Chapter 17

Seventeen

~ Princess Blake ~

Nate yawns as we step into the ruined kitchen, and he adjusts the strap of the leather satchel on his shoulder. “You sure we have to leave now?” Twisting his head, he peers longingly at the stairs leading back to the furnished bunker. “Cats like their sleep, you know.”

“Well, you’re welcome to remain here,” Prince Callan suggests, looking a little too eager for Nate to take him up on the offer.

The jaguar shifter turns his attention to the prince. “And leave my queen alone with you? I might be a thief, but I’m not an idiot.”

“Now that is debatable,” Prince Callan mutters.

Shade tilts her head as she watches them. “I swear they’ve both been extra irritable since they woke,” she comments. “You let them rest for hours, and yet, it’s like they’re children who are grumpy after waking from a nap.”

I blow out a breath, but I don’t tell her about my recent encounters with Nate and Prince Callan. Instead, I’m distracted by the large black feather I spot amidst the shards of broken pottery not far away. That’s two feathers I’ve lost. I try to tell myself it’s normal for angels, but it’s starting to feel like a bad omen. Great. Just one more thing I have to deal with. I make a point not to draw attention to it, because the last thing I need is for Shade to worry, and I start walking while Nate and Prince Callan are still arguing. They follow after me, and I’m glad when no one mentions the feather.

It’s night when we emerge from the house, and I hum as I enjoy the feel of the cool crisp air kissing my skin. It’s not quite the same as a night in Seral city, the surrounding buildings silent and abandoned, but it’s nice to have fresh air again.

We walk for what feels like an hour, and I’m starting to get worried at the fact we haven’t encountered any alphas when I hear the faint sound of singing on the wind. “Do you hear that?” I whisper, changing direction and heading toward the voices.

“Yes, it sounds like a wailing cat.” Prince Callan nods, his hand already resting on the hilt of his sword.

Nate’s brows pull down. “I’ll have you know a cat’s wail sounds nothing like that strange garbling. In fact, I’ll demonstrate.” He sucks in a deep breath, but I wack him on the chest, and he doubles over as the air rushes from between his lips.

I give him a sheepish smile, realizing I hit him harder than I intended. “Sorry, but the last thing we need is to announce our location to everyone in this city.”

“Fair point,” he mutters as he straightens.

Prince Callan smirks and links his arm with mine, leading me toward the noise.

I slow our pace. “Hold on, I think we should go over some ground rules before we go any further. By now the alphas who haven’t gotten their hands on any medicine are going to be hallucinating and out of their minds.” I remember the heads Nate and Prince Callan brought to me as presents not too long ago. “Even if they don’t turn out to be my mates, you can’t just kill them all.”

Prince Callan frowns.

“Got it. Incapacitate but don’t kill,” Nate says, his eyes bright like simply the idea of a fight has improved his mood significantly.

I figure that’s a good enough response and continue walking toward the singing that’s grown even louder. Truthfully, Prince Callan’s assessment wasn’t too far off. It sounds like something between the cry of a wounded animal and the mating call of a group of demon bugs, and the closer we get, the more I start to question my life choices. Knowing my luck, I’m probably fated to whatever delightful minstrel is leading this musical disaster.

We reach a wide stretch of dirt with multiple stone paths branching off, and blackened trees that look like skeletons spread throughout the area. I can only guess it used to be a city park at one stage, going by the layout and various stone fountains erected at intervals, and I start walking again.

Shade is silent on my shoulder as she watches the trees, and I wonder if she’s thinking about the lack of birds. The park is a far cry from the beautiful nature scenes we’ve seen depicted in the paintings around the city.

“Well, they sound happy,” Nate comments, and I jerk my attention forward as we round a bend, passing a thick section of blackened trees. Up ahead, beside the largest stone fountain we’ve seen yet, I make out a group of twenty demons dancing around a roaring fire. Shadows flicker around them like creatures from the shadow realm, and their singing has been replaced by raucous laughter. They’re all shirtless, their muscles rippling in the firelight, and their tails flick as if in time to music only they can hear. Two of them I recognize as clan leaders, but the others are the sons of wealthy merchants and business owners. I grin, glad that they’re not killing each other. “At least someone’s enjoying this.”

“Yes, they seem like they’re in unusually good spirits for alphas who have been stranded in Perstalia,” Prince Callan observes. He reaches for his sword, but I pin him with a stare.

“It’s not a crime to be happy,” I tell him. “Remember, no bloodshed unless necessary.”

He smirks like I’ve just given him a challenge he can’t resist, but he removes his hand from the hilt of his sword. “Something tells me it’s going to be necessary.”

I give him an unimpressed look. “This is going to go terribly, isn’t it?” I say to Shade.

“Yum.” There’s a pause. “Oh, I mean, yup. Yup it is.” Her gaze is fixed on the demons up ahead, and I shake my head.

“Please don’t drool on my shoulder,” I tease.

“Luckily for you, birds don’t drool,” she quips back. She’s barely finished saying it when one of the demons completely undresses himself and starts dancing stark naked. She startles on my shoulder letting out a squawk of surprise, and I burst out laughing. She pecks my neck in retaliation.

