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Vessorian scratches his chin. "That’d be because she doesn't mind the sex as such. She just tested you to see if she could control you. And she can."
I want to tell them they're wrong, but I can't explain why I didn't immediately bend her over. He’s right, I always pounce on her the moment we’re off our horses. I certainly wanted to. I always do.
I grumble a curse under my breath.
"It's not smart to teach her," Silver murmurs. "Her commands may not always be harmless."
"Succubi are sex fiends, not fighters. She can't do much damage."
"Tell that to Alrion."
I consider Silver’s argument. She's not wrong, but… "It's not right to leave her defenseless."
"What if she uses her power against you? She could make you tell her where your heart is. She could ask you to list every way you can be killed. She's theenemy."
"Alev of Xion is our enemy. Rhea is a scared, angry girl who's been traumatized and manipulated her entire life." I pause. "But you're right. None of us is allowed by ourselves with her, understood?"
If she tries anything against one of us, the other can intervene, that way.
“Not even you?" Vess checks.
I’m surprised he has to ask.
There’s no denying that I have a blind spot where she’s concerned. I know her for what she is, I expect her to strike at the first show of vulnerability, and yet I can’t bring myself to care. That was one thing when she was unaware of her power, but if Vess and Silver are right, and Rhea did already manage to sneak past my defenses without my noticing anything after a single afternoon of stretching her proverbial muscles? She could become a problem.
Or one of my allies. A power to be reckoned with at my side.
I shut down that line of thinking, fast. I can’t afford to even dream about trusting her. The fact that I wish I could is dangerous enough.
"Especially not me."
I hate the fact that I can’t trust myself around her. That I can’t trust her. I want to, desperately. But Alev and his lies molded her. It might take as many years until she sees me as anything but a monster. She’s getting used to my touch, and my cock. But she’s also the woman who plunged that knife in my chest.
Still, I need her.
We weren’t meant to reproduce easily. That’s the flip side of immortality. Nature crafted us to live forever. If we could have children with ease, our race would have overpopulated the world in the space of a hundred years. Instead we were fated one predestined mate, the one immortal with whom we could procreate. In her infinite wisdom, nature made our mates our opposites, someone we wouldn’t be inclined to choose at first, to avoid encouraging us from taking over Xhera.
The elder gods found a way to get around that: mortals. Formed like us in every way except their lack of magic, and fated to survive a mere hundred years, they bear children with ease, as a general rule.
When King Alev announced he had gotten himself a child at long last, I rejoiced for him. I raised my cup in his honor and called a holiday.
Then the next day, we were branded as the enemy. Monsters who would steal away such a gift. I don’t even understand how we could have been suspected.
In truth, I think we were simply convenient. He survived a trauma and opted to blame whatever party suited his agenda.
If we weren’t locked into our side of the world, I could have found myself a mortal wench a long time ago. Here, no one matched me—especially not the gentry with pure immortal blood.
No one but her. And I know I might see another thousand years without finding another Rhea. There might be no one else for me in the entire world. So I’ll hang on to her, holding tight. Whether she wants me to or not.
37
RHEA
I remain motionless, keeping my breathing even.
Rhea is a scared, angry girl who's been traumatized and manipulated her entire life.
Part of me despises the contempt lacing his words. He truly takes me for nothing but foolish, lesser. But there’s no denying that I was woefully ignorant of all things concerning Nyxar until a few days ago. I knew nothing of its king. I knew nothing of its customs. I had no idea any other kind of creatures lived here, other than demigods. Now I have a pixie for a maid and I am a succubus—a word so unfamiliar I don’t even know how to spell it.
