The warrior whirled, her razor-sharp blade slicing… shadows. “Yoo-hoo! Over here!” Dillon lounged on the queen’sthrone.
Wow! Ninja skills again! Or rather, shadow warrior. Either way, Dillon had killermoves.
Tazlina whirled, raising her weapon above her head, and charged. What? They had a deal. She wasn’t supposed to attack for real. Steel clanged against the stone of the vacantthrone.
“Lose something?” Shadows receded to show a grinning human standing two feetaway.
Damnation. Dillon hadn’t needed to negotiate with Tazlina at all. He merely sought to win an ally. No matter how badly she might want to, she couldn’t lay a hand on the shadow warrior. She hung her head. Even beaten she appearedmagnificent.
The lieutenant who’d starred in a few of Vik’s dreams regarded her from the corner of his eye. Ah, so that explained why Vik hadn’t ever gotten anywhere with the hunky guard. Oh well, Tazlina needed a consolation prize—that is, if she found the time to work him in with her up and coming moviecareer.
“Kiana!” the mother who wouldn’t accept defeat screeched. “My son’s mate will be a gorgeous demoness, not some, puny, pale wish-it-was-a-demon. And from another level, noless.”
“Yes, Your Highness?” Kiana materialized and bowed low before her ruler. Dillon strode with confident steps to stand beside her. He dropped his glamour. Where a pale human had stood, a being of unparalleled beauty now showed, skin blue-black and clothed in shadow. A pair of curved horns rose above his ebony mane, tipped with silver and crystal. His mesmerizing yellow gaze fell onVik.
Brimstone lodged in Vik’s throat. It couldn’t be! Not after all this time. “Diomede,” he whispered. The heart he wasn’t supposed to have beat double-time.
Prince Diomede had grown up well. Uncurled, his horns would reach over three feet. Then something in Vik’s heart that had been missing for yearsreturned.
“See, Anna? I told you keeping them apart would solve nothing. They’re destined to be together. I know you feel the sizzle in the air when they look at each other. Now, surrender your realm or listen to my son’s compromise.” Chandra dropped the shadows to reveal a face very similar to her son’s, framed by silver-tippedhorns.
All eyes were on Dillon, um, Prince Diomede. “Instead of one realm enslaved to another, why don’t we combine our powers? Prince Noorvik is heir to this level, as I’m heir to the next. Together, we’ll be unstoppable.” Diomede vanished in shadow, to reappear at Vik’s side. He took Vik’s hand and gazed deeply into his eyes. “That is, if Prince Noorvikagrees.”
How many times had Vik lost sleep, heart aching to hold his prince? Yet, all the while his former lover hadn’t missed him at all, apparently, filling his bed with anyone who wandered too close. “What about all those other demons? You seem to like playing the field.” Yes, Vik definitely did have a heart, birth defect or no, because in that moment it threatened to rip intwo.
Instantly a curtain of shadows surrounded Vik and Diomede, effectively cutting them off from all others. Diomede cupped Vik’s face in his hands. “I don’t know what your mother told you, but when the levels were sealed, I received a message saying you weren’t going to see me anymore. I still craved your touch and searched for it everywhere, cursing you all the while. I slept around hoping to forget you, to heal the hurt of betrayal. Now that I know the truth, that it was your mother, not you who ended things, I’ll never need anyone else.Promise.”
Diomede sank to one knee. “If this isn’t what you want, I’ll leave today and not press my claim on your territory. But Vik, I gotta tell you, losing you again might kill me.” He gave a toothy grin, exposing a bit of fang. “Don’t tell anyone, but your mother isn’t the only one to love a human. Yes, I have a mortal father, and a heart, just like you.” He added in a conspiratorial whisper, “And so does your mother. That’s what she’s really afraid of, that someone down here will learn how human their ruling family is—that’s why she’d bind you to another of your own realm. It’s politics, plain and simple. She doesn’t want to rock an already shaky boat by joining you to amale.”
A chuckle rumbled up from Diomede’s chest. “If she got out in the world more she’d understand how outmoded her thinking is. Why, levels three and eight both have same-sex rulers. They’re pretty cool too. You see, no one is at war anymore. We’re too busy having fun to care what happens on otherlevels.”
All this time, all these years, Vik had agonized needlessly. One day he’d sit down and have a very long talk with his mother. Today, he’d pick his battles. “You’ll truly have the mother-in-law from Hell, youknow.”
Diomede inclined his head and flashed a bit more fang. “I think it’ll be worthit.”
Really?“But, if we take mates, we’ll be considered grownups, and have to…”—Vik swallowed hard, dislodging the wedged-in brimstone from earlier—“….take over our mothers’ roles. I don’t want to tormentanyone.”
“Who told you we have to tormentpeople?”
Yeah, where had Vik actually heard such? “Everybody knows demons are evil and hurtpeople.”
Diomede tssked. “That idea is as outdated as your mother’s wardrobe.” The shadow curtaindropped.
“Hey!” shouted the BFD of What-not-to-wear.
“Then what are we gonna do?” The less the better, in Vik’s way ofthinking.
“We’re both heirs to the throne. We can do anything we want.” Diomede stood, a stack of parchment appearing in hishand.
Vik peered over his shoulder at a rather lengthy list. “Um… that looks sort of, um,good?”
“Nah, still evil, but twice the fun, half theupkeep.”
“Scare otherwise honest people back on the straight and narrow when they go astray? Works forme.”
“I still haven’t given my approval.” The BFD raised herself to full height, several inches above Diomede, even in his demon form. The illusion was wasted on Vik, who’d often seen the stacked hoof covers she wore under hergown.
Diomede somehow summoned enough extra height to gaze down on her. “I will fight for him. I’ll pass any test. And not because someone commanded me to, but because he’s mine and I’m willing to proveit.”
