I gulped. “Since a demon told me the night of the attack on campus. He called me princess and said my father had been searching for me for a very long time, and that he wanted me to come home, and a lot of other stuff I blanked out because it made no sense.”
“So if your father is Nymon,” Maverick gritted out, clearly unhappy about the fact his mate was a demon princess. And who could blame him? I was hardly delirious about it either. “Then who was your mother?”
“A witch called Ellora. Or so Adam told me. She died when I was a toddler.”
“Ellora Nightingale?” Alaric spoke up for the first time since Zane’s truth bomb exploded.
“I don’t know. Maybe?” Whenever I’d asked about my mother, Adam deflected and changed the subject. The older I got, the more I realized it hurt him to think about her, so I stopped asking. “Adam told me he and my mother had been soul-bonded mates and she’d been pregnant when they met. He never revealed who my father was except to say he was evil and I needed to forget about him.”
Zane smirked. “I think evil is an understatement, given he rules hell and has legions of demons at his command.”
“This must be why demon attacks have increased,” Alaric mused. “Nymon is sending demons through the portal to find Raven.”
“Yeah, but why is the portal magic failing? Ellora’s coven sealed it when she disappeared,” Maverick mused.
“They did?” I knew nothing about how and why it happened.
“Yes,” Maverick replied. “There was a rumor the demon king had taken her, but most mages and witches believed she’d died at the hands of her coven, although no charges were ever filed. Everyone knew the witch who assumed control of the Nightshade Coven had issues with Ellora’s leadership, but when they cast the spell to seal the portal and keep demons out of the human realm, the Mage Council heaved a sigh of relief and forgot about Ellora.”
“Nobody tried to save my mom?” I whispered, fresh tears welling in my eyes. Alaric threw me a sympathetic look.
“Not that I know of.”
My poor mother. Taken from her home by a demon and forced to be his bride. How had she escaped? Adam and I needed to have a chat when I got home. It was obvious he had been hiding a ton of stuff from me.
Maverick spun me around and cupped my face with his huge hands. “You should have told me the moment you found out, little mate. How can I protect you if I don’t have all the facts?”
Tears trickled down my cheeks. “I didn’t want to believe it,” I admitted. “So I refused to think about it.”
Kenji licked his butt and rolled his eyes at my misery. I hated my familiar at times. Why couldn’t he be more supportive?
“I believe in letting witches wipe their own asses,” he said while licking his ass.Gross.
“Don’t cry, little mate.” Maverick wrapped his arms around me, and I soaked up his heat and familiar scent. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“We’llkeep her safe,” Zane interjected.
“Oh, have you stopped pretending you didn’t seal the mate bond?” Alaric asked. Quick as a flash, Zane had him pinned up against the mantel, not caring if the blazing fire burned the mage’s ass to a crisp.
“I needed some time to figure things out, but yes. How about you, vanilla popsicle? Have you pulled your head out of your ass yet?”
Alaric zapped Zane with a spark of electricity, but the incubus just laughed. I guess he hadn’t been exaggerating when he claimed to have a pain kink.
“You know my father will want to leverage her if he finds out!” Alaric growled. Zane stepped back, still laughing.
“Then it’s time to take the bastard down.” The incubus smirked. “Just as well you have four powerful harem mates at your back now.”
23
Maverick
My bear was losing his shit slowly but surely. Keeping Raven safe should have been easy. We’d spent years handling security for the rich and famous. Scaring stalkers away and removing threats when they arose.
Yet the minute we left our mate alone, she took a bullet.
Fur sprouted across my arms as my bear fought to escape, but I held him back. The bedroom wasn’t large enough to accommodate an adult Kodiak bear mid-tantrum. We’d cause too much damage and make the cabin uninhabitable. And with another winter storm on the horizon, losing our shelter for the night was not an option.
My bear roared but settled when I reminded him Raven was safe. At least for now.
