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“Am I the only one totally lost here?” Julie tugged her hand away from Liam and placed her fists on her hips. “I want to find out why Saint decided to play with us like this. And if he doesn’t tell me, I’m going to sic Margo on him.”
Ume saw Sinner flinch. But it was Liam who spoke. “Baby, please trust me. Everything’s going to be all right.”
Julie’s expression softened. “Fine. You three go ahead and let me say goodbye to my cousin in private.”
Liam and Sinner looked suspicious, but obeyed. Manx put his finger to his nose and mouthed, “Clever girl,” before following the other two.
Julie grabbed her taller cousin and pulled her into a tight embrace. “If Manx is right, then I can help. I’m going to imagine an invisible doorway behind that arch. I think Saint is harmless, but if I’m wrong, just call my name, and the door should appear to take you home.” She pulled back with a bemused expression. “That sounded even stranger than I thought it would.”
Ume smiled fondly at her cousin. “If this works, you have to promise me you’ll write about it. It’s a perfect sequel to your bestseller.”
Julie blushed. “Believe me, the thought had crossed my mind. Be safe, cousin. I’ll be waiting.”
“What do you think they’re talking about?”
“Our imminent demise, no doubt.”
Saint glared when Manx began to chuckle. “Don’t laugh, traitor. We saw you cozying up to the enemy.”
Manx held up his hands. “Just trying to help you two out, brother. For a couple of guys who just well and truly claimed their women, you’re both looking pretty bad.”
Liam’s smile was slow, but satisfied. “I’m just trying to recover. My shy, little mate is actually a hellion.”
A shimmer of humor crossed Saint’s expression. “I’d say I told you so, but demons never brag.”
The shifter tilted his head. “What about you? Have you decided how you’re going to break it to her?”
He knew what had to happen. He just wasn’t sure he wanted to do it anymore. He knew what she was. He had his answers. She didn’t know it, but magical blood ran through her veins, faint, but it was there. She was closer to her kitsune character than she realized. Only she wasn’t just a character. And this was no longer a game.
Ume had changed something in him. Shredded his defenses and made him face a part of himself he’d buried long ago. The part of him that was like his father. A slave to his needs. Controlled instead of in control.
He’d lost it. Couldn’t rein in that half of him that he knew would scare her. He’d felt the demon rise and made Manx blindfold her, so she wouldn’t be able to see his eyes, wouldn’t be able to see them turn fiery red. In the end none of his precautions mattered. In the end she had to beg him to stop. He’d become a monster.
Demons didn’t fall in love. But what he felt when he looked at her…he wasn’t sure how to handle it.
He should just send her home. Before she found out. Before she knew the man she’d shared herself with, the man who’d gained her trust, was born from darkness. Didn’t deserve her.
But some masochistic part of him knew he had to finish it. Knew he had to see this through to the end.
Saint ignored Liam’s question and shared a look with Manx. “When we go through the arch, take these two home. And Liam, make sure you get to Ume’s house as fast as you can.”
He turned toward the embracing women and raised his voice. “Ume, its time.”
Time to finish the quest.
She walked beside him the last hundred feet in silence. A silence that was driving him crazy. “Ume, I—”
“Don’t. Don’t apologize again. If you do I might have to cut off something important.”
Noticing the grip she had on her kitana, he smiled. She was so strong, his Ume. So fearless. But she wouldn’t need her sword for this first battle. He had to warn her. “They say there is one hall we have to get through to get to the Demon King’s most treasured possession. You have to face things about your past, about yourself, that aren’t always pleasant.”
He wished she didn’t have to go through it, but he couldn’t change it. If she was going to see him, she needed to see everything.
Ume squared her shoulders and kept walking. “I liked this better when I thought I was crazy. When I didn’t believe any of it was real.”
Saint took a slow, deep breath. “I know.”
He glanced at the plain, unassuming building that housed his lair and had to smile. How many gamers had imagined a palace made of gold, with jewel-encrusted doors and fire-breathing dragons guarding the gate? It used to amuse him, how people let their imaginations run away with them. Now he just wanted this to be over.
