Page 61 of Fated to the Demon Lord

He cast an annoyed glance at me. “The last few days since my death have been short on calm, relaxing moments. Forgive me if I’ve been a bit out of sorts,” he said sarcastically.

We walked further through town to where it was less busy and the buildings more spread out. Mother led the way up the path of a cultivated garden walk, up to a wooden cabin. It was much bigger and better built than the one Gerand and I lived in—the same cabin we resided in with Mother before she abandoned us.

We stepped inside and I noted the granite fireplace compared to our simple stone one. The multiple rooms within the spacious confines and the floors that were covered in warm animal fur rugs.

“Papa! You’re home!” A little demon boy shouted. He jumped up from where he’d been sitting on the floor and raced to give him a hug. Another little girl followed.

“There’s my boy, Panan,” Bargoth said to the boy who looked no more than four years old. He had budding antlers coming from his head and brown hair that matched Gerand’s almost exactly.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

“Thanks for watching them, Marbas,” Mother said to an older demon boy with feline eyes. He nodded. The older demon boy bore no resemblance to Gerand. No, I was probably imagining things.

“Mama, can we go to the market and play in the children’s square?” The little girl, who was about the same age as the boy demon, asked.

Mama, the word rang in my ears. The way the child stared up at my mother, gazing at her imploringly. The demon girl also had feline eyes, but her body was human, and the shade of her green irises matched mine and my mother’s.

“Not today, Mia. Tonight we are going to have dinner with our guests. Your half-sister, in fact.”

“What’s a half-sister?” the little boy demon asked.

My body locked. I stared at the demon boy, an odd ringing in my ears.

The pressure inside me was boiling over, about to flood the room.

I wanted to slap the boy. I wanted to set the cabin on fire. I wanted to scream until my throat was hoarse.

Vaelor’s hand landed on my shoulder. “Denara…”

I spun away from him, away from everyone, marching to the door. The floor had yet again fallen out from under me, and I was tumbling into free fall with no net to catch me—because that net had left five years ago.

Throwing the door wide, I didn’t look back as I hurried through it.

And rushed out into the night.

Sixteen

“Denara. Denara!” My mother’s voice sounded behind me. So I proceeded deeper into the forest, away from the cottage and away from the town.

“Denara, please stop and let’s talk.”

I should keep going. My fury ran deep, and I feared what I might say or do if I engaged with the woman following me. But I was never good at bottling my emotions for long.

“What is there to talk about, Mother? That you left us and then started a new family, a new replacement family.”

“It’s not like that. It was never like that.”

I noticed the mist curling around us and stilled. Glancing past my mother, I saw Vaelor standing not too far away. The clench of his jaw made it clear he thought about intervening.

“I’m fine, Vaelor. You don’t have to stay,” I said.

His frown deepened, but then he nodded and walked away, taking the mist with him.

“Please, Denara. I had to leave,” my mother pleaded.

“Yes, because you murdered someone.”

Mother twisted her fingers, worry in her eyes. “The man whom I murdered wasn’t just anyone. It was your father.”