7. Lusting for Answers

ASHER

I knotted her.

I couldn't breathe as I stared down at the girl. It was no secret that I treated myself to every pussy that caught my eye, but I had taken every single one of them with an iron grip on myself. Never once had the feral beast within me taken hold like this. My control had snapped the moment my name had come off her tongue instead of my title. It seemed to awaken a hunger within me that I didn't know had been lurking there.

As my heart slowed in my chest, I realized my pet was no longer uttering a noise. Panic leaked into my veins until I noticed her chest was still rising. She was breathing, but the poor thing was out cold. It was never easy to bed a demon, which made it a risky business for any mortal to do so. That didn't mean Quinn was an exception to the rule because she was a hybrid. All that mixed blood had done was simply driven her to unconsciousness while she recovered.

Keeping my eyes locked firmly on her face, I tried to pull out of her. The fear haunting me only intensified when I couldn't get my cock anymore than an inch out of her. The majority of it was still locked inside. I wasn't going anywhere until the swelling went down and her body released me. Sucking in a ragged breath, I shifted my gaze to the fresh bite wound on her breast.

The marking beneath all the blood was faint, but it would grow stronger with every passing minute. It was surreal to see my family's emblem on her fair skin. The mark would never be left during sex unless the conditions were right — between an incubus and a succubus. My arms started to tremble beneath me, forcing me down onto one elbow.

How did this happen?

I was the prince of the Aeternus royal family, hailing from Italy. My boldness was helping my father expand his empire while the angels faltered under the weight of their debt to us. While he hid away in the family home, I was carrying out the groundwork to remove them all from our path. That wasn't going to mean a damn thing if I developed a weakness on the verge of a war.

Pounding from the front door drew my attention. The tension in my body merely grew as my unwanted guest continued. When it ceased, the relief didn't get a chance to settle in before my cell phone started to vibrate in my discarded jeans. My heart skipped a beat as the panic grew. I tried pulling from Quinn again, only to find the swelling still dominant. "Fuck." I swore softly.

I was forced to endure a few rounds of my cell phone vibrating before the unanswered call was redirected to voicemail. It didn't matter how strong the sense of urgency haunted me. I couldn't do a damn thing while I was locked inside my pet's body. The tension grew when I realized the vibration had finally stopped. There were no more rounds for it to break the silence.

Loud banging from the front of the apartment caused me to jolt. "Where the fuck are you, Asher?"

Shit.

Every part of me yearned for the ability to simply teleport out of the apartment. While I did carry that unique ability, the gift didn't mean a damn thing while I was dealing with a knot. Quinn would simply go with me and the end result would be a chaotic mess. It was safer for the both of us for me to stay put.

It wasn't long until Nico found his way to the guest room. As soon as he reached the doorway and his crimson eyes found me, the rage painting his face dissolved.

I gritted my teeth until my jaw cried out in agony. "Don't fucking say it."

His laughter echoed off the walls. The sound was eerie enough considering the viking demon lord rarely ever let this emotion show. Yet there he stood, almost doubling over at the sight of me on the bed with his braid smacking him in the face. "W-What the hell happened?" he rasped.

My upper lip curled to expose my fangs. "What do you think?"

The reality of my situation seemed to fully sink in and the amusement faded instantly. Nico blinked. "Wait, really? You knotted her? I thought she was a hybrid."

"She is," I growled. Turning my face away, I struggled to keep my emotions in check. "Half human…half succubus."

"Well, fuck."

Scoffing, I stared at the unconscious woman beneath me. "You're telling me. This was not what I had in mind when I ordered her into my possession."

"Right. She was just supposed to be a fuck doll for you to break." Nico shook his head and came to a halt a few feet away. He ran his fingers through his hair while he studied the scene he had managed to stumble into. "You should've just put her to death with the others, boss."

It took everything I had not to curl my fingers into the mattress. With how much raw emotion was tearing through my system right now, I would easily rip the material and risk severing the metal pieces woven together beneath it. "That doesn't help me right now, does it?"

The demon lord surprised me by pulling out the gun tucked into the back of his jeans. All it took was one swift movement to flip the safety off and put a bullet into the chamber. He came right up to the bed to press the muzzle against Quinn's temple. "I can fix that."

Grabbing the gun was the last thing I expected to do, especially when Nico was willing to give me an out to a very fragile situation. That didn't stop my hand from shooting out. My fingers curled around the barrel of the weapon and I managed to force the gun down before he could fire. The bullet pierced the wooden floorboards beneath the bed, away from my pet.

Nico blinked, stunned.

My palm stung from having such a firm grip on hot metal. It was the least of my concerns. I hadn't anticipated stopping him from doing the one thing I could not. The fact that I had simply brought me right back to the messy situation that I had found myself in.

