“I can think of a few fitting punishments,” Safir mumbled.
“Shut it, old man,” I scolded.
Safir nodded solemnly.
Still, despite the support the guys had shown me — all except Rook — I was completely overwhelmed.
And whyhadn’tRook said anything?
I asked him point blank, “What doyouthink about all this?”
He sighed heavily and shrugged, reluctantly meeting my gaze. “I’m just a sex demon,” he said with a half-hearted grin. “Not really sure why I’m here.”
Ouch.
Okay, sonotfriends then.
“Saldrea will soon know Izzy was staying in your room, if she doesn’t already. That makes you an accomplice. She’ll come for you,” Koar said.
“Great,” Rook muttered.
“You’re a part of this, one way or another, incubus,” Safir said, not sounding happy about it. Though, if I understood the old man — and that was still an uncertainty — he was more irritated that too many people knewhissecret.
“What’s gotten into you?” I asked Rook directly. “I thought you were my friend?”
“We have sex and I help you out a little, if that makes us friends, then sure.” He shrugged and looked away.
I’d known since we first met, he wasn’t into relationships, but wow, I’d thought we were more to each other than that.
I guessed not.
And I didn’t know why that stung my soul so much. Rook wasn’t bound to me, and I’d never been the type to get attached… so why did I wanthimto be more attached?
Was that selfish of me?
Probably.
Fuck it. I had too much to worry about without him being a dick. If this is what he wanted, then fine.
I turned to Safir. “So… what’s the plan?”
VYNSIEL
What wasthe deal with that incubus? Was he an idiot? Couldn’t he see Izzy was intelligent, beautiful and powerful? Why in hell would he push her away? Yet, that seemed to be exactly what he was doing.
I’d never understand demons.
Because to me, Izzy was perfect. Sure, I was biased, my spirit knew her to be my ideal mate, but it didn’t affect my mind, didn’t skew my thoughts. I could still see reason and the truth of the matter was… when Koar had told me Izzy was a royal, everything had clicked for me. She wasn’t just perfect for me, she was perfectfor this world, exactly what Seial needed.
I could see in her gorgeous, sea-green eyes that she didn’t believe it yet, didn’t see it in herself, but I did. She was pure and kind and smart. She didn’t have a hair-trigger temper, like someotherprincesses. Izzy’s anger was a righteous thing, meant to help the innocent and punish those who sought to oppress others. And even if she hadn’t learned much magic yet, she was powerful. She’d healed mefrom the brink of death after having been here for less than a week, knowing so little of what she could do. When she came into her own, she’d be a force to be reckoned with.
That’swhy Izzy was perfect.
That and… a part of me still hoped that by serving her, being closer to her, loving her, she could wipe the filth from my soul and mend what had been torn asunder within me: the stain I’d acquired while being Saldrea’s brute for far too long.
It no longer mattered to me that Izzy was mate-bonded to a shifter, or that she’d had intercourse with a demon. It was clear Myel loved her deeply and Rook, well he didn’t seem to want her, which baffled me. I could share this wonderful woman, and if the demon didn’t want her, that suited me just fine.
Because when I was close to her, I felt more like the man I wanted to be, the man I should be.
