BRAVING THE DARKNESS: One Night With The Demon King
BENEATH HER DARKNESS: The Alpha’s Little Demon Book 2
Chapter 40 – Welcome to Kalmerus
ALTHEA.
“Mommy didn’t take you? She let you stay?” I asked her, overwhelmed that she was back with me and happy that she had met Mom again.
Patrea nodded her head before she hugged me again. “Lucius marked me. I chose to accept the mark, Althea. I hope you will never judge me…”
“No. Never, mama.” I cut her off before I withdrew from her hugs. “If Lucius makes you happy, then he can have you. He kept crying the whole time you were unconscious. He thought he killed you. He keeps saying he loves you.”
Tears trickled down Patrea’s face, but this time a smile graced her lips. “Do you think it’s possible for him to love me?”
“If I didn’t see him, I would never believe it. But I saw it with my own eyes. Do you love him, Mama?”
She nodded her head as a red tint crept across her cheeks. “I might be too old for this.”
“No one is too old for love, and even demons deserve a chance to be loved back,” I told her as I wiped the tears off her face.
“Where is Lucius?”
“Kalmerus is at war,” Blade answered from behind me.
“What do you mean?” She asked, her eyes focused on him.
“The demon who held Althea hostage, Lucius killed her, and her father took his army and waged war with Kalmerus for her death.”
“Oh, spirits! And what are you lot doing here? You must take Althea away from here!”
“Hmmm… I’m here because you almost died.” I told her.
“And Lucius made me swear to guard you with our lives.” Blade added.
PATREA.
My heart was pounding too loudly as I told Althea and Blade that I wanted to go where Lucius was.
Blade was not in agreement and insisted that if something happened to me, Lucius would kill him but I was not to be swayed.
I could feel the power coursing through my veins.
And when Blade wouldn’t stop talking, I raised my palms and willed for a small fire to come out of it, and when it did, it shot out of my hand and bounced everywhere in the room so that Althea had to summon a shield to protect the three of us.
“Mother f*uc*ker!” Blade growled, and I just glared at him.
“I’m going. You stay here and take care of Althea” I told him.
“I’m coming with you,” Althea said, and I glared at her, and this time I felt my eyes burning.
Althea stepped back, her eyes widening as she stared at me. “Your eyes. It’s like Lucy’s.”
It looked like Lucius shared his power with me the same way Lucy shared hers with Adan, just as Guinevere told me.
“I’m not taking you with me because the demons have no remorse when it comes to killing, and I don’ t want you to be harmed or killed.”
“But you’re willing to be harmed or killed.” Althea snapped at me.
“Come here, young lady.” I motioned with my hand, and she came to hug me. “Lucien made me invincible from death in the underworld. I am not easy to kill in this realm. Plus, I’m sure Lucius will protect me. I don’t want to sit here and wait, when I know that my king is at war because of me. Do you understand that?”
She nodded her head.
“And for me to concentrate there, I want to make sure I can focus without thinking of you.”
‘11 can take care of Althea and watch her back,11 Blade said.
“I don’t doubt that. But not here in the demon world. So please do not argue with me.” I wanted to take them out of here, but they sold their souls to Lucy, so I would not be able to take them out of Kalmerus even if I held the power to do so, if Guinevere was right that Lucius had shared his powers with me through the mark he gave me.
“Be careful, Mama.” “I will. And behave.” I told them, but my eyes were on Blade, who just shook his head before sitting on the couch nearby.
I would have wanted to a*s*sure Althea more, but I was running out of time. I placed a soft kiss on her head and willed for my body to be transported to the place where my king was, and I didn’t need to try so hard as my body was immediately sucked into limbo and dropped on the ground between the Kalmerus and Athwart.
The whole place was burning, and the first thing I saw was a white wolf with wings flying in the air as she fired ice, cutting off demon bodies in half before Adan would claw their hearts out. Even in this realm, they still worked together in perfect harmony. 0
But everywhere was chaos, and I couldn’t even tell which demons belonged to our kingdom and which belonged to the other kingdom.
I created a shield around my body, letting fireballs and spikes bounce on it while I spun my body around looking for Lucius.
And then I spotted him.
He was mercilessly attacking demons with his bare hands. No weapons, no fire — just his claws, leaping and gripping every demon in his path until there seemed to be none left for him at the moment.
He stopped moving, and I could see his ripped back moving as his chest heaved. He had his back toward me, a mere thirty meters away from where I was standing.
“Lucius…” I called his name. My voice was soft, but I was sure he could hear me.
His whole body stiffened as his breathing hitched before he slowly turned around to look around him until his gaze found mine.
A smile slowly curled on my lips as my eyes welled with tears, and my king’s mouth dropped open, and I could see disbelief flitting in her eyes.
And then he just dropped down onto his knees without taking his eyes off me.
“Patrea…” His voice came out faintly, but it was enough for me to hear. “You came back for me.”
I nodded my head and bit my bottom lip as I stared at him.
Tears trickled down his face, and it was enough to trigger my own tears. A surge of emotions washed over me as my lips trembled from my sobs.
I could no longer deny that I was completely in love with the demon kneeling before me. And I knew that I would be willing to cross all realms just to be with him.
I removed the shield around me and moved to run toward Lucius, not minding that my bare feet were stepping on burning grounds and coals. If anything, I felt exhilarated to feel the fire in my skin.
Lucius rose to his feet before a wide smile tugged on his mouth — even his eyes were smiling — and he began rushing toward me with bigger and longer strides.
My arms flung forward as he came and caught me in his arms, hugging me as tightly as I was hugging him.
“Patrea! You came back! Never leave me again! You can’t do that. You’re mine. Don’t leave me again.” He kept mumbling, and some of them were incoherent things but I didn’t mind at all. I already heard what I wanted to hear and it was enough to put my heart at ease.
I kept nodding my head to every word he said until my eyes caught sight of something in front of me.
Someone fired a fireball our way.
“No!” I screamed, my hand extending out as if it could protect us while my mind searched for a way to escape the fire until I willed for our bodies to be transported.
We were immediately sucked into limbo and dropped on the ground of the cave where we killed Lucien.
The place where I first kissed him — a kiss on his cheek.
He flashed me a devil’s grin as his hand gripped the nape of my neck. “Did you transport us?”
I nodded my head, a coy smile playing on my lips.
His eyes roamed my naked skin, looking at the runes and ancient markings on my skin, but he didn‘t say anything. And then, he slid his hand to the side of my neck as he urged me to tilt it, giving him a view of the mark he had created on my neck.
His thumb brushed against the wounds, and I felt tingles spreading between my thighs from the way he was caressing my mark.
His gaze went back to mine as his eyes softened.
“You survive my bite. Does this mean… does this mean, that..” He was stuttering — far from the c*oc*ky demon that I knew.
“I love you, Lucius,” I said before I snaked my arms around his neck and slammed my face against his naked chest. “I don’t know when and how I fell in love with you. But I do love you. I’m not even sure if this will work between us, but I want to try.”
I heard him take a deep intake of breath before he pulled my body away from his chest and cupped my cheek with one hand.
“It will work. We will make it work.” He said in a deep voice, as he stared deeply into my eyes as if he wanted to reach my soul, which he did.
My heart fluttered as a smile curled on my lips before I nodded my head.
A smug smirk formed on Lucius’ lips as his grip on my jaw tightened.
“Welcome to Kalmerus, my queen.” His deep, baritone voice sent a shiver down my spine, and even before I could react to his words, his warm lips had already crushed into mine.