“Stop!” I laugh, tucking my chin to stop her from tickling me.

“Uh, gorgeous, you might want to…” Nate trails off, and my laughter instantly dies as I straighten. The demons have stopped dancing, and they’re all facing our direction, staring straight at me. Crap. Clearing my throat, I lift my chin as my strides eat up the last of the distance between us.

The demons form up respectfully when I stop a few steps away from them, and Nate and Prince Callan flank me.

“Our princess,” the demon closest to me slurs with a dip of his horned head. “It is good to see you well.”

I note how calm they are. A couple are unsteady on their feet, and a few are splattered with blood, but they don’t look like demons who have lost their minds.

“Blake, look,” Shade whispers, right as I spot the heads. Near the back of the fountain and shrouded in darkness are three giant hydra heads sitting in a pool of green ichor. Their fanged mouths are gaping open, their eyes wide and sightless. I’d been so distracted by the laughing demons that I hadn’t even noticed. The rest of the hydra’s body is nowhere to be seen, and I scan the area, my hand reaching for my sword.

“It’s dead,” says a familiar smooth voice that I know all too well. “The stones of the fountain shifted, taking the slain monster below. Same thing happened with the other monster at the fountain further to the west across the park.”

I lift my gaze as my own personal pain-in-the-ass steps into view. A devilish smile is molded to his face and his eyes shine iridescent blue in the firelight, his horns mimicking the color and contrasting against his midnight hair. Despite myself, my chest eases at the sight of his familiar face. “Dante,” I say the word on an exhale.

“The one and only,” he grins, his eyes traveling over me. “Nice to see you finally found us, your highness.”

“Found you? Funny, here I was thinking you might be trying to find me.”

“Seeing as you’re the one who can fly, we figured this was the smartest option.” His gaze flicks to my mates with interest, and then back to me. “Though, now I’m starting to wonder whether I made a mistake. I’m not keen on the idea that you’ve been having fun without me.”

I roll my eyes. “The only ones having fun on this little adventure seems to be you demons. I’m glad you found yourself some provisions.” Scattered around the fire are a few wine bottles and other supplies, and now that I’m paying more attention, I can scent the alcohol on the demons even from here.

“The creatures put up a fight,” another alpha explains, “but they weren’t a match for us.” He lifts his fist into the air as he says the last part, and the others all cheer, their faces flushed as they shout obscenities at the hydra and at whatever other monster they’d slain across the park.

Dante doesn’t join them in celebration and watches me carefully. “So, I see you’ve already found two mates,” he comments when their cheering dies down again.

“Three actually,” I point out, “but it looks like Lady Fate isn’t done with me yet.”

His lips curve upward. “Then there’s still hope for us.”

The demons around him start grinning wider and leer at me.

“So, there is. I must say, I’m impressed you haven’t all killed each other yet.” Mostly, I’m surprised certain demons didn’t use this as an opportunity to upset the power balance in Seral.

From the glint in Dante’s eyes, I can tell he gets what I’m hinting at. “We all agreed we have a common goal,” he explains. “There’s plenty of time for us to be at each other’s throats when we’re back in Seral. Besides, we realized you might be upset if any of us accidentally killed one of your mates.”

Smart. I have to give Dante credit for keeping the alphas in line. I swear the demon has a silver tongue. I smile. “Upset, is putting it mildly.”

Dante nods, and there’s a twinkle in his eye as he assesses Nate and Prince Callan. I can’t shake the feeling he’s judging me for all the times I broke up his orgies. Guess I can’t talk now that I’m creating my own damn harem.

“Well, if you’re done talking, I think it’s time I find out if any of you guys have made the cut,” I say.

Dante waves his hands graciously to the other alphas around him, and I ignore his arrogant smirk as I walk up to the first demon. Charzel, his name is. The stocky demon is the leader to one of the clans in the south-west of Seral City, and he has a reputation for being untrustworthy, probably because he’s a powerful shapeshifter. As I step close to him there’s the barest hint of fear in his charcoal eyes, like he thinks I might kill him if he doesn’t turn out to be my mate. Shade’s hard stare likely isn’t helping his situation, and he refuses to look at her like he thinks she’s about to crow and sentence him to death.

“Ooh, I love it when they can’t meet my eyes,” Shade says like she’s on some kind of power high.

“Really, because I remember not too long ago when you enjoyed the attention from Nate.”

“That’s because he’s delicious,” she defends. “This guy looks like he’s about to soil his pants.”

My top lip curls at the thought, and the alpha’s smile falls. He tenses like he thinks I’m about to strike, but I smooth my features. His weak floral scent isn’t terrible, but it does nothing for me. I take pity on him and move on to the next demon.

One by one I make the rounds, moving close and talking to the alphas, but none of them are my mates. I’m not too surprised. Many of them I’ve met in close quarters in the past, and it’s likely that we’d have discovered our fated connection before now. Still, I thought I’d be mated to at least one demon. Guess there are more demons still in the city.