Quinn was a succubus, even if she wasn't a full blood, and my body had become hooked on her from the moment we crossed paths. As long as my mind was foggy from her presence, I wasn't going to think clearly enough to let anyone remove her. Which meant killing her was impossible until I was out of range.

"So… That isn't an option." Nico's voice was soft.

I finally managed to pry my fingers off the weapon. "Nope."

The fact that I couldn't allow him to remove the growing obstacle still lying unconscious on my bed was bringing some dangerous theories to the surface. An incubus couldn't get addicted to a succubus' body from just one fucking. It was wild sex, certainly, but such a rapid bond could only mean something that hadn't crossed my mind in centuries.

How did this happen?I was a thousand years past the expiration date of such a situation. Yet here I was…imprisoned by her body.

It took a moment for the demon lord to move. He flipped the safety back on before returning the gun to its proper place. As he tugged his shirt back over it, his lips twitched into a small smirk. "I don't think I've ever seen this expression on your face. It's quite entertaining, actually."He left the room behind with his footsteps heading straight for my bedroom. When he returned, he had a shirt for me in his hand.

A deep growl rumbled from within my chest. "Is there a reason why you came by my home, Nico?"

"Aside from the fact that you weren't answering my first set of calls?" He spread his hands in a casual shrug. "Men have been on Marcillo since the meeting—"

"Get to the point!" I snapped.

The demon lord responded with an irritable huff. "We lost them. Angels left town."

The rage brewing beneath the surface quickly spiraled out of control. It tore through my veins with so much heat that I immediately became restless. Although I was absolutely livid by the news, it did help to finally kill the swelling in my cock. I pulled from Quinn with a snarl. "Whose men were assigned to them?"

Nico watched me grab my clothes from the floor. There wasn't an ounce of shame within him as he watched me use my own shirt to wipe myself off, leaving a red hue to the white material. "Archer's."

I paused, one hand still fisted around my cock. "Archer's," I repeated.

He nodded slightly. "Hence why I needed to talk to you. Marcillo doesn't have enough juice to teleport often, which means he was more than willing to use what he had left just to get out of town."

Releasing a livid snarl, I tossed the ruined shirt into a nearby hamper and pulled on the rest of my clothing. "I want all eyes on the ground until we find out where that bastard jumped to."

"Already on it, boss."

I paused. "I want Archer brought to me."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Sir?"

My eyes swung toward him. "I want to know how someone who doesn't lose a target managed to have two of them slip out under his watchful eye. I'm after answers, Nico."

No matter who I have to force them out of.

For now, there was absolutely no point with dwelling on what I couldn't control. I seized the collar around Quinn's neck and willed the metal to part, allowing me to hoist her up into my arms. I pushed past Nico, carrying her into my own personal bathroom. My mind had gone from a cluster of thoughts to absolutely nothing as I eased her into the claw tub. I maneuvered her so that she wouldn't slip while I turned the water.

"Archer wouldn't let them go, boss." Nico's voice came from behind me.

I turned my head slightly while the water started filling the tub. "I know." My voice was soft. "It is not in Archer's nature to lose a target. I need to find out how this happened before Marcillo tries to use the good shipment of guns that he does have."

I had to get a firm grip on this situation before the carpet was snapped out from beneath me and I lost this war before it had even started.

I only lingered in the bathroom long enough to add a touch of soap that would essentially help clean the hybrid's body while she soaked in the water. The magic humming within the thick walls would simply ensure she didn't sink under before she regained consciousness and it would even help chase away some of the lingering pain from our rough lovemaking.

The twitch of Nico's eyebrow warned that I was going further for this delicate little creature than I had with any of the pets I'd obtained in the past. The demon lord wisely kept his mouth shut, especially when I sent a soft snarl in his direction. He didn't break the tense silence until I stormed out of the bathroom, leaving him to follow in tow and tug the door shut behind him. "I've gotten a hold of Archer. He'll be here shortly."

There were so many emotions brewing beneath the surface that I was shaking from trying to contain them all. If anything else was tossed onto the pile, I risked losing control over the beast within me completely. It wasn't a situation that I often found myself in, but today was a day that simply exceeded what I was used to.

I made a beeline for the bar tucked into the corner and searched the wine bottles to find something specific from my days as a child. I didn't respond until I'd managed to find the faded label that I had been looking for. "Want some?" I inquired softly, pulling two delicate glasses down automatically.

Nico offered a small nod while he watched me pop the cork open and fill the glasses halfway. His eyebrows furrowed even more as he watched me go through the motions with jagged movements. "I am aware that this is bothering you, Asher, but you have not touched that specific wine since your mother's funeral." He approached the bar with slow, cautious steps while I immediately downed my own glass. "The migaria wine is reserved for someone's passing."

