The Demon's Blood

When  Simeon,  a  mountain  lion  shifter  meets
Asher,  a  blood  demon,  there  is  instant  attraction.
But, how can they act on the way they feel when
there is an entire kingdom at stake.

Asherkan Iblis is a blood demon, a slave to elves
and a soldier. He keeps the fact he has royal elvish
blood  a  secret.  His  half  brother  returns  to  broker
peace  but  reveals  he  is  actually  there  for  much
more and Asher faces a decision that could lead to
his death.

Simeon Blue, brother of the leader of the Feline

Guild,  mountain  lion  shifter,  is  tasked  to
accompany  Phin  on  a  mission  over  the  Red
Mountains and into the Second Kingdom. He has
to talk to the Guild but all they want to do is stay
in  isolation  and  his  mission  is  fraught  with
danger.

When Simeon is wounded Asher hides him and

suddenly, next to a kings death, a cousin's hate,
and Ludvik's black magic, love falls on the
agenda.

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The Demon’s Blood

ISBN: 978-1-77111-664-0

Cover art by Angela Waters

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The Demon’s Blood

Supernatural Bounty Hunters 4

RJ Scott

Chapter One

imeon Blue made himself as comfortable as he
could when he had to sit on the hard wooden

chair in the kitchen. The Underground had made
this  old,  crumbling  house  their  place  to  regroup
after  the  whole  Winterhill  debacle,  but  it  was  a
cold and unwelcoming place for a cat shifter who
craved warmth.

He’d been asked to stay after this morning’s

meeting, which was unusual in itself. Joseph, the
leader of this little band, prided himself on
openness and complete honesty, and to hold back
one of the team he’d pulled together meant there
were secrets to be shared. I don’t like secrets.

“You’re probably wondering why I didn’t

cover what we’d like you to do along with
everyone else,” Joseph said without preamble.

“I just assumed I would be going back to my

role as ambassador for the Feline Guild in Glitnir,”
Simeon  answered  carefully.  “I’m  probably  most
useful  there.”  Not  that  Simeon  liked  that  idea.
Considering  that  since  Brody  had  been  identified
as possible Underground and nearly killed, it had

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to mean that Simeon’s cover was certainly blown
as well.

Joseph shook his head. “No one with links to us

is  safe  in  Glitnir,  not  with  Ludvik  rooting  out
people  like  Brody.  I  thought  his  cover  remained
impenetrable,  but  being  friends  with  Levi  was
apparently enough to get himself nearly killed.”

Simeon shuffled in his seat. He’d been the one

to stumble onto the attempted murder of Brody
and had a head wound as a souvenir. It was
healed now after a couple of shifts, but not before
he’d lost quite a bit of the red stuff.

“Okay, so, if I don’t go back to Glitnir, then I

can stay here and fight.” The minute he said the
words he knew Joseph wasn’t going for that at all.

“We could use your skills in fighting to protect

what we have, but, Simeon, what we really need is
your connection to the Feline Guild and the
Second Kingdom.”

Simeon sighed heavily. He knew it. He’d only

taken  the  ambassador  post  to  get  away  from  his
family  and  to  kill  two  birds  with  one  stone  by
finding  out  more  about  Glitnir.  He  and  a  couple
other felines had a hard time trusting Glitnir and
its  almost  parasitic  reach  to  the  Second  Kingdom
where  he  originally  came  from.  Still,  he  didn’t
exactly want to be a diplomat, he wanted to fight.
And  love.  He  quite  liked  the  fighting,  but  he
adored the loving part. Or rather, the sex part.

The Demon’s Blood

Idly, he rubbed his chest. The last time he’d had

a feeling of lust was when Phin touched him. He
thought  he’d  connected  to  Phin,  even  if  it  was  at
the end of a spell. Ever since Phin had laid hands
on him, he’d been wound up tighter than a spring.
He  scratched  at  the  place  on  his  chest  where  he
knew Phin’s handprint still sat. Even after shifting,
the  mark  didn’t  go.  Fucking  Phin  into  the  bed
would have been a nice end to that encounter, but
the damn elf was all Joseph this and Joseph that.

Not that he could blame Phin. Joseph looked

pretty fine for a vampire, all serious and dark and
moody. But every so often there would be a light
in his eyes that Simeon knew would win any lover
over. A promise of love. Shame Phin was the only
receiver of that love, or sex, or whatever. Cats like
Simeon,  while  solitary  shifters,  were  known  to
have  two  or  three  lovers  on  the  go  at  once.
Sometimes  all  at  the  same  time.  There  was
something to be said for waking up in a tangle of
bodies  all  warm  and  cosy.  Phin  and  Joseph
evidently  didn’t  subscribe  to  the  whole  multi
partner  thing.  Nor  did  anyone  else  in  this  damn
monogamous group.

“Great,” he said simply. Why was it everyone

else in this group got to do the exciting roles? He
smirked to himself. They probably needed
excitement if they planned on spending the rest of
their lives with the same partner. Not Simeon. He

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needed  someone  right  now  to  scratch  the  itch.
After  all,  he  was  miles  away  from  home,  and  in
the opposite distance.  His  casual lovers at Glitnir
were well out of reach now.

Micah, the other vampire, and Connor, a wolf

whose  scent  made  Simeon’s  nose  itch
permanently,  had  been  allowed  to  continue  a
search  for  Connor’s  family,  which  was  bound  to
put  them  in  the  way  of  bandits,  or  Glitnir
Werewolf  Retrievers.  Lucky  guys.  They  were
tasked with spreading the word as they travelled.
What the hell this word was escaped Simeon. No
one  had  actually,  specifically,  said  in  this  dark,
basement room what they wanted to achieve as a
whole.  Simeon  might  appear  to  others  to  be
mellow, but even in sex he craved the order of an
absolute purpose.

Hell, everything he thought about at the

moment came back to sex. He forced himself to
focus on Joseph instead.

Their group hadn’t proved to be exactly the

solution to everyone’s problems. They were a seed
that had yet to germinate and grow. Supernatural
and  human  alike  were  still  trapped  in  the  steel
cage of tradition and history. He’d been doing fine
until Joseph had asked him to leave Glitnir to talk
strategy.  As  an  ambassador  from  the  Second
Kingdom to Glitnir, he was well placed to keep an
eye  on  things,  but  his  visit  out  of  the  city  had

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turned permanent too damn suddenly. Joseph was
right, he couldn’t go back now if Ludvik was
really rooting out anyone he suspected of being
part of the resistance.

“I didn’t offer you a role because what I want

you  to  do  means  I  need  to  share  something  with
you  that  I  have  to  be  certain  you  won’t  reveal  to
another  soul,  and  only  you  alone  can  know.”
Joseph looked deadly serious.

Simeon felt himself frown. Where was the

openness now? A team, any kind of team with
secrets, was destined to implode. Especially a
team who didn’t all sleep together.

“I don’t like secrets,” he said firmly. Declan had

said  the  same  thing  this  morning.  Declan,  whose
scent  wasn’t  as  irritating  as  Connor’s,  and  his
incubus  lover,  Levi,  along  with  Brody,  were  off
making  contact  with  the  bears  at  the  foot  of  the
Trent Forest. Why it took two incubi to deal with
bears,  Simeon  didn’t  understand,  but  he  didn’t
question Joseph’s intentions. The vamp had magic
running  through  his  veins  and  Simeon  at  least
respected  the  ancient  power  that  resided  inside
Joseph, even though he didn’t understand it.

The door opened and Reuben came back in the

room  with  a  whoop  and  a  clash  of  knives  and
body  armour.  He  looked  faintly  ridiculous  when
you  saw  him  sitting  at  ease,  but  Simeon  had
watched  the  ancient  warrior  at  practice  with  his

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sword and even he had to admit Reuben was
pretty good with the sharp stuff.

Simeon had even attempted to ascertain

whether Reuben liked males, but for some reason
his normal instincts evaded him whenever Reuben
joined him in the room. Probably something to do
with  the  fact  Reuben  was  eight  hundred  or  so
years  old,  and  that  he  had  been  imprisoned  by
magic. Reuben sat in the seat opposite Simeon and
next  to  Joseph.  Simeon  instantly  felt  like  he  was
under  interrogation.  What  was  Reuben  doing
being  part  of  this  whole  secret  sharing  thing?
Simeon straightened in his seat, but not before he
saw Joseph cast an irritated look at the manner of
Reuben’s entrance.

“Why is Reuben here then?” Simeon asked. “If

this secret is so damn special?”

“Because I have to know everything,” Reuben

announced grandly.

Joseph frowned and glanced at Reuben. “That

isn’t  exactly  accurate,  but  he  has  a  point,”  he
began.  “Reuben  is  here  to  record  the  details  I’m
giving you into the Vampire Book of Days.”

Simeon looked for paper or a pen, or anything

that indicated this information would be put to
record, but all he could see was a smirking Reuben
tapping his forehead. Simeon remained uneasy at
the thought Reuben could trap information with
his freaky, enchanted book-brain.

The Demon’s Blood

Simeon was also suspicious. “Why does what I

do, a member of the Feline Guild, need to be
recorded in some ancient book of blood suckers?”

Reuben scowled and made a move towards

Simeon. Joseph stopped him with a hand across
his chest.

“Bring it,” Simeon snarled in response.
“Not worth it,” Reuben replied disinterestedly.
Joseph sighed and suddenly appeared very

tired. “Firstly, so we can track if you break the
agreement to secrecy. Although what Reuben
wants to do with that information if you do break
the agreement, I dread to think.”

“I’ll kill him,” Reuben said with a sniff before

snarling with his fangs drawn. He stabbed a knife
into the wooden desktop.

Simeon merely raised an eyebrow in dismissal.

“You don’t scare me, vampire.” He laughed.

Reuben stood and leaned over the table and, in

a  movement  so  quick  it  blurred,  he  had  Simeon
pressed  against  the  stone  wall,  Simeon’s  legs
dangling  and  Reuben’s  hands  around  Simeon’s
neck.

“Stop!” Joseph ordered. “For pity's sake,

Reuben, sit down.”

Reuben tightened his hold momentarily and

Simeon simply stared at him. His breathing was
compromised, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to
show it. Finally, Reuben released Simeon, then sat

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back down.

“You break your word, cat, I will find you in

that  instant,  connected  to  the  magic  in  this
promise,  and  I  will  use  my  sword to  split  you  in
half.”  He  flicked  a  fang  with  his  nail  as  if  to
emphasise the point.

Joseph continued immediately, as if Reuben

hadn’t just threatened death and mayhem. “I want
to  use  every  tool  we  have  in  our  arsenal.  People
are looking for an escape from all the politics and
manipulation  that  is  holding  Glitnir  static.  But  I
think, instead of wars, communication is the way
to  make  things  happen  in  the  first  instance.”  He
sounded  positive  and  focused  and  Simeon
contemplated whether this was Joseph attempting
to  talk  himself  into  believing  there  would  be  no
wars in this revolution.

It was Reuben’s turn to frown at Joseph.

“You’re being naive. We’ll fight eventually,” he
said.

“I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that,” Joseph

corrected. Reuben opened his mouth to talk, but
Joseph silenced him. “Enough of your blades and
murder, Reuben, this isn’t your century now.”

Reuben looked mutinous, but then he subsided

into  silence.  Simeon  had  been  freaked  out  that
Reuben came from the Vampire Book of Days. The
damn  vamp  had  war  on  his  brain  and  foretold  a
battle  where  Joseph  and  his  twin,  Micah,  would

The Demon’s Blood

lead  an  army  to  destroy  Glitnir  as  it  stood.  As  a
result,  Glitnir  and  the  Second  Kingdom  would
reunite  into  one  happy,  harmonious  whole  and
become the Third Kingdom. Simeon had to smile
when Reuben had grandly announced the name. If
anything,  it  was  a  little  too  normal.  Joseph
preferred finding out what  the hell was going on
first. Simeon found himself agreeing with Joseph.

The people in power in Glitnir, the huge Fae

Alliance  led  by  Ludvik  Peitrol,  the  Werewolf
Coalition,  and  the  Vampire  Clans  Council,  were
all about corruption. Weed out the corruption and
maybe  Glitnir  could  be  saved  without  fields  of
blood being created.

Simeon wanted to hurry this conversation

along. His cat self itched to get out for a run after
being cooped up in here in a meeting for what
seemed like hours. “So you kept me back
because…”

“I need you to agree to go to the Second

Kingdom with Phin.” Joseph waited for Simeon to
disagree. When Simeon simply listened, Joseph
forged ahead. “Phin is presenting himself at the
elven court to talk to his father about uniting with
us to form a strong coalition. A force for good.”

“They won’t go for it,” Simeon said instantly.

There was a reason the Second Kingdom had
formed, and it wasn’t by chance. With the Red
Mountains separating them and Glitnir, they lived

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peacefully and untouched. Not to say there wasn’t
trouble in the kingdom. The Feline Guild owned a
quarter  of  the  land,  the  elves  half,  and  the  blood
demons  were  a  strong  presence.  Not  to  mention
all  the  other  supernaturals  who  had  decided  the
kingdom was an alternative to Glitnir. There was a
restrictive  caste  system  that  kept  the  blood
demons  indentured  and  with  few  rights,  and
everyone  hated  everyone  else.  Still,  it  survived
and  seemed  to  work.  Not  that  Simeon  got
involved.  Cats  didn’t do  involvement,  even more
so  the  mountain  lions  of  the  Second  Kingdom,
who liked to live in isolation.

Joseph nodded his agreement. “I know. If it

comes to war—”

“Which it will,” Reuben interrupted.
“If it comes to war I want the Second Kingdom

to  have  a  place  in  what  happens.  Our  small
resistance is growing every day as more and more
of Glitnir inhabitants leave, either by choice or in
fear  for  their  lives.  Even  now  I  hear  that  the  Fae
Alliance  is  creating  an  army  to  defend  Glitnir,
over and above the guards.”

“An army of what?” Simeon queried. “Glitnir

already uses its succubi, Retrievers, not to mention
half of a cat clan that we threw out. That doesn’t
leave much to expand an army.”

“Our intelligence didn’t specify, but…” Joseph

trailed off.

The Demon’s Blood

“Magic,” Reuben explained. “Not good magic

like Joseph and Micah, nope, this is black magic.”
Reuben  paused  dramatically,  then  waved  his
hands in front of him. “Boiling and rolling inside
Leklan  the  Kappa  and  bleeding  into  the  stone
walls of the city.”

Simeon blinked at Reuben’s words. The

vampire looked spaced out, like he was in some
kind of weird foretelling trance. Great.

Simeon leaned forward in his chair. “This is all

pretty  much  general  knowledge.  That  Ludvik,  or
Leklan  as  Reuben  knows  him,  is  far  more
dangerous  than  we  first  thought.”  He  indicated
Joseph with a wave of his hand. “When you came
back  from  the  dungeons  of  Glitnir  you  were
talking  some  crazy  scat.  I  don’t  listen  to  gossip,
but even I heard what you’d been shouting out.”

“That isn’t the secret,” Joseph said quietly. “I

need you to go to the Second Kingdom with Phin
to help him there. I need you to talk to the guild,
your brother…”

“Great,” Simeon sighed. The last person he

wanted to talk to was his infuriatingly superior
brother Jason. They’d fallen out a long time ago.

Joseph nodded and looked resigned. “I know

you’re not close, but as the leader of the guild, he’s
the closest they have to a representative that we
can get on our side. You need to tell them what we
know.”

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“What exactly is it we actually know?” Simeon

asked patiently. “There’s been a sharp lack of
concrete evidence.”

“Pass on our fears to him,” Joseph said. “Tell

him…”

“Tell him what?” Simeon leaned forward.

“Joseph?”

“I’m sorry, Simeon, I don’t have any other way

of telling you, but two felines have already lost
their lives in Glitnir. Your assistants, Dyllam and
Oscar.”

Simeon sat in shock. He’d thought the two cat

shifters would have made it out like Brody did,
assumed they were back in the Second Kingdom
with their families. News of losing two of those he
considered friends sent ice through his veins.

“How do you know? Have you seen their

bodies?”

“Reuben saw it.”
Vague relief passed where the ice had flowed

before. “Reuben saw it,” he said with a sneer.

Reuben made a noise halfway between a

dismissive snort and a snarl. Simeon stared at him
then jumped back as Reuben pressed his hand to
Simeon’s.  The  connection  electrified  and  the
images  sent  to  Simeon’s  head  were  terrifying.
Nauseous,  he  watched  his  fellow  cat  shifters'
bodies  being  thrown  onto  a  pyre.  There  was  so
much  blood.  Simeon  yanked  his  hand  away  and

The Demon’s Blood

pushed back until his chair hit the floor.

“What the hell,” he shouted.
“It’s what he does,” Joseph explained sadly.
“That’s in your head,” Simeon said bluntly.

“How can you live with that in it all the time?”

“It’s my job,” Reuben dismissed.
Simeon righted his chair and sat down again.

“So Brody got away but Dyllam and Oscar are
dead. How many others died in this purge of
Ludvik’s?”

Joseph hunched in on himself. “Too many.”

Then  he  appeared  to  shake  off  the  thoughts
weighing  him  down  and  resumed  the  mantle  of
leader.  “There’s  someone  you’ll  probably  meet
when  you  go  home.  Phin  will  need  someone  to
have  his  back  in  the  city  when  he  talks  to  his
father. But there is an issue that has only just come
to  light.  The  person  you’ll  meet  is  his  brother,
Asherkan Iblis.”

Simeon tried to recall a brother, but came up

empty.  “I  wasn’t  aware  that  the  throne  of  the
Second  Kingdom  had  two  heirs?”  Simeon  voiced
his  thoughts  as  a  question  and  waited.  Asherkan
Iblis  didn’t  sound  like  an  elvish  name.  Sounded
more  like…hell…was  it  a  blood  demon  name?
Why  would  a  brother  to  Phin  have  a  demon’s
name?

Joseph continued. “Except for a few of us—

Micah, Connor, Phin of course, knowing—the

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brother connection isn’t common knowledge.”

