Page 78 of Bond of Passion

“Venge? You sent her away? The one person I might have been able to confide in?”

Her mother scoffed. “She was from an undesirable House anyway.”

Deja shot her mother a glare, and for the first time, she was unafraid to do so. “Where did you send her?”

“That’s not important,” her father said, and Deja decided she probably didn’t want to know the answer anyway.

“So…you weren’t ashamed of me?”

“Never,” he said. “We feared for you.”

The revelation left her short of breath. She’d spent her entire life thinking her family hated her. That they were disappointed in her. And all they wanted was for her to be safe.

“Gristlen, what happened to you?” Her mother’s armor creaked as she shifted her weight. “One day you were just gone. And months later, we received a message from the Carceris that you were dead, your body recovered on the Plains of Woe. We didn’t want to believe it, but you have been gone for twelve years.”

“I was assassinated,” she said, and her mother gasped.

“By who?” Her father’s voice was an enraged growl, and his sword was now halfway out of the scabbard as if he were ready to slaughter her killer right now. It was the sweetest thing he’d ever done for her.

“An assassin named Tavin.” As if saying his name had summoned him, a tug of arousal pulled at her through the bond. He’d need her soon, and she shivered with desire of her own. “He admitted everything.”’

“Before he killed you?”

“This morning, actually,” she muttered.

“You found him?” At her nod, her mother’s mouth turned into an evil smile. “And he’s dead now, I assume?”

“Uh…not exactly.”

Her mother inhaled sharply. Excitedly. “Is he hanging from hooks in a dungeon with his flesh hanging off in strips?”

“No. And that was disturbingly specific, Mother.”

This male killed you,” Grue snapped. “He deserves that and more.”

It took effort not to shudder at the memory of Tavin’s torture. “He got more. Trust me, he got so much more.”

“Then where is he?”

“I assume he’s at his house in Ireland, where I left him after we bonded.” And he was getting needy. Her breasts were growing tender and her panties damp as Tavin’s desire became more urgent.

She needed to go to him.

“Bonded?” her father repeated, and she pushed her jacket sleeve up to reveal her mate dermoire. “You’re bonded to a Seminus demon? The demon who killed you?”

Her mother didn’t look nearly as outraged as her father. No, Grue actually laughed. “That’s brilliant, my love! Don’t you see? Seminus demons need sex or they’ll die, and if they’re mated, they can only have sex with their mates.” Pride lit up her fine features as she looked at Deja with fierce admiration. “You’re going to kill him slowly by denying him sex. Oh, daughter, your devious mind clearly comes from me. I’m so proud of you.”

Malifikcame closer, his eyes glowing with cruel anticipation. “Can we watch?”

“No!” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, needing a second to gather her thoughts. “I don’t…I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet.”

Her father paced for a moment, his boots silent on the pavers worn smooth by thousands of years of temple worshipers. “Why would this Seminus demon bond with you if he knows who you are?”

“He doesn’t know.” She pulled her necklace out of her pocket and put it on. “I don’t look like I used to.”

Her mother grunted. “Take it off. That is not your face.”

As another tug of Tavin’s desire beckoned her, she did as her mother asked—ordered, anyway. “Look, I need to get going.”