Chapter 3

ChapterThree

“You’ve done well, daughter. Very well.”

It didn’t feel like that.

Selene could still feel his hands on her. How he’d carelessly held her shoulder, as though he didn’t think for a second that she’d try to slip away from him. The confidence in that grip, the strength, had frightened her.

More so, she’d felt him use that power of his. The one that made both men and women fall onto their knees and lose all sense. She’d watched over his shoulder as the woman behind the demon had been affected. The woman’s pupils dilated, and she’d grabbed at her own breast. The villager had been standing there, watching them with amusement just two seconds before all sense had fled her.

And if Selene hadn’t been able to hold on to her own emotions, what then? What would she have done?

Even melting that frozen wasteland inside of her held the lingering effects of his power. As though his magic never quite dispelled once it touched her. It waited for her to thaw just a little so she could feel him again.

Shivering, she shook her head to clear it of the thoughts and then nodded at her mother’s image in the small crystal ball she held. “I think a few more times for him to see me might do the trick.”

“You don’t think he’s interested in you already?”

How was she to know? Selene had never attempted to woo a man, or captivate them, or whatever it was she was doing here.

She chewed on her bottom lip, casting her eyes out over the buildings below her. “I’m not sure. I’d rather be certain that he needs to find me. That he’s compelled to come to the Tower…”

She didn’t finish, but she didn’t have to. The High Sorceress spoke over her. “Rather than wait for the temptation to draw him, you want him to hunt you down. Ever the intelligent one, aren’t you, my dear?”

A feeling deep inside her bones suggested she needed to talk to him more. That he’d been interested in her only because, for a split second, she was different. And for a being who had lived a thousand years, different wasn’t something he saw every day.

She wasn’t all that different, though. His powers didn’t work on her, no, but surely he’d met someone like that before. In his vast years and knowledge, there had to be someone who had been born with the same power as she.

Or maybe not. Maybe she was the first, and that was a problem.

Oh, by the seven kingdoms, if she was the first person with this power, then that would be a real problem.

“Keep doing what you’re doing,” her mother said, interrupting her thoughts. “Bring him here, child. Then let me handle the rest.”

Selene hadn’t asked what the “rest” was, nor did she want to know what would happen next. Her job would be complete the moment he walked into the Tower. “Understood.”

“Goodbye, child.”

Her mother’s face disappeared and Selene pocketed the crystal. She thought maybe Ursula had made it, but... it was hard to know. Her sisters were all so talented, and they studied so many books on sorcery. They knew more about the magical arts than she could ever dream of. Because Selene had been born for... this. So she had to wait until her first purpose was over with before she could become a sorceress like them.

Grumbling under her breath, she tugged on her extra set of travel clothes. She preferred to be clean, and this tavern hadn’t given her an opportunity for any bath last night.

She’d snuck in behind a couple who she was quite certain were actually having sex against the door, bartered with the innkeep who had asked her multiple times if she wanted to pay in “favors”, and then tried not to hate herself for being here. The room was dirty. The sheets were unwashed. And she’d had to wedge a chair underneath the door in fear someone would barge through it.

If she’d ever questioned whether Lust was a demon or not, now she knew for certain. The entire town had lost their minds last night, and no one seemed the wiser.

Gathering her things, she left her dusty room and headed downstairs. She needed to get some food in her, and hopefully some freshly brewed coffee. She had minimal hopes for the former. Almost zero hopes for the latter.

But her head hurt. She was exhausted from staring at the door all night, and she still hadn’t figured out how to tempt Lust any more than apparently bumping into him. Hard enough to make his breath wheeze a bit, which she was very proud of.

And so that was how she walked into the dining hall of the tavern, with a grin on her face. Memories of her first encounter with Lust being one of her besting him, ignoring the fact that they’d seen each other on the path to Greenbank, of course.

Sitting at the bar, she waited for the elderly man behind the counter to see her. “Breakfast?” he asked.

“I’d love that.”

He frowned, squinted his eyes, and then burst out laughing.

Why?

Looking behind her, she saw nothing other than new people entering the tavern. New people wearing clothing that was far too nice for a town like this.

