The Demon King and I (13 page)

My body reacted to his words as if he’d been stroking me. I did my best to change the subject. “So, how is it going out there?” I waved a hand toward the door. “Any news on what’s happening with the darkside?”

He moved to within two inches of me and I felt drawn to him. “The council is aware of the problem and is working toward a solution.”

I smiled. “That’s politicospeak for they don’t know what the hell is happening.”

He gave me a faint smile and his face leaned closer to mine as if he were examining me. “I fear you are right, Gillian.” And then he kissed me. He wasn’t tentative with that initial contact. His lips pressed hard and invaded my mouth in such a sensual way, I lost all thought of anything else. A hand caressed my back and my arms curled around his neck. When he finally lifted his head from mine, my body felt like a puddle of melted butter.

“Wow. That was—”

“Interesting.” His eyebrow went up.

“Yes.” I wondered if he felt as wobbly as I did. Probably wasn’t possible since his body looked as though it were made out of carved stone. There wasn’t a soft spot on him. I knew this because of the hardness pressing against my thigh. Rather long and large.

I cleared my throat and stepped to the right, pretending to look out the window. But the snow-covered mountains were nothing but a blur. The demon king had just kissed me, and darned if I hadn’t kissed him back.

Can’t say that’s ever happened before.

“There is something I would like to show you.”

I had a choice of saying something incredibly lewd, but held my tongue. “Sure. I’ve nothing but time right now.”

“You will need your outerwear; we must travel through the snow for a short time.”

I opened the wardrobe and pulled out my leather jacket. I’d done my best to clean it before I went to bed. I couldn’t imagine what he wanted to show me, but I had a feeling blindly following Arath could lead to untold adventures.

CHAPTER 14

He took me through a side door and outside to the
stables. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the large birds were a complete surprise. They had the body and neck of an ostrich, but their heads looked like dragons.

“What are these?”

“Lumdups. They are a breed of wild dragon crossed with our Dupnons. In battle they are used to fly short distances, and they run very fast.” I’d seen a Dupnon before. It looked like something between a buffalo and a horse. It was a strange-looking creature, but then most things on Maunra were. Well, except for Arath.

He held out his hand, and one of the creatures bowed and then came a little closer for a rub on the head.

“It seems everything in your world bows to its king.” I moved a little closer, more out of curiosity than anything. The creature’s head and neck looked as though they had been made out of mother-of-pearl, the feathers soft and fluffy on its back and sides. The legs were much thicker than those of an ostrich, but shaped the same way, with deadly looking claws.

Arath took my hand. “I will help you climb on.”

I stiffened. “What?”

“We will use the animals to travel so that I may show you the surprise.”

I’m not a small girl, but he easily lifted me and put me on the back of the dragon bird. “I—I’m not really comfortable with this. There’s no saddle. How do I hold on?” As I said it, two small wings came out of the creature’s lower neck.

“Hold on here.” Arath pointed to the wings. “You need not worry, you will balance once we are in the air.”

What! In the air? Great, Gillian, just great. What are you going to do now? Tell him that you can travel twice the speed of light but you’re afraid of flying on a giant bird thing? Guardians show no fear.
I sighed.

He climbed on another one and suddenly we were airborne. I didn’t know if I was supposed to guide it, but the thing seemed to know where it needed to go. Before I had time to even think about screaming we landed on the other side of the forest in the middle of a small village.

Arath helped me climb down and then motioned for me to follow him into a building. The structure was made out of the same gray stone as the castle, and looked chilly and barren from the outside.

The inside was quite a different story. We entered a room with several rows of tables. Tiny demon children of all different breeds sat with paper and paints. When they saw Arath, they stood and bowed.

He waved his hand for them to sit down and continue. As he walked among them he made kind comments about their work, even though the actual subject of the art was sometimes difficult to determine.

“This is wonderful. I had no idea your schools were interested in the arts.”

