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Duke Haures meets my stare, then surprises me by gesturing for Candor. Then, as the craftsman moves next to him, he grabs the bar nearest to him, curving his claws around it. “In here,” he says.
As a shadow, Candor contracts until he’s thin enough to pass through the bars, joining me in my cell.
Before I can question it, Duke Haures says, “There’s a reason why us demons mark ourselves with the names of our mates.”
I nod. “It is tradition.”
A Sombra male is proud to show off the female—demoness or human—who he gave his essence to.
“Yes, there is that. But it’s also so the male can show who he belongs to. Who blessed him with their essence, claiming him in return. It’s our promise that we’ll protect our females. And you, Sammael… you’re a bonded male with a bare chest.”
Of course. Because I only just bonded Hope to me—but, to Duke Haures, that is no excuse.
And that’s how I know that, while I might be in the dungeons for now, it’s only until the duke decides to let me return to my mate.
Whenever that will be…
CHAPTER17
DUKE HAURES
HOPE
Mavro is the capital city of Sombra. I don’t get to see it for myself, but I know enough about it from Sammael that it’s an oasis in the center of their hellish realm. When I try to dig deeper, rifling through his memories, all I get is a single name:Haures.
It’s the same name that I heard from Malphas in Jericho, then from Loki when he agreed to bring me to meet with the infamous demon duke. He’s the ruler of the entire demon world, the powerful guy that Sammael served under before he came to find me in my world, and the only person I can appeal to to get me my mate back.
After all, Sammael is only in Sombra on the duke’s orders, and that means he’s the only one who can release him.
As the duke’s replacement mage, Loki is allowed to use one of his portals to take him right into the throne room where the ruler of Sombra meets with his subjects. Other demons are able to use shadow travel—which is just what it sounds like, turning into the faintest form of their shadow and passing through the circles cut into the roof, almost like they’re flying—while Loki’s way of crossing from Nuit to the capital is way faster.
I’m still not used to how the portals work. The one that brought me from Jericho to Sombra in the first place was full of flames that didn’t burn me. Loki’s portals are pitch-black, made up of shadows, and they leave me stumbling when I move through them.
Luckily, he’s there to grip my arm and steady me so that I don’t fall flat on my face in front of the impressive duke of Sombra.
Because, whoa, is everything about him and his glimmering palaceimpressive.
At the far end of the room, raised up on a dais about three feet off the smooth floor I’m standing on, is a crystalline throne that would make Shaq look like he’s sitting in his daddy’s chair. It’s freakinghugewhich makes sense when I see the massive male sitting on it.
Shannon’s flippant description of Duke Haures nailed him to a tee. Unlike every other demon I’ve seen, his solid form is straight-up white, though the blue moon shining through the gaps in the ceiling paint him a softer version of the color. He has long, thick white hair, shocking blue eyes, a crown perched on his head, and fangs that grow upward like tusks.
He’s wearing something similar to chainmail that, honestly, does nothing to hide those honking huge muscles of his. When he speaks, I almost expect him to grunt, and I’m shocked when his voice comes out smooth and surprisingly gentle.
“Loki,” he calls, addressing the demon who brought me here. “What is this?”
Oh, shit. Because Shannon knew about the duke, and so did Loki’s mate, I figured the demon duke was all onboard the “humans bonding with demonkind” train. But the way he just said that… does he even know what a human is?
“This is Hope,” Loki says, gesturing at me with his shadowy hand.
“She’s a human female. A mortal.”
Scratch that. He definitely knows what I am. Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel any better than I did before.
Loki nods. “She is also Sammael’s mate.”
Duke Haures steeples his claws, lounging back in his elaborate throne. “Ah. Is she now?” His lips curve, appearing like a sneer around his fangs, though I don’t think he means to look so ferocious. “I was wondering if she would find her way to Sombra. Since I’ve been told that she was supposed to have no memories of this place, I doubted she would… and, yet, here she stands.”
And thank God for that. I don’t know if it’s because I’m his bonded mate and it wouldn’t have worked, or if Sammael refused at the last minute because he wanted me to remember him, but it doesn’t matter. What’s done is done, now I’m here, and I need to figure out how I’m going to find a way to get the fearsome demon duke to let Sammael go.
