Reid was getting worse. Kerak could feel it. Feel his mate being torn from him, the bond they shared stretched to the limit.
“What is it?” Silva asked, stopping beside him, swords at the ready.
“It’s Reid. He doesn’t have much time left. Come on.”
Chapter
Five
DEADWOOD, 1876
Reid
The walk down the mountain was easier. Mostly because Kerak insisted on carrying Reid, and Reid couldn’t find a reason to object. Not when it meant he got to be pressed against Kerak’s back, close enough to press kisses to the side of his neck and get his hands on Kerak’s chest.
Kerak chuckled, the sound rumbling through Reid and making him tingle all over. “I admit, I never took you for a tormenter.”
Reid smiled and pressed that against the skin behind Kerak’s ear, too. “Do I torment you?”
“Since the moment I saw you.” Kerak stopped in the middle of the trail and turned his head to catch Reid’s lips with his own. “Delicious torment.”
Heat rushed into Reid’s face as it had all afternoon. He was grateful that the temperature had lowered with the sun. Overhead, a half-moon and hundreds of stars winked down at them. Reid hadn’t seen how they’d get back down the path in thedark, but Kerak assured him it wouldn’t be a problem. It hadn’t been. Kerak was as surefooted in darkness as he’d been under the midday sun.
“You’re thinking awfully hard back there.”
Licking his lips, Reid broached the subject he’d been curious about all day. “May I ask…what are you?”
Kerak’s steps slowed only a little, and he gave Reid’s legs a gentle squeeze. “I’m not of this realm. There’s a word attributed to my kind, and while it’s accurate in a sense, I’m also not what the word will make you think of initially.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
Stopping, Kerak lowered Reid’s legs so he was standing on his own two feet again.
When Kerak turned to face him, he gasped at the deep red color taking over Kerak’s eyes.
“I’m a demon, Reid.” His gaze didn’t waver. “Actually, I’m the demon king of this realm.”
Reid tried to think of something to say, but he’d never imagined?—
“When I say my being a demon isn’t like what you initially think of, I mean that I have no quarrel with any god. Nor do I wish to torment humans and collect their souls.”
Behind him, a twig snapped. Faster than Reid could comprehend, Kerak had turned them, putting himself between Reid and whatever had caused the noise.
“Jumpy, little brother?”
In front of him, Kerak’s shoulders relaxed, but the grip he had on Reid’s hand didn’t ease. “Selin. You always were the only one who could sneak up on me.”
Out of the shadows beneath the trees, Selin stepped out. The moonlight amplified the paleness of his skin and those eerie, glowing turquoise eyes. And they were glowing. Before, in the dim light of the saloon, Reid thought his mind had been playing tricks on him. Knowing what he knew now…there was no trick.
“I’m your big brother. It’s my job to keep you on your toes. When you weren’t back by sunset, I got concerned.” Stepping closer to them, Selin shifted his gaze to Reid. “Sometimes sharing our secrets doesn’t always go according to plan.”
Only Kerak’s hand in his kept Reid from taking a step back. Kerak had literally just stated that he was the king of demons, but somehow Selin felt infinitely more dangerous. Reid had never been concerned with his safety in Kerak’s presence. A single look from Selin made him feel smaller, more vulnerable than he’d ever felt before.
“That’s enough,” Kerak said in a low voice that made every hair on Reid’s body stand up. Tension filled the air, and the previously pleasant night turned stifling.
Reid shifted his feet. He wanted to look away from Selin but didn’t dare.
Just as Kerak started to release Reid’s hand and move forward, Selin blinked and looked at Kerak.