Shit. Shit, of course he would come to the one tavern she was in. “Why are you laughing?” she hissed at the bartender.

“Well, ain’t you the woman who bumped into Lust last night and nearly knocked him off his feet?”

“Please stop talking about that.” She didn’t want any more attention than she was already getting.

“Ah, shy about it? What a shame. Seems like something that might surprise the lord enough to share his favor.” The man shrugged, but then set about getting her breakfast.

Selene pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head as the sound of boisterous men filled the room. Those who had already been in the tavern were overjoyed to hear that Lust was visiting their fine establishment! And wasn’t he to leave earlier? Oh, he was here for an extra night? Why was that?

She had a feeling it was because she’d left a small scrap of fabric behind and a few drops of her blood on it to boot. He might be a demon, but he was still man enough to wonder about that little mystery. A fair maiden runs away from him, bleeding? Surely that was something anyone of the masculine nature would want to hunt down.

His voice sent a shiver down her spine, even from the front door. “I have more to do here than I originally anticipated. The other towns have been informed.”

The sound of him wasn’t the only thing sending shivers through this tavern. A woman to her left suddenly squirmed in her seat, incapable of getting comfortable. Even the elderly man who brought her food back was sporting a tent in the front of his trousers that made her nauseous.

He saw her looking and grinned. “I love it when Lust is here. You know I haven’t been able to get it up for almost ten years now?”

“I couldn’t care less.” She grabbed the food and placed a single coin on the counter.

“Ah, well. You young ones will understand soon enough.” He leaned on the worn wood across from her, thankfully hiding his affliction now that Lust was around. “Where you from?”

Oh, they were talking? He thought this was acceptable?

If only she didn’t have to avoid a scene. Selene ground her teeth and replied, “Sapphire Falls.”

It was the first town she could think of, and honestly her favorite one in this kingdom. The falls really were sapphire. They tumbled down from the mountains and burst into bright white plumes that filled the air with the scent of saltwater. She’d loved it there when they visited, although the sorceresses so rarely left the Tower.

The old man frowned. “That’s a long way from here.”

“Been traveling a long time, and I’m afraid I’m a little too tired for civil conversation.”

The gleam in his eyes only intensified. “Did you know that’s the start of our lord’s rounds? Every year he visits Sapphire Falls first.”

She paused with the spoon halfway to her mouth. All she wanted was one damned bite. “I did not.”

“My lord!” the man shouted. “We’ve got a town hopper here! She’s been with you since Sapphire Falls, she says. Have you had the pity to talk with her yet?”

Damn it.

Damn it all. She was going to kill an elderly man, and it was a shame to end his life when he had so few years left.

“Keep your mouth shut,” she hissed, only to hear the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Well, far be it from me to keep any of my adoring followers waiting.” Lust sat down on the open barstool next to her, his back to the counter and his arms spread wide across it.

His hand almost hit the bowl of porridge, and she found she would have been interested to see it sink into the sticky gruel. It would serve him right to have disgusting fingers. Even for a few seconds.

But then his eyes lit upon her, even though she wasn’t looking at him. She could feel his gaze lingering on her features. He reached out, slowly, as though giving her time to flinch away. And then he dragged the hood off her head.

His fingers trailed across her cheek as he did so. A scorching line of heat lingered in their wake, long after his skin had stopped touching hers.

And those emotions all froze where they were and then sank deep underneath the prison of her mind. Still. Silent. Nearly dead if she wanted them to be.

“The little one from the village square,” he murmured. “I’ve been thinking about you.”

“I’m sure you’re mistaken.”

“Oh, no. I’m not.” He watched her, his eyes like the touch of his hand even though he had dropped it back onto the counter. “Do you know why I haven’t forgotten your face yet?”

She stared resolutely at the back of the bar. Every tavern she’d been to before this one had bottles on the shelves. But not this one. Instead, they had decorated with animal skulls and hides. She wondered if they didn’t have enough alcohol to display. Nothing was more depressing than seeing three bottles of rum with a tavern full of people.

A warm hand tucked underneath her chin, sliding up her jaw and then forcing her to turn her head and look at him.

So look at him, she did.