“Why?” Simeon didn’t need to use his feline

gift for instinct to know that Joseph was
uncomfortable, anyone could see he was.

“Asher is a blood demon.”
Simeon whistled and sat back in shock. So his

instinct was right. “Older or younger than Phin?”

“Asher is older.”
“There’s complicated inheritance in the

Kingdom, but even I know, cross breed or not,
Asher is the heir.”

“But the king isn’t going to acknowledge he

had  a  relationship  with  a  blood  demon,  let  alone
that  there  was  any  chance  she  could  have  been
pregnant.  He  doesn’t  know  he  has  an  older  son.
Common knowledge is that he is a quiet king who
just  wants  to  protect  the  current  status  of
segregation between the classes. Blood demons are
seen as servants, soldiers. That is their place.”

“A blood demon as king? That is unthinkable.

Okay,  ignoring  the  whole  brother  thing,  what  is
the  purpose  of  Phin  visiting?  The  king  is  the  last
person  to  want  anything  to  do  with  Glitnir.  Are
you thinking Phin will talk him around?”

“It isn’t common knowledge, but the king

called Phin home a long time ago. Phin wouldn’t
step foot in the Kingdom until blood demons were
given equal rights. There was an impasse. The
king decreed Phin won’t take his place as king

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now. In Phin’s place, he chose a representative to
replace him if he should die.”

“The king’s cousin, Delsaran,” Reuben

interjected.

Simeon knew the elf by name, but not by

intention. He had been away from home for a long
time now.

“Delsaran is active in limiting any and all blood

demon  rights,  and  appears  to  back  the  idea  of
complete  isolation  of  what  he  calls  the  filth.  His
suggestion  is  that  all  non-essential  demons  leave
the city and the Feline Guild open their arms and
take in the remaining blood demons.”

Simeon had no comment to make on that.

Ideologically, he was of the opinion everyone was
equal,  otherwise  he  wouldn’t  be  part  of  this
rebellion against the corruption of power. But if he
was honest, he knew little to nothing about blood
demons,  only  that  they  were  beings  created
thousands  of  years  ago  by  Vampires  as  walking
blood  banks.  Only  when  the  vampires  had  no
more use for them, relying on synth instead of real
blood  in  the  most  part,  did  a  separate  blood
demon home become necessary.

Way back when the Glitnir and the Second

Kingdom split, by majority the vamps went one
way, the demons the other.

Other than that little bit of taught history, blood

demons didn’t register much on the Feline Guild

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radar, nor on Simeon’s. There were no blood
demons at Glitnir—they weren’t allowed over the
Red Mountains and out of the Second Kingdom,
on pain of death.

He pulled his thoughts back to the matter in

hand. “So we are going to the Second Kingdom to
get  the  king  to  sign  up  for  our  whole  breaking
down Glitnir issue. And our cover is that  Phin is
returning  home  to  broker  a  deal?”  Simeon  asked
carefully.  “I  guess  I’m  coincidentally  travelling
there  as  well,  as  a  representative  of  the  Feline
Guild?”

“That about sums it up,” Joseph said. “Phin can

port one other person. You would be there as his
guest.”

“And you think you can get Phin to agree to

this?” He tilted his head in question as he recalled
Phin stalking out of the meeting as soon as Joseph
suggested the journey home. Clearly, there was
dissent between the lovers already, and they’d
only been together a day.

“Phin doesn’t want to go home. Hell, I don’t

want him to go home. His father hates him,
Delsaran says that if Phin sets foot in the
Kingdom, he will be a dead man.”

“Delsaran already has that much power?”
“The king is dying,” Reuben said.
Joseph glanced at the other vampire and

nodded. “He has but a short time, and Delsaran is

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ready for the throne. As far as the king and
Delsaran are concerned, Phin is dead to them
anyway.”

“But you’re sending him there?”
“I have to. Without the resources and backing

of  the  Kingdom,  it’s  unlikely  anything  we  do  in
the  way  of  political  manoeuvres  will  make  any
difference.”  Joseph  added  the  last  with  fear
evident  in  his  voice.  Frustration  now  leaked  into
his  voice.  “But  if  anyone  can  stay  safe  and  scout
for  us  it  is  Phin,  and  with  you  as  his  backup,  I
would feel happier. I know you are a fighter and I
trust you.”

Simeon inclined his head in respect. “I can do

that.”

Joseph looked relieved. “Phin has his own

agenda. He says Asher should be king, that being
half elf, half blood demon, he would join the
Kingdom, make it stronger, pull it into this
century.”

“And you agree?” Simeon asked. “I mean, is

that like a secondary mission here? Get the blood
demon  on  the  throne?  Is  that  really  what  Phin  is
going  for?”  He  had  so  many  questions  and
suspicions,  but  he  could  see  the  hesitation  in
Joseph.

“Like I know what is going on in Phin’s head,”

Joseph said softly. “I may be able to read his
thoughts, but when it comes to Asher, I don’t get

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much past my own anger and insecurities. And
don’t get me started on Phin’s father and what he
did to Phin.”

“What did he do to Phin?” Simeon asked

carefully. He needed to know more than all of this
random talking to make sense of what he was
going to be doing back in the Kingdom.

“He’ll tell you in time,” Joseph hedged.
Simeon understood exactly where Joseph was

coming  from.  “You  realise  what  you’re  sending
Phin back to? The felines hate the elves, who hate
the  blood  demons  and  the  felines.  The  Second
Kingdom  is  stuck  in  a  class  system  that  is
frustrating  and  I  would  be  banging  my  head
against  a  stone  wall  if  I  even  thought  I  could  get
anyone to see  sense. I  don’t have any  opinion on
blood demons, but my own brothers hate me and
want to kill me, while my mom wants me to settle
down with a nice lioness and can’t understand my
wish to fuck men.”

“I’m convinced you will make them listen. You

can show them the memory of what Reuben
shared with you.”

Simeon looked down at his hands. “I can?”
Reuben snorted, “What can I say, it’s a gift.”
“Whatever I show them, you have got to

remember, the mountain lions are spread out
everywhere and we all live in isolation…” The
enormity of everything suddenly seemed to crush

The Demon’s Blood

in on him and he had to consciously stop his claws
from  extending.  “I  can’t  even  get  my  mom  to
listen  to  me,  let  alone  anyone  else.  Hell  knows
what Phin will be up against, diving back into that
cesspool of royalty scat.”

His eldest brother being leader of the Feline

Guild  didn’t  make  this  any  easier.  Simeon  had
long  since  given  up  fighting  with  Jason  over  the
need  for  integration.  The  different  felines  were
happy  as isolated singletons up in the mountains
with their own lives, unwilling to get involved in
anything. Hell, I need that run.

“I agree, Simeon,” Joseph said quietly. “Phin is

stronger than he thinks, but I hate doing this. It’s
not  easy  asking  my  lover to  go  to  a  home  he  left
with  no  intention  of  returning  to,  or  to  face  the
prejudice  he  despises.  But  when  it  came  to
thinking who to send with him, I didn’t have any
hesitation. You can look out for him, maybe talk to
your family? See  if the  guild would be interested
in what we are doing.”

“They only do what benefits them,” Simeon

said.

Joseph stood and Simeon copied him. Evidently

this sharing session was coming to an end. “Will
you go?”

Simeon nodded. He was committed to this

cause and he was going home anyway. So what
could go wrong if he was escorting Phin? Simeon

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would be able to handle the felines, if they all kept
their  claws  sheathed  and  their  old  issues  hidden
away.  Phin  was  the  heir  apparent  despite  the
king’s cousin usurping the place. And maybe this
Asher,  who  apparently  straddled  elf  and  demon,
could be quite useful to know.

“Yes. I’ll go.”
He was part of the Underground and he knew

what he had to do.

The Demon’s Blood

Chapter Two

sherkan Iblis.”
Asher moved from his position at the side

of  the  room  to  the  desk  at  the  front  in  automatic
response to his name being called. He was one of
the I’s so he wasn’t waiting as long as some of the
others  in  the  room.  There  were  twenty  of  them
here.  Twenty  blood  demons  for  the  random
checks  that  kept  the  blood  demon  register  up  to
date. The sense of anger in this room was so thick
he  could  almost  taste  it.  These  sessions  were
humiliating,  tiring,  and  the  questions  were  never
ending.

He sat in the hard chair in front of the officious

elf who was as bored in the extreme as Asher was
frustrated.

“Name?”
“Asherkan Iblis.”
The elf traced down the list of names like he

was looking for Asher’s entry when he’d just this
second called Asher’s name. Asher could see a

“A

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power play when it was placed in front of him.
“Species?”

Asher pushed back the instant irritation. If he

was an elf, or a bear, or even a god damned feline,
he wouldn’t be asked that question. “Blood
Demon.”

“Generation?”
“Seventy second.” The elf didn’t twitch. Asher

was  descended  directly  from  the  original  blood
demons, a founding line that  was unbroken until
his  mom  had  decided  an  elven  king  was
something she wanted. She’d died for that, but not
before  Asher  had  been  born  and  hidden.  In  the
world  of  blood  demons,  Asher  was  as  royal  as
Phin was to the elves.

“Age.”
The elf didn’t even bother to look up at Asher at

a  single  one  of  these  questions.  To  be  honest,
Asher was more than okay with that. To have the
elf looking at him and judging him was something
that  cut  Asher  to  the  core.  If  they  even  knew  he
had the added royal elvish blood in his veins, they
wouldn’t treat him like this. He stopped that train
of thought, as he did every time. He wasn’t stupid.
Being  a  blood  demon  and  the  bastard  son  of  the
king  would  lead  to  him  being  very  dead  in  an
instant.  Pride  pricked  at  him  to  say  something,
caution had him holding his tongue.

“Thirty one,” Asher answered. He’d just passed

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a birthday, not that the elf would comment on this
either.  Phin  had  appeared  with  a  basket  of fruity
shower  gels  and  soaps  and  innocently  blinked  as
he  explained  Asher  spent  a  long  time  in  the
shower.  Asher  loved  Phin,  but  his  little  brother
was a freaking brat at times.

“Family?”
“Deceased.”
Every time he ran through such simple answers

his  chest  clenched.  His  demon  step-father  had
long  since  passed  on  and  he  never  knew  his
mother, she had died when he was very young.

“Designation.”
“Soldier.”
“Your mark?” The elf actually had to look up at

this moment as Asher held out his arm to expose
the  small  tattoos  inside  his  wrist.  A  simple  circle
confirmed blood demon, a triangle showed he was
a soldier. The first he received at birth and it had
stretched  and  contorted  slightly  as  he  grew.  The
second  he  received  when  he  reached  eleven  and
was tracked to be a soldier. He carried them both
with pride and didn’t snatch his hand back as the
elf  scratched  the  surface  of  Asher’s  skin  with  a
dull  blade,  just  to  make  sure  they  were  the  real
deal.

“Leave your financial information at the front

desk on your way out,” the elf dismissed him
curtly. “Don’t think of leaving without handing it

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in.”

Asher

stood.

He’d

heard

that

last

admonishment to the others before him and when
he caught the eyes of the next up for checking, he
nodded in a sense of brotherhood.

One day they wouldn’t have to do this. One

day, Asher would make Phin see that Phin had to
be king, and as king, he could make the Kingdom
a better place. One day, Asher would get Phin to
stop running.

Asher dropped off his financial summaries,

signed  the  forms  that  declared  he  was  promising
faithfully to be absolutely honest on pain of death,
then  walked  out  into  the  early  evening.  Heavy
dark  clouds  moved  slowly  across  the  sky  and
there  was  the  distinct  promise  of  rain  in  the  air.
Shrugging his jacket on, he then pushed his hands
deep in his pockets and took the alley around the
administration building. He realised he was being
followed  and  stopped  in  the  shadows  until  his
stalker caught up with him. He sighed with relief
when  he  saw  it  was  only  Vesstan.  His  oldest
friend,  they’d  lived  in  each  other’s  pockets  as
children,  and  as  adults  they  were  soldiers
together.

“Heard you got called for a check,” Vesstan

said without preamble. He handed an unopened
bottle of Salvere to Asher, then fell into a

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comfortable stride next to his friend.

“It’s been three months since my last one,”

Asher  shrugged  as  he  said  it.  He  pocketed  the
Salvere  despite  desperately  needing  a  drink.
Vesstan  might  well  be  okay  with  flouting  the  no
alcohol  on  the  streets  law  that  applied  to  blood
demons, but he wasn’t prepared to take the chance
of being arrested if he could help it. He did well at
flying under the radar.

“Four for me,” Vesstan was despondent. “I hate

it knowing any day soon I’ll get called,” he added.
“Have they added any new questions?”

“Nothing.”
They walked in silence along the road that led

to  their  section  of  the  city.  Both  lived  within
walking distance of the barracks and that was the
closest any blood demon lived to the centre of the
city. All other designations of blood demon lived
outside  the  city  walls  and  were  literally
shepherded in to work.

“You still on for tonight? For a drink?” Vesstan

asked as they reached Asher’s front door.

Asher nodded and let himself in his place. He

watched  Vesstan  walk  away,  then  shut  his  door.
Another  meeting  tonight  where  there  was  more
argument, more discussion and after which Asher
always  felt  so  damned  drained.  Leaning  back  on
the only thing between him and the city he banged
his  head  against  the  wood.  He  felt  dirty—he

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always  did  after  he’d  been  called  in.  Like  the
administration  had  run  their  hands  all  over  him.
Stripping  as  he  walked,  he  ended  up  in  the
bathroom, and started the shower. The water was
hot and he scrubbed his skin with apple gel until it
reddened.  Then  he  tilted  his  head  back  and
allowed  the  water  to  waterfall  over  his  face.
Finally  he  felt  relaxed  enough  to  calm  himself
down. He’d have to apologise to Vesstan later—he
hadn’t been that communicative.

He turned off the shower and briskly dried his

hair before wrapping a towel around his waist.
That bottle of Salvere was calling him and he could
imagine the taste of the sage and the buzz of the
alcohol as it hit his system. Strolling back into the
room he realised two things.

Phin had yet again managed to catch him in the

shower.

Phin had bought a friend.
“Hells teeth, Phin,” Asher swore loudly. The

towel loosened and he frantically grabbed at the
ends.

“You’re always in the shower,” Phin sighed.
“I had a check today,” Asher defended, then

wondered why he bothered. Phin looked different.
Wrong. Stressed. Pale. “Are you okay?” Suddenly
suspicious of why there was someone else in the
room he consciously moved between Phin and the
other man. Tall, with shaggy hair, broad

The Demon’s Blood

shouldered and wide chested, he screamed shifter.
From the amber striations in his eye Asher
assumed feline. The tall feline scented the air and
wrinkled his nose.

“Asher, meet Simeon,” Phin said flatly. “He’s

here with me.”

Simeon held out a hand to shake but Asher

frowned and ignored the offer. “I can see he’s with
you,” he said. “Why is he with you? Why is he in
my house? And where is Joseph?”

“Joseph is back at the safehouse doing

whatever Joseph thinks is best. Me? I had to drag a
mountain lion through a portal and his big ass
was heavy.”

“And he’s in my house, why?” Asher still had

his back to Phin and stood staring directly at the
new guy, Simeon the lion shifter, with the
beautiful amber eyes.

“His brother is the leader of the Feline Guild,

blah blah,” Phin said tiredly.

“I say again, he’s in my house, the one with the

wards that you put there. How and why did he
get in? Are we killing him?”

Simeon frowned at this, but to his credit he

didn’t move. He just stood there looking all kinds
of bad ass.

Phin touched Asher’s shoulder. “It’s fine. He’s

Underground. You can back down. He knows
we’re brothers and he’s here to help us.”

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Asher stared at Simeon pointedly but the cat

didn’t back down. Instead, he extended his hand
again.

“Simeon,” the cat said. “You’re very pretty,” he

added. His voice was a deep growl and Asher felt
the rumble through his own body.

“For a blood demon,” Asher said automatically.

He’d heard that sentence a lot. How he  was very
pretty for a blood demon. Seemed like some of the
elf  inside  him  had  been  responsible  for  some  of
that.  Demons  were  usually  hard  faced,  a  little
more  like  the  vampires  that  made  them.  He  was
softer, more like Phin in looks, but not enough to
attract too much attention.

“No. I don’t know many blood demons, really. I

was in the mountains in isolation, and went
straight to Glitnir when I was sixteen. I meant
you’re very pretty, full stop.”

Asher finally took the hand and shook it

mechanically. The sound of a soft snore had Asher
releasing the grip and turning to face his brother.
Phin sprawled this way and that on Asher’s bed
was something to worry about. Phin had
boundless, sparky energy. What was the sleeping
about?

“He said something about Joseph keeping him

up for the last three days,” Simeon said softly. “He
had difficulty producing the portal for us to travel
through.”

The Demon’s Blood

Asher crossed to Phin and placed a hand on his

forehead. He seemed a little hot. He assumed Phin
and Joseph hadn’t left each other alone since they
left here a few days before, hence he was tired. But
that  didn’t  account  for  the  temperature.  With  a
sigh  at  the  fact  that  Phin  had  let  himself  get  run
down,  Asher  crossed  to  a  drawer  and  pulled  out
some  herbs.  With  Simeon’s  eyes  on  him  he
pressed  them  and  mixed  the  juice  with  a  little
Salvere, then he assisted a sleepy Phin to swallow
the mixture. Phin tried to argue, but Asher wasn’t
letting his brother get away with that.

Finally, Phin lay back down and immediately

went back to sleep.

“He’ll sleep it off,” Asher said.
“We need to get to see the king,” Simeon

pressed. “There isn’t time for sleeping.”

“There is, if you want Phin at his best to deal

with what he needs to deal with. He’ll sleep for a
few hours.”

“So what do we do while we are waiting?”
Asher crossed the short distance to his small

closet and pulled out his two solitary off-work
garments, a close fitting pair of black pants and a
loose blue shirt. Grabbing underwear, he
disappeared into the shower.

