Dark Desire After Dark

50

"Oh, come on, Nïx!" Holly glared. "You set me up again? I can't believe you told him!"

"I told him nothing about that."

"About what?" Cadeon asked cautiously.

"None of your business!" Holly snapped. "What do you want?"

"You."

"Play nice, kids," Nïx said. "I'll be in the car. Which may or may not remain here." Then she abandoned Holly.

Holly gave him a bitter smile. "You working with Nïx to trick me—why, that's original!"

"You wouldn't have seen me otherwise, and I have to talk to you."

She noticed then that he'd lost weight. His face was leaner, and he looked weary. Like I care! "I think anything that needed to be said was. I believe it went along these lines: 'You were part of a transaction.'"

"I had to do that. I had to act like I didn't give a damn, or Groot wouldn't have given me the sword."

She grew still. "You have a lot of nerve mentioning that sword to me."

"I came back for you to get you away from him—"

"Really? You see, I wouldn't know that because I only stuck around for Groot's first attempt to hammer a railroad spike in my temple!"

"What did he do to you?" Cadeon strode forward, reaching for her arm.

But she jerked back with a hiss. "Don't you dare touch me! I got myself away before Groot made me his unthinking sex slave and brood mare—no thanks to you."

"I know. I saw you jump."

He truly had returned for her.

"I was diving in right behind you when Groot skewered me with flying swords. I would've been there even sooner, but he poisoned the hilt of the sword, drugging me when I grasped it."

"Why did the castle blow?"

"I threw Groot into his own forge. Unfortunately, I got caught in the blast as well, or I would have been by your side in the village against the Wendigo. Not that you needed my help."

"So had you always planned to come for me? Or did you have a change of heart over bartering me?"

"The plan was to get the sword, kill Groot with it, then get you the hell out of there as quickly as possible."

"Then why didn't you tell me about it?"

"I couldn't. Groot is a mind reader. Demons have blocks, but he would have read you like a book. And I tried to teach you to fight to prepare you in case something went wrong."

"How about not taking me there at all? How about not betraying me? You lied to me the entire time, telling me that I could change back."

"I did, Holly. I lied through my teeth. But I didn't feel like I had a choice. Look, you knew why I needed that sword, but you don't know how badly."

"Oh, but I do. You'd searched for nine centuries for a way to kill Omort, you think it was your fault that the entire kingdom of Rothkalina fell, and you blame yourself for your foster family's death." As she listed these things out loud, it struck her anew how monumental each truly was.

"And there's even more to it. That first night my brother didn't show, it was because he'd been taken by Omort's sister. Tricked by her sorcery and trapped in her dungeon for her to…use."

"What do you mean?"

"Sabine wanted to have Rydstrom's child to take over our kingdom forever. The idea of him in that situation…" Cadeon ran a hand over his face. "For Rydstrom that would have been a fate worse than death. And I thought the only way to free him would be the sword."

"Thought? Past tense?"

"He somehow escaped and got back here. But he's…different. I'm worried about him."

When Holly tilted her head, Cade said, "Will you walk with me?" He was surprised he was able to speak so evenly.

His female was lovelier than he'd ever seen her. Her long blond hair was loose, curling about her shoulders. Her skin was glowing, her eyes bright.

Seeming as if her curiosity got the better of her, she walked beside him.

"I understand why you would feel like you had to do anything for the sword," she said. "I get that, Cadeon—I really do. But understanding your motives doesn't make me feel better that I was the collateral damage. How can I believe in anything that happened between us when you were bent on betraying me the entire time?"

"Not the entire time! I'd had another plan. And then when that fell through, I ordered my men to meet me in the Territories. I'd planned to storm Groot's fortress."

"What happened?"

"On the day before the deal expired, I found out that they couldn't reach us. The ice road was blown, and they couldn't chopper in because of the weather."

"The storms to the south…"

He nodded. "That's why I was always on the phone with him. I was scrambling to do anything besides what I ended up doing. But I didn't see another way out. In my situation, what would you have done?"

When she nibbled her lip and glanced away, he knew she was thinking she'd do the same.

"You don't know how hard it was to act like I cared nothing for you. Or what it's done to me since."

"What's it done to you?" she asked.

"Made me gut-sick from wanting you." Cadeon eased closer. "From missing my Holly."

She could feel his heat, and his addictive scent tickled her nose. Want. God, she'd missed him.

"What was Nïx talking about earlier? What didn't you want me to know?"

Why not tell him? He'd find out soon enough anyway. "You're going to be…a father."

He seemed to choke on a sharp inhalation. "A father? Me? We…" Then after a moment, he laughed, swinging her up in his arms.

She was stunned by his reaction. "I didn't think you'd be this happy." Had she never realized how momentous this was until she saw Cadeon's utter delight? His excitement began sparking her own. Not so meh.

"Are you kidding me? I've got an ally on the inside now, who'll be wearing down your defenses against me. It ups my chances of getting you back." Then he stilled. "Are you not happy?"

"I…could be. It's been hard to come to grips with." She quirked a brow. "You're not worried about your ally being the ultimate evil?"

He tenderly brushed a curl behind her ear. "If I were evil, I couldn't love you this much."

Breathe, Holly.

"If you give me another chance, I'll never lie to you again."

"But how can I trust you? Tell me. Because you've just waltzed back into my life with more words, more promises…." She trailed off with a frown. "Cadeon, where are your horns?"

He shrugged. "Ditched them. You need normal. And I need to give you everything you've ever wanted. Like this house. It's got a pool in the back. And it's freakishly neat and everything's in threes. I searched high and low for it."

So that's where he's been. "But your horns," she cried. He'd once told her how excruciating losing one was. And they were part of his identity, part of what made him a demon.

Yet Cadeon had cut them off for her.

"If you don't mind them, I can regrow them in a couple of weeks."

"Were you just going to keep cutting them?" she asked, thinking of the pain.

"If that's what it took to make you happy, then of course I would."

At that, her defenses crumbled. Want! She'd missed him too much, needed him too badly.

"You're folding, aren't you?" He gave her one of his heart-stopping grins. "You can't stay mad at me because you know I'm going to get it right this time. Plus, you need someone to go with you to see some ghosties."

For some reason, she did believe he would get it right, believed it with all her heart. "I might be folding a tiny bit. But only because I need a ride to Michigan."

"Gods, I've missed you, halfling." He cupped her face. "But Holly, I have to tell you—I'm leaving for Rothkalina in the spring. We go to war."

She drew back. "If you want us to be together, then we stay together. None of this the male goes off to battle crap."

"You think I'll take my pregnant female into a war-torn plain?"

"You will if you want to keep her. My mother went to battle while carrying me."

He exhaled. "I never want to put more lies between us, so I'm saying at the outset that I will do everything in my power to dissuade you from this."

"And I'll fight hard to be by your side. Looks like it's on."

His lips curled. "Oh, it's on." But then, he grew serious once more. "Did you hear me when I said I was in love with you?" His voice was hoarse, laden with feeling.

"I heard you."

He brought his mouth down to hers for a searing kiss that left her knees weak. When they broke away, catching their breath, he said, "You're in love with me, too?"

"I might be," she murmured. "Are you going to use sex to try to seal this deal with me?"

"Oh, yeah." With a growl, he trailed his lips down her neck.

She smiled up at the ceiling, her eyes sliding closed in pleasure. "Because I'm okay with that…."