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“Oh, that’s awhole other story.” By the Pits, he could tell he wasn’t going to be able towriggle out of spilling the beans. “My close friend, Galen, toppled the lastConflict Demon Queen, then he bribed all the voters to elect me as King. It wasa position I neither wanted nor am particularly well suited for. But Galen wasin a rush to court his lady Valkyrie love and dumped yours truly in the mix. Iown the Elite L’Educatio Pre-schools. As a form of protest against Galen’s highhanded ways, I have refused all his requests to enrol his future twin progenyat the local pre-school here.”
“I’ve heard ofyour schools.” Tore acknowledged, his tone abrupt.
“Why wouldStephanie want the twins to mix with mundanes?” Christina enquired, clearlybewildered.
“We encourage a lotof supernaturals to send their children to my schools if they are based uponthis Plane. It helps to acclimate them. Better still, the staff are allsupernaturals or in the know.”
“But aren’t thereproblems with the mundane children telling their parents?”
“Not at all. Ayoung child swearing they saw another child hover, or freeze water? No one willbelieve them. And as the children get older and gain more control, we ask themto limit their displays of power, so eventually the supernatural incidents taperoff.”
“You’re notworried any of the mundane children will get hurt?”
“If anything,we’re finding the mundane children are the ones who act out more often withdisplays of temper and violence. Most come from extremely wealthy backgrounds,their parents on their third or fourth marriages, with multiple half-siblingsand multiple places they are expected to refer to as home. We provide them withcounsellors, who play games to try and help them pinpoint stable influences andmentors in their lives.”
“Providingchildren with a strong core foundation is vital for their well-being and futureeducational endeavours.” Tore acknowledged.
Oh, no. Shaw’sfather, who looked to be in his early forties, had worked mostly as a teachingProfessor or as an advisor of African Culture and Heritage for prestigiousmuseums for the past sixty Earth years. He had very strong ideas on education,especially the early learning years. No way could Shaw allow her father tobegin to thaw.
“So, getting backto the blackmail… basically Kaleb is holding hostage the educational fate oftwo innocent children because he’s peeved at his friend for daring to elevatehim to a position of great power and responsibility. Poor Stephanie and herunborn daughters caught in the crossfire. When I called Kaleb on it, he had theaudacity to blackmail me in to being his bodyguard. Dangling the signing off ofthe enrolment forms for the twins as an inducement.”
By the Fiery Pitsof Hell, why? Kaleb wanted to howl. The tide had been shifting ever so slightly.Why? Why had Shaw sabotaged him? He glanced her way, desperately trying to keepa scowl of annoyance off his face. All Shaw did was beam at him. A sunny…gloriously wicked smile that had his cock hardening and blood heating.Thankfully the borrowed leather pants were tight and keeping everything undercontrol, which was bloody uncomfortable but better than the alternative ofShaw’s parent seeing how much Kaleb wanted to bang their daughter.
“Perhaps now isthe time to share with you want I can of what’s actually going on. Truth is,I’m a desperate Demon.”
“Desperate?”
Tore’s deep voicebroke into Kaleb’s musing, Shaw should totally smile more often. Ah, Lord LuciferBelow, no she shouldn’t. If she were to smile like that on a regular basisevery male on five Planes would be hounding her. She was gorgeous enough butthat smile tipped her over into sexy – up for anything - Goddess territory.Better Shaw keep that smile locked down and only use it for special occasions.
A male throat wascleared pointedly… oh, yes, he’d been talking. “Ah, yes, desperate.” With moreeffort than it should have taken, Kaleb wrenched his gaze from Shaw to find twosets of parental eyes staring at him intently. One dawn grey, unimpressed. Theother clear green, harder to read. Amused? Sympathetic?
What was hetalking about again? Being desperate to bang boots with Shaw? Yes, but hedoubted he was going to confess that to her parents. Oh, right. “I’m not anatural Monarch. I’m not bad at it. But my people deserve more time and energythan I can provide. Even if I were to give up running the pre-schools, my heartjust isn’t in it.”
“So, you’re aquitter?” Tore happily judged, before glancing over at his wife who wassignalling for his attention.
“I don’t thinkZuri is coming. Why don’t you start putting everything on the grill?”
“No Monroe?”Enquired Shaw.
“You heard aboutthe prisonbreak?” At Shaw’s nod Christina continued talking whilst Tore rose,sauntering over to the outdoor grill positioned further along the deck to beginmeal preparations. “The warrants have begun filtering through. Roe already hasthree in the bag and is working on number four.”
“Bet she’s havinga great time. She’s never happy unless she’s out hunting.” Shaw took a momentto refill everyone’s glasses.
Tore, closing thelid on the grill, turned back to the group, eyeing Kaleb. “Now, back to you.I’d like to hear more about what a quitter you are.”
“Quitter is aharsh word. Look, if I thought it would be beneficial for the Conflict Realm ifI remained Regent, I’d stay in the job. And I’ll happily admit it hasn’t beenwithout its perks. While the Realm was reeling following the former Queen’sbetrayal, I was able to kickstart a few officially funded projects thatotherwise would never have gotten any traction. But isn’t it fairer that I findsomeone not only more eminently suited to the role, but who will embrace itwith enthusiasm and who has affection for my fellow Conflict Demons?”
“Rather than theveiled contempt you often portray.” Pointed out Shaw, having witnessed itfirst-hand.
“Exactly. So manyare just plain stupid, or blinkered by hunger for more money or power. Theyneed a ruler who cares for them but isn’t afraid to knock heads. One who giveszero fucks when it comes to reputations or the amount anyone has in their bankbalance.”
“Who else knowsyou’re going to put your mother on the throne?”
Lord Lucifer, hisValkyrie was a smart one. “No one. Not even my mother yet.”
“Are you sure?Perhaps that explains the recent rash of assassination attempts.”
“I suppose. I wasonly averaging an attempt about once a month when I first took up the mantle.Now it seems like every other day some creature is coming at me with an axe andmurder in their eyes.”
