The demon rested a large palm against the cage, snarling when dark sparks burned his skin at the touch, but he kept it there anyway. “Right here, in front of everyone who wasn’t worthy enough to win you. You will be my prize, Breeder.”
At least he would touch her ring first until she lost the ability to feel anything but hunger for him. Selma closed her eyes, refusing to see the look of triumph on his face when the Governor declared him the winner. Of her. His prize.
“Three hundred million dollars.”
The voice cut through the arena, shattering the muted silence after the last fight.
Now the murmur that rose from the crowd was far from muted, and the prince hissed. She heard the swish of his pants as he spun around to meet the new opponent.
Even Maell seemed mildly astonished for a moment, but then gathered himself again. “The bid is at three hundred million! Your Highness, do you choose to concede, raise the bid, or?—”
“Fight!” Naharan snarled. “And win.”
Selma opened her eyes again now that he wasn’t so close and glanced at the benches to see who’d made the bid. The numbers the challengers slung out had all been outlandish to her, but the leap to three hundred million was outrageous, even if what he sought to buy was her life.
The big male who moved down the stairs with an ease speaking of carefully controlled strength made her breath catch in her throat.
“Kain,” she whispered.
He was there. He’d come.
For her.
24
Selma
Neither demon paid her any attention as she crawled back to the near side of the cage. Their eyes were locked on one another instead.
They were more cautious than previous bidders had been, slowly circling each other rather than jumping straight into the fight. She could see them sizing each other up as they looked for weaknesses, the coils of muscle on each man tensing in anticipation.
Naharan sprang into action first. With a roar deep enough to vibrate every bone in Selma’s body, he pulled dark energy from the air and slung it at Kain, who raised his own magic just before impact.
Snarling, he returned it with a flurry of black sparks. The scent of singed flesh and ozone mixed with overwhelming male musk.
“You think you can conquer the Prince of Demons?” Naharan hissed as they drew apart to reassess each other. “I will tear you apart for your insolence!”
He attacked again, and Selma flinched away from the bars when they half-disappeared in a cloud of magic. It spread through the arena in long, terrifying tendrils. They enveloped her cage, and though nothing penetrated between the bars, it shielded her vision of the fight. She could only see shadows moving in the fog and hear their snarls and roars as they fought.
Her heart was pounding in her chest as she tried to peer through the darkness.
Kain. He was here, fighting for her.
For the first time in weeks, wild hope rose within her. If he won, she’d…
Selma frowned. If he won, she’d still belong to a demon. She would still be his to do with as he pleased, but the thought of Kain keeping her…
It made her womb soften and something pleasant that wasn’t connected to the hellish magic in her ring spread through her body. He might have been a demon, but he wasn’t like the others. He was here despite his reservations about claiming a mate, which meant he was here for her sake, not his own.
A howl of pain cut through the mist and she froze. If something happened to him?—
It was a strange thing, suddenly having something left to lose. Not only would her newly sprouted hope be crushed, but she’d also be forced to the ground and fucked against her will while he may be in need of help, wounded and bleeding from the fight.
And she’d never get to see him again.
Her hormones and fear were way too overpowering to let her ponder on why the thought of never seeing him again filled her with even more dread than the idea of belonging to the brutal Prince. Yet as she clung to the cage in a desperate attempt to see the two contestants through the dark magic, she knew without a shred of doubt that she needed to be with him.
When the cloud finally cleared, both males were breathing raggedly from exhaustion, and blood was splattered over both their bare torsos.
