would be good.
Even though Krave and Nix were cousins, they looked nothing alike. But standing there like that, in almost the same position, you could easily see that they were related. They both exuded the same cocky confidence that came from their upbringing, something a demon like me would never obtain. I was raised on the worst streets on the outskirts of Asperia, the capital city of the Asperian Empire. There was no escaping the natural tendency to mistrust everyone new, and assume that most people were only out for number one—themselves. It had taken me a long time to let my team in, but now that I did, I trusted them with my life.
Somehow Blayde had overridden all these natural tendencies. There was something about her that I was drawn to, that I naturally wanted to get to know, and to show her who I was. Maybe it was because I saw so much of myself in her.
Regardless, I didn’t exactly feel the same way about Krave so I was keeping my eye on him during this whole process. I didn’t want his tendencies for trickery to mess something up for Blayde.
Rhys took a seat on the other side of Blayde with Aries sitting across from her, a dark, leather-bound book in her lap. Ryke stood behind Aries, the hulking giant watching over her protectively. Aries looked down at the notes scribbled across the page, then hesitantly up at Blayde, then back down again. Her head tilted just slightly and she began to speak, then stopped.
Damien shifted in his seat beside her. “What’s wrong?”
“She’s nervous,” Krave whispered softly. Aries didn’t react but it was clear by the frown that formed on her face that she heard him. Damien stood up, turning towards Krave.
“Let’s go finish training. Krave said he could take me down and I’ve yet to see it.” Damien gave the incubus a cocky look but it was clear he was just trying to give Aries some privacy.
“No, I said I could get you on your back. That’s… entirely two different things, my friend.” Krave’s eyes sparked with lust and desire and then the room grew even more quiet than before.
“Right. Anyway.” Damien quickly looked away, nodding to the stairs and, as the men walked away, each of them peered back at the woman with the big black wings still studying her book. Ryke remained at her side.
I realized that Krave was right. For the first time, Aries looked a little bit nervous. Her eyes studied Blayde and I wondered if she’d felt the same draw to her that we all did, or if it was just my team. “Now,” she final began once they’d left the room, “you know that this is probably going to hurt, right?”
Blayde was quiet for a moment, her eyes on the journal. Then she seemed to gather her courage. She straightened her shoulders, lifted her face, and her eyes hardened. I hated seeing that transition come over her, the look that said she was willing to sacrifice herself for whatever she thought this was. She gave Aries a confident look. “Will it mess with my magic?”
“No, it’ll only change your appearance to appear more demon-ish.” For some reason, the corner of Blayde’s lip lifted in humor but she bit down on it. Aries continued. “It’s like a strong glamour, but it’ll still be visible to those who can see through glamour.”
Blayde nodded, sitting on the edge of the couch and steeling herself. “Then let’s do this shit.”
We’d given Blayde more information at dinner about what our empire was like, and that it was foretold that the being marked with the rune of Yggdrasil would save our world. She’d only seemed to halfway listen and something told me that Blayde wasn’t doing this to just save a bunch of demons. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that she had an ulterior motive, something that went deeper than helping us have a better life.
And that the ulterior motive had everything to do with her missing friend.
She loved him, I was almost certain about that. The thought made my chest tighten, squeezing my heart.
And yet, I couldn’t get the image of his dark eyes out of mind. He was a supernatural, just like her, I was sure of it. There was more going on with her and, as beta on our team, it was my job to keep an eye out for the safety of my team.
Which now included Blayde.
Whether she