Mate to the Demon Kings by Lacey Carter Andersen
5
Ryder had dreamedof Sharen long before she stumbled into the demon-realm that brought them together. It wasn’t exactly her face that haunted him, but a sense of her. A smell that lingered on his flesh when he awoke. A taste on his lips.
Too many nights he and his brothers dreamed of the human woman, a creature who was tough as hell on the outside, but soft and in need of their protection within.
And when they finally had her? There had been so much chaos, so much darkness and fear.
It wasn’t what he’d wanted for her. It wasn’t what any of them wanted for her, but he’d never been happier than when she was in his arms.
Lying cramped in the bottom of the dark cage, his mind was full of her. His memories helped him ignore the weeping, groans of pain, and the screaming that came from the darkness. It even helped him ignore his own pain.
He shifted and bit down a hiss. The wounds on his stomach and arms were already healing, but the angels’ fists and swords hadn’t been gentle. His body still felt sore and tight as it worked to knit his injuries back together.
One thing about lying here uselessly is that I’m healing faster.He moved again and felt a sharp stab of pain where one of his ribs had been cracked. Shadows drifted before his vision, but he refused to give in to them, to simply slip back into unconsciousness.
Sharen had brought him out of the darkness. She filled him with hope and kept him from slipping back to a place without fear or pain.
He knew from the little he’d heard from the guards that she was safe, that they’d tried to catch her not long ago and failed.
He didn’t know why they hadn’t just waited outside the portal for her, but he was damned grateful for their stupidity. It meant that she was safe.
His Sharen, his beautiful wife, was still safe.
Closing his eyes, a small smile touched his lips.
“This isn’t how we celebrated Christmas,” Kade growled.
Sharen laughed, stringing more tinsel on the large tree in their apartment. “Well, then you weren’t doing it right.”
Kade’s glare darkened as he leaned back further on the couch. He took another slip of the spiked eggnog in his mug and winced. “This crap is awful.”
Ryder punched him in the arm and jumped over the back of the couch, hurrying to Sharen. “Need help?”
She looked back at him, her smile making every cell in his body expand. “Sure.”
For a minute he couldn’t look away. She was so damned beautiful. Tonight she wasn’t wearing her hoodie and jeans. She wasn’t donned in weapons, with an aura of a woman just trying to get through the day. Instead, she wore pajamas. A white top that was criminally see-through, pants with reindeers on them, and slippers with reindeers with light-up noses.
In other words, she looked perfect.
Reaching out, he pushed her long, dark hair off her shoulders and buried his hand in the back of her hair. Instantly, her green eyes lost their merriment, darkening with arousal.
“Ryder, the tree,” she whispered, but there wasn’t a hint of scolding in her voice. Just arousal and anticipation.
He leaned closer. “The tree might just have to wait.”
The tinsel in her hands fell to the floor.
A sound jerkedhim back from his memories. Lights appeared in the darkness.
Rising to his knees, he peered through the bars of the cage. If he were human, the light wouldn’t have been enough to see a thing, but with his superior vision he could see the many cages spread out in the massive room.
Yet, I don’t see my brothers’ massive forms among them.
Ice ran through his veins at just the thought, but he pushed it aside. His brothers were safe. Somewhere.
The light moved closer and closer until it was blinding in its intensity. For one second he couldn’t see the person who held the lantern, but then his vision came into focus.
It was the creature from the battle. A man with purple skin, so dark it was nearly black. Cracks of gold like lightning appeared across his skin. And the cracks seemed to move in and out with each breath he took, causing his wet skin to shimmer with every movement.
The being stood before him for several long seconds before speaking. “How are you feeling, Ryder?”
“Fuck you.” Anger rolled through him in waves. “And Darla, for betraying us!”
Instantly, his mind went to the young witch. Never in his life would he have expected her to open the door to their base and sneak in Caine’s angels, or to kill their guards before she did it. How could he have been so wrong about her?
“I don’t know anything about this Darla,” the demon said. “But Caine has a way of getting to us all.”
His thoughts skittered away from the young witch to the man before him. He couldn’t do anything about Darla. He needed to focus on this man and why he was here.
“What did they give you to betray your own kind?” Ryder snarled.
The demon’s golden eyes glowed softly. “They gave me the only thing that would make me join the side of evil… my freedom.”
Ryder gripped the bars of the cage tighter and forced down his rage. Get information. You don’t know when you’ll get a chance like this again. “We’re fighting for freedom. You could have joined us.”
