I gulped. I’d never heard those details about the mad king. About the brain fever or how he’d died. I was too young to know the confusion Nyfain was speaking of. One thing I did believe, though, was that the demon king would prey on the weak. His minions certainly loved to, at any rate.
I smoothed my hair, thinking about where I’d need to go. “Is there any other choice for me other than going back to the castle?”
He turned his back. “You had a demon chasing you. I assume you were on your way to the birch?”
“No, actually. I was luring her into the wood so that I could kill her.” I pulled on the binding, much looser now than before. It would work, though. Kinda. At least it would keep my breasts covered. I tied my ruined, gaping shirt into a knot at my waist.
“Then what were you doing?”
“Killing her softly.”
I quickly told him about my interactions with the demons tonight, including what the woman had said regarding the demon king.
He shook his head as I affixed the belt and then grabbed the sword. The blade was still bloody, so I went to use my ruined panties to wipe it off.
“Stop.”
I froze at the bark of command.
Nyfain walked over and grabbed the panties out of my hand.
“Despite what our beasts just did, and what they want, I will not fuck you, Finley. I will not claim you. I can’t help what just happened, and I know that you can’t either, but this is where it ends.” A nerve in his jaw jumped. “That being said, I won’t take you for a fool and pretend that I won’t be dreaming of that precious little cunt wrapped around my cock. Or that I won’t read the notes in that book you gave me and think of you playing the role of the heroine to my hero. I will dream of that horse ride. So save those panties for me. Don’t spoil them with the demon’s blood. I’ll use them instead of you.”
Staring at me, he roughly tucked them into my pants pocket. Clearly if he’d had pants, he would’ve shoved them into his.
Heat stole through me as I held that troubled, fiery gaze. He’d just laid himself bare, not hiding his desperation for me. Not his animal’s…his. Giving him my panties…it awakened a strange kind of arousal I couldn’t explain. I nodded mutely.
He turned and started walking. “Let’s go. When you get too sore to walk, let me know. I’ll carry you.”
I looked down at my sword as I jogged to catch up. “I think I’m numb right now, actually. Except what do I do with the blood on the tip?”
“We’ll use the demon. I want to look at her before we fake your death.”
“Fake my death?”
“It’ll be a show for your village so the demons there—and that dead man—will think I ended you and them. Of course, it’ll only work if Hannon dealt with the other demons.”
“We can count on him. He’ll probably cut them up and bury them. I had no idea that guy was so hardcore. I feel bad about saying he’s bad in crisis situations.”
“You’ll return to being my captive. The story will be that I found you in the wood and retrieved you. That is, of course, unless the demons at the castle knew their kind were bringing you in. In which case, I’ll thank them for flushing you out.” He paused for a moment. “I wondered if you would stand out enough that the demons would notice and consult about what to do with you. That’s one of the reasons I took you in the first place, to ensure you were under my control and not theirs. I shouldn’t have let you go back to your village.”
“Why did you?”
He tensed, and a storm of emotions colored our bond. Like a moment ago, they were so jumbled that I couldn’t tell what the overall vibe was other than “turbulent.”
“I didn’t, as you’ll recall. You snuck away on your own. I merely tracked you down and saved your life.”
“We’re going to be pissy now, are we? You’re going to turn on the charm like when we first met?”
“I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.”
“Aren’t you used to disappointing people by now?”
I hadn’t meant to be so cutting, but I was still dealing with the sharp sting of his rejection. I couldn’t help lashing out to cover the confused, hurt emotions.
And then I didn’t feel bad at all.
He turned, grabbed me by the collar, and yanked me toward him. I remembered when he’d grabbed me by the throat and reacted in kind, just in case he got any ideas.
I stabbed forward with the sword, aiming for his side. He’d heal.
He swiveled his hips, and the sword slid past. He slapped my hand, and the weapon fell to the ground, utterly useless.