“You feel that, Mirceo?” He groaned in response, and together they basked in the connection. “You need someone to take care of you. Let me be that mate.”
Mirceo’s arms wrapped around Cas’s chest, and he moaned his assent.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t have faith in you,” Cas said. “Or in my ability to keep you. I’ll never doubt either of us again.”
When Mirceo released his bite with a last lick, Cas’s gaze roamed over his face. “There he is. There’s my mate.”
Mirceo’s eyes had cleared, his gray irises brightening. Color tinged his cheeks, his lips reddening. “I can’t believe you came back to Dacia for me. How did you get here?”
“Trehan traced me.”
“Did you two fight?”
“I was desperate to get to you, couldn’t spare the time. So I asked him very, very nicely to take me to my mate.”
Mirceo raised his brows. “You must love the hell out of me.”
“Trehan’s thoughts exactly.” Cas clamped his nape. “You’re under my skin, Mirceo. When we parted, you took my heart with you. Go easy with it, okay?”
“I’ll protect it forever, just as you’ll protect mine.”
“You saying you love me?”
“Madly. I already knew it the morning after, which is why I was so confounded by my panic.” He gazed up at Cas, staring into his eyes. “We really are going to find Mina?”
“We’ll storm hell if we have to.” He took Mirceo’s hand in his. We fit. “I will not let you down.”
“What if Harea finds her?”
“Then he had better hope she can’t lay hands on a sword. Somehow, someway, this family will best him a second time.”
Mirceo gave a decisive nod. His expression grew focused and intent. “Then let’s get started, old man.”
Cas gazed down at the mate he loved. “You stay on me like my godsdamned shadow, vampire.”
Mirceo’s lips curved. “Eternally, demon.”
Sneak Peek of WICKED ABYSS
Next up in the electrifying Immortals After Dark series.
Coming April 25, 2017
This fairy tale doesn’t end with a kiss . . .
Turn the page for an exclusive bonus preview.
A spellbinding Immortals After Dark tale from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole!
The terrifying king of hell . . .
As a boy, Abyssian “Sian” Infernas had his heart shattered by a treacherous fey beauty who died before he could exact vengeance. Millennia later, a curse has transformed him into a demonic monster—just as she’s been reincarnated. Sian captures the delicate but bold female, forcing her back to hell.
Meets his match.
Princess Calliope “Lila” Barbot’s people have hated and feared Abyssian and his alliance of monsters for eons. When the beastly demon imprisons her in his mystical castle, vowing revenge for betrayals she can’t remember, Lila makes her own vow: to bring down the wicked beast for good.
Can two adversaries share one happily-ever-after?
As Lila turns hell inside out, the all-powerful Sian finds himself defenseless against his feelings for her. In turn, Lila reluctantly responds to the beast’s cleverness and gruff vulnerability. But when truths from a far distant past are revealed, can their tenuous bond withstand ages of deceit, a curse, and a looming supernatural war?
PROLOGUE
“Listen well to the storyteller, and you’ll hear such a tale,” Nïx the Ever-Knowing said to her sister Regin as they sat before the fire in their temporary abode. “Once upon a time, two females entered an enchanted forest on opposite ends of the woods. One was a lovely and truehearted fairy princess, born an old soul, with perhaps a bit of a temper. The other was a temptress called the dame of fire, known to be sensual and devious, with perhaps a lack of mercy.
“The princess was fleeing a baneblood archer who’d vowed to wipe out the entire fey royal line. The princess wanted only to live.
“The dame was pursuing a cowardly ruler who’d jeopardized all of his people. The dame wanted only to kill.
“During the princess’s journey, she met a mysterious, gorgeous, shifty soothsaying Valkyrie who betrayed her. Next the princess met two sorceresses. They sent her on the adventure of a lifetime, down the rabbit hole to a strange new world, because they knew that not all bad is bad.
“Lastly the princess met a king of beasts with two faces. He could keep her safe from the archer, but first the fairy princess would have to become the beast’s bride.
“On the opposite end of the woods, the dame of fire met an ancient and primal force that recognized and rewarded her bravery.
“Next she encountered a wise dragon who admired her audacity, so he decided to grant her one wish.
“Lastly she met a beautiful fairy king, who had offered her his hand in marriage. And everyone knows the best way to become a queen is to marry a king.
“The dame and the princess would meet in the middle of the forest, clashing so violently that even hell trembled. Which one would emerge from the woods? Who would triumph before the clock tolled midnight? The storyteller’s companion, one of her Valkyrie sisters, blinked in astonishment at such a tale, then said . . .”
“Uh, Nïx, I just asked if you wanted to go hunt some ghouls.” Regin frowned at her sister, wondering how much nuttier the soothsayer could get. After the destruction of the Valkyries’ home, her mind was declining even faster than before. “And why are you calling yourself ‘the storyteller’ and narrating our conversation?”
Nïx smiled vacantly. “The storyteller replied: ‘Because I am telling a story. And besides, no ghouls were harmed during the making of this fairy tale.’”
FITFO. Figure it the fuck out.
—CALLIOPE “LILA” BARBOT, PRINCESS OF THE SYLVAN FEY LINE
My sire was the devil, and my dam was darkness embodied. I am a shadow that can follow you, even into the night.
—ABYSSIAN “SIAN” INFERNAS, KING OF PANDEMONIA AND ALL HELLS,
MEMBER OF THE MØRIØR (A.K.A. THE DEVIL’S OWN)
ONE
Sylvan Castle
Eleven years ago . . .
As King Saetth leisurely wiped blood off his sword, Lila choked down her fury.
Seated upon his throne, he took his time, keeping everyone in suspense. With two executions complete, only one trial remained.
Mine.
Would she follow her parents’ fates?
Through one of the throne room’s towering windows, a ray of sunlight beamed over the king. His blond locks and his ornate crown—a wreath of gilded evergreen branches—seemed to glow. Even the sun wanted to touch him.
For all of her thirteen years, Lila had been just as enamored of him.
Off to the side, whispers sounded from her backstabbing royal cousins.
“Saetth’s about to behead his child fiancée!”
“The foulmouthed brat got used to being the king’s favorite.”