“Kobal—”
“Enough!” I interrupted Shax harshly. “I understand your concerns, but I will keep her safe and do what must be done. It ismythrone; I cannot forget that. The need to claim it has been with me since the second I arose from those fires, just as it was inbred into all the varcolacs before me.”
Shax wisely remained silent.
“What of her mortality?” Bale inquired. “You can’t try to change her until all of this is over.”
“She would be stronger as an immortal demon,” Corson argued. “Maybe it would be best if he attempted it before we left here.”
“And if she doesn’t survive it?” Bale demanded.
“Thereisdemon in her; she will survive it,” Corson insisted.
“I cannot take the chance,” I murmured as I folded my arms over my chest and studied the crowd of humans. “Not only can I not take the risk of her not surviving it, but there is no way to know what it would do to her. It could amplify her powers beyond her control, or it could douse all of her angel abilities and make her entirely demon.”
“Are you going to be able to tolerate her mortality?” Shax inquired.
“I have no choice.”
They exchanged looks that I purposely ignored as I studied the crowd. I would do whatever it took to keep River safe, defeat Lucifer, and claim my throne. Even deny the demon instincts screaming at me to take her mortality from her.
“She is not to know it is possible for her to be able to do such a thing, at least not until I’m ready to tell her,” I commanded. “Make sure the others know that too.”
“We will,” Bale replied.
“Our queen,” Corson murmured when River briefly reappeared.
“She is,” Bale said. “It is an odd pairing, but it is also a good one. With what she is, she is a powerful ally.”
“If she becomes immortal and bears your children, even without your abilities, they will grow to be formidable,” Shax said.
My heart swelled at the possibility of children and an eternity with River. She’d somehow managed to bring out more emotions in me and surprise me more than anyone I’d ever known in such a short time. I couldn’t wait to discover what else she could do over our lifetimes together.
I only had to make sure she survived her mortality first.
***
River
“Whore.”
Too focused on retrieving food from the line, I didn’t realize the word had been hissed atmeuntil I felt an elbow in my ribs. I grunted and glanced at the offending elbow before looking into the eyes of the woman who had delivered the blow. I sighed when I recognized the same woman who had stepped in front of Kobal and me to hit on him all those days ago.
Great, now I got to have a fun run-in with Kobal’s ex. Jealousy coiled within me as I took in her pretty, almost elfin features and blonde hair. Her brown eyes burned with hatred as they raked over the bite marks on my neck. I couldn’t have covered them if I’d tried, and I hadn’t bothered to try.
They werehismarks on me and I didn’t care who saw them. They would know he was mine as much as I was his. Women, especially this one, would realize he was off limits, and if they didn’t realize it by the marks alone, I had no problem with setting their asses on fire.
“Dirty, filthy, whore,” the woman continued.
“I don’t think we’ve had the chance to meet,” I said and turned toward her. I extended my hand as I smiled at her. “I’m River, the whore, and you are?”
She stared at my hand like it was covered in slime and had an eyeball in the palm. “Demon slut.”
I lowered my hand and pushed my tray down the line again. “And I thought my mom had odd taste in names. Do your parents call you D.S. for short?”
I may be able to start fires, but I was fairly certain her head might explode. I braced myself, ready to smash my tray off her face if she made one hostile move toward me. She didn’t like me and the feeling was mutual. The idea of her knowing what Kobal felt like made my hands clamp around the tray so violently the plastic cracked beneath my grasp.
Yep, I would love any excuse to bash her pretty little face into something unrecognizable.