“Have a seat,” he said over his shoulder before

shutting himself in. Quickly he was dressed and
finally he could lean against the sink and stare at

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his own reflection while he thought about what
the hell was going on here.

“He knows,” he whispered to his reflection. For

some  reason,  Phin  had  chosen  to  share  Asher’s
parentage with a feline. Why would he have done
that?  Felines  and  Demons  weren’t  friends.  The
damn guild cats were isolated in the mountains by
choice. They didn’t mix with the demons, and vice
versa.  The  more  people  who  knew,  Phin,  Joseph,
and  now  this  Simeon?  That  was  a  dangerous
equation for Asher to be part of. Not for the first
time, he contemplated leaving. Porting out of here
with  Phin  and  never  coming  back.  Then  he
remembered  his  friends,  an  extended  network  of
other  blood  demons,  and  elves,  who  wanted
equality in this Kingdom. For some reason, he had
become an unofficial leader of the group, and how
that  had  happened  he  didn’t  know.  He  turned
away from the mirror and leaned against the small
sink. What would he, personally, miss here? Apart
from  Vesstan  and  the  small  matter  of  demon/elf
dissent,  there  was  nothing  holding  him  in  the
Realm.  Still,  something  was  gripping  him,  like  if
he  left  he  would  be  letting  down  every  single
blood demon who had to wear branding and give
their  lives  over  to  the  king  and  his  much  more
suitable subjects.

He didn’t want to run, nor abandon his few

friends, or even the entire blood demon race.

RJ Scott

Chapter Three

imeon sat and waited patiently for his little
demon to come back out of the bathroom. And

yes,  he  was  absolutely  sure  that  Asher  would  be
his,  and  soon.  Something  inside  the  demon,  the
pretty,  sexy,  hot  headed  guy,  was  calling  to
Simeon’s cat and Simeon wasn’t going to fight  it.
Of course, Asher wasn’t so little, but compared to
Simeon he was just the right size to be picked up
and used in all the best possible ways.

On the bed, Phin rolled onto his side and

muttered  something  under  his  breath.  For  a
second  Simeon  was  pulled  away  from  thinking
about  Asher.  Phin  was  going  to  walk  into  the
palace  and  put  himself  in  front  of  his  father,  just
like  that.  What  would  he  do  next?  Would  he
suggest  that  the  Second  Kingdom  talks  to  the
Underground,  forms  alliances?  Or  would  he  just
simply say, I am the heir apparent, and that would
be the end of it?

And where did that leave Asher? Think of the

The Demon’s Blood

man,  and  the  door  opened.  Asher  came  out
looking  fresh  and  clean  and  Simeon’s  cat  self
stretched and purred in his head.

“You hungry?” Asher asked.
Simeon hadn’t even considered food, but his

body suddenly decided it wanted food more than
anything else. “Yes,” he said.

“I have some rice and beans, and I could

probably get some fresh stuff. It’s not fresh
anymore, I found it and froze it, but it’s good.”

Simeon frowned. Asher hadn’t mentioned meat

at all. Perhaps he had forgotten.

“That sounds lovely,” Simeon lied. Asher left

the main room with the bed and a desk through a
door into a tiny kitchen. There was no way Asher
and Simeon would both fit in, but he could stand
at  the  door  and  watch.  Asher  opened  two
cupboards  and  pulled  out  various  boxes,  then
opened  a  small  unit  that  held  frozen  packages.
Simeon scented the air, but of course frozen lumps
of  whatever,  even  if  they  were  meat,  smelled  of
absolutely nothing.

“So why are you here?” Asher asked evenly. He

dumped the frozen lumps into a pot and threw in
a handful of herbs and rice, then placed the whole
thing in a small oven. He switched it on then
turned to face Simeon, leaning back against the
unit as he asked. The whole thing had been a few
seconds, just to give Simeon time to think.

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“Joseph wants me to get the Guild to back this

new resistance. He also said I should accompany
Phin and watch his back when he is with the
king.”

“The king wouldn’t hurt him,” Asher dismissed

Joseph’s concerns out of hand. “Garrick wants his
son back and waiting in line to carry on. Of course
Phin would need to tie himself to a female to
continue the line. Can’t see that happening, can
you?”

Simeon shook his head. He’d seen Phin and

Joseph together and nothing was more incendiary
than the sparks of silver magic that happened
whenever they touched.

Asher continued, “It’s Delsaran you need to

worry about, with all his grand plans of separating
so many demons away from the Kingdom to go
god knows where. Garrick will still try to talk Phin
around, though.”

“What about the fact Delsaran is being

groomed to take his place?

Asher shrugged but Simeon could see there was

something in Asher’s eyes that spoke of the
demon wanting to say more.

“Talk to me.”
Asher turned back to the food and peered in the

oven as the counter was working its way back to
zero.

“Nothing to say,” Asher said firmly.

The Demon’s Blood

“Delsaran is the choice the king made,” Simeon

pressed. “Why do you scowl at that, when Phin
clearly doesn’t want the throne and you won’t
fight for the throne.”

Asher crossed his hands over his chest as he

faced Simeon.

“Who told you that?”
“Which part?” Simeon asked being deliberately

obtuse.

“That I won’t fight for the throne.”
“No one. I kinda guessed the fact that the eldest

son of the king has chosen to hide himself away in
this room is one way of not fighting.”

Asher’s expression was neutral. “You don’t

know anything.”

“Then tell me why you don’t fight?” Simeon

needled the demon. He wanted to see Asher’s
careful composure slip a little.

Asher tapped his head. “If I raise this above the

parapet? If one hint of who I am hits the news,
then I am dead. If the king doesn’t kill me, then
Delsaran will, and if he doesn’t manage it then my
own race will turn on me as a bastard mix of the
two.”

“You don’t know that,” Simeon pressed.
“I’m happy with my life as it is,” Asher said

firmly. The oven beeped and Asher turned to deal
with the meal. Simeon stopped him by grabbing
his wrist. There was so much sadness and

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resignation in Asher’s eyes, and Simeon wanted to
shake that out of him.

Asher made to pull his arm away but Simeon

held tight.

“Let me go,” Asher said evenly. There was no

fight in the demon’s expression, only more of that
carefully constructed calm. Layers of the damn
stuff. Simeon’s cat hissed its disapproval, but
Simeon couldn’t be sure it wasn’t actually hissing
at him for holding Asher so tight.

“I want to understand you,” Simeon said.
Asher attempted to shake his hand free but

Simeon tightened his hold.

“Why?” He asked. “We’ve just met, you don’t

know me, you don’t know why Phin and I made
the decisions we did.”

“My cat wants to know.”
Asher rolled his eyes and irritation flooded

Simeon at the action. “Hell, save me from shifters
and their inner animals and the almost manic need
to  tear  through  everyone’s  defences.”  This  time
when  he  tugged  his  wrist,  Simeon  released  his
hold.  He  caught  that  he’d  held  too  firm  and
caused a mark on Asher’s pale skin. Suddenly the
impetus to know everything about Asher subsided
as  Simeon’s  cat  decided  it  had  enough  of
interrogation.

“Sorry,”

Simeon

said

immediately.

“Sometimes…”

The Demon’s Blood

“Yeah, yeah,” Asher pulled the container out

and  lifted  the  lid.  Immediately  the  scent  of  herbs
and  spices  filled  the  room  and  Simeon’s  stomach
let  out  a  loud  growl.  “Your  cat  wanted  to  know
and so on, and it gripped your human self with its
scratchy  little  claws  and  demanded  you  nearly
snap  my  wrist.  I  get  it.”  Asher  scooped  the
heavenly mixture into two bowls and passed one
to  Simeon  along  with  a  spoon.  “Eat,”  he
instructed.

“I didn’t meant to hurt you.”
“Eat.”
They moved into the room and to the table in

the corner and Simeon had a clear view of Asher
and the sleeping Phin.

“There is one thing I can tell you,” Asher said

between mouthfuls.

“Go on.”
“You remember the last vote the king pushed

for, the one for blood demon rights? Remember
how it was voted down? Your cat family did that.
Voted no, even thought they had no idea. Paid off
by fuck knows who.”

“I wasn’t here,” Simeon defended.
Asher huffed a small laugh. “The eternal excuse

from everyone lucky enough to escape their
birthplaces.”

They subsided into silence. Simeon wasn’t

entirely sure how he was going to counter the

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whole  cat  clan  voting  to  keep  demons  without
rights. Jason, as  his closest relative, had probably
used  his  proxy  vote.  Had  Simeon  been  one  of
those  absent  votes  who  had  tipped  the  only
referendum  the  monarchy  had  allowed  in  three
hundred  years?  Tipped  it  in  favour  of  keeping
Demons  as  nothing  more  than  indentured
servants, or slaves?

He didn’t care. Scratch that. He couldn’t care. He

had  other  things  to  think  about.  He  had  to  get
Jason  and  the  other  felines  in  the  guild  to  talk  to
Phin  about  the  Underground,  he  had  to  have
Phin’s back when they saw the king, and he had to
get out of this damn place alive. Simple.

“I get you don’t care,” Asher said in a dead

tone.

“What?” Had he said something out loud? He

didn’t think he had.

“You don’t have to say anything. I can see it in

your expression.”

Asher scraped the remains of what was in his

bowl and scooped the spoonful into his mouth.
Then he left the table and dropped the bowl in the
sink.

“I’m going out,” he announced at the door.

“Don’t touch anything, don’t leave, and for all
that’s holy, let Phin sleep.”

The door slammed shut behind him and the

noise of voices outside receded as Asher walked

The Demon’s Blood

away.

Simeon finished his meal quietly, then copied

Asher and placed his bowl in the sink. He rinsed
off  the  dishes  and  wasn’t  sure  what  to  do  next
with  himself.  Phin  was  asleep,  Asher  was  off
doing  whatever  blood  demons  did.  His  thought
process didn’t go much further than that before he
was  out  of  the  door,  ensuring  it  closed  tight
behind  him.  He  wasn’t  ready  to  curl  up  as  a  cat
and sleep this out. He wanted to see where Asher
was  going,  what  he  was  doing,  and  maybe,  just
maybe,  get  himself  a  little  piece  of  the  sexy
demon.

Scenting the air, he easily latched onto the smell

of shampoo and shower gel and an intriguing
undertone of something spicy and edible. Asher.

He kept to the shadows outside the building

and realised they  were moving further out of the
city. He didn’t catch sight of Asher, but the scent
didn’t  dissipate  and  remained  strong  and  had
mingled  with  another  demon.  Then  there  was
more,  and  finally  he  reached  the  place  where
everything stopped. The city opened up here into
the forest that surrounded it on all sides. Deep and
dark, it was a place for shifters and those outside
of Kingdom rules. Cautiously he stepped into the
forest  darkness  and  was  grateful  that  he  had  a
cat’s vision even in his human form.

There was a meeting here. Demons and elves?

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He thought the two kept well apart in the city, but
somehow  Asher  was  attending  an  event.  He
dropped  his  clothes  and  shifted  quietly.  Padding
through the undergrowth, he circled the gathering
and  hunkered  down  in  the  thick  bushes.  He
couldn’t  see  Asher,  but  he  could  see  around
twenty  souls,  half  demon,  half  elf,  and  things
didn’t look to be going so well.

“I can’t believe you’re standing here, when you

got called in today for the check, and yet you
defend your lack of momentum.”

Asher stepped into the small circle of light cast

by  two  torches  and  crossed  his  arms  over  his
chest.  Something  swelled  inside  of  Simeon—fear,
or  respect,  he  wasn’t  sure  which,  but  to  see  a
demon face down an elf was a rare thing.

“We bide our time,” Asher said. “What did you

want me to do? Take in a knife and slit the
administrator's throat?”

“Maybe that would start something,” another

elf said softly. He was closest to Simeon and he
could hear the words and the shuffling feet of
those in agreement as they added their opinions to
others by way of whispers.

“Why? What is it you want to start?”
“Don’t get involved, Vesstan,” Asher said, with

a hand on the other demon’s arm. “If we are to do
anything about getting another vote then we need
to be careful—”

The Demon’s Blood

“A vote? What are you? An idiot? There won’t

be another vote.” The same elf stepped towards
Asher, and Simeon’s muscles bunched in
readiness to put himself between the angry elf and
Asher.

“You want a war?” Asher snapped the

question. “Against your king? And with two
thirds of blood demons quite happy with what
their lot is in life?”

“I don’t know what I want, what any of us

want,”  the  elf  said  tiredly.  “All  I  know  is  that
something has to start this, and I don’t know what
that  will  be.  We  have  the  chance  to  bring  this  to
the  floor  next  week  and  if  we  got  enough
support…”  he  trailed  away  and  Simeon  crept
closer.  He  wanted  to  be  sure  to  see  Asher’s  face
when he finished.

“Let’s keep on as we’re doing,” Asher finally

said. “Move to get the debate on the floor.”

The group dissipated until only Asher and the

demon called Vesstan were left standing in the
small clearing.

“They call for war every time,” Asher said

sadly.

Vesstan pulled him in for a hug and Simeon

hissed  in  anger.  He  actually  heard  himself  do  it
and  consciously  slid  lower  to  the  ground  when
Asher looked over in his general direction. Asher
leaned  in  to  Vesstan  and  they  talked  so  low  that

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Simeon could hear nothing. Frustrated, he realised
now was the time to be moving back to Phin and
the  bedroom  so  that  Asher  would  find  him  all
curled and waiting. The two demons moved apart
and left in different directions. In seconds Simeon
moved  off  at  a  lope  and  was  back  at  his  clothes
and  dressed  and  on  his  way  back  to  the  room
before the demons were anywhere near him.

His problem arose when he returned and of

course the door was shut. He knocked on it loudly
and heard swearing inside. Finally, after what
seemed like an eternity, Phin opened the door.

“What the hell?” he mumbled. Simeon quickly

pushed  inside  and  closed  the  door,  then  guided
Phin back to bed. Phin didn’t argue, nor did he ask
questions.  He  crawled  onto  the  mattress  and  fell
back asleep. Simeon stripped, shifted, and leaped
onto  the  bed  before  curling  nose  to  tail  next  to
Phin, then closed his eyes.

He heard the door open, listened as Simeon

locked up and sensed when the demon stood next
to the bed.

“You can quit pretending,” Asher said softly.

Then he scruffed Simeon between the ears before
stroking  fur  until  his  hands  rested  on  Simeon’s
neck. In a second those same hands closed around
his  throat  and  Asher  held  tight,  closing  his  grip
until Simeon’s claws extended and he tried to get
free.  Asher’s  hold  was  like  iron  and  Simeon

The Demon’s Blood

writhed  under  it,  unable  to  shift  or  move.  At  the
last  second,  just  as  his  eyesight  began  to  cloud
over,  Asher  released  his  hold.  Simeon
immediately  shifted,  and  naked  or  not,  he
scrambled  off  the  bed  and  pushed  Asher  away
and back until the demon was against the wall.

“What the hell?” Simeon demanded.
“You think I didn’t know you were there?”

Asher shouted in his face. “You think because I
am a blood demon that I am stupid as well?”

Simeon shook his head. “No, I don’t think that,

you’re not…hell…I was curious.”

Asher pushed him away, and despite his size

Simeon stumbled backwards, caught off guard.

“Well, you know what curiosity did,” he said

calmly.

Phin scrambled off the bed, his blond hair in

disarray and his stance defensive. “What’s
wrong?”

Asher pointed at Simeon. “He followed me to a

meeting. He knows too much. You need to kill
him.”

Phin’s mouth fell open and he looked from

Asher  to  Simeon  and  back.  Simeon  wanted  to
defend  himself,  but  he  couldn’t  find  the  actual
words.

“I’m not killing him,” Phin said finally.
Asher folded his arms across his chest. “I will

then,” he said simply.

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Simeon, naked as the day he was born was past

feeling vulnerable.

“No one is killing me,” he said with a snarl. He

stepped towards Asher as he said it, and Asher
raked a glance from head to toe. An expression of
disdain crossed his face.

“Had you pinned, Kitty,” he said with a sneer.
Simeon’s cat desperately tried to calm him

down  but  Simeon  was  way  past  any  kind  of
control. He would wipe the infuriating smirk from
that  demon’s  face  if  it  was  the  last  thing  he  did.
Stepping  forward,  he  extended  his  claws,  only
stopping  when  Phin  moved  quickly  to  stand
between them.

“Enough,” he said. His tone brooked no

discussion and Simeon stood in his attack pose
until he saw a smirk curl up the corner of Asher’s
mouth. Freaking ass was laughing at him. Didn’t
he know who Simeon was?

“Send him back to where he came from,” Asher

said. “Back to his litter, or whatever cats have.”

“I’m not sending him anywhere,” Phin

explained  carefully.  “He’s  here  to  talk  to  his
brother, and smooth the way with the king. I don’t
know why he followed you.” At this moment Phin
looked  pointedly  at  Simeon,  but  Simeon  wasn’t
going to explain himself or his instincts to want to
know  everything.  Phin  sighed  noisily.  “Until  the
morning when I can get to see my father, can we

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please just play nice?”

Asher tilted his head with a thoughtful

expression on his face. “Nice?” he said. “I can find
some string for the cat to keep him occupied.”

“Fuck you, demon.”
“Not in this life, kitty.”

RJ Scott

Chapter Four

hin looked down at the clothes laid on the bed
and frowned.

“What is it?” Simeon asked. He tightened the

belt on his dress pants and cursed at the feel of the
material  stiff  against  his  body.  He  hated  the
ceremonial dress, the black and scarlet uniform of
the Feline Guild with the gold bars that indicated
he  was  a  general.  Only  by  birth  and  only  on
special occasions did Simeon feel like he was any
part  of  the  guild.  He  glanced  in  the  mirror  to
check  if  his  sword  was  in  place  correctly,  then
brushed  some  hair  from  his  shoulder.  The  last
time  he  had  dressed  in  ceremonial  costume  was
for  his  parent’s  funeral.  That  had  been  ten  years
before.

“I hate wearing this scat,” Phin moaned.

