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He seemed to give serious consideration as to how to address her statement. Finally, he said, “So did your father. I worked very closely with him when the king instituted laws to ensure peace between our two races. I respected Liam.”
She took a few steps toward him. “You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”
He nodded. “The last time was shortly after their deaths. You chose to stay alone and I wanted to make sure you had enough wood.”
Now she remembered returning from the village one afternoon and finding the large stack. No one had taken credit for the delivery—or the crate of food that had been left for her.
“Why would you help me?” she asked, perplexed.
The general rubbed his temple with a forefinger, then told her, “I know this will seem strange, but Liam and I were friends. Very good friends.”
“I hadn’t known that.”
“We had a political and military partnership to maintain, so not many people were aware of our high regard for each other in a personal capacity. But before you were born, your mother would invite me to dinner from time to time. Liam and I would discuss strategies to strengthen the human-demon relations in an effort to minimize altercations and keep tensions low.”
He smiled suddenly, as though a memory came unexpectedly to him. “Marianne was a gracious hostess and she made the most incredible dishes.”
“Beef stroganoff,” they said at the same time.
“It was her specialty,” Jade added, her voice cracking. Tears burned her eyes at thoughts of her mother humming softly as she cooked while Jade set the table.
“Well.” Morgan’s gaze dropped to her necklace for a brief moment, then he added, “Both the king and I were deeply affected by their deaths. I hunted the shifters myself and…” He shook his head, a disturbed look crossing his face.
“And what?” she asked as she studied the general. He truly did seem upset by the tragedy. Even fifteen years later.
He pulled in a long breath, then let it out slowly. “They were renegades, but I didn’t bring them to the castle to stand trial. I knew first-hand what they’d done. I hadn’t been able to get to your parents before it was too late, but I couldn’t allow the murders to go unpunished. I had to avenge Liam and Marianne myself.”
She gasped. “You’re the one who pursued the shifters.” She’d seen it all from her hiding spot in the woods. “You were cloaked—I never saw your face. But you went after the wolves with such fury.”
“Yes.” He swallowed hard. “I was enraged. My vengeance likely would have been worse if I’d had known you’d witnessed the whole thing. The king told me later.”
Her legs trembled and he reached a hand out to steady her.
“I never knew what happened to the shifters,” she said. “I know I should say they had the right to stand trial, but I can’t bring myself to consider that option. Knowing you dealt with them and exacted retribution for my family…” She fought back a wave of emotion and tried to control the tears threatening her eyes. “That means a lot to me.”
“They were good people, Jade. They didn’t deserve their fate.”
“I know.” She had to tamp down more of the stinging sensations rising within her. “Tell me something. Why did you stop coming to the cottage after I was born?”
He grimaced. “How would your parents explain to a young girl that a demon was coming for dinner? The very demons that waged a war against your kind?”
“But it would have explained so much. My mother always seemed so torn between hating your species and yet finding some sort of compassion for them. She was the one to first teach me that humans can be just as destructive. Lisette’s books confirmed my mother’s notions.”
“Marianne saw things from a very objective viewpoint. I always admired that about her. In the end, however, she was only partially right. Not all demons are evil. But Jade… Many of them are.”
With that, he turned once more on his booted heels and marched out of her house.
He’d left her with a clear warning—not to get too comfortable because she’d had interactions with a few demons who didn’t want to kill her. How many more were there that did?
She left the room with a foreboding weight in the pit of her stomach. She tossed the last of the logs from the stack Darien had first supplied onto the two fires blazing in her house. His timing was uncanny. She’d been resigned to shoveling for ground debris again in the morning. Yet he’d obviously known her supply had reached the dwindling point and had sent Morgan.
And that bed he’d had made for her… She laughed out loud, despite her melancholy. The fact it was three times the size of her old one aside, she loved it. Yes, the accommodations would likely feel lonely since she’d be sleeping by herself. But when she wandered back into her room and gazed at the bed, all she could really think about was how beautiful and inviting it appeared. So rich and sensuous.
There was no denying she’d prefer to indulge in the thick covers and satiny sheets with Darien, but she continued to be realistic about their predicament.
In fact, her relationship with him wasn’t what sprang to mind when she changed into her nightgown and slipped between the covers. Instead, her thoughts were centered on Morgan and the things he’d said. She hadn’t known his involvement with her family, nor had she known of his revenge on the shifters who’d slaughtered her parents.
One thing that did resonate within her, however, was the comprehension that her mother had been right. Though the human-demon good versus evil equation was a complex and nearly impossible one to solve, she could at least grasp her mother’s sentiment now, for her parents had had exposure to a demon not hell-bent on destroying them.
