Chains of Frost: The Bellum Sisters 1 (27 page)

“That you did,” agreed the demon,
“but you also cast the spell above the burial ground for one of the most
dangerous demons in existence. Its name is Karr gh’elic Crumanja. According to
demonic lore, the demon was once normal but craved power. Using a mixture of
dark magicks, it grew more powerful and more dangerous. It was killing demon
women and children for sacrifices and black worship. Dozens of demons banded
together to rid Karr from the earth.”

“They didn’t do a very good job,”
Chloe noted.

Telal glared at her. “They did
until three foolish women stepped onto his grounds and cast a summoning spell.”

“It wasn’t a summoning spell,”
said Lily. “It was to keep you men away from us. We had every right.”

Telal leaned back in his chair
and drummed his long fingers on his thighs. “You were wrong and it won’t stop
until it dies or it kills her.” He looked pointedly at Chloe.

“How do I kill it?” Tyrian asked.
The demon cracked his neck side to side.

“Not easily. As I said, it took
dozens of demons fighting it to subdue it long enough to bind it magically.
They put it in a cage and buried him deep within the earth, below the rift
where only the
idummi
live.”

“Why didn’t they just kill it?”
Chloe asked. Her stomach clenched in warning. She was feeling sicker by the
minute. The same sick feeling she had when the demon climbed out of the ground
and roared her name.

The demon leveled his bright
amber eyes on her. “Because it can’t be killed. It’s too powerful and every
moment it’s free, it will grow more so. We have no idea what it’s capable of at
this point or what it’s even doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s trying to amass
a new army already.”

“That’s not true,” Lily said. She
hopped off the desk and closed the distance between her and the demon. He
looked appalled and shocked that she’d do such a thing. But then she turned
toward his desk, giving him her back. Her bare back. The demon’s eyes glowed
brightly as his gaze wracked over her.

“You know nothing about it,
lilit
.”

“
Au contraire
, my soon-to-be
demonic lover. It can be killed. I dreamt it. Chloe will cast a spell that puts
the demon back into the earth.”

The demon stood and put some
space between them. “Nonsense. Ridiculous. A dream? You are just spouting lies
now,
lilit
.”

“She is not lying,” Chloe said
and took an aggressive step toward him. He cocked an eyebrow at her that said
he wasn’t impressed. “Lily never lies. Her dreams have been known to come true.
Lily, how do we get this spell so we can get it done?”

“I don’t know,” she said,
shrugging. “I can do some research and write one up with you.”

“In English, please. I don’t want
to summon anything else.”

Lily giggled and perched herself
back on the demon’s desk.

“You are on my work. Get off,”
Telal said with barely controlled anger.

“Chloe and Lily, you will work on
the spell immediately. If it works, then we’ll kill the demon, set a trap for
it. If not, we’ll wait until it attacks again. We don’t have the demonic magic
to bind the demon. It will have to die,” Tyrian said.

“It’ll only amass a bigger army,”
warned the demon.

“Let him.” Tyrian seemed
completely unfazed at the thought, while Chloe couldn’t help the unsettling
feeling sitting in her gut. “Let’s go.”

Lily whined but stalked to the
demon. He took a step back and stared at her, astonished.

She whispered, but Chloe still
made out the words. “I dreamt of us. Perhaps I’ll tell you all about it one
day. I think you’d like it, Telal. Call me…anytime.” Then she walked away,
grabbed Chloe by the hand, and they left.

“Let me guess,” Chloe said. “You
like him.”

Lily fanned herself with a hand.
“That demon is
hot.
Blue hair! And did you see his skin? No wonder I was
licking him everywhere in that dream. I’m ready to go back in there and---”

“Enough!” ordered Tyrian. Chloe
couldn’t help but laugh as they climbed into the elevator. Instantly, she
remembered what they’d done in this same elevator a mere two days ago. She
looked up at Tyrian but he didn’t meet her gaze. Chloe sighed. Oh well. She
would just pursue the commander later tonight. After all, she hadn’t put on
this dress for nothing.

Rayn met them outside of the
demon’s headquarters and warped them back to the castle.

Lily kissed her goodnight and
said she was off to bed to dream of her demon. Rayn drooled after her, and
Chloe didn’t know what to do. Tyrian left quickly and soon she was standing in
the room alone.

Lily’s words ran through her
mind. Take a chance. Be brave. She hesitated for a moment, then stalked after
him. He was not getting away from her tonight.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Henry climbed out of the shower
and grabbed a towel. He looked at his complexion in the mirror and noted how
pale his skin was getting. He’d have to feed soon.

He didn’t keep a
frimar
as
many of the warriors did. Some even shared their blood concubines. In return
for their blood service, the women were gifted with fine luxuries like jewels
and clothing. Henry had always thought it seemed very…mistress-ish. It was
probably his demon side that made him think so since no one else seemed to feel
the same way.

He also didn’t need blood as
often as full-blooded vampires did. So when he did find himself needing, like
he did now, he would usually go into town, find a dark-haired woman and charm
her—one of his demonic gifts. As he sat on the edge of his bed and towel dried,
he couldn’t help but feel dirty. It shamed him what he did.

That it was another he pictured
while taking whichever female’s vein he’d chosen. But it was so easy to see her
there, her beautiful dark skin waiting to be broken, waiting for him to sink
his fangs into and suck.

He shuddered and gripped his cock
that now stood like an erect flagpole between his legs. “Shit.” He briefly
considered jacking off, but fuck that. He climbed under the bedsheets, but
sleep eluded him as usual.

He stared at the ceiling as
thoughts of her poured into his mind. They were sappy thoughts too, like how he
wished she’d accept his half-blooded arse and mate with him.