Simeon didn’t doubt it. While his clothes were stiff
and ceremonial, Phin’s uniform, for want of a
better word, was all flowing layers and billowing
cloaks. The benefit of these was that Phin could

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hide weapons in the folds. The drawback was he
was likely to kill himself trying to get the weapons
out from the material. Layer  by layer he dressed.
Then with a click of his fingers, his messy locks lay
smooth  around  his  head  and  the  plaiting  in  the
back holding hair away from his ears was perfect.
Adding  his  own  ceremonial  weapon,  a  long
wickedly  curved  sword  to  the  belt  under  his  top
cloak,  he  finally  stood  in  front  of  the  mirror  and
scowled at his reflection.

“I hate this,” he repeated.
Simeon nodded his agreement. All these layers,

scarlet  for  the  cats,  black  for  the  Kingdom,  Gold
for  his  status,  platinum  for  his  family,  an
undershirt  that  was  white,  a  cravat  that  fell  in
perfect  snowy  folds,  it  was  all  too  much.  Still,  it
was what court demanded of a visiting dignitary,
and  he  and  Phin  needed  to  remember  that  was
what they were. With a resigned sigh, Phin pulled
on the small gold crown that fastened to his plaits,
and  suddenly  he  was  very  much  the  King-in-
waiting.

The door from the bathroom opened and Asher

walked out. Simeon nearly swallowed his tongue.
Some kind of wrapped material over his groin was
all the demon wore. He hadn’t realised that Asher
would be coming but given that the way he was
dressed, or not dressed, was what the Kingdom
demanded of the blood demon slaves, he assumed

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Asher was part of this foray into the inner
sanctum.

Asher’s chest glistened and was free from hair,

the tattoo that circled his neck more obvious as he
wasn’t wearing a shirt. Simeon knew what it said.
In elvish, it stated that Asher was a servant of the
Kingdom, and it would also hold the family name
of the branch of elvendom who took responsibility
for him. His feet were bare and his shaggy red hair
had been shaved away until only a little remained.
In his lobes he wore gold rings that joined with a
small gold chain around the back of his head.

Fuck. Simeon had never seen anything so sexy,

or  disturbing.  He  didn’t  want  Asher  to  be
anywhere looking like this. Confused, he couldn’t
understand  his  instant  hate  for  what  he  was
looking at. Was it the marks of a slave? Was it the
permanence of an owners mark around his neck?
Was  it  just  that  he  was  near  naked  and  others
could see what Simeon’s cat craved? What Simeon
desired.

“You can’t go,” he blurted out. He waved a

hand at Asher, “not like that. Phin, tell him he
doesn’t need to have all those marks on show, tell
him.”

Asher held up a hand to stop Phin from

responding and to halt Simeon’s comments. “It’s
what is expected,” he said softly. “Just as much as
your swords and scarlet, or Phin’s cloak. It’s a

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uniform. I go in as a backup, as slave to Phin’s
family. No one looks at the slaves, or questions
what they are doing.”

Simeon wanted to argue so badly his chest

tightened. Something deep inside him prodded at
his conscience.  He’d seen blood demons at work,
always  dressed,  never  ceremonial  with  the
possession  tattoos  in  place.  The  demons  usually
had  shirts  that  covered  the  marks.  This  wasn’t
right, to humiliate someone like this.

“I’m not humiliated,” Asher explained.
Hell. Had he said something out loud? Or was his

expression giving him away?

“We need to go,” Phin interjected. “This is your

last chance to stay here, Ash,” he added.

“He can’t go,” Simeon said again. Then he

turned to Phin. “Tell him.”

“I did,” Phin said quickly. “But he’s resistance

as much as we are.” Simeon made to interrupt but
Phin silenced him with a shake of his head. “We’re
all in uniform,” he said. “Just remember that.”

“Well, I don’t have to like it,” Simeon huffed.
Asher stepped closer and Simeon could smell

the oil that scented the demon’s skin.

“What worries you most, cat?” he asked. “That

I’m a slave, or that I’m naked?”

Simeon groaned at the word naked. He knew

exactly why he didn’t want Asher naked in front
of everyone. He didn’t know what to say, so he

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said nothing, only his expression must have given
him away.

“And that is the problem,” Asher said softly.

“You don’t care I am a slave, that my race is kept
this way, you just don’t want people to see my
body. You are not a man I want to know.”

Simeon wished he could defend himself. He

couldn’t.

* * * *

The three were quiet on the way to the inner

court  where  the  king  was  presiding.  Phin  had
given no heads-up that he was even in the Second
Kingdom, let alone that today he was visiting his
father.  Asher  wasn’t  entirely  happy  with  that.
King  Garrick  wasn’t  known  for  liking  surprises,
and Delsaran would probably look at their arrival
as something akin to betrayal.

Phin said he didn’t want to be king, and so a

new  heir  had  been  chosen.  Delsaran  was  the
king’s cousin, Phin’s cousin, and was officially the
next in line for the throne. A hard elf, he wanted
demons  kept  in  their  place  as  slaves,  and  he  had
the  backing  to  carry  it  all  through.  As  they  drew
closer to the palace at the centre of the city it was
all Asher could do not to stop Phin and drag him
back  to  safety.  Rumor  had  it  Delsaran  ruthlessly
replaced any and all dissenters to his appointment

The Demon’s Blood

as  heir  with  his  own  sycophants.  Having  Phin
there,  vulnerable  to  attack,  was  the  only  reason
Asher was even here today. He was going to look
after  his  little  brother,  if  it  was  the  last  thing  he
did.

Wearing nothing almost sent him back into the

bathroom the  minute Simeon  looked  him  up  and
down. He’d seen confusion in the cat shifter's face,
and  something  else  as  well.  Interest.  They  didn’t
have time for all of that now. There was work to
do.

The closer they got to the king, the more people

pointed and spoke. Phin led the way, Simeon a
step behind, and further back Asher with his eyes
to his feet. They made an odd procession, of sorts,
on their way to the king. The whispers grew loud.

Orophin…what is Prince Orophin doing here…Phin is
here…The Prince…The king’s son is home…

Only when they passed through the main doors

to  the  king’s  chambers  did  everything  fall
blessedly  silent. The guards here were respectful,
and allowed Phin entrance. They balked at Simeon
but  at  a  single  word  from  Phin  he  was  allowed
through.  They  never  even  looked  at  Asher,
although they tripped him as he went through and
he stumbled. He felt rather than saw Simeon look
back at him but he didn’t look up to meet his gaze.
Asher said nothing and so no one took any notice
of him.

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Just the way he wanted it.
Beyond the next door was the king. A second

set  of  guards,  and  this  time  Phin  was  stopped.
These  were  elite  guards,  in  ceremonial  uniform,
but not the sapphire blue of the  king—they wore
the dark green of King-in-waiting Delsaran.

“I want to see my father,” Phin said

unequivocally. The guards simply stared at him.
“I am Orophin Tiwele, Prince of this Kingdom,
and you will let me in to see my father.”

Still nothing. Asher prayed that Phin wouldn’t

do anything rash. They were outnumbered in this
palace  a  hundred  to  one,  and  not  even  with  his
skills,  a  cat  shifter  and  Phin’s  magic  could  the
three of them hope to win any kind of battle. Just
as Asher saw Phin’s back straighten and he knew
something  was  going  to  be  said,  the  door  was
flung  open  inwards.  The  man  who  stood  there,
with hair as black as night, a rare colour for elves,
stood  dramatically  framed  by  the  ancient  oak.
Delsaran himself.

“You’re alive!” he announced theatrically. Then

he drew Phin in for a hug.

“Uncle Delsaran,” he heard Phin say. Delsaran

was  no  Uncle  of  Phin's.  Hell,  he  was  barely  a
second  cousin,  but  he’d  demanded  Phin  call  him
that ever since Phin was little. Asher remembered
Phin explaining  how  Delsaran made him uneasy.
“I’m here to see my father.”

The Demon’s Blood

“You didn’t hear?” Delsaran said in surprise.

He pasted a suitable look of grief on his face, but
the emotion didn’t reach his eyes. “I guess you
wouldn’t. We tried to contact you, but it’s so
difficult.”

“Didn’t hear what?” Asher heard fear in Phin’s

voice.  Phin  and  the  king  might  not  have  a  close
relationship,  but  Garrick  was  still  Phin’s  father.
Only  as  he  thought  that  did  he  realise  what  he’d
been focusing on—Garrick was his father, as well.

“Garrick is bed-bound now.” Delsaran shook

his head sadly. “He’s fading fast. He wanted to see
you, but, you couldn’t be found. He’ll be so
pleased to have a chance to say goodbye.”

Asher held back his shock at the words and the

almost blasé way Delsaran threw them at Phin.

“Is this why the throne room guards are in

green  livery?”  Phin  asked  calmly.  Only  Asher
would  know  the  ice  that  was  in  every  syllable  of
that  question.  “I  thought  that  only  happened
when a king died.”

Simeon took a step to stand at Phin’s shoulder.

His  six  and  half  feet  of  scarlet  and  black  was  a
sizeable  backdrop  to  Phin.  Delsaran  glanced
briefly at Simeon but appeared to decide he wasn’t
worth focusing on. Then he moved to one side.

“Come in, I’ll take you to your father.”
Phin walked in, Simeon followed. Delsaran

made to shut the door on Asher.

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“The slave stays with me.” Phin’s tone brooked

absolutely no argument.

Delsaran raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

Asher walked in and three new guards moved to
ring  the  entire  group  as  they  skirted  the  large
throne  room.  Every  single  available  surface  was
covered  in  the  green  and  grey  of  Delsaran  but
Phin  said  nothing  else.  This  wasn’t  a  King-in-
waiting,  this  was  an  elf  who  was  already,  in  his
head,  the  ruler  of  this  Kingdom.  Apprehension
skittered down Asher’s spine, and he was acutely
aware of the three guards at his back and a tension
so thick you could almost taste it. The odd group
walked  the  labyrinth  of  corridors  behind  the
throne  room.  Delsaran  said  nothing  to  Phin  as
they walked.

Finally, they reached an ornate door, and

Delsaran pushed straight in without knocking.
Phin was immediately behind him, Simeon, then
himself close after. Phin stopped the guards from
entering.

“Surely a son visiting his sick father does not

need guards in the room,” he said evenly.

Delsaran hesitated momentarily and his blue

eyes were suddenly filled with wariness. “Of
course, Orophin.”

“Your Highness,” Phin said firmly. “As heir to

the Kingdom, that is how I should be addressed.”

Asher tensed at the words—even more so when

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Phin carried on despite Delsaran looking like a
fish catching flies. “Also, I believe the sapphire of
my line should replace the green in the throne
room.”

“Orophin—”
“You can leave us, Delsaran,” Phin said with

finality.

Delsaran mostly did as he was told, although he

dragged  it  out.  First  he  told  the  guards  to  leave
with orders to investigate replacing the ceremonial
colours,  then  he  crossed  to  the  large  bed  and
leaned  in  through  the  drawn  curtains  around,
Asher assumed, the king. Finally he strode out of
the  door,  but  he  stopped  and  turned  on  the
threshold.

“Ten years you have been gone, Orophin. Ten

years I have supported your father, put down
slave rebellions, even negotiated with the cats, and
all that time, where were you? Off making a point
about slave rights like some miscreant teenager.
Your place isn’t here in the Second Kingdom any
more. You should leave soon.”

Phin took a step towards Delsaran. “Are you

threatening me, Delsaran?”

To his credit, Delsaran held his ground. He

obviously thought little of Phin, which would
probably work in their favour in the future. No
one here outside of Asher and now Simeon knew
Phin had magic. Unless of you course you counted

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the nurse who hovered like a spare part by a rear
exit door.

Delsaran inclined his head. “Of course not,

Your Highness.”

With temper sparking in his expression he

drew  the  door  closed.  Suddenly  it  was  just  the
three  of  them,  the  king,  and  a  nurse.  Simeon
glanced  out  of  the  large  picture  window  with
views  of  acres  of  grass  and  the  forest  and
mountains  beyond.  Simeon  locked  the  oak  door
and waited for further instruction.

The Demon’s Blood

Chapter Five

hin…” Asher said softly. Phin spun on his
heel to face Asher and Asher was shocked at

the raw grief on his brother’s face. Maybe that ten
years thing had hit home. Asher never questioned
that Phin wanted to see the world, and that he
hated the way Asher was treated. He had never
once called Phin on the fact that he could do more
for the blood demons if he actually stayed put.

Phin shook his head imperceptibly, then

focused  on  the  nurse,  who  shrank  back  into  the
drapes  at  the  window  as  he  approached.  She
looked  terrified.  Phin  held  out  a  hand  and  she
visibly  flinched. Carefully  he pressed his  hand to
her  shoulder  and  she  visibly  relaxed.  Whether  it
was  because  he’d  used  magic  or  because  he
exuded peace and calm, Asher couldn’t tell.

“Can you explain to me what is wrong with my

father?”

“I can’t, Your Highness,” she said so softly that

Asher moved closer to hear.

“P

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“What do you mean by that?” Phin encouraged.
“Only that no one knows what has happened.

He was failing in his health, then a few months
ago he took a turn for the worse.”

“Are you his only nurse? Does he have a

doctor?”

“He sleeps a lot,” the nurse answered. Asher

wondered  at  the  random  reply,  then  he  saw  her
touch  her  ear  then  place  a  finger  on  her  lips
indicating  quiet.  Phin  nodded  his  understanding.
Whatever  was  said  in  the  room  was  being  heard
outside.

“Thank you.”
“I will leave you alone,” she said with a curtsy.

Then she left through the other exit.

Phin spun on his heel to face Simeon and

Asher. With a quick flick of his wrist Asher saw
the silver sparks of magic surround the three of
them with a cloak.

“The bubble will allow us to talk. Asher?

Thoughts?”

“The green everywhere concerns me. Last time

I  was  at  the  palace  was  for  manoeuvres  and
everything  was  still  in  the  Tiwele  colours.  The
guards  appear  to  be  new  and  wholly  loyal  to
Delsaran.”

“What about you, Simeon?”
“Everyone is on edge,” Simeon said. He

pointed at the door. “There’s one hell of a lot of

The Demon’s Blood

evil and ambition mixed into Delsaran.”

“I sensed he wasn’t that happy to see me.”
“Don’t have to have magic to see that,” Simeon

groused.

Phin nodded. “Will you watch the door?” he

asked  Simeon,  who  said  he  would  and  instantly
moved  to  stand  between  the  entrance  door  and
Phin.  He  left  the  cocoon  of  magic  and  stood
resolute against the old oak. Asher made to move
to cover the other door but Phin stopped him with
a hand on his arm.

“What is it?” Asher asked instantly.
“Stay with me to see our father?”
“He isn’t my father, Phin. We covered this

when we first met.”

“You have his blood in your veins. Please. I

don’t want to do this alone.”

Some of the ice surrounding Asher’s heat

melted at the plea. Phin wanted his help. His little
brother looked lost and needed him. Asher would
do  anything  to take that  hesitation and  fear from
Phin’s  eyes.  He  walked  to  the  bed  and
unceremoniously dragged back the layered drapes
around the bed. The light from the window fell in
a  strip  of  light  across  the  face  of  someone  who
Asher thought he would never see again.

“Father,” Phin gasped from behind him.

Unceremoniously, he clambered up the side of the
tall bed, then sat cross-legged near the king’s

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head.  “Father?”  he  said  again,  this  time  a  little
quieter.  The  old  king  didn’t  move  a  muscle.  His
eyes  were  shut  and  his  skin  papery  and  pale.
Covers were tucked up to his chin and slowly and
carefully Phin pulled each layer away to his waist.
He  was  dressed  in  a  nightshirt  and  Phin
unbuttoned enough to see his chest.

“What are you doing?” Asher asked curiously.

Seeing  the  man  who  never  knew  he  had  a  blood
demon  for  a  son  lying  here  near  death  left  no
emotion  inside  Asher.  He  didn’t  feel  sad,  or
grieving, or angry. There was simply nothing.

Phin glanced at him. “Poison,” he said. Then he

placed the flat of his hand to the king’s thin chest.
Shaking his head, he closed his eyes. “Magic,” he
added. “I’ve seen this before. In Joseph’s
nightmares.”

Asher had no idea what his brother meant. He

was  startled  when  a  golden  stream  of  light
sparked  from  Phin’s  fingers  and  tracked  through
the  king’s  body  with  frightening  speed,  tracing
through veins and arteries. It seemed like the king
was entirely golden.

“Is he going to make it?” Asher asked because

he felt he should.

“This magic in him is too strong. I can’t seem

to…” Phin stopped talking as the gold sparked
back at him. “Even I can’t save him, not here.
Maybe if Joseph was with me? Maybe he could…

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the magic is too deep.”

“The guards are grouping outside the room,”

Simeon  whispered  from  the  door.  Asher  glanced
back  to  see  Simeon  pull  his  sword  from  the
scabbard  and  stand  steady  and  absolutely  ready.
“There  are  more,”  he  tilted  his  head  and  scented
the air. “Ten, at least.”

Phin frowned and indicated Asher should

cover  the  other  door.  He  extended  the  magic
shield  to  cover  Simeon  but  Asher  could  see  his
brother  was  weakening,  his  skin  scarlet  with
exertion.

“Prince Orophin?” A voice came through the

door protected by Simeon. Delsaran had returned.
“We need to talk to you, Your Highness.”

Simeon held up a hand and closed and opened

it  three  times.  Asher  nodded  his  understanding.
Fifteen  now,  at  that  door.  He  pulled  the  small
knife he had in the fabric at his hips and listened
carefully,  but  the  other  exit  wasn’t  being
barricaded  with  a  phalanx  of  guards.  That  only
meant  one  thing.  There  was  no  way  out  through
the  other  door.  It  probably  led  to  an  ante  room
which was also full of guards in waiting. He shook
his  head  to  let  Simeon  know.  Then  he  carefully
manoeuvred  a  drawer  unit,  old  and  solid  wood
into place and forced it under the door handle. He
glanced  out  of  the  window,  but  the  damn  palace
was  built  on  a  hill  and  all  that  was  outside  this

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particular room was a sheer drop.

