a half-smile when Isla glared at him. Hartt had the feeling he either liked courting danger or he often teased her like this, as if she was a younger sibling. He decided it was the latter when she sighed rather than beheaded him and turned her focus back to her mate.
“I said I should have come here blindfolded.” The vampire turned to his brother as he ran a hand over his short dark hair, his aquamarine eyes holding an accusation. “But you said it would be fine and I was overreacting.”
Night rolled his shoulders in an easy shrug beneath his thick black fleece. “Maybe I thought it would be better if she were here. Although, I didn’t expect her to bring her own one-man army.”
Grave sneered at the demon. “Shouldn’t you be off back to your realm to run your kingdom?”
Not just a demon then, but a demon king.
Hartt assessed him. Long, blond hair tied at his nape with a leather thong. Pale golden horns that curled from above his pointed ears, following the curve of those ears, and were flaring and growing as he glared at Grave, beginning to twist around to resemble those of a ram. Cerulean leathers.
If he had to guess, he would say the male belonged to the First Realm. One of the realms at peace with the elves.
Prince Loren had formed a treaty with the First and Second Realms of the demons centuries ago. Those two realms bordered the elf kingdom and the treaty stopped them from participating in the constant battles that happened in the remaining five demon kingdoms, providing a nice buffer zone for the elves. Where villages had once been destroyed by the constant skirmishes along the border, towns now flourished, risen from their ashes to provide hubs for the demons and elves to trade with each other. All three realms were prospering because of the alliance.
The other five kingdoms of the demons were still trying to destroy each other.
“Take her home.” Grave turned away from his mate.
“I do not answer to you,” Frey growled and moved closer to Isla, and Hartt had the feeling there was some bad blood between him and the vampire.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Isla moved deeper into the cave, following her mate, and her incredible blue eyes danced over the other occupants of it. “Will you not introduce me to my new allies?”
Grave muttered something beneath his breath and then faced her, waved his arm out in a sweeping gesture and then motioned to his mate. “This is Isla.”
“A phantom made flesh. We have met.” Vail’s flat expression revealed nothing as he moved to stand closer to Rosalind.
“You have met?” Grave looked from Isla to Vail and back again, his dark eyebrows lowering and the corners of his mouth turning downwards. “When? And why did I not know about this?”
“It was in the elf kingdom. A female dragon had a vision of the First Realm and the Second Realm assisting the elves in a war against her brother. I went with… I went with Melia to fight in that war.” Isla’s voice lost some of its strength and she rubbed at her left arm with her right hand as she sighed.
Grave looked as if he wanted to go to her and hold her.
“They allowed the mad prince back into the elf kingdom? Times must have been desperate indeed.” Frey’s deep voice gained a cold, hard edge as he stared at Vail.
Hartt stood and growled at the demon in a warning. The things Prince Vail had done had not been his fault and he wouldn’t allow this demon king to punish him for what was in the past now. His prince was striving to make reparations with the elves and he didn’t need people trying to destroy the progress he had made.
If this demon dared attack Vail, he would have to deal with both him and Hartt. Hartt wouldn’t let him fight alone.
Rosalind waved her hand and the pebbles that littered the ground began to tremble, and then the rock floor of the cave began to shake, and Hartt couldn’t believe his eyes as the stone rose in dark spikes behind Vail.
Forming a throne.
Vail didn’t miss a beat, eased into it the moment it finished forming, rested his hands over the ends of the arms and curled his black talons over to dig into the stone. He eyed the demon, a challenge in his violet gaze as Rosalind came to stand beside his throne, draping her arm across