God, did he want her. He could
have had her body by now, that he knew with the way she’d pursued him lately.
Damn if he didn’t want more, though. She’d never do it, and her brother would
never allow it. He was a half-breed, a mutant, a mistake.

How he wished he was some man
whore type like Draven or Rayn. Men who would easily accept the luscious body
offered to them eagerly. Henry couldn’t do it though. Not when he knew he cared
for her on a much deeper level. He respected her too much, and he respected
himself.

Being with her would be like
jumping into a pit filled with spikes just ready to cut you. The fall down
would be exhilarating, a rush. A sweeping heart-pounding moment, but then he’d
land and be screaming in agony. That’s what she would lead him to.

He scrubbed a hand across his
face and stared at the alarm clock on his table. Had only five minutes passed?
Shit. If he didn’t get his mind to slow down, he’d never get to sleep.

His cock was still a heavy, hard
mass tenting the damn comforter. “Go away,” he grumbled. “You can’t have her.”
God, how many times had he wished things were different? He had no doubt that if
he were a full-blooded vampire her brother would accept him with open arms. But
now he was practically a contagious virus. Course, she was grown, logic argued.
She could just choose him over her brother.

“Yeah, right. The last family she
had living.” She wasn’t going to disobey his wishes anytime soon, if ever. So
what was he holding his breath for? God. A fucking chance. He wanted her so
badly he could practically taste it. He wanted to wake up next to her every
damn day. Wanted to give her his vein and have hers in return. He wanted to
fill her with his child.

He growled viciously and slammed
his fist into the bed. The spring coils groaned in protest.

Slowly, anger left him. Numbness
filled him instead. It was the closest thing to tranquil he had. He closed his
eyes and pictured another time, another place.

A time where he was a
full-blooded vampire just like her. Where her brother pushed the match of them
together, where she still looked at him with those sharp, sexy eyes. She’d be
his, completely. He would finally be able to taste her dark golden skin,
finally see the shape of her breasts and nipples.

She was curvy in places he wanted
to bite with his teeth. Her breasts pushed flat against him when she pressed
close. Was she larger and rounded, or smaller and pert? Would her nipples be
dark like her lips? A gorgeous sun-kissed color that reminded him of pyramids
and older times.

Damn, he was a pussy. And a
masochist for even thinking such things.

Eventually his thoughts slowed,
and his body relaxed. His eyes fluttered closed and sleep finally came.

* * *

Movement brought Henry’s eyes
blinking open in the dark room. His night vision quickly triggered to accompany
the dark environment. He cursed as his eyes locked on the source that woke him
up. Nanu, beautiful and looking unsure, sat on the other side of the bed.

“What are you doing here?” His
first reaction was that something was wrong. “Are you sick?” As she turned to
look at him in the dark, her eyes bright and clear, he knew she wasn’t sick and
he was in trouble.

“No, I’m not sick. I came to
talk.”

Yeah, right.
Henry checked the time—hours
after midnight. “At three in the morning? Can’t it wait? I just finally got to
sleep a little while ago,” he said, scrubbing a hand over his face. He pulled
himself to a sitting position in the bed and pondered how he could get away
from her since he was literally naked under the sheets.

“No, I’m sorry, it can’t.”

Sighing, he said, “Then say what
it is and get out.” She took a deep breath then faced him on the bed, one leg
dangling off.

“I want you so badly, Henry.
Tonight I couldn’t even sleep. I just lie in bed thinking of you, wishing that
I’ll hear a knock on my door and it’ll be you there. Do you know what that’s
like?” she asked, yearning in her voice. Henry could have laughed.

“Yeah, I’m well aware of what
that’s like, Nanu. I live it every single day.”

“Then why won’t you let us be
together?” she said, almost shouting in her frustration.

“You know why. You know what I
want. I want you. Completely, totally, mated.”

She gasped, her eyes widening.

“And you know that your brother
will never allow it. Hell, that doesn’t bother me as much the fact that you
wouldn’t fight for me, Nanu. I have just enough self-respect to want that. To
want a woman who loves me back, who wants me as much as I do her.” Henry
couldn’t stand it anymore and threw back the covers, stalking naked to his
dresser to pull on some shorts. He heard the bed dip as she stood.

“That’s not fair! I don’t see you
pushing my brother, fighting with him to win me. You walk out of the room every
time he’s near.” Henry jerked as if she’d slapped him. His mind quickly tried
to deny it, but he couldn’t. She was right. He spun around.

“Fine. I’d do more than fight for
you, but I won’t fuck you and leave it at that. I can’t. I want you, the whole
you, in my bed every single night, waking up next to me, sleeping against me. I
want to share my vein with you and take yours. I want a mate, Nanu. I want
you.”

Nanu was breathing hard, her hand
clutching near her throat. “You…you really mean that?” He nodded once, gravely.
Henry couldn’t look at her. He felt like his heart was about to explode out of
his chest. He waited for her to say something, to do something, and it was the
worst torture.

“I-I want that too.”

Henry glared at her. “Don’t lie
to me. Don’t play games, Nanu. If you say something like that you better mean
it one-thousand fucking percent or you can go find the door.”

She was shaking like a damned
leaf, standing next to his bed wearing some kind of robe. She shook her head,
nodding. “I mean it so much, Henry. I’ve wanted you for so long. I’ve wanted
all those same things.”

His heart soared but his mind
made him ask. “You have? Then why haven’t you told your brother to let you see
me? And why are you shaking like you’re freezing cold?” he asked harshly. She
pulled the collar of her robe closer.

“You have no idea what he’s like.
Ever since I was young, he said he’d help me to choose the right mate. After my
parents died, he was all I had left. I’d never wish to disrespect him. I love
him dearly and I know he only thinks he’s doing what’s best. What my parents would
have wanted. And I’m shaking because I’ve n-never been so nervous in all my
life.”