“Education in all things is important if one is to be a wise warrior.” Arath patted another child on the head. “The art is new to our world. But our children are learning quickly.” He held up a rough picture of what looked like a lake and mountains. “Very good.”

I smiled. “Yes, it is. Did you know about my passion for the arts? Especially trying to get the arts back into public schools in America?”

He nodded. “I know many things about you, Guardian. We have always had our music and some crafts, but the painting is new. It will add color to our world, so that we may match the beauty that surrounds us in nature.”

I’d seen the purple sunsets, and pristine wilderness, so I wasn’t so sure they’d be able to match it, but it made me admire Arath all the more.

“You are surprised.” He watched me with those glowing eyes of his.

“Yes, very. This really is wonderful. Art is a way children can express themselves, when perhaps words won’t come. It allows them to open their imagination and to dream.” I happened to look down at a catlike demon. I couldn’t tell if it was a girl, but it looked like one. Think jaguar but with a human face and searing green eyes. She was beautiful, but that wasn’t what caught my attention. She’d drawn a perfect portrait of Arath. She even had the color of his eyes perfectly tinted. “King Arath?”

My speaking scared the child and she ducked under the table. I bent down so I could see her. “It’s okay.” I smiled, but she scooted farther away from me. I looked up to see the other children eyeing me warily.

“I’m sorry. Can you speak to her and tell her that I only wanted to say how beautiful her picture is?”

Arath made a soft mewling sound, and whispered words into the air. I didn’t have my translator in my ear so I had no idea what he said, but the child popped her head out over the bench and smiled with her large pointed teeth.

Her king picked up the picture and made a big fuss over it, and in that moment something crazy clicked in my heart. A demon ruler who had a hot bod and a good soul, or at least who did in the right circumstances. It was almost too much for this Guardian to take.

He nodded his head toward her. “She is giving the art as a gift, and I told her it will have an honored place in my home.”

The place could use a little color.
Other than the battle-ridden tapestries and sconces, there wasn’t much to brighten up the place.

I remembered the art I’d seen in the altar room, but this wasn’t the time or place to ask about it.

Clede entered the building on a cold burst of air. He didn’t have to say anything. Arath knew he was needed.

After carefully rolling the picture and putting it in the pack on his back, he waved good-bye to the children.

When we made it outside I could see he was agitated.

“What’s wrong?”

He grumbled. “There is trouble at the castle and we must go immediately.”

I wanted to question him further but he plopped me down onto the Lumdup. Before I could even my open my mouth we were in the air and then on the ground again.

“Clede will take you to your rooms, and a meal will be sent up.” He rushed off without a backward glance.

The grumpy demon pointed toward the castle. I followed him through the snow and upstairs to the warmth of my room. “I don’t suppose you could tell me what’s going on?”

He stared at me for one creepy moment and then slammed the door.

Great. Just great.

CHAPTER 15

I do not like being a prisoner under any circum
stances, and I certainly didn’t approve of being locked in a room at the castle. My anger at Arath boiled out of control.

“How dare he do this,” I said to the bed linens. “I’ve proven myself to him more than once. I can certainly handle his demon hordes. None of the other kings thought it necessary to hide me away.”

I slammed a fist into the mattress. “First he kisses me and shows his outreach work so that I’m so gooey for him, it’s sick. Then he locks me away. Ack. What am I doing here?”

Soft.
That’s what had happened. I’d gone soft. After crappy Emilio I’d been so desperate for a man to show interest that I’d thrown myself at the demon king. Ick. I thought back among the previous monarchs of Maunra. They were hideous creatures I didn’t even want to be in the same room with, and now I’d been macking on one of them.

“He might look human, but he isn’t.” I thought back to my conversation with my mother. “Well, maybe he’s part human. But I saw him go all fiery red, so there’s definitely demon in there.”

What kind of creature had the power to see portals from space and close them with magic so strong I’d never seen anything like it? I’d read ancient texts about magical beings so powerful they could draw energy from around them to move through space and time. It wasn’t anything anyone in recent history had done. If anything, that proved Arath was far from human.