His lips were almost too full for a man. Soft and plush and oh so kissable. His features were largely undefined, so it was impossible to place where he’d come from or where his lineage might have started. A perfectly straight nose gave him an aristocratic quality, not to mention the dark slashes of his manicured brows. And at the top of his forehead twin horns coiled up his skull. They weren’t large, just larger than her hand, but they had a brilliance to them that made her think he’d dusted them in gold.

She noted that his clothing was odd, even for a place like this. While the men here were happy to wear well pressed suits made of wool and fine fabric, his was made of silk. It floated around his body in a billowing white shirt that was then trapped by what looked like a corset. Instead of making him look feminine or soft, it only accentuated how broad his shoulders were and how narrow his waist tapered.

“Well?” he asked, as though he knew she’d become rather dumbstruck by his face. “Do you?”

She wasn’t dumbstruck. She was merely observing.

Selene arched her brow. “I don’t think you remember me at all.”

“Are you suggesting I’m a liar?”

“There is no reason for a demon king to remember a nameless, faceless woman in a town far from his castle.”

That made his eyes widen a bit before a choked laugh escaped him. “Demon? Very few call me that.”

“Is that not what you are?”

His eyes searched hers, confusion marring his handsome features. He hesitated before replying, “No, actually. I am Lust.”

“I know who you are.”

“But you are confused by what I am.” He tapped a long finger against his chin, and she could physically feel everyone lean forward at that movement. The woman to her left even let out a little whine. Staring at the digit as though she wanted to suck it. Or ride it.

Selene was glad she couldn’t feel anything. Not a single thing but that ice cold disappointment. “I’m not confused in the slightest. Why are you talking to me?”

“Because you left something for me to find, and because you said something that I can’t seem to forget.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the square of her cloak that she’d left behind.

Of course he had it. Exactly as she’d planned.

Then he lifted it to his nose and inhaled. Taking a drag of her scent like her perfume was the antidote to a poison he’d ingested.

“I did not leave that for you.” She reached out and tried to snatch it from him.

“Ah, but you did. You left it for me and you said something that you knew I wouldn’t be able to ignore. Do you know what that was?”

Selene didn’t offer him a reply.

“That you were the beginning of something new. Do you know how impossible that is to a being over a thousand years old?” He laughed and the entire room laughed with him. “The last new thing I experienced was well over three hundred years ago. It was a young woman from Wolf Haven and she did this thing with her tongue that down right shocked me. Never experienced that before, probably never will again,” he added with a mutter.

“Am I not new?” she asked. Selene knew she shouldn’t play this game, but she found the faintest twinge of annoyance breaking through the ice.

She might not be unique, but he’d tracked her down, anyway. The ice broke just enough for her anger to guide her mind toward a solution.

He grinned at her, slow and controlled. “Not at all, pretty one. You’re just like all the rest.”

Oh, he thought his words would sting. They did not.

She lifted her piece of toast and crunched down on it. Taking her time to chew, she finally said, “And yet you’re here. Talking to me.”

Selene enjoyed watching his confident expression fall into one of confusion. Wrinkles even formed on that perfect brow. How many people got to see that face? So few.

He seemed to struggle to find words, another surprising thing to him, she was certain. So Selene took her time chewing her toast and then stood.

“Thank you for the delicious breakfast,” she sarcastically said to the tavern keep before turning her attention entirely to the demon spread out over the bar.

His slow, languid smile suggested he thought she had bent to him. Maybe there was a part of him that assumed he couldn’t sense her lust for some reason or another, but that she still felt it.

Selene’s confidence might be lacking in certain areas, but she was still a foundling of Silver Thread. Her mother was the High Priestess, and she had trained her entire life to lure him in.

She rested her own hands on the bar, just underneath his arms and close enough to his ribs to feel his heart rate pick up. Leaning in close, she said, “And I am the beginning of something new. You might not know who I am. You might not recognize anything different about me. But I assure you, Demon, you’ve never met someone like me before.”

And for good measure, she flicked one of his stupid horns just to see the gold dust fall off them.

“Of course. Glitter,” she muttered in disgust. “Goodbye, Lust.”

Selene left him with his mouth hanging open, still dramatically draped over the bar. She let herself feel for a small second, and with that came a rush of what felt like victory.