“Hello, my star.”
Chapter Two
Daemon
He watched as the color slowly drained from her face while she took him in. She looked at him like she was seeing a ghost, instead of the man who told her he loved her before she walked away.
He’d been angry for weeks after that.
Angry at her for turning her back on what they had.
Furious with his parents for putting him in the situation they were currently in.
And mad at himself for letting her go.
Squaring his shoulders, Daemon walked across the space and took the empty chair next to Auraelia.
“Wha–what are you doing here? You can’tbehere.” Panic laced her voice as her wide eyes searched his face.
“You’ll find that I can,Princess.” He smirked, and a faint blush crept across her cheeks. That simple wash of color made his heart race, and his shadows railed against the hold he had on them.
Noticing the way Xander kept clenching and releasing his fists, Daemon turned his attention to the couch. “Xander, Piper, good to see you both again. Now, if you’d excuse us. Her Majesty and I have some things to discuss.”
“Excuse me?” Piper and Auraelia said in unison.
“Piper, you know I would never do anything to hurt her. Youbothdo.” The latter was directed toward Auraelia, but she turned away to keep from meeting his gaze.
As the minutes passed, he was confident that this wasn’t going to go according to his plan.
When he found Aiden sneaking onto the Nevermore right at nightfall, he’d cornered him and demanded to know what was going on. Once he knew he would meet with Auraelia, Daemon decided to hijack their meeting. Aiden wasn’t happy about it, but he’d get over it.
He needed to see her.
Needed to talk to her.
He was about to give up when Auraelia cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. Slipping on the mask of the queen she was always destined to be, regardless of what her bat-shit crazy cousin seemed to think.
“It’s alright. He wouldn’t hurt me; if he tried, there wouldn’t be much left to find.” She let a few ribbons of lightning snake between her fingers as she spoke. It was meant as a reassurance to her family, and a warning to him.
All that Daemon saw was a challenge.
He sat as still as a statue, watching as the ribbons of light danced between her fingers. Xander and Piper slowly rose from their seats and followed Aiden out the door.
When the latch clicked into place, Auraelia pulled her magic back into herself and took a deep breath. “What do you want, Daemon?”
Her icy tone would have chilled him to the bone without the small break in her voice as she spoke. Like she was using every trick she had at her disposal to keep from falling apart.
She refused to look at him, instead focusing on her fingers as she picked at the skin around her nails. Her leg bounced with nervous energy as silence descended between them.
Daemon stood from his chair and took up the space that Aiden had just vacated at the mantel. “I just want to talk.”
It was then that she finally looked up and met his gaze. The fire he loved and then watched get extinguished, once again burning brightly in her eyes. “Then talk. What do you know about Davina?”
He breathed heavily and then ran his fingers through his hair. “I, unfortunately, had firsthand experience with her power.”
Her eyes widened in shock, and she shifted in her seat like she was going to stand and approach him but settled once more and averted her gaze.
He hated that she wouldn’t look at him, at least not longer than a few cursory seconds. He needed to stoke that fire in her eyes. Needed to make herfeelsomething, anything. Even if it was hatred. He needed to see the woman who held his heart and was the missing piece to his soul. But the woman who sat in front of him now was no more than a shell of the one he once knew.
