A red spider lily waited for me in my dreams. It bloomed beneath a weeping willow and beckoned me closer. I sat beside it and tipped my head against the tree. The long, thin petals glowed brighter before the branches stirred in front of me.
“May I join you?” Onyx asked, a book tucked under his arm.
I smiled as a tear rolled down my cheek. “I’d like that.”
Chapter Eighteen
A Demon’s Love
“What did that tomato plant ever do to you?” I asked, hands on my hips.
Oreo stared up at me, tongue poking from the corner of his mouth, and wagged his fluffy tail. Some of the orangey-red juice had smeared across the white streak on his chest. I’d nearly fainted when I saw him, thinking he’d been hurt.
But no. He’d just been attacking tomatoes.
“You mustn’t be so aggressive, little one,” Lake said, kneeling in front of the puppy. He touched the gnawed-on plant and sighed under his breath. “If you wish to eat one, you may, but be gentle with the vine. You’ve made it sad.”
Oreo looked at the plant before pouncing on it, growls tearing through his throat.
I tried hard not to laugh but couldn’t stifle it for long. He was too cute. Lake didn’t share my amusement. He sighed again and watched the tomato massacre.
The morning air chilled my skin, and I drew my cloak closer around my body. It had rained throughout the night and had been sprinkling when I’d rolled out of bed to make breakfast. Just as I thought we’d have another dreary day, the sun emerged and chased away the remnants of dark clouds.
Proof that no storm lasted forever. The sun eventually shone again.
“Rowan told us you spent time with Lord Onyx last night.” Lake stood from the grass and slid an arm around my side,helping block the chilly breeze. “Does this mean you completed the bond?”
A PG-rated way to ask if I fucked him.
“Let’s just say Briar will need to brew me some of the flower juice today.”
When Lake smiled, it showed a peek of his canines. “I’m sure he’s brewing a vial as we speak.”
I groaned. “Awesome. Can’t wait.”
A small price to pay for the time I spent with the demon lord. The intensity and passion had been out of this world. Scorching hot kisses and pleasure that’d crashed into me like a rogue wave.
Onyx had seared himself into a piece of my soul—just as he’d said he would. Even now, as Lake and I strolled through the castle garden, I felt the burn he’d left behind. Leaving me permanently changed.
A breeze ruffled Lake’s silvery hair, bringing with it the damp smell of rain-drenched leaves and traces of meat cooking over an open fire. Probably the warriors at the barracks. Within the smell of smoke came something woodsy. Familiar.
Then again, wewerein nature, surrounded by trees and various firepits. It didn’t mean Onyx was near.
“When you said Rowan told all of you that I spent the night with Lord Onyx… does that mean he… um…”
“Watched you and Lord Onyx be intimate?” Lake shook his head. “He only saw the two of you in the kitchen and then travel with the shadows before returning to the room to tell us. But we all assumed the two of you made love.”
I fidgeted in place. “And everyone was… um, okay with that?”
“Aye,” he said without hesitation. “We accepted it like we did when Callum joined our family. Lord Onyx is one of us.”
The reassurance made me less fidgety. Funny how I’d been through it so many times but still let those nerves get the bestof me sometimes. I was only human. Albeit one with an ancient, highly sought after and super rare type of saintly magic.
Magic I had seennosigns of. Where had it been when I’d burned the cookies,hmm? Or, more importantly, when Lake had been bleeding out the night of the ball? What good were powers if I couldn’t tap into them?
A crunch of leaves and boot-heavy steps announced Koga’s arrival. His mane of lion-like hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and he wore a crocheted dark green shawl over his brown tunic. He held a woven basket.
“Good morning,” I greeted him.