“How quickly do we need to get the King to a

doctor, Phin?” Simeon asked.

Phin looked up and shook his head. “I don’t

have any idea. He has an infection tied to magic
that is eating away at him. He has to have more
than me fighting this.”

“We need to get him and you out of here,”

Asher said.

Simeon flexed his muscles. “We’ll have to fight

our way out.”

Asher moved to stand next to him. He only had

his sword, but he was also a scrappy fighter and a
trained  foot  soldier.  He  could  take  a  few  down
before they  got him. He just wished he wasn’t in
ceremonial  dress.  A  hissing  popping  sound  came
from  the  bed  and  Asher  watched  as  Phin  arched
back and yelped in pain.

“Phin!” Asher was torn between his duty as a

soldier here and his brother.

“There’s shields on this magic,” Phin panted

through obvious pain and clutched at his chest.
“Perverted magic. Ludvik Peitrol. It’s…evil…I
can’t fight it…I need…” He stopped and clenched
his other fist in his hair.

“Take the king and go,” Asher ordered.
“I’m not…I can’t…not leaving you,” Phin said

between deep breaths.

“I’m serious, Phin. Port him out of here, take

The Demon’s Blood

him to Joseph, or wherever you need to be. We’ll
take care of the guards.

“What?” Simeon asked immediately. “We

will?”

Asher looked at the big cat shifter. “You up for

it?”

Simeon looked directly at him then grinned

broadly. “Me. You. Fifteen plus guards and a
pissed off, wannabe elf-king? With one sword and
a small knife? God, yeah.”

“Asher…” Phin sounded tormented. “Please

tell me what to do.”

“I mean it, Phin, what else are you going to

do?” Asher gestured towards the king. “Leave
him here? He’s evidence of what is happening,
and whoever the hell this Ludvik guy is.”

Something heavy smashed against the door.

The solid oak didn’t break, but it shook a lot of
dust.

“Ash…” Phin looked torn.
“Can you come back?” Simeon asked. “Get

Asher?”

Asher immediately stared right at Simeon.

“Why me?”

Simeon shrugged. “You’re his brother.”
“He should take you,” Asher said immediately.

The thought of the gorgeous, infuriating cat being
gutted on his watch was not one he was prepared
to entertain.

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“You’re—”
“Guys. I can only do this once.” Phin was

broken. His voice cracked, exhaustion on his face.
He was looking for a decision from Asher and
Simeon. As one they turned to each other.

“The king,” Simeon said.
“Our father,” Asher said at the same time.
Phin had tears tracking down his face and pain

etched into his expression. “Ash.”

“Love you, little brother. Leave your weapons

and  give  me  some  clothes.”  Phin  snapped  his
fingers and Asher sighed in relief at the dark pants
and shirt that  now clothed him. A final gift  from
Phin was the sword he tossed Asher’s way.

“Remember the falls. I love you, Ash…I’m

sorry.”

“Go. We’ll be okay. See you on the other side.”
Then in a flash, Phin dropped the shield that

protected him and his father from listening ears
and they were gone.

Another crash against the door and suddenly

Asher was faced with the enormity of this
decision. Thinking on his feet, he held out his
hand for Simeon’s sword.

“You need to shift.”
“That’s your plan? You take the swords and I

shift?” Simeon didn’t sound convinced.

“Then we’ll open the door.”
“Just like that.”

The Demon’s Blood

“Let’s face it, they won’t be expecting us to do

something that stupid.”

“You just said it yourself,” Simeon shook his

head.

Twisting the swords in his hands and settling

his stance, Asher looked directly at Simeon.
“Stupid sometimes works. Get out there, we’ll
clear a path, I know this palace, follow me and I’ll
get you out.”

Simeon yanked at his clothes until he stood

naked in front of Asher, who tried his hardest not
to stare.

“Just one thing,” Simeon said with a voice

already  turning  to  a  snarl  and  a  hiss.  In  a  quick
move he grabbed Asher close and kissed him. The
kiss wasn’t soft or teasing, it was teeth and tongue
and  blood.  Asher  nearly  cried  out  at  the  taste  of
Simeon  and  the  feel  of  him  holding  Asher  tight.
They  parted  as  quickly  as  they  met  and  Simeon
crouched and shifted into his cat in an instant.

Asher nodded at the golden mountain lion then

with an sharp inhalation of breath he unlocked the
door and threw himself into the shocked guards.

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Chapter Six

imeon lost sight of Asher almost immediately.
There were a few less guards than the fifteen

he’d  identified  but  he  didn’t  have  time  to  worry
about  how  many  or  who  they  were.  The  two
closest to him were already writhing  on the floor
with  chunks  of  flesh  missing  from  their  legs  and
he  leaped  over  them  to  the  next  barrier.  At  first,
the  guards  moved  back  and  away  as  Simeon,  in
cat  form,  jumped  at  them  but  they  soon  became
bolder  when  they  realised  Simeon  wasn’t  killing
but incapacitating. He was facing down four with
swords and when a blade sliced into his neck, he
snarled his displeasure and bit down hard on the
nearest arm.

When a guards head bounced into his

peripheral  vision,  he  realised  Asher  wasn’t
holding  onto  the  niceties  of  this  escape.  He  was
killing  to  get  out.  Simeon  backed  off  and  judged
what he needed to do and briefly caught sight of
Asher near the end of the corridor.

The Demon’s Blood

“Simeon!” Asher shouted over the fighting. A

sword swung so close to Simeon’s face he thought
he lost fur and with a sharp slash of claws another
elf  guard  fell.  He  had  the  advantage  in  this
enclosed  space—the  guards  needed  space  to
swing  swords,  all  he  needed  was  his  claws  and
teeth. Sliding sideways in a puddle of blood on the
floor saved his life as a guard managed a stabbing
motion  that  went  through  Simeon’s  thigh  as
opposed to his spine. He heard Asher’s voice as he
struggled for purchase in the slippery mess. Then,
abruptly,  his  claws  found  empty  floor  and  he
vaulted the last of the guards.

He limped through the last door, trying to keep

up. Asher led them down corkscrewing corridors
that  appeared  to  double  back  on  themselves  at
every turn. Finally, the overwhelming scents of elf
and blood were replaced by fresh air, and with a
few  more  twists  in  the  path,  they  burst  out  into
daylight.  Simeon  stumbled  as  he  fell  out  of  the
door  and  twisted  quickly  to  stand  up  on  all  four
paws again. He couldn’t help the snarl of pain as
the wound in his haunch pulled and tore.

“Fuck,” he heard Asher curse and looked up at

the demon for guidance now. His muzzle was
coated in blood, which meant he couldn’t scent
direction or other cats. He didn’t even know what
side of the city they had tumbled out of. “Can you
run?”

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Simeon began to trot away from the city—it

was  the  only  answer  he  could  give.  He  was
limping and dragging his leg, so it was more of a
stagger  than  an  actual  trot,  but  finally,  Asher
seemed to get the idea. Quickly catching  up with
Simeon,  he  ran  ahead  into  the  forest  and  Simeon
quickened his pace until the two of them ran side
by  side  through  parts  of  the  forest  that  Simeon
didn’t  recall  ever  seeing  before.  They  were
running  uphill  and  the  pain  as  the  muscles
attempted  to  knit  themselves  was  agonizing.  He
wouldn’t stop. He pushed harder and harder and
they reached a peak, then with a flying leap Asher
jumped  into  nothing,  and  Simeon  didn’t  know
anything  else  but  blind  belief  that  Asher  knew
what  he  was  doing.  He  followed  the  demon  and
jumped into nothing but air.

He twisted as he fell, then suddenly there was

water  and  he  dropped  face  first,  as  a  mountain
lion,  into  icy  cold  water.  The  momentum  of  the
jump  took  him  deep  down  and  he  thought  he
might never rise to the surface and panic gripped
him. The water was dark at this depth and Simeon
couldn’t  work  out  which  way  was  up.  Pushing
with  his  paws  against  a  shelf  of  stone,  he
desperately tried to get to the surface but the pain
was too much and he began to falter. All this way,
with  blood,  and  fighting,  and  he  was  going  to
damn well drown in a lake.

The Demon’s Blood

Hands gripped him. Asher. And in seconds he

could draw in great heaving breaths of air.

“Shift,” Asher demanded.
Simeon yowled in horror and he was caught

between cat and human as blackness pulled at the
edges of him and he lost consciousness.

The light stabbed at his eyes and for a second

he  couldn’t  understand  why.  The  glow  of
something  intense  burned  him  and  he  closed  his
eyes tight.

“Sorry,” a voice said. Not just any voice. Asher.

“You heal pretty quick for a nearly dead guy,”
Asher’s voice added. “You can open your eyes
now.”

Simeon didn’t want to believe Asher. What if he

opened his eyes and that damn burning happened
again?

“Come on, kitty, show me those pretty little

eyes.” Asher teased.

Simeon looked inside himself and realised he

was  in  human  form,  his  cat  slumbering  and
happily  at  peace.  Carefully,  he  opened  his  eyes
and  this  time  the  room,  or  wherever  they  were,
was  darkened.  He  blinked  the  blurriness  away
and attempted to move. Fire shot through his head
and  his  thigh  and  his  throat  felt  like  it  had  been
torn out.

Asher’s hand held him down. The touch was

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reassuring and centred the anxious feelings
curling inside Simeon.

“You have a pretty nasty wound in your thigh,

but I’ve seen worse and when you shift again I’m
sure it will heal. The slice out of your neck is a
little more problematic.

Problematic, how? “Wha?”
“Don’t try and talk,” Asher encouraged. “It was

very deep. The bleeding has stopped and I don’t
think it hit any arteries but it was clean and a
sharp blade.”

“Okay.”
“I said don’t talk,” Asher admonished. “Now I

need you to shift again and sleep like a cat.”

“Can’t…”
“Shift. I mean it. Shift now or I’ll finish you off

myself.”

Simeon called to his cat, attempted to connect

but nothing happened. Then Asher began stroking
his chest.

“I can’t believe Phin left a mark,” he was

whispering as he stroked. “A big tall guy like you
felled by an itty bitty elf and he leaves a handprint
on  your  chest.”  Asher  traced  the  fingers  of  the
print and hesitated on the index finger part where
it sat close to Simeon’s nipple. Casually, he traced
the hardening nub and Simeon’s cat self woke up
with  a  shake.  Suddenly  apparently  very  eager  to
see what  was going on, it was then very easy for

The Demon’s Blood

Simeon to shift into his cat. A purr rumbled in his
chest as Asher scratched between his ears and he
shuffled a little so he could lay his head in Asher’s
lap.

Nice.

When he woke next time he was still in cat form

and  he  shifted  to  human  as  swiftly  as  he  could.
His thigh was no longer hurting so badly and his
neck  felt  better.  He  shuffled  to  sit  upright  and
with  a  few  choice  curse  words  he  was  finally
sitting with his back against the back of a bed.

A bed?
Where were they? He thought they’d jumped

into a lake, and were in a cave? But no, this was
definitely a bed. A strong solid mattress and quilts
and blankets and soft covers. In a room that was
undeniably bedroom-looking.

“Hey, you’re awake,” Asher said from the door.

He was wearing dark pants and a scarlet shirt and
looked like he’d just come from the shower. As he
neared him, Simeon could swear it was the same
shower gels and shampoos as at Asher’s place.

“Are we in your home?” Simeon asked

disorientated.

Asher laughed. “This? No, this is mine and

Phin's place. He made it so we had somewhere to
meet and talk outside of the city. A safe place. It’s
warded, and to a passerby it looks like another

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part of the forest. But take that leap of faith and
you land in the spring water.”

“Leap of faith? What if I’d hesitated?”
Asher shrugged. “You’d have fallen to your

death.” Then he brightened. “I knew your cat
would follow me.”

“Pretty sure of yourself there, demon.”
The light in Asher’s eyes dimmed a little and

Simeon was immediately contrite.

“My name is Asher.”
“I know.”
“Then use it.”
“On one condition. Stop calling me kitty, or

indeed any derivative of cat.”

Asher narrowed his gaze, then smiled. “Deal,”

he said. He settled the tray on a small table and
pushed it closer to Asher. “Steak, potatoes,
gravy…”

“You made this?”
“I can cook.”
“I thought you only ate vegetables. There was

no meat in that thing you did before.”

Laughter pulled at Asher’s mouth. “I was

fucking  with  your  inner  animal,”  he  said  with  a
smirk.  The  fact  that  he  used  his  fingers  to  create
speech marks around the words inner animal made
Simeon squirm in bed, ready to jump the man and
pin  him  to  the  deck  in  anger.  Then  the  idea  of
pinning Asher to the floor caused Simeon’s cock to

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wake up and he decided that the whole train of
thought needed to stop, there and then.

Suddenly hungry, he fell on the food but soon

realised  swallowing  was  hard  with  his  throat  all
bandaged.  He  placed  a  hand  to  the  bandage  and
yanked it away. He needed to shift again and the
ache  in  his  neck  was  just  worse  with  the  damn
material around it.

“I had to do stitches,” Asher offered carefully.
Simeon ran a hand over the wound and the

smooth regular bumps of thread. “It was that
bad?”

“Shifting made it worse. So I closed it up with

some stuff Phin left here years back after we
scrapped with some felines in the forest. It’s
spelled or something so when you shift it stays. I
had a small bit left and hoped it worked. It was a
pretty gaping wound.”

“Thank you.”
Asher smiled at the words. “You’re welcome.

When you shift next time, you’ll find the stitches
fall out, or at least I think so.”

Simeon chewed on the most perfect piece of

rare meat and swallowed carefully. With each
swallow he felt better. “So tell me more about this
place.”

“Two bedrooms, kitchen, yard, medical kits,

weapons, the usual.”

“And Phin made it? Hang on, did Phin get the

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king to Joseph? Does he know you’re okay?”

“He knows,” Asher said.
“Okay.” Simeon relaxed a little more. “So yeah,

Phin made this place, how did he do that?
Magic?”

“Yeah. But we added to it, it’s a home away

from  home.”  Asher  climbed  onto  the  bed  next  to
Simeon and lay on his back with his hands linked
under  his  head.  “We  needed  somewhere
because…”  Asher’s  voice  trailed  off  but  Simeon
didn’t push him.

He continued, “When we first met, Phin could

tell  I  was  his  brother—half  brother—but  I  didn’t
believe him. He had to convince me of who I was,
and  why  I  was  alive.  My  mom  was  long  since
dead,  no  one  knew  who  my  father  was.  That
didn’t  matter,  blood  demons  are  a  strong
community.  I  wasn’t  left  to  fend  for  myself,  so
don’t  go  feeling  sorry  for  me.”  He  glanced  up  at
Simeon with conviction in his eyes.

“Okay, I won’t then,” Simeon said, because he

felt he was being expected to say it.

Asher looked back to the ceiling. “Turns out, as

things  like  this  happen,  that  me,  a  lowly  filthy
blood demon had two kinds of blood in his body,
that  of  his  mother  from  a  long  line  that  led  from
the  original  blood  demons  and  that  of  the  king
who  evidently  decided  he  wanted  to  break  with
tradition and cheat on his wife for a blood demon

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woman.”

“I’m sorry,” Simeon offered.
“I said I don’t need pity,” Asher said quickly. “I

don’t need meaningless platitudes. I have a
brother, and he’d be a hundred times the leader I
would be, only the idiot won’t take it until blood
demons rights are equal to elves. Which, in turn, is
never going to happen unless we have a decent
king in place.”

“One day, Phin will realise that.”
“Maybe.” Asher shrugged, which was quite

difficult  lying  down.  “So  we  decided  to  have  a
place  that  was  hidden.  It  was  our  sanctuary,  our
place to talk and become brothers, and if we ever
needed  somewhere  to  go,  to  hide,  then  this  was
the  house  to  be  doing  it  in.  Wards  protect  it,
walkers would never find it, and even if they send
out  hunters  to  find  us  they’ll  never  spot  us.  We
could  be  standing  waving  at  them  and  still,  all
they would see was mountain side.”

Simeon finished his dinner and put the plate

back on the table. Drinking down the juice that sat
next to it, he finally scooted down to lie next to
Asher.

Asher held out his arm. “One more shift,

Simeon. Come on, I’ll scratch your ears.”

Simeon glared at the demon but it held no heat.

His cat really wanted to be scratched and Simeon
himself really wanted a cuddle. It had been a long

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time since he’d had one of those. The last thing he
heard was Asher chuckling low in his throat, then
he shifted and curled up in a ball under Asher’s
arm.

“Just to say, Simeon, if you can hear me

properly. I kind of liked that kiss.”

Simeon nuzzled up into the hand then he

allowed sleep to pull him under.

The Demon’s Blood

Chapter Seven

hin sat in his usual position, cross legged on
the floor opposite Asher. He had arrived a

few minutes ago and was now trying to convince
Asher to go back and visit with the king.

“He said he wanted to see you,” Phin explained

again, with the emphasis on see.

“And I say again, he never wanted to know me

before. Why now?”

“Because he nearly died. It’s changed his

perspective.”

Asher huffed a response that was half disbelief

and half laughter. “What about you? You left the
city because you hated him.”

Phin grimaced. “Yeah, him and what I was

being forced to be, and most of all, what you were
being forced to be.” He sighed dramatically and
couldn’t look Asher in the eye. Then he admitted,
“Like I was going to get anything done by running
away.”

Asher couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

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Was Phin really sitting here saying he’d finally got
his head around his place in the world?

He couldn’t resist teasing his brother. “Who do

I have to thank for this change in position?”

“Joseph,” Phin said firmly. “I guess,” he added

lamely.  “He  spent  a  long  time  talking  with  our
father, and I listened a lot. He’ll always be stuck in
the  past—not  Joseph—the  king.  Father  can’t  see
why things have to change. According to what he
says,  the  Kingdom  has  been  a  place  of two types
for centuries. Why change what works.”