You kissed him, and you liked it.

Disgusted with myself, I wanted to slam the tattoos on my wrists together and go home, but I knew it wasn’t the smartest choice. I’d probably end up floating somewhere in darkness seconds before I died from lack of oxygen.

Right now, Earth was safe from the demon hordes. Arath may have been right about the dark magic seeping into the portals if we tampered with the lock; so opening one was definitely out of the question.

I growled in frustration. “The demon king isn’t the only one who can roar.”

I tried the door but it wouldn’t budge. Taking the diamond key from my pocket, I slid it into the lock. Nothing happened. I turned it but it wouldn’t budge.

My fists tightened and the nails dug into my hand.

I sat down on the edge of the bed, and thought about the many ways the demon king could accidentally die.

 
 
“There is trouble.” Arath slammed his way into my
room.

“You’re right about that. Do you know about the laws against taking a Guardian prisoner?” I held my sword at the ready.

He stepped back, eyeing the point of my sword with a look that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with amusement. That he didn’t deem me a threat was the last straw.

I adjusted my stance.

“Do not be foolish, Guardian. I did not keep you prisoner. I only protected you. There had been an ambush at the castle while I was away and I did not know what to expect when we returned.” He didn’t move but he had a cocky look on his face that made me want to punch him.

“That may be, but I’m perfectly capable of holding my own in any attack. I’ve been trained for—”

“The magic grows strong again,” he interrupted. “The beings that attacked the castle were not under their own control. If they’d killed me then the portals would have opened, and I feel certain this was their purpose. The portals are holding, but if I’m to get you home we must do it quickly.”

At the mention of home, my body lost the tension it held. “I thought we had to wait.”

“If the dark magic continues, we won’t be able to use the portals without fear of them collapsing. Your human body would disintegrate within a few seconds if we tried.”

Jeez. I’m going to start calling him Mr. Happy News.
“Okay, so on to plan B. What do we do?” I slid my sword into its harness and the knives into my boots. The guns went in the holsters.

“Vex.”

My head snapped up. “You shouldn’t have access to a Vex portal from Maunra. We destroyed all of them.” Vex was a dangerous mode of transport. The portals used the power of black holes. Sometimes you made it to your destination; other times you ended up in a never-ending sea of blackness just before you died from the crushing force of the hole.

“There is one left, to be used at the king’s discretion. It is in our treaty. Every planet is allowed one for emergency situations.”

I paced back and forth. “The chances of me making it home are slim, you have to know that.”

“You are wrong. With your power and mine, I can guide you there.”

It was risky, but I’d seen what Arath could do. Maybe he could handle a Vex tunnel. “And this is the only way?”

He nodded again.

“Fine, let’s go.” I had to die someday, and anything was better than sitting in this room one more second.

“There is one thing.” He motioned me to follow him. “Have you ever been in one of the tunnels?”

We moved down several steps. “No,” I said to his back. “We are trained to avoid certain death if possible.”

“You joke, but the reason your kind often get lost is the energy from the holes. They create realities, unkind ones. You call them nightmares come to life. You must be prepared for what you might see, and you must know it is not real. No matter what you see or hear, concentrate on my voice.”

Again with the comforting news. Jeez.
“Will you be coming with me?” We’d made it to the castle entry without seeing anyone. The bodies of those who had lost the battle were gone. I was glad. Demons don’t smell very good as a whole, and they were particularly rancid when they were dead.

“Not physically, but I will be with you just the same. You will hear my voice until you reach the other side. Remember, the things you see are not real. This is important.”

“I understand.” We now stood in the middle of the great hall.

He faced me and took my hands. “Remember what we did in the altar room? This will work in much the same way. I will connect with the door to the Vex.” He turned me so that my back was to him. “When I let go of you, move forward, keeping your eyes closed for as long as possible. Concentrate on my voice.”