The demon sighed and then sat down on the ground, just far enough away that Ryder couldn’t reach him. When he settled the lantern next to him, Ryder saw that his clothing was torn and filthy, and he didn't have any shoes. “I’m a poison demon whose touch is deadly even to my own kind. Believe me, I could endure the demon-realm. I could endure the loneliness and the darkness, but I could not endure Caine’s prisons, nor his careful torture.”
Poisonous even to his own kind? Is such a thing even possible?
Ryder would have felt sorry for him, if he hadn’t been the reason they were all captured. “Demons are made to be beaten and harmed. We are strong beings capable of—“
“Beatings I can handle, my friend. But Caine is not so kind.” His gaze held Ryder’s for a painfully long time before he spoke again. “Caine brought his enemies before me… many innocent lives, and forced them upon me. My touch bringing them death.” His voice grew quiet. “And not all of their deaths were fast. Instead, he would leave them in my prison cell as I watched the life leave their bodies.”
“Why?” Ryder asked, unable to stop the question. “He kills whenever he wishes. Why kill them like that?”
His golden eyes met Ryder’s. “Because there was a prophecy that I would help the victor win the war.”
A shiver moved down his spine. “And I guess you did.”
The poison demon grinned, his lips moving as if unaccustomed to forming a smile. “I will.”
Looking around in the darkness as if afraid of the shadows, the demon slowly withdrew something from his pocket and laid it on the floor between them. The item was wrapped in a stained cloth.
Ryder frowned, opened his mouth to ask what it was, and stopped. The poison demon slowly opened it to reveal a key.
His heart raced. “What is that?”
“It’s for your cage door.”
Is he really freeing me? And can I trust him?
“Why are you doing this?” Ryder’s hand twitched to reach forward and grab it, but something made him remain still.
“Because the Fate has said I will help the victor win the war… and Caine cannot be the victor. You see, it wasn’t just freedom that made me agree to help our enemies. It was also a need for revenge. I helped Caine when I entered your headquarters and ended the battle with my poison, knocking you all unconscious, but I never intended to simply help him. It was my way of gaining Caine’s trust.”
Shit. This might actually be the thing that saves us from whatever hell Caine has planned!
And then something made him freeze. “Will this key open all the cages?”
The poison demon shook his head. “Just yours.”
Damn it. His chest tightened. “And have you seen my brothers.”
He shook his head again. “Sorry, it was actually harder than you can imagine to secure that key and get in here without being seen.”
And he took a great risk to do this. To help someone he doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter if he had his own reasons for doing it, his actions might save us all.
“Well, thank you.” Ryder reached for the key.
“Wait!” The poison demon cautiously picked up the cloth, then flipped the key out of the stained material and onto the ground. The sound it made seemed to echo through the darkness. “I was careful not to touch the actual key.”
Ryder nodded and tore the bottom of his shirt, then reached forward and wrapped the key in the new fabric. Just to be safe.
The poison demon rose. “I don’t know what you’re going to do, but if everything goes according to my plans, I’ll never see you again.”
Ryder looked from the key to the demon. “I wish you the best.” And then a thought occurred to him. “What’s your name?”
“Golgoth,” he whispered, his voice strangely soft and with a touch of vulnerability.
“Well, thank you, Golgoth.”
The demon gave his strange smile again, opened the lantern and blew, swallowing the room in darkness once more. “One more thing. Whatever you do, do it soon. The Judge left all of you alive for one reason only, to use against her. If you don’t act fast, she’ll be caught in his trap.”
Sharen. God damn it. I can’t let that happen.
Ryder settled back in his cage, the key in hand. Things might seem simple now. He could escape, but if he couldn’t break open the other cages of the others, he’d have to abandon them here.
Even the idea of it made his stomach turn. There had to be another way to warn Sharen and save their people. He just hadn’t thought of it yet.
Minutes ticked by as he racked his brains, desperately trying to find a scenario that didn’t involve leaving innocents in Caine’s hands. But no matter what plan he came up with, everything led to them getting caught again.
I have to leave them behind.He felt sick, even while he knew it was the only way.
But sometimes there is no good choice, just the better of sucky ones.He began to unwrap the key, moving to the front of his cage.
And then, he heard another strange sound. Was someone else coming? Gathering up the key, he stuffed it into his shirt.
Fuck. Why do I think that isn’t another unexpected person coming to help me?
