3. Thane

3

THANE

I’m still thinking about the human woman an hour later when I’m led by that blasted demon Ramanu into a large room containing two of the three other territory leaders. Even knowing to expect it, I can’t help tensing as I move past them to the inset pool of salt water Azazel has provided. I’m sure the demon knows it’s not actually necessary—I hardly dry out after being out of water for only a few hours—but if the other territory leaders underestimate my abilities, I would rather they continue to do so.

Azazel’s thoughtfulness makes me suspicious. He’s better than his predecessor and shows no inclination to conquer the entire realm, but I’d be a fool to think that isn’t a possibility. He’s offering a sweet bribe, but I’ve been around long enough to look for the poison hidden within.

More, I simply don’t want to be here.

I have no interest in siring children or taking a partner, even in name. Not after?.?.?.

I shudder and try to cover the involuntary movement. Best not to think of my past, not here while surrounded by predators. To distract myself, I survey the other territory leaders. There’s Rusalka, with her indolent smile that doesn’t quite hide the potential for violence in every line of her tall body. Bram, the most human-looking of us?.?.?. as long as one doesn’t pay attention to the giant wings tucked tight against his body. Or his tail. Or his horns. His long white hair is looking particularly lustrous today. Bastard.

The doors open and Sol stalks through. It takes all my considerable control to remain still as the big dragon passes me. Our territories haven’t had a conflict in some time, but old grudges run deep.

It’s not his fault Brant’s dead. It wasn’t his hand that killed my beloved. It wasn’t even during one of those conflicts.

But it was one of his people who murdered my husband.

“Shall we begin?” Azazel, as always, has impeccable timing. There’s a reason the bargainers haven’t needed to involve themselves in skirmishes with the other territories recently, and he’s it. He’s too smooth for my liking, but I can’t deny that the entire realm has stabilized since he took over for his people.

Tonight is an extension of that striving for peace. It’s entirely possible this whole thing a trap, but I don’t think so. The other leaders may waste time chasing their respective tails and trying to prove who’s the most dangerous. I don’t. I prefer to watch from the depths, weighing their words and actions and considering paths forward. My people are the least in number, and while we can retreat to the deep where none of the others can reach us, if necessary, it’s my job to ensure we don’t have to make that choice.

Hence my presence here tonight.

I have no need for a human or desire for an heir. I have my heir in the form of my sibling, Embry. As for mating with humans to increase our territory’s magic?.?.?. Should Embry decide that’s necessary, that’s for zir to plan and enact. Humans are incredibly potent conductors for magic; it’s why all the races of this realm and others rushed to procreate with them all those generations ago. A half-human leader would boost our territory’s power exponentially. It just won’t be my child who plays that role.

The lights go low over the main room, and the ones pointing at the short dais brighten, signaling that we’re about to begin. About time. The others shift as the humans walk through a door and up onto the dais. I don’t have much experience with humans as a whole, but best I can tell, they all seem to be fine specimens of their people.

“Make your choices,” Azazel says softly.

I barely listen as the others claim their prizes. I recognize one of these sacrifices to Azazel’s ambition; the soft brunette who mouthed off when I arrived. I narrow my eyes. What game is the demon playing? Are these more than the peace offering he claims? What other reason would he have to send one as a welcome, even if it was one I found wanting?

It doesn’t make sense. I could have snapped her neck. Drowned her. Hurt her in a thousand different ways. While claiming a human from this auction will require a demon bargain, I’m under no such geas now.

No, he didn’t send her. He wouldn’t risk such a valuable piece of his plan. Which begs the question?.?.?. Why was she there?

Azazel turns and looks in my direction. It’s only then that I realize Bram and Rusalka have chosen their humans; there’s only Sol and I left. I exchange a look with him, but he doesn’t immediately speak. Ceding the final choice to me. It would be so much easier to hate the dragon if he wasn’t so damned conscientious.

My human is still left.

What am I thinking? She’s not mine. She never will be. The smart thing to do would be to choose the other, to avoid strange thoughts like that. She is dressed in white and has fetching bright red hair. She’s also trembling, just a little. Not enough that it’s visible, but I am uniquely tuned to water, and what are humans if not water based? She’s terrified.

My human isn’t scared. She’s clothed—if one can call wearing that scrap of dress “clothed”—in a deep blue that makes me think of home. It hugs her curves, showing off a body that had been mostly hidden when I saw her earlier. “Blue,” I find myself saying.

Sol’s shoulders drop the tiniest bit—in relief?—and he claims the one in white. Then it’s over. Things happen quickly after that. The women are brought off the dais to their respective territory leaders, and the pairs are in turn escorted to a series of doors that have appeared around the perimeter of the room.

I hold ours open for my human without thinking. She’s watching me with a strange emotion, but it doesn’t feel like fear. That’s a relief. I have little time for fear; comfort is not one of my skill sets.

The room we find ourselves in is small and unadorned. I inhale deeply. The humidity in here is significantly higher than it was in the greater room. It’s an effort not to roll my eyes. Azazel is laying it on too thick. It would take days for most of my people to reach a danger point. Over a week for me, because of my inherent magic as king. Truly, he’s just showing off.

