CHAPTER 10
The Demigod of Sea
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We gathered in Héctor’spenthouse suite where he’d first met Buttercup in the Dreaming. He’d had her in his arms a week ago while she was in Hell being brutally tortured.
This place was familiar to her, a safe place in her mind, so according to Héctor, she always returned here in her dreams when she could.
North America was now under our control, but that didn’t mean our region was safe. Demons could still breach our territory through their portals. The Dominion’s mages had been traveling all over the country to seal any possible portals that might give the demons access to our realm, but they hadn’t found them all.
Our armies stayed on high alert. An invasion could occur at any time.
I looked out the window at the lush park in the middle of bustling Manhattan. It was deep into autumn now. I wondered if Marigold had enjoyed the view when she was here.
She and Héctor had bonded deeply. I no longer felt insanely jealous of him. She was my woman, too. She had given me a taste of her that had permeated my scarred soul, nourishing it. I’d felt her every raw need, her passion, and deep feelings for me, in the last kisses she’d graced me with.
I should have begged for more. I shouldn’t have let her go. If I’d kept her, she wouldn’t have been taken.
“In my bed now,” Héctor said harshly. “Don’t make me regret doing this. I want my lamb to be comfortable when she finds us.”
“Will she come?” Axel asked anxiously, holding his breath.
“I’ve been seeking her out every available second after the last dream with no luck,” Héctor said. “I don’t know how and why and when I can meet her in the Dreaming, but I’ll wait for her forever.”
“We’ll keep trying until we head to Hell,” Zak said. “Our sentinels will guard this building for as long as we need while we try to get into the dreamland.”
After we lay down, we each sliced our palms with our daggers, and then we grasped hands, letting the blood bond between us strengthen our ties in the shared dream.
“Let me talk first if and when our mate comes,” Héctor said sternly. “Don’t screw this up.”
I tried not to huff. As if he never screwed things up. But then we were all alpha demigods, all extremely territorial. Only because of our mate had we been trying to get along and amended our recent rift.
Centuries ago, Héctor had found me and brought me out of a violent, impoverished neighborhood. He saved me from drugs and self-destruction, helped me discover my power, and took me into the demigod fold. We’d been mostly supportive of each other, for demigods, anyway, until I’d hurt Buttercup.
Héctor had broken many of my bones for what I had done to his lamb. He’d broken our alliance, threatened me with death if I laid a hand on her again, and left me on the cold ground.
I’d repented.
As cold a bastard as I’d been, I’d still gotten a second chance I didn’t deserve, only to lose her once more.
No, we were going to find her, and we’d never lose her again.
My eyelids closed, and I sank into slumber with my cousins.
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