Page 105 of Demon Food

A smile twitched my mouth. “Probably. You’ve met my father.”

“That’s got to be the only explanation for why you deviate so severely from our kind.”

“A little deviation could only serve our kind. ”

“So, where did your father take this human who you want to burn kingdoms for? Lucc didn’t know.”

I glanced at the window, lowering my voice to say, “That is what I need you to find out.”

“Well, that’s easy. Which is why I know there’s more.”

“There is.” I dropped my voice to a whisper, “I want him freed.”

She didn’t budge or speak, while the birds that’d nested in the Hacerium tree cooed softly.

“I want him taken to Barrion’s cottage with gold in his pocket. Tell the doctor he is to watch after him until I am able to get there. Just as soon as I can. Understood?”

She stayed silent.

“Amara.”

“Shh, I’m fucking thinking. I suppose I could sneak him out on the back of the wine merchant’s cart. He’s delivering tomorrow night. But how the hell am I going to steal a concubine from your father’s possession?”

I scraped my teeth over my lower lip at the thought of Feloré in my father’s possession. “I don’t know.”

“His day of birth is approaching. Perhaps he could be easily distracted? It wouldn’t be the first time. I could ride into one of the villages and choose a human of similar attributes. Present them like an early gift. What does he look like, the human?”

My head filled with vivid images of what he… fucking… looked… like.

There’d been the look when he first arrived, dressed in nothing more than sheer silver. There’d been the way he looked when he was coming all over his stomach, cheeks flushed and lips parted. It was the sunlight dancing over his eyelids right before he awoke in the morning and the last glimpses of pearly blue before his eyes drifted shut at night.

I dragged a hand down my face. “You won’t be able to find it. It’s one-of-a-kind.”

She risked a glance at me.

“Look, I know I sound mad. I know he’s a human, but if he gets hurt…” I trailed off. “He can’t get hurt, Amara. He can’t.”

Whatever she saw on my face was enough to try to soften the hard line of her mouth.

“Do whatever you have to do—I will be forever in your debt—but please. Please keep him safe.”

“I will. I’ll find a way. I always do.”

I smoothed my tongue over my teeth.

“You’re not mad, Prince. I follow you, not in spite of your heart, but because of it. And I will follow you until your vision for this kingdom is a reality.”

A little weight lifted from my chest as I nodded.

She gripped her sword and dug one boot into the dirt, bowing at the tree. “Be on alert for a message from me. Once the human is handled, we’re set to ride. I’ll send word to the doctor to be expecting us.”

“Thank you, Amara,” I whispered, meeting her gaze. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Thank me when it’s done,” she said, sheathing her sword. “Now get some fucking sleep. You look like death.”

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FELORÉ