I was still too far away when I heard those heavy footsteps again. My head felt thick, and I couldn’t think clearly. I needed a weapon, but the swords were too far away. It took another moment for me to remember that I had a dagger strapped to my thigh. I reached down for the hilt, but a foot hooked beneath my hip and flipped me onto my back.
I flopped over and found myself staring up at a familiar daemon.
“Oh, you fucker,” I slurred. “If I don’t do it, Bokkan is going to cut your dick off and feed it?—”
Talus snorted, a derisive sound, and bent down. Without so much as a grunt, he draped me over his shoulder, his arm wrapping around my thighs to keep me from sliding off. His other hand landed on my ass, squeezing firmly. I wanted to continue to curse at him, but landing on his hard shoulder had knocked the air out of my lungs.
I threw an elbow into the back of his neck, but it was a weak strike. Whatever he’d shot me with was overwhelming me. I was seconds from slipping into unconsciousness.
His hand left my ass to pluck the dagger from my thigh. “This belongs to me,” he rumbled. I jolted when his palm smacked my ass and rubbed. “And this will be mine before the day is over, too.”
As I fell into unconsciousness, I decided I was going to kill this fucking daemon if it was the last thing I did.
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Bokkan
Every fiber of my being screamed at me to find Leda, to keep her by my side until she understood how important she was to me. Fighting that overwhelming urge was the most difficult thing I had ever done.
After I saw her disappear into the training gym, I stood at the window in my office, staring at the building for a long time. Finally, I knew I had to walk away, or I would find myself headed toward her.
She had asked for space away from me. No, she haddemandedit. Though it killed me to give her what she needed, I knew I must. I had done the one thing that potential mates did not do with each other. I lied to her. I kept a secret that I knew would upset her.
A female daemon would have rejected me immediately when she discovered the truth. And though Leda had told me she wanted space, she did not say the words that would destroy the fragile bond growing between us.
Instead of remaining in my office, watching for any sign of her in the training facility, I went to my sanctum. I needed tocalm myself, or I would lose control of my urges and hunt for her until I saw her again.
In the cool darkness of the sanctum, I stretched out on the floor and closed my eyes. My muscles remained tight, and my skin itched with the desire to get up and find Leda.
It took several long minutes, but I was finally able to relax a bit. I reminded myself that Leda was human. Their courting traditions were different from those of daemons. I had to go at her pace. Just because she accepted my efforts to care for her did not mean she was accepting me as a mate.
One thing was now clear, though—I needed to talk to her about this. All of it. She needed to understand how I felt. What I thought. What I wanted.
It would be agonizing if she rejected me, but I had to respect her choice. No matter what.
My skin still buzzed, but my heart no longer raced. I took another deep breath, remaining focused on what I would say to Leda when we next spoke.
The front door to the manor crashed open, interrupting the silence. In a blink, I was on my feet and sprinting out of the sanctum.
“General!”
I rounded the corner near the stairs and saw Guldan standing just past the threshold. His tail whipped behind him in a frenzy, and his eyes glowed red.
“What is it?” I growled.
“The human is gone. And someone poisoned Masu.”
“Who?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. There is no strange scent nearby, but I also cannot tell who has been there exactly because all of the soldiers have been all over the property.”
“Is Masu alive?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes. One of the younger recruits has a mother who creates potions and tinctures. She lives nearby and arrived quickly. She was able to administer an antidote.”
“Is she conscious?”
