the mat and prepared for the onslaught. The demons shared a look as they lined up in front of him. He suspected his calm demeanor baffled them. Most likely they were used to seeing males in this situation cower under their threatening gazes.

“Before we begin…” Sebastian hesitated, seeming at a loss for words. Finally, he said, “You and Sonya?”

It was a simple question with all the hidden layers of complication. Ethan responded with an overly exaggerated shrug. “What can I say? I’m irresistible.”

Cale snorted and cracked his knuckles.

“But she hates you,” Sebastian continued, somewhat unfazed by Ethan’s cavalier attitude.

Ethan knew he shouldn’t have responded with his next words, but his mind was still a bit foggy from sleep. Or maybe he was just unable to resist. With a sly grin, he muttered, “Not all of me.”

There was a brief paused as the demons processed his response.

Then they attacked as one. Cale’s claws swiped out while Sebastian’s knuckles sought Ethan’s face, and Marik lunged for his entire body. With the three of them coming so fast, Ethan was unable to dodge them all. Marik gouged his shoulder into Ethan’s gut, taking him to the ground.

Air exploded from his lungs. As he sucked in a burning breath, Marik wrapped thick arms around him from behind and pulled him upright into a suffocating cage of muscle. Taking advantage, Sebastian cracked Ethan along the jaw. His mind dimmed from the force. Then Marik shoved him toward Cale, who introduced a hard knee to his gut.

Ethan slumped to all fours, grabbing his stomach and gagging for air. When he was able to speak, it came out as a haggard wheeze, “Well, I deserved that.”

The demons glared at him, posed for another beat down, but they allowed him time enough to stand.

Marik commented, his tone detached from any discernible emotion, “I just can’t believe Sonya would even be remotely interested in you.”

Ethan steeled himself for the next assault, this one from Cale alone. He twisted his body away from the demon’s powerful right hook, then ducked the vigorous high kick that came afterward. “And why’s that?” he asked.

Sebastian rushed him. Ethan gleaned the intention and allowed Sebastian to catch him against his wide shoulder, preparing to heave Ethan over his back. Mid-air, Ethan contorted his body to land on his feet with perfect grace.

Sebastian looked momentarily surprised. “Well, we all dislike pretty much everything to do with pirates, but she’s fanatic about it. Actually, I thought she’d end up killing you, not…” Sebastian shuddered, no doubt despising the images his train of thought brought forth.

Ethan now stood at the center of all three demons as they circled like a well-organized pack. He opened his senses to detect the next move.

Cale added, “The two of you together is the most unlikely development any of us could have imagined.” He smiled. “A rare bit of fun, though. We don’t often figure out who our baby sister is sneaking around with.”

That gave Ethan pause, and he straightened his spine. “Sneaking around with?”

Do they not know?

His own question distracted him enough that Cale managed to get in another powerful jab to his jaw followed by a solid elbow to his temple. Ethan growled, mostly at his own carelessness, as the room spun.

“Sorry it has to end this way,” Cale remarked, not sounding at all remorseful.

Ethan laughed. “You won’t kill me.” Just as Cale had said, they only wanted to have a
bit of fun
with him.

“What makes you think that?” Cale huffed.

“You’d miss me too much.”

That encouraged a round of deep chuckles from all of them.

“Cale,” Marik called across the mat, “he might just have a bigger ego than you.”

“Only room for one as remarkable as I on this ship,” Cale replied.

Another set of attacks from all three had Ethan pulling out his best defensive maneuvers. Damn they were fast, but he managed to stay ahead of them…barely. Luckily, they were becoming easier to read.

“One question,” Sebastian said, looking impressed with Ethan’s moves. “I still don’t really believe it. How did you get past Sonya’s defenses? She was not shy about expressing her extreme dislike for you. I had to force her to promise not to kick you off the ship while we searched for Marik, and still I figured she would wind up ending your life, one way or the other.”

“Oh, she still hates me, I’m sure, but she could no more destroy me than you could destroy Anya.”

The demons stilled. Sebastian looked completely taken aback, Marik appeared disbelieving, while, oddly, Cale’s shock seemed to border on devastation.

Cale cleaned his features of all emotion but for a deep frown. “What do you mean by that?”

Whatever Sonya’s reasons were for concealing the truth from her kin, they were bound to find out eventually.

Ethan shrugged. “Tell you what. If any of you can land another hit, I’ll tell you.”