“I’m surprised you picked me.” She says it so matter-of-factly, it takes me a moment to register the words. By that time, the woman has turned away to stare at the rivulets of water that begin coursing down the stone walls. I don’t see the small divot form at the bottom to catch the water, but it’s there by the time I look down.

She looks back at me, a frown forming between her dark brows. She’s very attractive. She’s got a softness that I find intriguing despite myself. It doesn’t matter. She’ll be well taken care of, and I won’t see much of her after we travel back to my territory. I’m sure some of my informal court will find her attractive as well. She’ll have no shortage of partners should she desire them.

“Why did you pick me?”

I look away. “You’re all the same to me. One human is as good as another.”

Her breath hitches, but when I look back, she’s smiling at me. I shift back before I realize what I’m doing. There is something wrong with that smile. And it’s not an overt threat, but there’s a shine to her eyes that makes my tentacles twitch in warning. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?” She takes a step closer to me. “I’m not doing anything.”

“Yes, you are, and I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to be scared of me, King Kraken. I don’t even like sushi.”

My brain skips. “You don’t like—”

She opens her mouth, no doubt to deliver another confounding and irritating statement, but the door opens before she can say something else. Azazel walks through and raises his brows. “Do we have a problem?”

“Not at all.” The dangerous shine in her eyes melts away as if it were never there, and she laces her hands before her, the very picture of obedience.

I don’t trust it for a moment.

“Azazel?.?.?.” I’m not certain what I mean to say. I can’t be the only territory leader to leave this auction without a human in tow. Our realm is at peace for the time being, but that doesn’t change the fact conflict is as certain as the tide. None of us reached our positions without cost, and each of us would start a war in a heartbeat if we thought it would benefit our people.

He moves deeper into the room, and I turn to find a desk has appeared. The demon circles it and sinks behind it. He rolls out a contract. “The terms, as agreed.”

“You’ll forgive me if I read it over one last time before signing.”

His mouth tightens. “A bargain is sacred.”

Of that I have no doubt. Just like I have no doubt Azazel is capable of plenty of underhanded behavior when it suits him. “All the same.”

He sighs and shoves the contract at me.

It takes several long moments to read it over, and I am achingly aware of the human the entire time. She shifts from foot to foot, swings her hands back and forth, and finally starts humming under her breath.

“Cease your fidgeting,” I snap. “You’re worse than a child.”

She instantly goes still. Again, something like guilt flares. I don’t know how to be around new people any longer, how to learn to ride the tides of their emotions. Losing Brant stole any softness I was capable of. My sibling has grown accustomed to my sharp edges and cold retreats, but this human hasn’t. I don’t know what prompted her into making a deal with Azazel, but surely I can make even the smallest effort to be kind.

Seven years is a long time to share a space, even if I have no intention of spending more time with her than strictly necessary.

But when I look at her, she has that wild smile firmly in place. It’s the only warning I get before she speaks, her voice honeyed. “If you were into age play, you should have just said something. Shall I call you daddy?”

“No.” The word comes out too sharp, but she’s set me back again, and I don’t know how to deal with this. “Do not, under any circumstances, call me that.”

She parts her lips, but Azazel cuts in. “That was a hard boundary, Catalina. Respect it.”

Catalina.

A pretty name for a pretty human. Even the way she scrunches her nose at him is pretty. “You’re definitely a Daddy.”

“Catalina.” There’s a hint of warning in the demon’s tone. “Do not test me.”

“I live to test you.” Her smile goes sweet. “But I’ll be good. I promise.”

“I don’t believe that for a moment.” He turns to me. “I don’t think this is a good pairing. Give me a few days, and I’ll find you a suitable replacement.”

“No.” I don’t know why I say it. In the short time I’ve associated with this woman, she’s more than proven herself to be a catastrophe in waiting. She will create waves in my carefully balanced life, and that is the last thing I want.

But I don’t miss the way her shoulders dip the tiniest bit at his offer. Resignation. That’s the emotion. As if Azazel’s words confirmed something she already knew. It’s a direct counterpoint to her previous cheer that bordered on animosity.

“Are you sure?” Azazel watches me closely. “If she is harmed, your territory is forfeit.”

“I’m aware,” I say slowly. “I chose her. I’ll keep her.” I set the contract on the desk and sign before he can offer again.

The contract itself is nothing more than I expected. Azazel laid out the terms in his invitation. No harm is to come to the human, and while the respective leaders can attempt to seduce their prizes, they cannot force—by any definition of the word—the woman into bed with themselves or any others. Violation of the contract results in our territories being forfeit, a hefty price the others are willing to risk for the chance to boost their territory’s health with half-human offspring.

Easy enough to agree to.

I have no intention of touching this woman, and I certainly will not be breeding her. I have my heir. I will not compromise Embry’s future rule. Should ze want to mate with a human once ze takes the throne, that is zir choice.

Azazel frowns down at my signature and then turns that frown on Catalina. “I have reservations about this pairing.”

“Of course you do.” She’s swifter than I anticipate, plucking the pen from my hand, then scrawling out a signature above her name, spelled in English.

It’s done.

Azazel sighs. “Do not give me reason to regret this.”

“No promises,” Catalina sings.

I am suddenly sure I’m the one who’s going to regret this.