“Okay, Phin, hold on.” Asher held up his

hands. “This is not convincing me to visit him.”

Phin sighed noisily. “So I sat with him, and he

listened to me because he kind of owed me for
saving his life, and while I’m not sure it’s all gone
in, he agrees that we could look to putting the
whole demon thing to a vote.”

“The demon thing,” Asher said calmly. He had

to hold his temper down. How could Phin sit here
and talk about what Asher lived as the demon
thing.

“Shit. No. I didn’t mean it like that.” Asher

made  to  stand  and  Phin  gripped  his  brother’s
hand  and  held  tight.  “Please  don’t  leave,  don’t
hate  me,  I  didn’t  mean…hell,  Asher…you’re  my
brother…I  freaking  well  left  the  city  because  I
hated what it was doing to you.”

“I’m not sure that helped much,” Simeon said

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from the doorway.

Asher looked up at the feline shifter and

smiled.  He  looked  a  lot  better,  and  was  at  least
standing  upright  without  falling  over  now.
Actually,  Asher  thought  he  should  ask  Phin  to
heal the remaining injuries that stubbornly would
not close up, including the stitches that refused to
disappear on his neck.

“This is a private conversation,” Phin snapped.
Simeon shrugged, then very deliberately, he sat

down  next  to  Asher.  “You  know  what,  Phin,
there’s  things  Asher  won’t  say,  that  your  brother
won’t tell you, but I  have only known him a few
days and I can see what he thinks without trying.”

Phin looked affronted, then dismissive. “I

don’t—”

“Listen to me. You don’t like the way things

work  in  the  city,  you  argue  with  your  dad,  I  get
that.  I  even  understand  that,  I  don’t  even  know
my dad, but I bet if I ever met him that he would
be a complete dick like my brother is. But you left
in  protest  over  blood  demon  rights,  and  you  left
your brother alone. Your leaving didn’t do much.”

Phin nodded as Simeon spoke and Asher

weighed up whether this was Phin listening or
Phin contemplating how to kill Simeon.

“Exactly,” Phin said quickly. “I did it all wrong.

Joseph made me see that, our father made me see
that, what Simeon said is absolutely right. I want

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the  three  of  us—me,  you,  the  king—to  push
government,  get  equality,  make  this  right.  Will
you  come  back  with  me  just  for  an  hour?  Just  to
talk.”

“I can’t leave Simeon,” Asher protested.
Simeon placed a hand flat on Asher’s thigh.

“Yes, you can. I’ll be asleep and I’m safe here. Go
to  wherever  Phin  has  your  father,  and  talk,  then
come  back  here  to  me.”  He  leaned  forward  and
Asher  was  at  first  hesitant.  Was  Simeon  going  to
kiss him in front of Phin?

They pressed lips together in a very chaste kiss

and Phin huffed a laugh. “So it’s like that, then?”
he said.

Simeon used his free hand to cup Asher’s chin

and tilted his face to deepen the kiss. Then he
pulled away. Asher found himself chasing for the
kiss and went scarlet at having kissed the dazzling
shifter in front of his own brother.

“Very much like that,” Simeon said. Then, to

Asher, he added, “Hurry home.”

* * * *

Asher paced outside the room. Phin had gone

inside a few moments before with the nurse
responsible for the king’s care.

“You okay?” Joseph asked carefully. Asher

stopped pacing and turned to face his brother’s

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partner.

“Far from okay,” he said irritably.
“I can’t even imagine how you feel,” Joseph

began diplomatically.

“No, you can’t.” Asher wasn’t ready for the

warm  and  fuzzies  just  yet.  Joseph  seemed  like  a
good guy and Phin loved him, but he didn’t really
know the vampire that well. Of course, given the
whole  vampires  creating  blood  demons  as  food
connection, he was hesitant to be too friendly. The
creation of blood demons might have happened a
millennia  ago,  but  there  was  an  inbuilt  flight  or
flight  in  him  whenever  he  came  up  against  a
vampire. Which didn’t happen often.

“This means a lot to Phin,” Joseph pointed out.
“It’s the only reason I’m doing it. For Phin.”
The door opened and Phin gestured for Asher

to go in.

“Good luck,” Joseph offered with a sketchy

wave.

“Yeah,” Asher muttered. Then, drawing his

composure together, he stepped into the wide tall
ceilinged  room  that  King  Garrick  of  the  Second
Kingdom held court in. Asher expected grandeur,
but all he got was a very slight man, who looked
worse than Asher thought he would, lying tucked
under  brilliantly  white  sheets.  His  head  was
slightly  elevated  on  pillows  and  a  smile  crossed
his face when Asher moved closer.

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“Asherkan Iblis,” he said in a raspy voice. “I

knew your mom.”

Asher crossed his arms over his chest. “Seems

like you knew her quite well.”

“A strong woman, very confident, you look like

her.”

“Good to know,” Asher dismissed.
“You have a look of Phin about you as well,” he

added.

“I know.” He was being honest. He knew he

was a little too soft in the face for a demon—he
was just lucky no one else had noticed.

“Do you have magic as well?” The king

appeared curious.

Asher glanced at the closed door, as if Phin was

stood there watching. “He told you about that.
And no, I don’t.”

The king shuffled a little to sit more upright

and he coughed as he did so. He was so frail, older
than  Asher  remembered  from  the  odd  few  times
he  had  seen  the  king  from  a  distance.  Asher
stepped  forward  to  help  but  found  himself
stopping just out of reach.

“I didn’t know about Elsa,” the king said

carefully. “Your mother was one of my wife’s
maids. She made me laugh, made me happy. You
won’t be able to believe this I am sure, but I loved
her.”

“No, I don’t believe that.”

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“Why? Because an elf cannot love a blood

demon? I have proved that isn’t true.” He
coughed again. “Would you pass me my water?”

Asher hesitated, then remembered he was here

to listen. If the old elf died for lack of water, then
Asher wouldn’t get to hear a thing. He helped the
king to drink, then placed the cup back on the
stand.

“So, you loved my mom,” Asher summarised.

“Good to know. Are we done now?” He wanted to
provoke the elf king to snap and show his true
colours.

“Far from it, Asherkan.”
“Asher. People call me Asher.”
“Asher, then,” the king nodded. “You can call

me Garrick, or Father.”

“Okay, Garrick,” Asher said, deliberately

snubbing the second option. “What happened to
my mom?”

“Please, sit,” Garrick said. There was a thread

of  determination  in  his  voice  and  Asher  was
compelled to sit. He chose the part of the bed that
was  the  furthest  from  Garrick  and  waited  for
answers.

“I did love her. We would meet in secret. A

member  of  elf  nobility  and  a  blood  demon?  That
wasn’t  ever  going to happen,  and  I  had  so  many
young  elves  snapping  at  my  heels  for  control  of
the  Second  Kingdom. I  couldn’t  leave  my  society

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approved wife, which is what I wanted to do. Elsa,
your  mother,  left.  One  day  I  woke  up  and  she
wasn’t  in  my  life  anymore.  My  wife,  Phin’s
mother, she told me there was a problem at home
and  that  Elsa  promised  to  return.  I  was  lost
without her and waited each day for her to come
home.  She  never  did.  I  would  travel  out  in
disguise,  or  send  trusted  servants  out,  all  to  find
her, for months, then years, I looked. But she had
vanished. Then word came that her body had been
found.  She  had  died  a  year  before,  maybe  more.
The blood demon community had closed its ranks
and  I  decided  that  my  relationship  with  her
should remain hidden.”

“And you didn’t know she had a son? Ever?”
Garrick bit his lip and a troubled expression

sketched on his face. “I didn’t. And even if I did?
What  would  have  happened?  The  Kingdom
would never have accepted a mixed blood heir. If I
had  known,  and  publically  accepted  you?  That
would have led to inevitable war. As I grow older,
my  influence  wanes.  Already  Delsaran  has
grasped  control  of  the  Kingdom.  He  will  never
accept a demon as his king.”

“We know about Delsaran,” Asher offered. He

listened to what Garrick said, and every logical
rational part of him knew that everything he said
made sense. Even if he had known he’d fathered a
son, putting a half breed on the throne was akin to

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starting a war. It was simply the worst thing that
could happen in this fragile place with its politics
and  drama.  Still,  a  part  of  him,  the  small  part  in
his  heart  that  craved  family,  was  angry  that  his
mom  had  never  been  in  his  life  to  tell  him  about
Garrick.  Being  excluded  from  a  father,  not
knowing his mother or brother, that was a scar on
his heart that would never heal.

“So, it comes to this, my son. I am pleased to

know that you are here and that you have Phin’s
best  interests  at  heart.  He  doesn’t  want  the
Kingdom,  he  was  born  for  a  different  purpose,
with  his  magic  and  his  connection  the  Vampire
Prince, Joseph. Will you accept my blessing as heir
to the Kingdom and fight for your home?”

“What about your statement it would cause

war?”

Garrick closed his eyes briefly. “War is what we

are  heading to anyway. The kingdom is split, and
too  much  influence  from  Glitnir  is  driving  a
wedge even deeper between the elves, the demons
and  the  felines.  A  man,  Ludvik  Peitrol,
approached  me.  He  said  he  spoke  for  the  Fae  at
Glitnir  and  offered  me  magic  in  return  for  my
support  in  his  endevours  to  control  Glitnir  in
entirety. I turned him down. He went to the next
in line, Delsaran.”

“Ludvik is a name that keeps cropping up,”

Phin said with heat. “His desire for power is

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backed up by dark perverted magic.”

Asher thought of Simeon and his animosity to

the  felines  in  the  mountains,  and  of  his  friend
Vesstan  who  probably  wondered  where  the  hell
he’d gone. If everypne could be brought together,
the  felines,  and  the  city,  cats,  elves,  and  blood
demons,  maybe  a  new  age  could  be  ushered  in?
Was he really the demon to do this? Could he help
keep Ludvik’s magic away from here?

“I don’t know if I can be the person you want

me  to  be,”  he  answered  truthfully.  “I’m  not  as
strong  as  everyone  thinks  I  am.”  He  wished  he
could recall the words as soon as he said them. He
didn’t  allow  others  to  see  chinks  in  his  armour,
and self doubt was very much an issue.

Garrick moved his hand from under the covers

and held it out. “All it needs is for you to clasp my
hand, and if my blood runs through your veins
then the tattoo seal will pass to you.”

Asher’s fingers immediately went to his neck

and the tattoo that lay there. “I’m already
marked,” he snapped. Then he thrust his hand out
wrist up so that the two marks appeared. “Slave,
and soldier,” he added, with hate in the words.

Garrick didn’t waver. “Then let me add another

mark to the ones you carry with pride and
fortitude.”

Asher’s mouth fell open. This elf wasn’t saying

the other marks would go, he wanted to add the

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king’s mark to those he already had.

“I don’t understand,” Asher said finally.
“Those signs on your skin show what kind of

man you were. Resilient. I want to give you the
next sign on the map of your life.”

Asher tilted his head. “And Phin doesn’t want

it?”

“I don’t want it,” Phin said from behind him.

Asher hadn’t even heard him come in the room.

“But doesn’t Delsaran expect the mark now?”
“Never,” Garrick was vehement. “He is

overstepping his authority on a million different
levels. He may have a drop of my blood in him
but he was never what I wanted for my home.”

Finally Asher held out his hand and clasped the

king’s  hand.  The  burning  of  a  scar  on  his  skin
made  him  yelp  in  pain.  Heat  rushed  through  his
veins and he doubled over in pain before pushing
himself to stand brave. Garrick sighed deeply and
relaxed his hold.

“I didn’t know you, Asherkan Iblis, but there

was always a place in me that loved you as much
as I loved Phin.”

Asher brought back his hand and examined the

stylised  sun  on  his  inner  arm.  It  was  large,  with
flames  that  extended  into  his  elbow  then  as  he
watched, traced to his upper arm. Stunning.

“Phin?”
Phin stood the other side of the bed and

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grasped his father’s hand.

“I love you, son,” he said gently. “Watch out for

your brother.”

The room fell quiet and Asher looked up from

his examination of the design on his arm. He saw
Phin  had  tears  on  his  cheeks  and  when  he
followed  Phin’s  linked  hand  to  Garrick,  he  could
see  what  passing  the  king’s  mark  on  had  done.
Garrick  was  dead.  His  sightless  eyes  were  wide
and staring and a faint hint of a smile was on his
lips. Asher slid off the bed and stood next to Phin.

“I’m so sorry, Phin.” He placed his arm over

Phin’s shoulders and held his brother tight. He
didn’t grieve for himself, he hadn’t known Garrick
at all, but he grieved for his little brother. “So
sorry.”

The Demon’s Blood

Chapter Eight

imeon sat for a long time at the side of the
waterfall and pool and just stared into the

water. How long he’d been there he didn’t know,
but it was a good place to think. Every so often he
dropped  a  stone  into  the  water  and  counted  the
ripples  that  moved  outwards  to  the  side.  His
reflection  distorted  in  the  moving  lines  and  he
concentrated  hard  to  place  all  the  tiny  fractured
pieces of him into a cohesive whole. A bit like his
thoughts, which were all over the place.

He didn’t know what the hell was going to

happen with Asher going to see the king. Nothing
good,  he  decided.  Feelings  for  the  demon—
conflicted,  confusing  emotions—jostled  for
position  inside  him.  When  they'd  first  met,
Simeon’s  feline  self  was  absolutely  obsessed.
Something  about  Asher  was  connecting  to  the
feral,  animal  side  of  Simeon,  and  damned  if  his
human self wasn't just as enamoured.

Asher had said he wanted to kiss Simeon when

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he  came  back,  but  was  that  going  to  happen?
There  was  something  so  hot  between  them,
attraction,  lust,  and  he  wasn’t  able  to  fight  the
attraction.  He  was  falling  head  over  heels  for  the
small  demon.  Not  small…he’s  not  small…I’m  just
huge…Simeon  huffed  a  self  deprecating  laugh.
Slipping off his boots and socks and rolling up his
pants, he dangled his feet in the water. There was
a spring that fed this place and while the centre of
the pool was icy, the edges were warm.

“You look sad,” Asher said from his side.
Startled, Simeon looked up at the demon

standing next to him. He’d been expecting him to
dive into the pool through that magic barrier
thing, not just appear next to him.

“How…”
“Phin brought me back.”
Simeon peered through Asher’s legs. “Is he still

here?”

Asher deflated and with a deep sigh he sat

down next to Simeon. “He’s gone back to organise
the funeral.”

“Hell, Asher, the king died?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry,” Simeon said softly. It felt like the

right thing to say.

Asher was quiet for a while. “Why did you look

sad when I first saw you?”

Simeon smiled and looked directly at Asher.

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“Usual stuff. I need to see Jason, sort out this feud,
rally the guild to stand with the demons against
the elves, fuck, I don’t know where to start with
that one.”

“I have something to tell you,” Asher said. He

held out a hand and Simeon didn’t hesitate, he
gripped hard. “But first I need to ask you
something.”

“Go for it.”
“What do you feel for me? Is there something

here that we can make more of? When we
kissed…”

Simeon squeezed his fingers. “That was kind of

a harsh kiss.”

“You think we can try again?”
“Now?”
“Now.”
They leaned in to kiss, and this time the touch

was gentle, soft and nothing more than a touch of
lips. A faultless kiss. Simeon was more used to the
hard, fast kisses of someone who expected the big,
bad cat to be all pushy and forceful. Something
about Asher tamed his wildness a little. They
separated and Asher smiled at him.

“That was nice,” he said. Then in a smooth

movement he straddled Simeon’s lap. The weight
on him was perfect and he groaned when Asher
wriggled to get settled then cupped Simeon’s face.
“Can we do that again?” he asked. Sitting like this,

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their faces were nearly level and they kissed again.
Starting slow, they explored each other smoothly.
Simeon  was  near  purring  from  the  soft  treacle-
smooth  feelings  sliding  through  his  body.  Asher
tilted  his  head  and  deepened  the  kiss,  asking  for
entrance  with  teeth  and  tongue  until  finally  they
could  taste  each  other.  Simeon  wanted  to  touch,
but he was supporting his weight with his hands
flat behind him and he had to simply sit and allow
Asher to lead the embrace.

He was so hard, and when Asher began to

press  down  on  his  hard  cock  with  his  ass,
Simeon’s cat prowled and poked at him to get on
with the plan and mark the demon as his own. His
canines  pricked  at  his  gums  and  Asher  laughed
into the kiss.

“Sharp,” he said with a smile. Then he

deliberately  licked  at  the  sharp  teeth  and  Simeon
could  taste  blood.  Asher  teased  him  and  Simeon
was  seriously  going  to  come  in  his  pants  if  the
damn  demon  didn’t  back  off  and  let  him  control
this.

“You don’t need to control,” Asher whispered

in his ear. Simeon mewled as Asher nibbled on his
ear lobe then bit a small path of heated kisses into
his skin and to his throat.

“I didn’t…say…” Simeon defended. He could

swear he’d said nothing.

“You didn’t,” Asher’s voice was in his head. His

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lips weren’t moving but Simeon could hear him.

“Can we…are we…”
“Yes.”
Oh fuck, this was so hot. They kissed and

rutted and touched and all the time the coolness of
the water lapped at Simeon’s feet. Until finally,
they reached that point when it was all or nothing.
Simeon broke the kiss.

“Bed? Floor? Anywhere,” he said a little

desperately.

Asher smirked then scrambled off of Simeon’s

lap. He held out a hand to help Simeon stand and
in less than a blink of the eye they were inside and
stripping  clothes  as  they  made  their  way  to  the
bed. Simeon watched as Asher’s pants hit the floor
and he got his first real look at the person he was
going  to  be  taking  as  a  lover.  Hurriedly,  he
pushed at his own pants and pulled his shirt over
his  head.  Underwear  gone,  he  was  naked  as  the
day he was born, as was Asher.

Which is when Simeon saw it. The tattoo that

spread from wrist to shoulder, intricate, a sun
with rays, in stylised thick black.

“Fuck, Asher,” he said with heat. “What did

you do?”