"I'm aware of what the wine is meant for in my own family, Nico." I slammed the glass back onto the bar and immediately refilled it, this time bringing it almost all the way to the rim.

The demon lord reached out. Instead of accepting the glass that I had poured for him, he took the wine bottle instead. "So whose death are you mourning? Because as we all know, your father is still alive and well. Even if he's become a secluded hermit in the passing centuries. Is it your death you're preparing for?" He jammed the cork back into the mouth of the bottle.

It was a valid question and not one that I had an answer to. I released a noise merged between a stifled sigh and an annoyed growl. I consumed half of the alcohol within the glass before I finally put it back down on the bar. It took me a moment to even realize that Nico was shifting his body. By the time I caught on, he'd already snatched the glass out of my reach. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I hissed.

"I could ask you the same." Nico added the glass to the end of the bar, well out of my reach. "Answer my question and I might return it to you."

Scowling, I simply settled for the abandoned glass that the demon lord had never touched. I was in no mood to comply with such an unreasonable request.

The demon lord seemed to sense that. He simply lifted his chin and scoffed softly. "We've known each other for a very long time, Asher. Our families have grown up together. While we were learning the ways of our own bloodline, our fathers dined together. I know how you behave when you're struggling to maintain a grip on everything around you. The mere fact that you're drinking this goddamn wine just goes to show how much you're slipping." He cocked his head slightly. "This is not a time to show weakness."

I tightened my grip on the glass until the material cracked under the pressure. When it shattered and the shards sliced into my skin, I jerked back with a livid hiss. "I'm not slipping." I snarled at him as I reached under the bar to retrieve a clean rag. While I wrapped the rough material around my hand to keep the blood from staining the bar, I avoided making eye contact with him.

"You put your new pet in the bath." Nico's tone was just as icy as it was flat.

"So?"

The demon lord leaned against the bar, his crimson eyes honing in on me. "You've taken just as many pets as the rest of us, from every race that has walked the earth. Not a single one of them were treated this way. You didn't give a damn about the rest of them. Aside from this one being a partial succubus, what else has you hung up on her?"

Gritting my teeth, I focused on tightening the rag around the wound while my mind reeled from all the questions he'd thrown my way. I couldn't argue with a single one. It was true that this pet was vastly different from the others, even if I couldn't quite figure out why. Nico had tried giving me an out by simply eliminating Quinn. The fact that I couldn't allow it added to the growing weakness that originated from her.

How could I win this impending war when the angels had one hell of a target they could use against me?

I released a soft groan, closing my eyes. "There's something different about her, Nico. From the moment I saw her, I had to own her. She's becoming an addiction that I can't control. There's only one thing it might be, and…"

The demon lord remained quiet for a moment. When I didn't make a move to break the sudden silence, he prompted, "And?"

"And we're a thousand years too late for that," I finished with a scowl.

He drew his head back slightly, stunned by what I was even suggesting.

Quiet knocking from the front door drew both of our gazes in that direction. My fingers instinctively curled, pushing the rough material further into the cuts. As much as the physical contact stung, I couldn't bring myself to relax my hold.

Nico threw a quick glance at me. "We're not done with this conversation," he warned. With a deep growl, he drifted toward the front of the house to let in our guest.

My upper lip curled to expose my demonic fangs, although my snarl died long before the noise could rumble within my chest. I remained perched against the bar until the demon lord returned with Archer in tow. My eyes swung his way, causing Archer to stiffen. "What happened?"

My voice was so soft that it took both of the demons off guard. Clearly, they had expected for my temper to spiral out of control until one of them ended up on the floor, bleeding.

Archer shared a weary look with Nico, who only shrugged in return. A heavy sigh escaped him and those amethyst eyes rested on me. "I don't know, Asher. My men had the hotel completely surrounded. Every exit was covered and I had cameras installed on every floor. Marcillo never walked out of that hotel. I had him on camera until an hour ago."

"Did he make any stops on the way back to the hotel?"

"No." Archer approached the bar with cautious steps. His gaze shifted toward the abandoned wine bottle, although he didn't make any movement toward it. Those piercing eyes simply narrowed slightly and he pressed on to grab a seat across from me. "One of my men did report a burst of magic coming from the limo. Whoever popped out of the car ran a quick errand and they were back before we could tell who was missing."

I flexed my right hand, using the waves of pain tearing up my arm to help chase away the haze haunting my mind. It wasn't ideal in any way, yet it gave me brief moments of the clarity that I desperately needed at a time like this. "Were there any additional heat signatures in the car?"