“Too easy,” Cale hissed. He shot forward, but Ethan was prepared and ducked out of the way. Cale stumbled, appearing confounded. Ethan thought he heard Cale mutter, “It can’t be true,” but didn’t think he was talking about missing his target.

The other two sprang into action, coming at Ethan with all their speed. Now that he’d had time to study their moves, and the specific intent behind each one, it was easy to steer clear of the pulverization zone. The demons snarled with annoyance, but after a while, their frustration abated, and they began to see this as a game, rather than an execution.

* * *

All morning, Sonya felt off kilter. Normally she woke early enough to share a quick shower with Ethan before shoving him out the door, afraid one of her brothers might catch him leaving her room. But he’d decided to sleep in his own quarters last night, claiming he was tired.

She’d told him it was fine, but a bit of disappointment had crept into her voice. He’d managed to assuage some of it with a demanding kiss that had her squirming with carnal need.

His mocking grin told her that had been his intention.

Bastard
.

Thankfully, after utilizing a few of her old tactics, the madness of her lust ebbed, allotting her at least a few hours of sleep.

She took a bit more care with her appearance the next morning, partly to flaunt what Ethan had missed all night. Well, mostly to flaunt it.

She dressed in an elegant purple and black bodice with brass buckle fastenings, a short dark skirt, and killer fuck-me boots. Next she styled part of her hair in an intricate braid, intertwining a bit of purple ribbon, while leaving the rest to hang in onyx waves down her shoulders and back.

Once satisfied, she traversed the long hallway of the ship’s living quarters, coming to stop in front of the witchling’s room. She gave a soft knock against the metal barrier and waited. A moment later, the door whooshed open, revealing the small Serakian on the other side.

Sonya introduced herself, unable to keep from peeking inside as she did so. There were multicolored vials lined across every surface in the room—the table, shelves, even along the floor. Each appeared to emanate their own ghostly light, bathing the walls in a vast array of color.

Portia stepped into the hallway, allowing the door to slide shut behind her. “Just a few experiments,” she explained, “to keep up with my craft.”

Sonya gave a polite, somewhat forced smile. She had no idea how Serakian magic worked and didn’t really care to find out. “I came to ask if you would like to share the morning meal with me.”

“Very kind of you, but are you sure? Most of the ship’s inhabitants have been avoiding me.”

It was no secret that most everybody on the ship wished the Serakian away. They were an ominous and secretive people, crafty and inquisitive. Many believed they gathered information like currency. To what end? Nobody knew.

“Just keep your spells off me and we won’t have any problems,” Sonya replied.

“Likewise, keep your weird mate-boding to yourself.”

Sonya grinned. “I can’t promise anything. You look like a real catch.”

“Well, if that isn’t the gods’ honest truth. Give me a moment to recess my projects, and we’ll be on our way.”

As the door opened for Portia, an odd gust billowed from the room. “Uh, I’ll wait out here, if you don’t mind.”

Portia nodded. “Good idea.”

After Portia reemerged, they stopped by Kyra’s chambers to see if she and the Earthling would like to accompany them. Zoey was nowhere to be found, but Kyra agreed to go along.

The salon was brimming with an unusually large number of people waiting for an empty table as Anya raced back and forth to fill orders, appearing frazzled.

Portia glanced around. “Is there some fantastic dish I should be aware of?”

“Not that I know of,” Sonya replied.

Anya spotted them and hurried over, winding around impatient crew members.

“Why is it so busy in here?” Sonya inquired.

“Marik had to step away for a minute. Something about a meeting in the training room.”

“A meeting?” Sonya repeated.
In the training room?
That was unusual. “Who’s cooking then?”

Anya grimaced. “Myself and Nadua.” A loud crash emanated from the galley, followed by a string of curses. “Oh, I think she burnt herself again.” Anya rushed away, promising to return with something edible.

Sonya’s brow wrinkled. Marik never left his post for a typical meeting—was never called in for one, in fact—and in the training room of all places?

When Anya emerged with a tray of three steaming bowls, Sonya asked, “What’s the meeting about?”

Anya’s head tilted to one side. “I thought you would have known about it.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because when Bastian and Cale came to get Marik, I heard your name mentioned.”

“My name?” Sonya’s chest constricted as Jade’s smirking face flashed into her mind.
The chit couldn’t be that stupid
…

“Yeah, and Ethan’s. I figured…” Anya studied her, probably sensing the flood of rage that was working its way through Sonya’s brain. “What is it?”

She balled her fists. “I will kill them.”

Chapter 24