Asher stopped in his tracks and uncertainty

spread  across  his  face.  “I  didn’t  really  have  a
choice,”  he  said  firmly.  “Phin  refuses  the  throne,
and  with  his  magic,  his  place  isn’t  there,  and  I

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want something for the Second Kingdom that
someone like Delsaran will never understand.
Unity. Elves, demons, felines.”

“You want to take on the guild?” Simeon asked

in shock.

“No, I want to talk to them, with you, and make

them see there is another way, different than us
being separate entities.”

“And you are king.”
Asher closed his eyes and his hands clenched

into fists at his side. “I should have told you first,”
he said. “But I wanted your honest reaction.”

“To what? To falling into bed with a king?”
Asher opened his eyes again and there was

utter confusion mixed with hope in his expression.
“Yeah.”

The same conflicted emotions mixed inside

Simeon.  Doing  this  wasn’t  just  some  one  night
thing. His cat wanted Asher so bad that even now,
the  impulse  to  fuck  Asher  was  strong,  and  his
human self was just as keen on the idea. Both parts
of him wanted so much more from Asher, but his
human side wasn’t so quick to claim fated mates.
Could he be with a king?

Oh hell, Asher is king.
“You’d be next to me in everything,” Asher said

quietly. “Every step I take as king, you would be
with me. If we make love, then I would never let
you go.”

The Demon’s Blood

“You’d be my only lover. For the rest of my

life,” Simeon summed up.

“I know felines have more than one, but blood

demons love only a single person at a time.”

Not even the thought of giving up other lovers

dissuaded  Simeon.  Hell,  being  with  Asher
sounded exactly like what Simeon had in his own
head.  The  decision  was  easy,  and  he  gathered
Asher in a hug then lifted him off his feet. Asher
quickly  got  with  the  plan  and  wrapped  his  legs
around  Simeon’s  lower  back.  In  this  position
Asher was protected and Simeon had total control.
His cat mewled in pleasure.

“Making love to a king? That is kind of hot,” he

said. Then he kissed Asher and everything was
right in the world.

They stood this way, and Asher was like no

weight in Simeon’s arms, even though he wasn’t a
lightweight.  Somehow  Simeon  felt  like  this  was
balance.  He  crossed  to  the  bed  and  encouraged
Asher to fall back on the white covers. Seeing his
lover  lying  there  waiting  was  all  the  impetus
Simeon  needed  to  join  him,  and  he  caged  Asher
with  legs  and  arms  and  deepened  kisses.  Asher
clung  to  him  and  Simeon  settled  himself  to  one
side  so  he  wouldn’t  squash  Asher.  Even  in  the
kisses, Asher moaned his protest.

“On me,” he ordered. Grabbing at Simeon’s

hip, he pulled him and didn’t stop until Simeon

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blanketed him.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Simeon teased.
“Gods, I could love you,” Asher said. “Seven

days is all we’ve been together, and most of that
you were unconscious, but there is something
about you that speaks to my heart and soul.”

Simeon groaned. “Don’t say poetic meaningful

things like that when I don’t have the words to say
what I feel.”

“Tell me what you want to say,” Asher

demanded.

“The same. Exactly the same as you. Lust, need,

all mixed in with some hope.”

He pressed down and their cocks slid next to

each  other  and  the  sensation  of  soft  over  hard
intoxicated. They kissed as Simeon set a pace. He
was  used  to  that,  and  felt  happy  to  be  the  one
leading this…but maybe next time…

Asher did something with his tongue and teeth

on Simeon’s throat and rational thought
disappeared. He was desperate to be inside Asher,
to bite down on him, mark him like the mark of a
king sat on Asher’s arm. Asher might be king, but
Simeon wanted to be forever-lover, and that
meant more.

The feel of something cool on his hand had him

opening  his  eyes  and  he  saw  slick  dripping  and
Asher  looking  up  at  him  innocently  with  his
hands  in  a  jar  at  the  side.  When  Simeon  didn’t

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immediately move Asher slid himself around until
his legs were wide under Simeon.

“Come on,” Asher demanded in his head.
Simeon moved a little to the side so he could

open Asher for him but stopped at the sight of his
flushed  lover  so  hard  and  needy  below  him.  He
wanted  to  taste.  In  a  smooth  move  he  slid  down
Asher’s  body  and  licked  his  way  along  Asher’s
cock. The taste was nectar and he swallowed him
whole.  Asher  bucked  up  under  the  ministrations
and  this  allowed  Simeon  access  and  he  took
advantage.  Pressing  his  fingers  against  Asher’s
hole  he  drew  a  small  shape  and  encouraged  the
muscle to relax. When he was certain Asher knew
what  he  was  doing,  he  pressed  his  first  finger
inside  and  at  the  same  time  began  to  move  on
Asher’s  cock.  From  root  to  tip  he  sucked  and
enjoyed  and  hummed  his  approval.  One  finger
became  two  and  when  everything  felt  loose  and
soft he added a third, then crooked the fingers to
find that gland that was going to send Asher high.

Asher’s pleasure became incoherent noises as

Simeon  gently  stroked  the  spot  and  kept  up  the
licking  and  sucking  on  Asher’s  cock.  This  was
ecstasy, he could feel inside him what  Asher felt,
knew what it was like.

“St—stop,” Asher stuttered. “In me…”
Simeon didn’t argue. He released Asher’s cock

and moved to his knees before roughly pulling

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Asher towards him. He wanted inside, he couldn’t
wait.  Angling  Asher,  he  pushed  in,  and  finally
when  he  was  so  deep  inside  that  he  couldn’t
decide  where  he  ended  and  Asher  began,  he
waited.

“You said you could love me,” he whispered

harshly. “Say it again.”

Asher opened his mouth to speak just as

Simeon moved, pulling out then sliding back in.

“I ca…I…Sim…”
Simeon felt as powerful as a king himself as

Asher came apart in his arms. Asher let Simeon
guide it all and finally Asher arched and shouted
as his come roped across his stomach.

Simeon’s canines fully descended and he threw

his  head  back  and  howled  as  he  fucked  his  way
through  his  orgasm.  Finally,  when  he  finished,
literally  and  figuratively,  he  eased  out  and  fell
panting to one side of Asher.

“I could, you know,” Asher said softly. “Love

you. Hell, if you leave my side I start to pine. I
think I already do.”

Simeon, ignoring the mess between them and

the exhaustion that stole his capacity to think,
cuddled Asher to him.

“Me too, Your Highness, me, too.”

The Demon’s Blood

Chapter Nine

sher stopped just before the forest. Something
about this part of the Second Kingdom made

him fearful and anxious. Simeon looked like he
belonged here, stalking ahead into the verdant,
tangled undergrowth.

“Wait,” Asher said quickly.
Simeon stopped and turned on the balls of his

feet.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concern lacing his

voice. He crossed to Asher quickly and hugged
him close. “You look pale.”

“Should I go into the city first?” Asher asked

into Simeon’s chest.

Simeon held him at arm's length and frowned

at him. “We talked about this. Delsaran’s made his
move, and there is nothing we can do against the
mass of soldiers he has without the Felines behind
us.”

“What if Delsaran sees I am king now and just

rolls over?” Hell, he was just going over and over

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100

the same old arguments here. Two days wouldn’t
make an awful lot of difference in the grander
scheme of things.

Simeon nodded. “Do you want to go there

first?”

What made this worse was that Simeon entirely

supported  the  decisions  Asher  faced.  It  didn’t
matter what choice Asher made, Simeon would be
there  beside  him.  Asher  glanced  into  the  trees.
Something  felt  wrong  here.  Like  they  were being
watched.

“I feel like someone is watching us,” he thought.
“Agreed,” Simeon thought back. “Let’s keep going

and I’ll see what I can scent. Keep your knife close.”

The two of them stepped into the shadows and

Asher  followed  Simeon  close.  He  didn’t  hear
anyone  following,  but  then  he’d  never  heard
Simeon  when  he  and  Vesstan  were  meeting  with
the elves of their little war council, only sensed he
was  there.  Thinking  of  Vesstan,  Asher  knew  he
had  to  have  a  difficult  conversation  with  his
friend.  Vesstan  was  all  about  demon  rights  and
equality, but often at the expense of elf rights. His
perfect world consisted of just blood demons who
answered to no one.

As for Jason, Simeon’s Feline Guild brother, he

didn’t know what he was going to say to the other
shifter. Simeon stopped in his stride and held up a
hand, and that made Asher cease thinking so hard.

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101

Simeon  had  obviously  scented  something.  When
the  mountain  lion  shifter  dropped  to  a  crouch,
Asher  dropped  as  well,  with  absolute  trust  that
Simeon knew what he was doing. Simeon glanced
back  and  placed  a  single  finger  on  his  lips,
indicating quiet. Asher nodded and held the hilt of
his  knife  firmly.  Asher  listened  hard  but  could
hear nothing. The snarl came from behind him. He
found his face planted in the dirt, with claws in his
back  and  the  wicked  weight  of  something  on  his
back that snarled and spat. His knife flew from his
hand  and  he  watched  as  Simeon  looked  back  in
horror, and shifted in seconds. His clothes ripped
and  hung  in  tatters  as  he  launched  himself  at
Asher’s head. Asher closed his eyes, thinking this
could be the end of things when the heavy weight
was pushed violently from his back.

A scream ripped the air and Asher scrambled to

stand. He grabbed the knife on the way up and
turned to face whatever hell Simeon had thrown
himself into.

Horrific noise echoed in the trees as Simeon’s

golden  cat  scrapped  and  bit  at  a  slightly  larger
darker  furred  cat.  The  intense  fight  left  blood
speckled  on  Simeon’s  muzzle  and  screams  so
unearthly  that  Asher  had  never  heard  anything
like  them  before.  Without  thought  he  launched
into the battle with his knife high. A thump on the
leg  from  a  huge  paw and  he  was  thrown  against

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the nearest tree. Stunned, he watched the two cats
break apart and Simeon moving to stand between
him and the other mountain lion.

In a second, Simeon shifted, as did the other cat.
“Fuck you, Simeon,” the other cat, man,

shouted. He bled from a chest wound and blood
coated his left arm.

“Don’t you touch him,” Simeon hissed. He had

blood on his back and Asher reached a hand out to
touch the wound, but withdrew the movement
when he realised Simeon visibly bristled with
energy.

“What is he? Your pet?” the other spat.
“He is my fated mate and your king,” Simeon

shouted.

Hell, who was Simeon telling this to—what

happened to low key discussion?

“Cats don’t have fated mates,” the other said

with absolute conviction, “And I have no king,” he
added with force.

“Jason, you have to listen to me.”
So this would be Jason, just as tall and broad as

Simeon, but with darker hair, the leader of the
Feline Guild here in the forests. This was who
Asher needed to talk to.

“I don’t have to listen to a thing you say,” Jason

shouted. “You were the one who left.”

“You were the one who tried to mate me off to

a she-cat I didn’t even know.”

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“It was for the good of the guild.”
“Fuck the guild.”
Hell, their voices were simply getting louder as

they exchanged words. In the end, they would be
cats again and scrapping and injuring each other.
Asher  pushed  himself  to  stand  straight  and  very
deliberately  he  stepped  around  Simeon  with  a
gentling  hand  on  his  arm.  Simeon  hissed  at  the
touch  and  his  eyes  held  the  amber  striations  of
mid  change.  Not  to  mention  that  his  curved  and
wicked claws were extended.

“I’ll deal with this,” Asher said firmly, and

hoped  to  hell  Simeon  was  too  emotional  to  read
the absolute fear in Asher. He’d seen what a lion
shifter  could  do  to  a  demon  in  the  back  street
fights that Vesstan had dragged him to.

He held out a hand. “Asherkan Iblis, son of

King Garrick, and now king in his own right,” he
said with as much gravitas as he could muster.

Jason ignored his outstretched hand. “I’m not

touching a demon,” he snapped.

Simeon growled. “I will kill you, brother,” he

warned.

Jason quirked a brow. “You could try, brother.”

He spat the last word with so much anger and
hate that Asher took a step back.

“Show me the king’s mark,” Jason ordered.
Asher fought his instinctive no, and instead he

undid his shirt and shrugged it off his shoulders

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until  he  stood  bare  from  the  waist  up.  Jason
stepped  forward,  his  claws  partially  extended.
Simeon made to move but Asher held up a hand.

“Let him look,” he said softly. “Please,” he

added when Simeon tensed.

“Yes, Simeon, little cat, all domesticated,” Jason

said snarkily.

“Stop bitching and look,” Asher said irritably.
Jason scraped a nail over the tattoos around

Asher’s  neck.  “A  slave's  mark,”  he  said  with  the
glitter of humour in his eyes. Then he traced to the
slave mark on the inside of Asher’s wrist and the
added  shape  that  indicated  soldier.  Asher  turned
slightly  so  Jason  could  fully  see  the  designs  that
his father had given him.

Jason peered close then chuffed his

disapproval.

“So is this the bit where you demand I go to my

knees and swear allegiance, Your Highness?”

Asher bit back his instant reply. There was

something  to  be  said  for  the  idea  of  Jason  on  his
knees  to  both  Asher  and  to  Simeon.  But  when
Jason  called  him  Your  Highness,  he  could  hear  a
similarity between the voices of the two brothers.
Admittedly, Simeon called him Your Highness in
an affectionate manner, while Jason’s, on the other
hand,  dripped  with  sarcasm.  He  could  look  past
that.

“I don’t care to have you on your knees,” Asher

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said simply. “But I am your king, and you will
gather the guild and you will listen to what I have
to say. Otherwise I will call the elves to arms and
one way or another I will have unity between us
even if it is at the end of a sword.”

“Is that all? Gather the guild, he says,” Jason

laughed and appeared to dismiss the threat. “That
will take weeks.”

Asher looked very pointedly at Jason. “Simeon

will  take  me  to  a  place  where  we  can  meet.  You
don’t  have  weeks,  I  don’t  have  time  to  spare  on
your  delaying  tactics  and  your  fellow  mountain
lions who are all miserable and hidden away. You
have two hours to get them to the meeting place.
Simeon?”

“Council,” Simeon confirmed.
“What Simeon said. We meet at the council

space in two hours.”

Jason straightened and stood tall. For a second,

Asher imagined the shifter was going to go all lion
on him and rip him to shreds. Instead, he seemed
to be considering the options given to him, until
finally he came to some sort of decision.

“Three,” he said. Then he shifted and ran into

the forest.

Asher let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been

holding.  Simeon  moved  closer,  and  for  a  second
Asher  allowed  himself  to  lean  back  against
Simeon.

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“Is he always like that?”
“Mostly.”
“And you hate each other?”
Simeon sighed. “Mountain lions don’t do well

in groups,” he said carefully. He bent to pick up
the remains of his pants, then threw them away in
disgust. “Another pair ruined,” he said.

“But you are brothers.” He couldn’t understand

how brothers couldn’t be like him and Phin.

“By blood and nothing else.”
“What if you needed him?”
Simeon narrowed his eyes in thought. “He

would always be there for me,” he admitted.

Asher shook his head. He didn’t understand the

complicated family dynamics going on here. But
he needed to, if he had any chance of forming an
alliance to make the Second Kingdom strong and
able to present a united front for Joseph’s idea of a
unified Third Kingdom, including Glitnir, with all
supernatural beings being equal.

They walked a short distance to a path that any

normal  person  would  miss  and  made  their  way
deeper  into  the  gloom.  By  the  time  they  reached
the  space  that  Simeon  called  the  council  area,
Asher  ached  from  stumbling  around  plants  and
roots.  Simeon  circled  his  arms  in  the  wide  open
space.  The  area  was  nearly  circular,  maybe  more
oval,  and  the  trees  that  surrounded  it  had  been
trained  to  form  a  kind  of  leafy  roof  that  blocked

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out most of the sunlight.

“Do you always meet in the dark?” he asked

curiously.

“We have good eyesight,” Simeon answered.

He stepped closer as they stood in the centre of the
circle. “Even in the gloom you’re gorgeous,” he
added.

Asher shook his head. “You already fucked me.

I’m a sure thing,” he said with a laugh.

Simeon closed the remaining distance and

cupped Asher’s face. “I didn’t fuck you, we made
love,” he said softly. “And, Your Highness, you’re
not a sure thing, and I will spend every single day
of the rest of my life earning your love.”

“Oh…” Asher managed to say. He’d never

heard anything quite as romantic as what had just
been said to him. He closed his hands behind
Simeon’s neck and locked them there. “I need a
kiss,” he said.

Simeon appeared happy to oblige. He gripped

Asher’s  hips  and  nearly  bent  him  backwards  in
the  hottest  of  kisses  and  Asher  felt  desperate  for
more  when  a  cough  cut  into  the  kiss.  Simeon
released  his  hold  but  kept  close  as  Asher
straightened.

“Did you know someone was here?” he asked.
“About halfway through the kiss,” Simeon

admitted. “They have to know you’re mine so
they’ll know I’d die for you.”

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“Will you stop doing that,” Asher said quietly.
“What?”
“Making sweeping, dramatic statements about

what you’d do for me.”

“Okay.” Simeon mimicked zipping his lips

closed.

Asher took a moment to compose himself then

turned  to  face  the  cough.  Jason  stood  naked,
leaning  against  a  tree,  his  arms  crossed  over  his
chest and a smirk on his face.

“Sorry to interrupt, Your Highness.”
Again with the sarcasm. I wish he’d stop.
“Do you want me to stop as well?” Simeon

answered the thought.

“No, I love it when you call me that.”

“I love you.”
“You can’t say that now, with your brother looking

to kill me.”

“If he kills you, I want that to be the last thing you

hear.” Simeon teased him and Asher grinned at his
lover.

“I love you too. Now shhh, so I can concentrate.”
Jason straightened from the tree. “Are you

talking to each other in thought?” he said with
disbelief on his face.

“I apologise,” Asher said.
Jason stalked closer and Asher heard the curse

in Simeon’s head. Then Jason stopped directly in
front of them. “You can communicate without

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talking—like mountain lions who mate can?”