"No, boss. Just the angels and their driver."

Nico finally drifted back toward me, his crimson eyes locked on me. "What are you thinking?"

Straightening, I finally pulled away from the bar surface. "The angels have lost territory to us quite rapidly. Their prince doesn't have the same amount of juice he had when we were all young. As they turn over more to us, the weaker he becomes. I highly doubt Marcillo would risk using the last of his stash just to take a quick detour. However…"

"You think he forced his companion to run the errand for him?" Nico inquired. He took the stool beside Archer and rested casually against the bar.

An amused snort escaped me. "It is far easier for an angel to recover magic when they're not completely tapped out. Marcillo wouldn't hesitate to drain another dry just to give himself an out. He was fully aware that we were watching that hotel."

"The girl is still very much alive," Archer noted. "Whatever Marcillo used to get himself out without being seen wasn't a plan that covered both of them. He forced her to use up the last of what she had and left her out to dry."

The edges of my lips twitched. I resisted the urge to snort as I took a moment to imagine the shock painting poor Azaille's face when she realized her own prince was leaving her in the heart of demon territory. It was essentially putting her to death without the blood being on his own hand.

I was a cold bastard, but even I had my limits on what lines I wouldn't cross.

I hummed softly as I mused over Archer's words. "Is she still at the hotel?"

The demon lord's lips curled into a pleased smirk. "Drained as a whore."

"Take her home…" I slid my gaze over toward Nico. "...and do what you do best, old friend. I want to know how Marcillo got out of my town without being seen down to the source of his boost."

Nico responded with a slow nod. "And the other girl?"

Every single part of my body stiffened when the demon chose to speak our native tongue.

"What, his pet?" Archer's amusement faded and he threw a weary glance between the two of us. "You two haven't spoken tongues around me in centuries. What the hell did I miss before I got here?"

Nico eased off the stool, leaning close to his fellow demon lord. "Asher is stuck on the hybrid because he knotted her."

Rage flared up within me with so much strength that my vision went hazy again for a moment. "Who gave you permission to tell anyone else what you walked in on?" I snarled.

Archer's jaw dropped. Those purple irises flickered between us. "Wait — are you serious? You knotted a hybrid?"

"Does it really matter?" My icy tone caused the other demon to tense.

"It does when I tried to remove the problem and you stopped me." Nico only offered one final glance back at me before he started for the front door. "Take the time I'm using to pry answers from Azaiell to get your shit straight, Asher, before this really bites you in the ass."

Archer lunged off the stool, darting across the room to catch up with the other demon lord. "Are you serious? Did you really walk in on him—"

The front door slammed shut behind them, silencing the rest of Archer's excited question. I closed my eyes and jerked my face away with a soft snarl. It was frustrating to have been trapped in a pet's pussy like that. Having one of my own demon lords walk in on me to see it for himself just made the whole situation a lot worse. While it wasn't a huge blow to my ego that another demon lord now knew, it wasn't something I wanted to be spread around.

I trusted these men like they were my brothers, but this was still something I wanted to keep close to the chest until I figured out why Quinn made me react on that primal level when such a reaction shouldn't be possible now.

Quiet thudding from inside the bathroom drew my gaze over toward the closed door, still locked. The noise hadn't been caused by the hybrid trying to escape through it. She had chosen a different route — a slim window on the other side of the room. The poor thing just didn't realize my magic would keep it sealed shut until I allowed otherwise. There was a part of me that was sparked by the rage of my current predicament and I yearned to simply remove her from it entirely.

The sooner she was removed from my life, the better of my standing would be with the war.

My cock twitched, remembering the hot abyss that I had been trapped within. Being locked in her body certainly wasn't ideal, yet I had no desire to complain about the moments I had been alone with her. For a brief moment of time, I completely forgot who I was. My actions weren't being driven as the prince of the demonic race, their future king.

No, I was simply a man consumed by the same lust and hunger that she mirrored.

My eyes strayed toward the manilla folder that had been delivered by the clinic. I reached out to retrieve it. The file wasn't as thick as I would have liked, yet the good doctor had done the duty required of her. I skimmed all of the pages with the dire hope that I could uncover the cause of my lust for Quinn. Everywhere I looked, the answer was all the same.

She was a hybrid with a foot in the demon world, but there wasn't a single thing to hint whose blood it was that ran through her veins.

Prying the cell from my back pocket, I fired off a quick text to Mateo. The request was simple. Have the clinic run Quinn's blood against every single demonic family that held any standing in our world, including the six of them. With any luck, the answer the good doctor would stumble upon would give me the rage I needed to eliminate Quinn.

Until then, I needed to lock my new pet away in her room and simply bide my time.