“You okay?”
“Mmhm,” she sighed, then wiggled a bit to get more comfortable on his lap. The intimidating length between his legs had grown decidedly hard during their kiss. “More than okay. You?”
“Always, my love.”
That particular pet name would be pretty easy to get used to.
“I do have a few questions, though,” he said, and to her annoyance, some of the softness left his face, a more serious expression highlighting the sharpness of his features. So much for spending the day in bed, basking in the glow of having finally put words to her feelings.
“You said your new power is caused by my love for you. What exactly did you mean?”
“Oh.” Selma frowned, thinking back to everything Bealtih had told her that night in Colorado. It seemed like an eternity ago. “The goddess talked to me about what I am—I mean, what my kind were before we became Breeders.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You cannot trust the words of a goddess, Selma. They lie and deceive as easily as you and I breathe.”
A wry smile pulled on the corner of her mouth. “Yeah? Says the demon who’s some sort of crime lord back home. I’m not just taking her word for it, Kain. I can feel it inside of me. She didn’t lie, not about that at least.”
Keeping her tone calm, she told him what the goddess had said, but despite her best efforts, the demon holding her didn’t exactly take the revelation of the depth of the gods’ deceit well.
“They used you?” he hissed. “They are the reason for every Breeder who has ever been forced to bear a demon child! And this Bealith has the audacity to claim that we are the ones who need to be controlled. By the fucking stars?—”
Selma placed a hand over his mouth, interrupting what was undoubtedly about to end with some form of violence. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t care about the gods’ plans—I care about you and our child. Does anything else really matter? Let them scheme and plan. I am taking no part in it, whether they want me to or not.”
His enraged expression softened minimally at the reminder of the life in her womb, but dark determination was still etched into every line of his face. “I am going to make you Queen, and when I do, you and your kind will no longer be mere pawns in their twisted game.”
39
Selma
“Exactly how did you get Kain to agree to this ridiculous idea?”
Selma sighed and glanced out the dark window. Nothing but the faint light of the street lamps on the other side of the metal gates cast any illumination over the deserted warehouse’s grounds. If someone was hiding in the shadows, she would never be able to tell.
“We talked about it like adults. He agrees that it’s the best way to lure out the Prince.”
Kesh scoffed by her side and readjusted his grip on what looked like some form of a rocket launcher. “You cried until he caved, didn’t you?”
A faint blush rose to Selma’s cheeks at the casual accusation. She had indeed had to resort to tears to ensure Kain was pliable enough to listen to her reasoning for putting herself and his baby in harm’s way, but she wasn’t about to admit to that. It wasn’t exactly a dignified tactic.
“It’s the best shot we have at capturing the prince. He thinks I belong to him, so when our double agents let him know I’m being kept here and guarded by you while Kain is out looking for him, he’s likely to try to steal me away. Without me, you would have a hard time luring him out.”
“And without you here, this wouldn’t be so fucking dangerous,” he shot back, giving her a less-than-approving glance. “You do know what will happen if you’re hurt, right? I mean, you’ve seen the husk that is my father—you must realize that Kain will end up exactly like that if you’re lost to him. And yet here you are, willingly playing bait.”
Selma cocked an eyebrow. She wasn’t entirely sure if Kesh’s reluctance was toward her personally, or if he just resented her pheromones and their effect on him.
“Well, I’m certain you’ll keep me safe.” There was just a touch too much sweetness in her voice.
He grunted and leaned back against the wall. “Or you could just blast the bastard with that pretty light of yours. Oh, wait—that’s right. You still have little to no control over it.”
“Is there something you’d like to say?” she snapped, finally fed up with his attitude. Ignoring his demonic appearance, she rested her hands on her hips and rounded on him so she could give him her best glare.
Kesh ignored her combative stance, not even bothering to afford her more than a short glance. “Only that my brother is way too lenient with you. You’d be far less likely to get anyone killed by knitting a blanket or painting a sunset, or whatever Breeders normally do.”
Selma’s mouth fell open in outrage at his casual sexism, but before she managed to form a ripping retort, the window exploded inward.
She could only have been out for a moment, because when the darkness retreated she was still on the floor and sporting several stinging cuts from where the glass had sliced her skin.
Someone said something above her, but it sounded like it came through water. She shook her head to clear the foggy sensation, only to be hoisted up by her waist the next second and shoved behind a wide, leather-clad back.