“Yes,” Asher said puzzled. Why was this an

issue? He glanced at Simeon, who wouldn’t look
directly at him. “I thought it was what happened
in general with fated mates?”

Jason shook his head. “The last time…our

parents.”  He  gestured  with  his  hand  between
himself and Simeon. “It is rare. An utterly perfect
moment  has  to  happen  for  your  thoughts  to
connect  with  that  of  a  mountain  lion.  We  don’t
share very easily.”

Asher caught movement from the corner of his

eye and looked directly to see the shapes of
mountain lions coming to the edges of the circle
and shifting to human as they settled.

“Everyone is here,” Simeon said softly. Jason

stared right at Asher, as if he could see into his
soul. It unnerved Asher, but he stood his ground.

Jason didn’t move from his spot and Asher

steeled  himself  for  the  inevitable  attack  in  which
he  died  horribly.  The  fear  coursing  through  him
must be something that Simeon could feel and he
couldn’t stop how it threatened his own calm.

“I’m not saying that anyone here in the guild

will  follow  you,  but  for  what  it’s  worth…”  his
voice  trailed  off  as  he  gracefully  fell  to  one  knee
and  bowed  his  head.  “As  leader  of  the  Feline
Guild, I recognise you as king.”

Asher was at a loss at what to do now, and

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Simeon made it even worse when he copied his
brother’s action and bowed to Asher. That’s not

right, none of this is right. I am a blood demon, I can’t
do this, I’m only half elf—

“Stop panicking. Play your part, Your Highness,”

Simeon  thought.  And  was  there  laughter  in  his
tone?  Asher  thought  so,  but  he  couldn’t  tell
properly.  One  by  one,  each  mountain  lion  in  the
guild  made  a  choice.  Some  turned  and
disappeared  into  the  forest,  others  knelt  like
Simeon  and  Jason,  and  more,  at  least  ten,  stood
with arms folded or with their hands clenched in
fists and stared at Asher.

“Thank you,” Asher acknowledged. Jason stood

and  Simeon  moved  just  as  quickly.  The  small
group  of  dissenters  that  bothered  to  stay  were
what  Asher  hoped  would  be  the  ones  he  could
turn.  One  by  one,  the  shifters  who  knelt  moved
closer, with the others ranged behind them. Where
should  he  start?  With  the  murder  of  Garrick  by
magic filled poisoning, with Ludvik’s connections
from  Glitnir?  With  the  prophesy  of  the  Vampire
twins? What about blood demon rights? What did
he say about that? And the fact that a vast majority
of  elves  were  quite  happy  with  the  way  things
were going and didn’t want to change a thing?

“What did you want to say?” Jason prompted

with that same smirk on his face. He might have
knelt and acknowledged Asher as king but he

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111

wasn’t giving any leeway on the whole respect
thing. Asher guessed he needed to earn that.

“Just that somehow we need to get back into

the city so we can get control back from Delsaran
and his guards.”

“How many guards?”
“I have no idea.”
“Good start,” someone said in the small group.

Simeon and Jason both snarled a warning and the
group murmuring subsided. Seemed it was useful
having the brothers on his side. Now if only he
could get Jason to stop smirking.

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Chapter Ten

hen it came down to it, twenty three of the
guild joined with Asher, twenty four if you

included  Simeon.  Which  meant  there  were
probably a hundred guards on Delsaran’s payroll
for each of them. Asher’s strategy was clear. Chop
the  head  off  the  monster  and  the  masses  would
lose their direction. Simeon’s eyes lit up and Asher
had  to  explain  that  he  didn’t  actually  mean  chop
Delsaran’s head off, but just get to the core of the
city  and  neutralise  the  man  who  would  be  king.
Asher thought about contacting Phin, but last he’d
heard,  he  was  tracking  down  Declan,  who  had
somehow  got  in  the  middle  of  a  succubus
situation  and  had  disappeared.  Nothing  was
freaking  simple.  He  kind  of  needed  his  brother’s
help.

“Okay, so the plan, then,” he began.
“We know the plan,” Jason said with barely

contained impatience. “We have ten minutes to
get into the city, through the back ways that you

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have very clearly described to us. We ignore
everything except finding Delsaran. We neutralise
him. End of story.”

“Please…” he turned to the group who were

spread out among the trees at the edge of the city,
some shifted, some in human form. “Everyone
stay safe, don’t do anything stupid. Stay alive. No
one has to die today.”

A couple of the shifted mountain lions snarled

at  this.  Asher  wished  he  could  tell  whether  this
was  a  good  thing  or  a  bad  thing.  He  looked  at
Simeon for reassurance, but Simeon was clearly in
focused mode. He’d tied his golden hair back in a
tail  to  keep  it  from  around  his  face  and  his  eyes
glittered with intent.

“Focus,” he said more to himself than to

everyone  else.  They’d  chosen  the  classic  entrance
time of guard change in the early dawn, but were
doubly  aware  that  this  might  well  be  expected.
Hell,  Asher  could  second  guess  everything  and
he’d  go  mad.  He  was  a  foot  soldier,  not  a
strategist.  How  could  he  even  be  a  king  if  he
couldn’t lead an army? Close to hyperventilating,
he pressed a hand to his chest.

“Everything will go well, lover,” Simeon

telegraphed with a sharp canine-tooth smile.

Asher straightened his stance, gripped his

knife, and hoped to hell Simeon was right.

“Time to go,” he said.

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* * * *

Simeon checked the entrance and made the

strategic  decision  to  enter  as  a  cat.  He  shifted  as
soon as they entered the palace. He led three other
shifted  mountain  lions  and  four  in  human  form,
plus  he  had  Asher  in  his  sights  at  all  times.  His
lover's  uncertainty  could  well  get  him  killed.
Maybe, at the end of things, that was why Simeon
had  been  partnered  with  him,  maybe  Simeon
would  always  be  destined  as  the  strategist  and
fighter that Asher needed now.

They entered by the kitchens and the blood

demons working there simply melted away with
their backs to the walls. A couple looked at Asher
with no recognition. Asher realised he had
somehow become something different in the space
of a week. A free demon. Soon, all of these would
be free and the marks on them would be a sign of
liberty, not of possession. Not long.

They took out two guards at the top of the stairs

to the main corridor and Simeon caught sight of
some of the group darting left, others going right,
then it was his and Asher’s turn to move forward.
They reached the moment of no return. Ahead of
them were the throne room and the private
apartments that Delsaran used. There was no one
guarding the door and Simeon hesitated.

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115

“This isn’t right,” he thought.
“I agree,” Asher said back quickly. “But what

else can we do?”

Simeon scented the air but it was difficult to get

a read. He knew Jason would be protecting the
back exit from the king’s rooms—he needed to get
inside the front and actually confront what the hell
was going on in there. Asher was King. His place
was at the centre of this city.

“Stay low when we move.”
“I will.”
“Please don’t do anything stupid,” Simeon

pleaded in a mirror of the little speech that Asher
had given earlier. “The guild have your back.”

With a nod, Asher loosened his stance and with

Simeon's  swords  held  in  guard  position,  he
pushed  the  door  open  with  his  foot.  The  throne
room  appeared  empty,  or  it  looked  that  way  at
first.  Then  Asher  let  out  a  strangled  noise  and
hurried to the centre of the room.

“Stay with me,” Simeon ordered. But Asher fell

to his knees next to a man, a demon, blood in a
pool around his body.

“Vesstan,” Asher keened.
This was way past a trap—they wouldn’t be

getting out of here without a fight. The huge oak
door they’d just pushed in through slammed shut
and the noise of the locks had them trapped from
behind.

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Asher stumbled to a stand. “Why would they

kill him?” he demanded. He turned in a circle.
“Why would you do that?”

“Asher, we need to get out of here.”
Asher brushed at blood that had soaked into

the knees of his pants and stared down at the
blood on his hands. Vesstan didn’t deserve to die.

“Where do we go?” Simeon asked quickly.

Asher looked at him and couldn’t make sense of
what was happening.

“Go?”
The only way out would be through the

convoluted corridors and the door that remained
open. Then even this was blocked by an influx of
guards, and at the rear, Delsaran.

“Murderers. Kill these two,” Delsaran ordered.

The guards moved forward with intention on their
faces.

“You’d kill your king?” Simeon offered

desperately.  He  moved  between  Asher  and  the
guards with only one intention in mind. He would
die before they touched Asher. He couldn’t count
the  number  of  guards  from  here,  or  make  out,
through  the  bottleneck,  how  easy  it  would  be  to
get  to  Delsaran.  The  odds  weren’t  good.  A
commotion  behind  the  oncoming  guards  could
mean  anything—  more  guards,  or  maybe  other
shifters  had  managed  to  circle  and  attack  from
behind. Simeon and Asher might well be trapped

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117

in this room, but Delsaran and his guards would
be sandwiched between them and any other guild
members.

“He is not your king,” Delsaran shouted. The

guards  weren’t  hesitating.  Simeon  groaned
inwardly.  Weren’t  the  bad  guys  supposed  to
grandstand  for  a  while  giving  the  good  guys  a
chance to get out?

“Show them,” Simeon ordered Asher.
“Show them?” Asher sounded confused and

Simeon grabbed his arm.

“The tattoo.”
Then in an instant everything about his lover

changed. Simeon moved to stand next to Asher
and pulled at his shirt to expose the king’s tattoo.
Abruptly he stood there as king. The guards at the
front stopped and the ones behind them barrelled
into them. The front row, five guards, looked
bewildered.

“How can a demon be a king?” Delsaran

shouted. “He is lying.” He held out his hand and
Simeon  gasped  as  his  sword  was  wrenched  from
his  hand  and  flew  to  the  corner  of  the  room.
Similarly,  Asher  yelped  as  his  knife  cut  his  palm
and joined the sword. The guards took advantage
and  without  weapons,  Simeon  knew  they  were
dead.  He  crowded  Asher  back  against  the  wall
and shielded him with his body.

“Simeon, no, let me talk,” Asher said.

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“Talking’s not working.”
Asher shoved him forward and stood at his

side. “Then I’m not hiding.“

“He is your king,” Simeon shouted as they

advanced.  Twenty  feet,  fifteen,  ten,  he  could  see
the  determination  in  their  eyes  and  Delsaran
hovering  behind.  Suddenly  inspiration  hit,
something  Reuben  had  said.  You  break  your  word,

cat, then I will find you in that instant, connected to
the magic in this promise, and I will use my sword to

split you in half.

“He’s half demon and half elf. Your king was

his father.”

“What are you doing?” Asher snapped.

“They’re not listening.”

“No,” Simeon agreed, as suddenly the guards

froze in place and all noise died. “But Reuben is.”

A flash of white, and Reuben had Simeon on his

knees  with  a  sword  at  his  throat.  Simeon  closed
his  eyes  and  allowed  himself  to  relax.  He  would
die,  but  Reuben  was  here,  wielding  magic  that
was as ancient as the first blood demon. He would
protect Asher.

Everything moved so slowly. He heard Asher

shout no, he felt the blade slice into his neck, then
suddenly, nothing. Reuben stood back and away,
his  sword  at  his  side.  Asher  talked,  and  hell,
Reuben,  tense  and  furious,  listened.  Simeon
scrambled  to  stand,  though  his  muscles  felt  like

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119

they wouldn’t hold him upright. Then Reuben
crossed to the corner with the weapons and threw
the sword to Simeon before handing the knife to
Asher.

“I can’t hold this much longer,” Reuben said

with  a  bloodthirsty  grin.  “Let’s  kill.  Ready?”  All
three assumed a fighting stance and in an instant
the  guards  began  to  move  again,  the  noise
increased,  and  abruptly  they  were  in  a  fight  for
their  lives.  Reuben  was  a  master  swordsman,
wielding the blade as easily as a child played with
a  stick-sword.  The  first  guards  fell  where  they
stood,  utterly  horrified  at  how  things  had
magically turned. Simeon remained next to Asher
and  was  never  more  relieved  to  see  members  of
the  guild  attacking  from  the  rear.  Soldiers
dropped their swords and fell to their knees, until
only  Delsaran  remained  standing,  with  mountain
lions behind him, and Asher, Simeon and Reuben
in front.

“Nowhere to go,” Simeon snarled.
Delsaran held out his hand and in his palm a

small orb of silver shone as it spun. “I’ve got
magic,” he said with glee then he rushed them
with murder in mind.

Reuben moved so fast that it was a blur of

motion and his muscles flexed as he pushed the
sword straight through Delsaran’s chest. A look of
astonishment masked Delsaran’s face and he

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toppled backwards.

“And I have a sword,” Reuben announced

dramatically  as  he  twisted  it  in  Delsaran’s  body.
Reuben  held  tight  to  his  sword,  then  pushed  the
elf’s  body  with  his  foot.  Delsaran  fell  back  to  the
floor,  falling  from  the  sword’s  hold  with  a
sickening  tear  of  skin  and  muscle.  The  orb
dropped with him and rolled away, turning black
as  it  went.  Reuben  turned  to  Simeon  and  Asher.
“I’m going home now,” he said, then disappeared
in the blink of an eye.

The guards, seeing Delsaran dead and with

mountain lions at their rear, laid their weapons on
the ground. Everyone waited with expectation.

Simeon looked down at the bodies on the

floor—Delsaran, the demon called Vesstan, a few
guards. Then he looked directly at Asher. “So,
Your Highness. What do we do now?”

Asher blinked at him with a kind of panicked

expression on his face. Then, just as quickly, he
drew himself tall and nodded.

“The guild needs to clear the throne room,” he

said  firmly.  As  soon  as  he  spoke,  several  of  the
guild  moved  into  the  room,  rounded  up  guards
and  in  a  flurry  of  motion  and  cursing  the  throne
room  was  nearly  empty.  Two  carried  out
Delsaran’s  body and  Simeon saw pain in Asher’s
eyes when they returned for Vesstan.

“He was my friend,” Asher said, even though

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121

Simeon hadn’t asked.

“I’m sorry,” Simeon said gently. “A lot of

friends will die before we all have true equality.”

“Sir? Your Highness?” Jason had his hand on

the pulse at the base of Vesstan’s neck. “I have a
pulse.” Jason scooped the demon, covered in
blood, into his arms. “I’ll get him to a medic.”

Simeon gripped Asher’s hand. “There’s a

chance he will live.”

All Asher could do was shake his head. Simeon

thought his lover was probably in shock.

Everything slowly returned to calm. Vesstan

was stable in the king’s bed being attended by the
same nurse who had warned them the room had a
listening  device.  The  guards  most  loyal  to
Delsaran  were  given  the  choice  to  go  or  stay.
Three  members  of  the  guild  decided  to  join
Simeon in the city as an informal protection team
for Asher. One of them was Jason, who spent a lot
of his free hours at Vesstan’s bedside.

Three days had passed since the fight in the

throne room, and it was to that room that Simeon
went after dark had fallen. He found Asher exactly
where  he  expected  to.  Sitting  cross-legged  on  the
floor  in  front  of  the  carved  stone  throne.  Two
felines stood on either side of him, but they melted
away as soon as Simeon entered.

“Your

Highness,”

Simeon

began.

RJ Scott

122

“Announcements have been made and your
Coronation is set for two weeks from now.”

“Simeon?” Asher asked gently. “The throne

looks cold.”

Simeon looked at the stone not more than a few

feet  in  front  of  them.  “I  imagine  when  you’re
crowned  that  they'll  cover  it  in  blankets  or
something,” he said helpfully.

Asher huffed a laugh. “I didn’t mean that,” he

said.  “I  get  why  I  need  to  be  crowned,  I
understand  it  needs  to  be  official  so  that  we  can
get  everything  settled.  I  had  three  groups  of
concerned  elf  citizens  try  to  buy  me  off  again
today.”

“How much this time?”
“A lot. Enough to go live in the house at the

waterfall and never leave.”

Simeon tilted his head and pretended to

consider it. “We could just stay naked all day.”

Asher looked up at him with a smirk on his

face. They hadn’t been together in anything more
than a hug since the throne room incident. “I like
the idea of that,” he offered.

“Or, we could test out the throne by you sitting

on my lap and see how it feels to be king.”

Asher pulled his lip between his teeth and

frowned. “I don’t feel much like a king.”

Simeon offered a hand and Asher stood. They

embraced quickly then Simeon set Asher loose.

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123

“Come on,” he said. He climbed the three steps to
the throne that  was easily  big enough for the big
mountain  lion  shifter  and  Asher.  Asher  followed
and  sat  carefully  on  Simeon’s  lap,  curling  his
hands around Simeon’s neck and holding tight.

“You were born a king,” Simeon whispered.

“Doesn’t mean you’ll instantly know what to do.”

“I have to work it out for myself,” Asher said

just as quietly.

“With help. Me, Joseph, Phin, your friend

Vesstan, hell, even Jason, who refuses to go home.
We can start with small steps. Manage the equality
issue, calm people’s fears.”

“Can we do that? What if the elves riot and the

demons want revenge?”

Simeon sighed. “Then we’ll work it out

together.” He didn’t want to say that he doubted
any of this would be smooth. He didn’t need to.
Asher knew that.

“I love you, Simeon Blue. Thank you.”
Simeon huffed another laugh. He didn’t want

thanks, he hadn’t done anything yet except try to
stay alive and keep Asher alive.

“I love you, too, Your Highness.”
Asher cuddled in close, then slid off Simeon’s

lap. “Come on then,” he said with heat in his eyes.
“Let’s go to bed.”

About the Author

I am a writer of male/male novels and short
stories.

From cowboys to bodyguards, and firemen to

billionaires  I  write  dramatic  and  romantic  stories
of  love  and  passion  between  men.  My  first  real
love will always be the world of romance and my
goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a
troubled road to reach happiness, and more than a
hint of happily ever after.

I am the author of the award winning books,

The  Christmas  Throwaway  and  Oracle.  I  am
known for both my Texas series charting the lives
of  Riley  and  Jack,  and  also  my  Sanctuary  series
following  the  work  of  the  Sanctuary  Foundation
and the people it protects.

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