Chapter 37

ChapterThirty-Seven

Selene floated through the next few days. He’d gone back to the castle, according to Minerva, and he hadn’t said goodbye to her. But she still had the faintest memory of a hazy morning wrapped in his warmth. How he’d stroked her hair like she was made of glass and how his heart beat underneath her cheek.

It was enough for a while. But by the second day, a few stray thoughts of doubt plagued her. She didn’t want to think about why he had disappeared. She didn’t want to think about anything other than how he’d completely changed the way she would ever view sex.

He was... magnificent. That was the only thought in her mind. She’d never truly had sex until him and now all she could think about was being in bed with him, him in her mouth, his fingers between her thighs.

She couldn’t stop having those lustful thoughts, and she swore everyone else could sense it in her. Even her sisters gave her a wide berth when they walked around her.

Other than Ursula, of course. Her dearest sister who had been suspiciously absent since Selene had returned.

“Don’t you have something else to do?” Selene asked as they meandered toward the dining hall. “I know how busy everyone is. It’s strange to not be one of the busy ones.”

Her sister laughed, and the chiming sound was like bells ringing through the halls. “I’m happy to spend time with you, Selene. Any chores can wait.”

Except they couldn’t. Which meant that Minerva had told Ursula to keep an eye on her. Selene wasn’t foolish. She knew she wasn’t welcome back in the Tower, but what she couldn’t figure out was why. Beyond what she was supposed to do, beyond the meaning of her life as Minerva would say, why did her entire family seem to not want her?

Frowning, she peered into the dining room where all her other sisters waited before glancing over at Ursula with a sly expression. “Do you want to go to our hiding place again? You can tell me what’s really going on in this castle.”

Ursula’s face paled. “Um... We shouldn’t. Mother has been very strict about what we’re allowed to do. You’re supposed to go back to studying with the others...”

Minerva had thought putting Selene back in the same life she’d had before would somehow convince her that this was the better way to live. Or something like that. Maybe her plan was to remind Selene how nostalgic it was to be here, as though she were a child again.

“Oh, come on.” She grabbed Ursula’s hands and held them close to her heart. “I’ll tell you all about the castle. There are so many stories to tell you about the people there, the way they live, the clothing. I haven’t gotten any time with you at all since I’ve been home. Not really.”

The words were manipulative and even she could admit that. But she couldn’t go back to that cold room with the others when all she wanted was to splash the entire space with a little color. Maybe bright red, just to make them all come alive again.

“Selene...” Ursula’s face paled even more and then she grabbed onto her. Ursula pulled her to the side, away from the doorway and into a small alcove that was likely intended to be a reading space. “There’s something I need to tell you. You have to put all your effort into being like us again. You’ve changed and Mother doesn’t like that.”

“I know she doesn’t like it.” But Selene liked it. For the first time in her life, she felt as though she was doing something right. “People change, Ursula. Going to the castle, living the way they do, it would be impossible to stay the same. Did she really believe that I wouldn’t change?”

“Yes,” Ursula hissed. “And if you don’t go back to yourself, she’s going to—”

They both fell silent at the sound of rapid footsteps. The clacking of heels had them stumbling out of the alcove and standing straight. Waiting for their mother to walk past them.

“You little witch,” Minerva hissed. She stalked toward Selene with no attempt at slowing. Her mother barreled into her, catching a hold of Selene’s face and slamming her back to the wall. “You told him to come here, didn’t you? Two weeks, Selene. That’s all I asked him for.”

“I didn’t—“ Selene tried to jerk her head out of her mother’s grasp. A faint burning at the back of her neck sent panic skittering down her spine. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The demon is here. Two weeks early,” Minerva said, slamming Selene’s head back against the wall even harder. “I thought I made myself very clear, Selene. No one was to summon the demon here until you were back to yourself. He has affected you in ways that none of us could ever have guessed. You are no longer my daughter, and I want her back.”

