find the plain glass vial filled with purple crystals. I clutch it, tapping the small cork stopper with my thumb.
I shove the vial in the pocket of my jeans, and I’m about to replace the box when there is a tap on the door I didn’t close, totally forgetting that the residence is now swarming with Belle’s males.
“You wanted to see me?” Elijah asks, leaning in the doorway.
I frown at him. Damn Belle. Why didn’t she just tell him what we want from him?
As I scowl at him, his eyes drop to the box and linger far longer than I’d have expected. I resist the urge to hastily remove it, thus casting more suspicion onto this situation. So, I like to be fucked in the ass. So, what? Sure, I haven’t quite worked up the courage to try it with a male, but getting the more depraved female Demons to strap on a dildo and ass fuck me on occasion works for me.
Elijah’s eyes flick to mine as I glare defiantly at him. He licks his lips, clearly having pieced together why I have these. I feel a slight flush heat up my cheeks even though he doesn’t say anything, he just clears his throat and says gruffly, “Something about my blood…”
“Uh-huh,” I grunt. “Belle wants to mix ours to try and open the box.”
“I see,” he murmurs. “Anything for our Queen. Which brings me to another issue, while I’m here. We should clear the air.”
“What air?” I ask confused.
“We left things awkwardly when you took the key from me,” he points out with a tut.
“Oh, that.” I brush it off with a wave of my hand. “Nothing to clear up.”
He nods slowly. “So, my blood?”
“I’ll meet you in Belle’s room. I just have something to do first.” I can hear an incessant tapping on the glass of my window behind the drawn black curtains.
“Sure,” he says and disappears.
I turn quickly to the window and yank the curtains open. Shadow is there in her Griffin form, rapping her beak on the glass as she flaps her wings wildly.
I quickly open the window and she Shifts in mid-air before she leaps onto the windowsill. “Come in,” I say with a smile.
“Hey,” she says, tilting her mouth up for me to kiss.
I enjoy her lips on mine for a moment. The panic I’d felt when Belle told me she’d died when Vazna banished her was something that I hope I will never feel again. It hadn’t taken me long to find her, and with the lockdown lifted, she is free to roam now.
“Uhm, we need to talk,” she says, looking down at the box on my bed. Shadow doesn’t know about my anal activities. I have never asked her to wear a strap on and I never will. I don’t want that from her.
“It’s…” I start, taking the box and dropping it on the floor to kick under the bed.
She shakes her head, holding her hand up. “Shax. Bannister has finally chosen his mate,” she blurts out. “It’s me.”
I feel the ice in my veins at her words. The Head Griffin has chosen her to be his mate.
“Tell him no,” I say stiffly. “Tell him you are with me.”
“He doesn’t know about my human side,” she stammers. “I can’t tell him no. It’s not how it works.”
“Then I shall change the way it works,” I spit out, unreasonably angry with her for not trying harder to get out of this.
“Shax,” she says desperately. “You can’t…”
“Can’t I? My sister is Queen. She can do whatever the fuck she wants, and she wants me to be happy. Unless this is something that you…want?” I swallow loudly as she doesn’t answer me. Her yellow eyes go wider as she fails to say anything.
“I see,” I say quietly.
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “It’s not that…”
“Forget it. Go and be his mate. I have shit to do right now. I don’t have time for you and your drama.”
I know I’m being harsh on her, but I can’t help it. I’m hurt. After everything we went through, I thought she’d finally come around.
“Shax, please,” she calls out as I leave the room, pulling the vial out of my pocket as I go. The crystallized Bacchus Demon blood is a strong drug that will dull the pain of this. I wanted it at first to ease my anxiety over the box. But now, now I need it to forget.
I push open the door to Belle’s room to find