“We need to talk,” he told Maverick. “Our mate has been hiding things.”
“Hiding what?” Maverick frowned. I cringed, knowing full well he’d be mad I’d kept quiet about what the demon had told me. It wasn’t like I was deliberately withholding information. It was more that I’d been in denial.
I mean, who wanted to hear their long-lost father was the demon king?
Not me.
I preferred to picture my absent father as a sweet, kind mage who’d died in a tragic accident before my birth.
Being part-demon would endear me to nobody. It also made me question everything. Did Adam know? Was this why he’d gone to such great lengths to keep me off the magical community’s radar? Was my demonic heritage the reason demons kept popping up in my life?
Stars above.I had so many questions and no answers.
At some point, I’d need to have a conversation with Adam, but it could wait until after we’d found Rasmus. The vampire was my priority.
“You may want to sit down for this,” Zane said, serious for once.
“Just spit it out, incubus.”
“There’s a freezer full of game in the outbuilding,” Alaric announced as he trudged in from a rear entrance with a stack of logs in his bulging arms. Goddess save me, fate was doing her best to provoke me with all these sexy males.
Maverick inhaled sharply and grumbled under his breath.
“Behave, little mate,” he whispered in my ear. “I will not let you distract me from what the incubus is trying to tell me.”
“You know the fish boy only eats fish, right?” Zane pointed out as Alaric dropped the logs in a basket next to the fireplace. I silently prayed someone would get the fire going. Maverick’s body heat was helping to defrost my frozen limbs, but a roaring fire would finish the job.
And also add some much-needed ambiance to our temporary home.
“I spotted some salmon in there,” Alaric replied. He stacked some logs in the grate and then cast a spell. Flames burst up thechimney, and I sighed happily as heat spread out into the room. “But the merman might have caught his own dinner. I saw him jump into the nearby lake.”
Alarm caused my magic to flare. “It’s freezing! He might get stuck under the ice!” I still had nightmares from watching a human movie where a demonic kid called Damien pushed someone into a lake and they got stuck under the ice.Oh my goddess. If I had demonic heritage, would I turn into a dead-eye psycho like the demon child?
Zane snorted. “He’ll be fine, pet. He’s a merman. How do you think they cope when they swim in the depths of the ocean? Wear wetsuits?”
I huffed. “Excuse me for showing some concern for another being.”
“Zane, fucking tell us what you know before I throw you in that lake,” Maverick snapped.
“Such a grumpy daddy bear,” the incubus taunted before he sighed.
“Tell us what?” Alaric’s head swiveled from side to side in confusion.
“The witch is half-demon.”
“What?”Maverick’s arms tightened around me until I couldn’t breathe.
“You heard me. Nymon, the demon king, is her father.”
Maverick shoved me back while gripping my arms hard enough to leave bruises. Alaric’s mouth gaped open, and Zane gulped down some more beer.
I glared at him. Talk about tossing a grenade into the room. I’d have told them all eventually.In my own sweet time. Maybe.
“Keeping secrets from your soul-bonded mates is unwise,”Kenji said from his spot on a chair in the corner. I jumped, not having noticed him. He stretched and yawned.“Especially notthe fact that they have a demonic father-in-law. Yikes. Family reunions are going to be fun.”
Ignoring my asshole familiar and his unsolicited relationship advice, I chewed my lip while trying to figure out how best to defuse this awkward situation. It felt like I’d stumbled into a crazy daytime telenovela.
“How long have you known, Raven?” I noted Maverick’s use of my given name, rather than his nickname for me. Oh stars, he was angry. Really angry. Likeso angry I wondered if he’d ever forgive me, angry.