Sighing, I stop a few feet from Dante and cross my arms in front of my chest.

“Is it my turn already?” he says with a wicked smile.

“Not even Lady Fate herself would try to match you with someone,” I comment, thinking about the many females he’s already been with, including humans. “You did your duty by attending this thing, but you’ve fulfilled the expectations put on you.”

Confusion crosses his face, and his smile wavers. “You think I’m here because of an obligation to attend?”

“Aren’t we all?” I point out as I recall the way Dad told me about the ball. It’s not like we volunteered for this. I mean, the alphas did, but not in the way that one volunteers for an activity like a pie eating competition. Without another word, I turn to go.

“Aren’t you going to see if he’s your mate?” Shade asks. “Lady Fate has proven that she’s a little crazy with her matches. I mean, you’re mated to one of the Drozac for goodness sake!”

“Princess,” Dante calls after me, and it’s the first time I’ve heard uncertainty in his usually confident voice.

I tilt my head to look back at him.

“My obligation isn’t fulfilled until you know for certain that I’m not your mate. I’d hate for you to keep searching only to discover I was right in front of you.”

When I don’t continue to move away, his lips quirk upward like he thinks he’s won, though truthfully, I never intended to leave without testing him. I just enjoy making him squirm.

“Fine,” I say exaggeratedly and stride toward him. As I walk, he watches me with appreciation, taking note of the sway of my hips, and I’m not nearly as offended as I know I should be.

I’m a couple steps away, and I’m about to stop because I want to continue messing with him, but he steps forward closing the distance between us. He doesn’t stop to scent me. His hand slides behind my back as he pulls me to him, and then his lips are on mine like he’s decided that even if we’re not mates, he’s going to make me remember this moment.

My head tells me I should pull away. This is Dante, and he’s made it clear that no single female will ever have his heart, but…my blood heats, my pulse quickening as his taste of cardamon and freshly grown apricots fills my mouth. Apricots. Like the ones that grow at the back of his clan house. Apricots.Like the ones I would sometimes steal from his trees, smuggling them to the palace where I’d practically moan as I devoured them. I think about all the times I’d visited that clan house over the past months. Years, even. Had it ever been the apricots, or was it always him? Shade flies from my shoulder as his scent engulfs me, and my body comes alive at his touch.

He pulls me tighter against him, breaking the kiss and moving his lips to my jaw. “I knew you were mine,” he says in a low voice, his breath hot on my skin.

At his words, images of his orgies with the humans flash in my mind, and my eyes fly open, my hand reaching for a blade.

“Fuck.” He staggers back in surprise and keeps eye contact with me as he removes the dagger I’ve just wedged into his side.

“That’s for bedding all those humans when you knew we were fated,” I tell him.

He gives me a seductive smile. “I didn’t sleep with any humans. I merely lured you closer because I knew you hadn’t figured it out yet.”

My mouth opens and then closes again as I recall every time I’d visited his clan house over the past months. Each time I’d found demons from his house romping with a human, but…he’d always been watching. I’d assumed he’d either had his turn earlier, or he was hardcore into voyeurism and was planning to get involved after.

“Wait, he brought the humans to Seral, knowing I’d visit him?” I send to Shade, still not believing any of this.

“Is it any less believable than being matched to a member of the Drozac?” she responds dryly.

She has a point, but I only scowl at him, knowing that he’s been messing with me these past months. “Aren’t I the lucky she-demon,” I say sarcastically.

He tosses me my dripping blade, and I catch it with one hand. Honestly, at this point I’m beyond annoyed at Lady Fate. First, she matched me with an archangel who doesn’t want me, then a shifter thief, who I have a feeling wants too much from me, followed by an assassin who hates me, and now the demon who has a reputation that’s dirtier than his wicked mouth, even if he didn’t bed the humans.

“What did I do wrong?” I send to Shade. “Because I’m clearly being punished.”

She only laughs as if finding out I’m fated to Dante is great news.

“Don’t sound so happy,” I scold. “We both know he has baggage. He has probably broken the hearts of half the females in Seral city, and possibly even some of the males. The last thing I need is petty exes coming after me.”

“You’re going to be the queen, Blake. No she-demon in her right mind is going to come after you. Not if they value their life anyway.”

It’s a fair point, but I’m still irritated.

“So, I guess there are four of us now,” Dante says as he saunters past the other demon alphas and stands near Nate and Prince Callan like he belongs there. “Though, I still don’t see the fourth.”

“Don’t worry, he’s a great addition to our odd…group,” Prince Callan says dryly.

Nate claps Dante on the back. “You’ll love him.”

Dante raises a brow at the shifter, and Nate grins.

I’m torn between feeling like I want to bone the lot of them or strangle them. Such is my life.

“I’m sure I will,” Dante replies to Nate, then his gaze settles back on me. “Shall we drink to celebrate our new…friendship?”

I hesitate. I’m pretty keen to keep moving, but the other demons are all staring at me, waiting to hear my response, and the fire does look inviting.

I turn to Nate and Prince Callan, and when neither of them protest, I nod once. “Fine, but we’re not staying for long.”