After eight lords, it was becoming clear that Lord Iye was accurate in his prediction. So far she'd asked them all, point blank, what would happen if she turned down their advances once mated, and thanks to the rules of the courting ceremony, they answered her honestly.

Every single one confirmed that a ‘no’ from her when it came to sex would be ignored. They wrapped it in pretty words and promised she’d enjoy it, but at the core of each answer lay the same, inescapable truth: she would be raped. Repeatedly.

For the rest of her life.

The fire that had brought her into the room, head held high and determined to choose her own fate to the extent she could, faded a little more after each dance.

What choice was there to be had if the outcome would always be the same?

The queen may have done her best to lessen the trauma that came with being a demon’s Breeder, but even she was not powerful enough to change their very nature. Whichever male she chose, he would never view her as a person. Just a Breeder.

She looked up at the many faces eagerly vying for her attention and desperately tried to cling to the strength that had allowed her to face them before. It crumbled the harder she grasped for it. The faces began to blur—turning into one looming mass of black eyes and smiling mouths concealing sharp teeth behind pretty promises of devotion.

This was her life. There was no way out.

“Georgia?”

She jolted when someone gently wrapped a hand around her wrist. When she looked up, a familiar face frowned down at her.

Mallorn—Kesh’s Second.

“Kesh needs to see you. Now.” The last word was growled at the nearby lord, who’d been about to step in for his turn to court her. “She’ll be back shortly.”

“What’s the meaning of this? We’re in the middle of the ceremony! This is preposterous!” her would-be suitor snarled.

“You should bring that up with the prince, then. But I’d suggest you don’t—unless you also want to lose a limb. He’s in a foul mood today, which should be pretty fucking obvious. Or you can wait for twenty minutes, then get your chance to court the lady with your eyeballs still intact. Your call. Georgia, let’s go.”

Relief flooded her body. A small respite from the mass of males. As little as she wanted to see the prince right now, whatever Kesh wanted, it was serious enough to send the warrior he’d seemed like he wanted to murder only yesterday. And she was grateful for the intermission.

“Alright. Take me to him, then.”

His grip on her wrist tightened. Without another word, he led her out of the hall and away from the lords.

42

Georgia

Mallorn’s grip on her wrist remained gentle as he led her through the double doors and down a wide corridor. They passed several guards, each of them frowning at the demon by her side, but before any of them could open their mouths to ask, Mallorn growled, “Kesh wants to see her. Immediately.”

No one interjected as he guided her around the corner and into a room that looked like it had once been an office. A few dusty filing cabinets still sat abandoned in one corner, but outside of that, the room was empty.

Georgia frowned and turned back to Mallorn as he closed the door behind them. “Where’s Kesh?”

“He’s gone.” The demon finally released her wrist and went over to rummage through one of the filing cabinets.

Her heart did something strange in her chest. Lifted and dropped. “Gone?”

“He left. Alone. No guards. No backup.” His voice was tight but controlled. “He asked me to bring you to him. Quietly.”

Georgia stared at his back. This made no sense. The way he’d treated her, the way he’d given her up like she meant nothing to protect his family… “He… he asked you to, what? Smuggle me out?”

Mallorn paused in his rummaging. His shoulders tensed for a moment, then relaxed again. “Yes. Now, before it’s too late. He couldn’t do it alone—he’d never make it past the other lords with you. But I can. He asked for my help in getting you to him.”

“But… why?” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

He scoffed softly. “You know why. He was inside you, Georgia. For a lord—especially someone like Kesh—there's no coming back from that. It’d be easier for him to live without his lungs than to let you go.”

The words hit her like a physical blow. Something behind her ribs cracked open—painful hope, too sharp and too sudden. Her breath caught, and she pressed a hand to her chest, as if she could hold the broken pieces of herself together long enough to almost believe him. “He… couldn’t let me go? But… everything he said… about his family being his priority? He invited all these lords here to court me.”

“He had to pretend to comply—his father wouldn’t stand for anyone or anything getting in the way of protecting Kain and his family. Not even Kesh. So this is the way it’s going to have to be. He will take you somewhere safe and hide you until the war is settled and no one can force you apart.” Mallorn turned back around toward her, now with a silky bundle of fabric in his hands retrieved from the old filing cabinet. He shook it out, revealing a gorgeous, smoky-silvered cape that looked like it’d been plucked straight out of a fairytale. “Here, put this on. It’s laced with invisibility runes, but it will only last a few hours. We need to be far away once the magic wears off. Come, Breeder. Let’s not dawdle.”

Kesh had planned this. He… he had chosen her over his family, after all. Her broken heart ached as something deep behind her ribs began to mend.

But as she stepped forward to reach for the cape, a whisper of guilt made her pull her hands back. “If he leaves and takes me with him… what will happen to them? The king and the queen? Will the other lords abandon them? And if Kesh isn't here to help⁠—?”

“You really are a soft soul,” he cut her off, but his voice was quiet, almost gentle. He held the cape out toward her. “They won’t know he took you. Once you are safe, he will return. And he will blame me, in league with the Europeans, for your disappearance. The other lords won’t know of his betrayal, and another instance of European treachery will only serve to strengthen American alliances. Once the war is won and the threat to the king has been eliminated, he will pretend to find and ‘rescue’ you, claiming to have needed to mate you to save your life. No one will suspect the truth.”

Her knees felt weak. This… this was real. Despite his pretenses not to, Kesh had felt it, too. The powerful pull between them. He’d broken her heart, but only to save them both, and his family, too. Breathing shakily, she let Mallorn put the cape around her shoulders and pulled the hood over her head. His finger brushed against her cheek, unnaturally warm despite his human disguise.

“And you… you are okay with taking the blame? What will happen to you?”

Mallorn exhaled, a joyless smile pulling on his lip. “My first loyalty, my first responsibility, is to my prince. The… dust-up we had yesterday may have looked serious, but it was only a moment of my instincts getting the better of me. Kesh knows that, and this is what he needs from me, and so this is what will be done. Don’t worry for me, Georgia. I will be fine. Now, come. Let’s get you out of here. I have a car waiting. Follow me and be as quiet as you can. If anyone sees me trying to steal you away, I will be executed on the spot, and you—you will be given to someone other than Kesh.”

They passed several guards on their way through the corridors toward the back exit. Georgia clung to the inside of the cape, her heart beating so hard against her ribs she feared one of the demons might hear, but while they acknowledged Mallorn, no one even glanced in her direction.