A burst of anger seared through her soul. Selene shoved at her mother, catching the other woman by surprise because no other sorceress would dare touch the High Sorceress like that.

But the shove made her feel better. So, as her mother’s grip loosened on her face, Selene shoved her again.

Minerva stumbled back, shock on her features as she stared at Selene as though she’d lost her mind. And maybe she had. Or maybe she was finally experiencing what it felt like to be herself.

“I’m not going to be that little girl you raised any more,” she said, her voice strong and sure. “I don’t want to be. This is the first time that I’ve gone out on my own, and the changes that may or may not happen to me are natural, Mother. You can’t keep me locked up forever.”

And there was her mistake.

Selene had always thought that Minerva looked at her and all the other young women like daughters. She called them all by the name. She’d taken them in. Given them a roof over their head and trained them to use their magic. No one else had done that for all the lost girls of this kingdom.

But Minerva was not the woman that Selene had been raised to believe she was.

Minerva’s expression hardened. “You ungrateful little brat. I gave you everything, and this is how you repay me?”

“By becoming my own woman, yes.”

“By going against everything you promised me you would do. By falling in love with a demon and selling your soul to him. You want me to believe you are more than a foundling? Then prove it. Give me something to use against him, Selene. Or you will never return to this place as my daughter.”

The words stung. But not as much as they might have months ago.

Selene tilted her chin up and met her mother’s triumphant gaze. “Then I will not return.”

Silence stretched between them. Stunning and dark, as magic crackled between them.

“Selene,” Ursula whispered. “You don’t mean that.”

“I will renounce this family if I must. You were not a good mother. You are not a good High Sorceress either. Everything you’ve done has been for yourself and I see that now. I see right through the lies and the torture and the torment. Nothing that you made me endure turned me into a better person.” Selene clenched her hands into fists. “That took a demon to show me. And I’m ashamed to admit that I wouldn’t have seen it on my own.”

The air popped. Minerva’s magic gathered at her fingertips and Selene knew that she only had a few moments to run. She’d seen what Minerva could do to those she had no use for. She knew exactly how much it would hurt, too. It was hard to forget the sizzle of lightning as it rocked through her body.

The spell that fell from Minerva’s lips was not that, however. It was much darker.

Selene didn’t quite recognize the words, but she heard Ursula’s gasp as her sister threw herself at their mother. It was like time slowed. Ursula’s frantic movement couldn’t stop Minerva from whispering whatever curse flew from her lips.

Selene felt it strike her. The words opened up some darkness that they’d placed inside her. It spread inside her like wide wings, burning at the base of her neck as she realized why Minerva had painted the mark.

“What have you done?” she whispered before the doors to the Tower blasted open.

She thought she’d felt dark magic in that moment when her mother unleashed her curse? She’d been very wrong.

Evil walked into the Tower. It simmered below her feet and stretched up in dark tendrils of shadows that left dark stains in their wake. And then evil was given a voice that rumbled the very stones that held up the Tower.

“Selene.” The voice called for her, and she felt it in her bones. “Where are you?”

Minerva glared at her, then gestured with an arm for her to go. “He calls for you, foundling. Your demon awaits.”

And that was when it hurt. She’d given up her family, her people, all for him. For the beast who stood at the door and couldn’t even give her time to make amends for what she’d done.

Panic swelled as the realization of what she’d done really settled in. Maybe she should try to fix things with her mother. At the very least, she should say goodbye to Ursula. Maybe Bathilda as well. She needed a few more days to make amends with the little girl in her chest that didn’t want to leave.

Selene had a right to all that. She needed to take that time for herself and yet he was stealing that by being here too early. He hadn’t given her time to heal.

Then another traitorous part of her felt vindicated. Because she’d missed him.

And even if her mother didn’t want her, nor her sisters who had largely ignored her since she’d gotten back, it didn’t matter. None of it mattered because he was here. For her.

Minerva read those thoughts in her mind as though she’d said them out loud. Her mother leaned closer and hissed, “You’re nothing more than property to him. He’s here to take back what is his, but that doesn’t mean he cares for you. He’s a demon, Selene. Don’t forget that he has no ability to feel anything other than lust.”

