“We’ve never had this kind of opportunity before. Out of it all, even if we cannot defeat him, the gatewaymustbe closed.”
“What if it’s not me?”
One could hope, but I knew that most likely wasn’t true. We’d never encountered another human like her; she could do too much for her not to be the one we sought. “I’m almost certain itisyou, and we will work together until you are ready for the journey.”
“The journey?”
“It will be a long road to get us to the gateway, and it will not be an easy one. However, we will worry about that when the time comes.”
Much like her father, her stare was unrelenting and unfathomable. I had no idea what was going on in that head of hers. “I know you said I’d be staying here, but I think I should go back to town.”
“You’ll be staying with us from now on. I don’t trust humans around things they don’t understand and fear.”
She winced at my words. “I can guarantee they don’t understand you and they fearyou, but you’re doing fine,” she retorted.
I folded my hands on the table before me as I leaned toward her. “They know whatweare; they have an idea of what to make of us even if they fear us. You look completely human, you came from one of their towns, and you just became a flamethrower in front of them. They havenoidea what to make of you, and that makes them volatile where you’re concerned. I’m not going to have our greatest asset injured or possibly even killed by a bunch of idiots.”
A muscle in the corner of her right eye twitched when I said the word asset. “Possibleasset,” she replied.
I couldn’t deny she was fiery. I wondered what it would be like to have that fire beneath me as I took possession of her body. My eyes slid to her breasts again under the thin brown shirt she wore. I’d told her she couldn’t go back to town because of the humans, but her biggest danger may be staying in this tent with me.
“Possible asset,” I replied. “Something we will begin to dig deeper into tomorrow.”
“Where will I stay?” she asked.
“You can have my room.”
Her hand clamped on the base of the goblet. “Your room?”
“Yes. I will stay in here.”
Rising, I walked to the back of the tent, undid some buttons, and pulled up another flap to reveal the room beyond. I heard her rise and pad over to stand behind me. Her warm breath heated my skin when it blew against my arm.
Stepping aside, I gestured for her to go into the tent beyond. It was as large as the main meeting area, but it was more elaborately appointed with a king-sized bed and an armoire holding my human clothes.
“Make yourself comfortable,” I told her. “I’ll have Mac arrange for someone to bring your things here.”
Her hand fell on my arm before I could leave her. I gazed down at her tanned, calloused hand resting against me. Beneath her touch, my skin rippled and I felt a stirring within the markings covering my arms. What would happen if she were to run her fingers over them, to trace every intricate design? Would she be able to feel the power within them?
And what would it do tome?
“What about a bathroom?” she inquired. “I don’t know what you demons have to do, but we humans do have some other needs.”
I grit my teeth against the scorching passion her touch provoked in me. “I’d forgotten about that. Our bodies may be the same as a human’s in most ways, but feasting on souls makes us different in other ways.”
Her eyes ran over me. I could see the questions running through her mind as her gaze briefly rested on my waist before darting upward. The shirt hanging over my waist was the only thing covering the evidence of my erection; otherwise, she would have had a clear view of exactly what I wanted from her.
“So, bathroom?” she prompted.
“I know of one you can use.”
“Not outside would be preferable.”
I walked through the room to the back of the tent. I undid the buttons holding the flap closed and pushed it upward before gesturing for her to exit. Holding the flap back for her, I inhaled her enticing scent as she slipped by me to go outside. I emerged beside her into the large, grassy clearing with at least forty tents encircling it.
The tents were all smaller in size than mine as they didn’t have the main meeting room attached, but they all looked similar with their heavy, green canvas siding. The breeze blew against them, causing the canvas to flutter in the currents of air. Most demons were still on the training fields with the volunteers and soldiers, but some milled around the clearing and by the tents playing games.
I pointed to the small house at the bottom of the hill where we stored food for the livestock in camp. “Because the house is on the outskirts of the other homes, no one has moved into it. It’s too far away from the others for the humans to feel secure staying inside it at night. You can use the bathroom in there,” I told her.
