The Demon King Davian

She gazed up at him. “For being everything I didn’t expect.”

Leaving him to ponder her words, she opened one of the double doors and followed his assistant through the study as she expressed gratitude to Sheena for her thoughtfulness. Jade glanced back once before disappearing from Davian’s sight. Well…not entirely.

He watched her from his bedroom window when she left the castle, his impeccable vision penetrating the mass of cumulus clouds and blowing snow until Jade and the slayers entered the dense thicket.

Dread consumed him. But what choice did he have in this complex scenario and his efforts to maintain peace, other than to let the two men take her away?

Chapter Eleven

Per her request, the slayers escorted Jade to Jinx’s burial site, despite the inclement weather. She’d been at the castle when the memorial service had been orchestrated. She felt horrible over having missed the event, because Jinx had been a good friend. Yet her absence had been unavoidable.

Slipping from her horse, she waded through calf-deep banks as Toran and Walker moved away, giving her privacy. She fought to keep her distress at bay as she stared at the cross protruding from a snowy mound.

Jade prayed for an even tone as she said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for the funeral, Jinx. I got held up.”

A wave of tormented feelings rose within her, despite her best efforts. Tears burned her eyes and her voice cracked as she said, “I always adored you. From the first time we met. You came to my fifth birthday party and told me you could read fortunes. Of course, you had to explain to me what that meant.”

She laughed quietly, painfully. “You spun a silver coin on the kitchen table and when it landed heads up, you gasped and said, ‘You’re the little girl who will always be smiling’.”

Indeed, she had been that child…until her parents had been viciously attacked. Shredded.

Fat drops slid down her cheeks. “After my parents were murdered, I begged you not to tell my fortune ever again, because that initial one didn’t come true. It didn’t last, Jinx.”

At eleven years of age, she’d wanted to scream at him for telling her a lie. Her parents had been mauled, and she’d believed she’d never smile again. How cruel had it been for Jinx to mislead her, when he’d claimed over and over that his predictions were accurate?

But, of course, she’d never truly blamed him. Yes, before that fated time of her life, she’d soaked up his optimism and it had been heart-wrenching when her personal tragedy had proven him wrong. Regardless of his otherwise successful track record, she’d turned wary, skeptical. Still, she’d cherished him and had eventually come around to bask in his warm light again.

Jinx was a man whose compassion and exuberance had won over even the most cynical and broken of hearts—hers.

Jade was not one to put her troubles on another, but she’d had a need to believe in Jinx. And, years following her parents’ deaths, he’d done his best to provide her a measure of comfort in an uncertain world.

She said, “You were very special to me, Jinx. And I will miss you every single day.”

Jade brushed away her tears. After a moment of silence, she turned and rejoined the slayers.

Later, she remained on the horse while Walker inspected her cottage to ensure it was safe inside. When he indicated all was well, she slid off the back of the stallion and followed the other slayer through the front door.

As Walker built a fire, Toran said, “The general told us his patrol discovered a small colony of demons not associated with the alliance along the Canadian border. But the fire wraith wasn’t among them.”

“Did Morgan say if they had a lead on where he might be?” she asked.

“No. But certainly not anywhere near this village. We’ve seen nothing out of the ordinary since you were attacked. I can’t imagine he’d come back after the king took him on.”

“Likely,” Walker said, “they had an assassination strategy plotted out. They’re too small a band of demons to storm the castle, but they found a way to lure King Davian from his protective walls.”

“He thought I’d been conspiring with Lisette and had developed some sort of magical powers,” Jade explained, so the slayers wouldn’t speculate over her association with the Demon King and how everything had unfolded of late. “That was the reason he and the general followed me. Turns out, it was the wraith with the powers he sensed, since the rogue demon simultaneously watched me. This turned into a ‘which came first—the chicken or the egg?’ kind of thing.”

She kept her tone aloof, detached, not wanting to give anything away, particularly that she now had a very personal relationship with Davian. Even if the one night they’d shared was an anomaly never to be repeated, she still believed they were inexplicably tied to each other.

Continuing, Jade said, “Obviously, the fire wraith found an advantage with the king taking an interest in what I might be up to.” She added, “By the way, I haven’t been practicing witchcraft with Lisette.”

“That’s good to know,” Walker told her. “This is a tenuous state of affairs. We don’t need to tip any scales with you and Lisette teaming up.”

“I understand and agree.”

Toran said, “Maybe you shouldn’t stay here, Jade. You’re too remote. And damn, this house is cold.”

“The fire exploded unexpectedly the other night and I had to put it out. I swear that wraith breathed flames down my chimney.” A couple days had passed, so the cottage was almost on par with the temperature outside. Good thing she didn’t have running water, after all. Her pipes surely would have frozen.