“Maybe that’s all I need,” she whispered. Then turned to make her way to the front of the Tower. She couldn’t deny his order any more than her body could deny the flare of heat and the rush of wetness between her thighs as a low growl filled the tower.

“There you are,” he growled. “Selene, I can taste you.”

Her cheeks burned bright red, but she held her head high. She stepped around the center staircase and there he was.

Lust stood in all his glory, just as he had all those months ago. The corset around his chest was too tight, and his eyes blazed with heat. The horns on his head were larger. She had no question about that, and somehow he seemed even bigger. Which wasn’t possible. Was it?

“Lust,” she whispered, and his eyes locked on her. There was something in his gaze that unsettled her.

As though he were frantic to see her. As though part of him didn’t think he’d ever see her again.

Why?

Ursula raced up behind her and grabbed onto her arm. “Wait, Selene, you can’t go with him.”

“I don’t want to be here.” She held onto Ursula’s hand, and then gently pushed it away. “I don’t want to stay where I am not wanted. Can’t you see that? He wants me to be with him and I want to be with him as well. This is a good thing, Ursula. I’m sorry we have to say goodbye, though. We might be able to figure out another way to see each other.”

Maybe she would get all her sisters out from under her mother’s thumb. Maybe that was how she fixed this. By taking over the Tower herself, or building another one entirely. Lust would support her. He’d probably build it right next to this one just to spite Minerva.

“No, Selene, you don’t understand.”

Minerva stalked into the room and shoved Ursula away from her. “She is no longer your sister, Ursula. Get back with the others.”

That was when she noticed all the rest of her sisters standing at the railings. One on every level. They stared down at her with cold, vacant eyes.

And Selene realized she would never convince any of them to come with her. She’d lost them the moment she defied Minerva’s wishes.

“Selene,” Lust snarled. “Come here.”

But her eyes stayed on Minerva’s, and her voice rang. “This was my home. The only one that I was ever given. I trusted you to not take it away like everyone else. I see I misplaced my trust in a woman who has no idea what that means.”

She hoped her words would sink through whatever haze her sisters were stuck in. Perhaps they could see the light for a brief moment and understand that if Minerva could do this to Selene, then she could do it to any of them.

Until Minerva spoke again. “Then you should have earned that trust.” Her mother’s face twisted into an ugly snarl. “You should have deserved this family’s love.”

Oh, and if that didn’t make her heart ache.

She thought she had deserved their love. She’d always thought that she had given enough to this family for them to at least love her back. Was it so much to ask for someone to love her? For someone to care that she existed?

Hands shaking, she clutched her heavy skirts so no one would see. Instead, she squared her shoulders and walked toward her demon king.

He eyed her with those glowing purple eyes, and they lingered on every part of her. As though he could see right through her fear, right through her skin, and he needed to make sure not a single part of her was harmed. When he met her gaze, she knew the moment he saw her heart breaking. He bared his teeth in a terrible snarl, and she swore she saw his skin ripple.

With those sharp teeth bared, he turned that icy gaze to her mother. “You will pay for this, Minerva.”

“I will pay for nothing.” Minerva’s eyes glazed over Selene, and she couldn’t help but wonder what the two of them knew that neither of them had shared. “You, Demon, will be the one to pay. I cannot say I am shocked that this happened. But I will admit, I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried.”

The snarl that ripped out of him was nothing short of beast-like. “She is mine, Sorceress. And I will tear this world apart if you touch so much as a hair on her head.”

Why would her mother ever hurt her?

But then Selene looked back and saw the determination in Minerva’s gaze. Her entire body went ice cold, and Selene gently touched a finger to the mark on her neck.

She wouldn’t. Would she?

Lust slipped a clawed hand behind her back and turned her toward the doors. Selene let him guide her from the Tower without ever looking back.

She was afraid of what she’d see if she did.