I have no need for a human or desire for an heir. I have my heir in the form of my sibling, Embry. As for mating with humans to increase our territory’s magic... Should Embry decide that’s necessary, that’s for zir to plan and enact. Humans are incredibly potent conductors for magic; it’s why all the races of this realm and others rushed to procreate with them all those generations ago. A half-human leader would boost our territory’s power exponentially. It just won’t bemychild who plays that role.
The lights go low over the main room, and the ones pointing at the short dais brighten, signaling that we’re about to begin.About time.The others shift as the humans walk through a door and up onto the dais. I don’t have much experience with humans as a whole, but best I can tell, they all seem to be fine specimens of their people.
“Make your choices,” Azazel says softly.
I barely listen as the others claim their prizes. I recognize one of these sacrifices to Azazel’s ambition; the soft brunette who mouthed off when I arrived. I narrow my eyes. What game is the demon playing? Are these more than the peace offering he claims? What other reason would he have to send one as a welcome, even if it was one I found wanting?
It doesn’t make sense. I could have snapped her neck. Drowned her. Hurt her in a thousand different ways. While claiming a human from this auction will require a demon bargain, I’m under no such geas now.
No, he didn’t send her. He wouldn’t risk such a valuable piece of his plan. Which begs the question... Why was she there?
Azazel turns and looks in my direction. It’s only then that I realize Bram and Rusalka have chosen their humans; there’s only Sol and I left. I exchange a look with him, but he doesn’t immediately speak. Ceding the final choice to me. It would be so much easier to hate the dragon if he wasn’t so damned conscientious.
My human is still left.
What am I thinking? She’s not mine. She never will be. The smart thing to do would be to choose the other, to avoid strange thoughts like that.Sheis dressed in white and has fetching bright red hair. She’s also trembling, just a little. Not enough that it’s visible, but I am uniquely tuned to water, and what are humans if not water based? She’s terrified.
My human isn’t scared. She’s clothed—if one can call wearing that scrap of dress “clothed”—in a deep blue that makes me think of home. It hugs her curves, showing off a body that had been mostly hidden when I saw her earlier. “Blue,” I find myself saying.
Sol’s shoulders drop the tiniest bit—in relief?—and he claims the one in white. Then it’s over. Things happen quickly after that. The women are brought off the dais to their respective territory leaders, and the pairs are in turn escorted to a series of doors that have appeared around the perimeter of the room.
I hold ours open for my human without thinking. She’s watching me with a strange emotion, but it doesn’t feel like fear. That’s a relief. I have little time for fear; comfort is not one of my skill sets.
The room we find ourselves in is small and unadorned. I inhale deeply. The humidity in here is significantly higher than it was in the greater room. It’s an effort not to roll my eyes. Azazel is laying it on too thick. It would take days for most of my people to reach a danger point. Over a week for me, because of my inherent magic as king. Truly, he’s just showing off.
“I’m surprised you picked me.” She says it so matter-of-factly, it takes me a moment to register the words. By that time, the woman has turned away to stare at the rivulets of water that begin coursing down the stone walls. I don’t see the small divot form at the bottom to catch the water, but it’s there by the time I look down.
She looks back at me, a frown forming between her dark brows. She’s very attractive. She’s got a softness that I find intriguing despite myself. It doesn’t matter. She’ll be well taken care of, and I won’t see much of her after we travel back to my territory. I’m sure some of my informal court will find her attractive as well. She’ll have no shortage of partners should she desire them.
“Why did you pick me?”
I look away. “You’re all the same to me. One human is as good as another.”
Her breath hitches, but when I look back, she’s smiling at me. I shift back before I realize what I’m doing. There is somethingwrongwith that smile. And it’s not an overt threat, but there’s a shine to her eyes that makes my tentacles twitch in warning. “Stop that.”
“Stop what?” She takes a step closer to me. “I’m not doing anything.”
“Yes, you are, and I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to be scared of me, King Kraken. I don’t even like sushi.”
My brain skips. “You don’t like—”
She opens her mouth, no doubt to deliver another confounding and irritating statement, but the door opens before she can say something else. Azazel walks through and raises his brows. “Do we have a problem?”
“Not at all.” The dangerous shine in her eyes melts away as if it were never there, and she laces her hands before her, the very picture of obedience.
I don’t trust it for a moment.
“Azazel...” I’m not certain what I mean to say. I can’t be the only territory leader to leave this auction without a human in tow. Our realm is at peace for the time being, but that doesn’t change the fact conflict is as certain as the tide. None of us reached our positions without cost, and each of us would start a war in a heartbeat if we thought it would benefit our people.
He moves deeper into the room, and I turn to find a desk has appeared. The demon circles it and sinks behind it. He rolls out a contract. “The terms, as agreed.”
“You’ll forgive me if I read it over one last time before signing.”
His mouth tightens. “A bargain is sacred.”
Of that I have no doubt. Just like I have no doubt Azazel is capable of plenty of underhanded behavior when it suits him. “All the same.”