Chained to the Devil’s Daughter (Mating the Elements #1)

50

Searra

I blinked against a blinding light. My throat was a dry, a hollow tube running through my chest to my belly, which ached like no hunger I’d experienced before. Blinking again, I tried to flex my heavy muscles. On the next blink, it wasn’t quite so bright but felt like I’d been wandering the void for days.

When did I fall asleep? A battle, my father. . . I had the distinct sense that Devil was dead but couldn’t recall the body. Nor could I remember seeing Ash’ren alive above it.

“A-Ash?”

There was a squeal nearby and then Fara’s worried face filled my vision. She bit her knuckle, tears quick to fall. “Searra!”

I tried to chuckle, but it devolved into painful coughs, my mouth too dry. I reached for Fara, who immediately grabbed a water cup from the bedside table. Fara brought the water to my lips, and I was grateful, for I could hardly hold up my head.

“I’ll send for your mate. He’s going to be pissed, he hasn’t left your side until half an hour ago. I finally convinced him to bathe! I feared his stench would affect your condition—well, erm, never mind that!” Fara faltered and replaced the empty cup. She rushed to the door to mutter hurriedly at the guard. Then she was back by my side, sponging at my forehead.

“How long?”

“You’ve been out for five days, Your Highness. Sir Ash’ren has been a complete mess.”

I snorted—well, tried to. I could only imagine his worried state. “And the others?”

“From what I’ve heard, your council of laborers and nobles have put their best feet into the dance. Only you would have envisioned something like this, my friend.”

I placed my hand atop Fara’s on my shoulder and sighed. There was only one more matter I needed information on, and Fara must have seen it on my face, for her tone went stony.

“Your father—”

“Firefly!”

Ash’ren barreled through the door. Fara jumped out of the way just in time as he dropped to his knees by the bed, grasped my hand in both of his, and kissed it, rubbing it with his head and nuzzling into my legs. Little trails of black leaked onto my lap.

“Ash.” I tugged his hand, and he climbed onto the bed by my side, manhandling me with special care until we sat against the headboard. The door clicked closed behind Fara, and I snuggled deeper into his arms, my head tucked below his chin as he ran his fingers over the messy leftovers of my braids. “What if we ran away?”

“Where would we go? The never-never land of fairytales?”

Unease pulsed through my sore body. The portal. What Devil had shown me. All that devastation where people used to live with their loved ones. Had my real family made it to some semblance of safety? I thought of the laborers taking refuge in the rings. Had any of theirs?

Ash’ren leaned back, tipping my chin to meet his earnest gaze. “It’s over, Firefly. Devil is gone. The book wouldn’t burn, but Geysis came up with a solution. It’s over.”

“What he showed us. . .” I bit my lip against the flood of emotions. “I thought I’d regret it, but I’m relieved. Even if the portal opens again, I don’t want to pursue it.”

Silently, Ash’ren rubbed his hand along my collarbone, compassion and understanding burrowing into my pores at his soft touch.

“Part of me will always grieve for the family I never got to know. But my family is here now. You, Geysis, Filly, Fara, and. . .” I quirked a brow and brought his hand to my stomach.

My mate’s eyes narrowed. “You knew ? ”

“I suspected. Wait, you know?!”

“The healer told me, all casual-like, right after saying you were battling your fucking soul.” He softened, casting a loving gaze downward to where he petted my stomach. “I’ll never be grateful to Devil for a flames-damned thing, but knowing you’ll have the lifespan of a demon, and I won’t have to watch you grow old before our children. . .”

Silence settled between us. I wasn’t willing to agree out loud. Honestly, if I did, it might be a lie. I wasn’t sure I could truly say I wasn’t grateful to Devil for a single thing, having known no other parent.

I cleared my throat. “So, in conclusion, since I’m pregnant, you have to rule in my stead while I frolic in the gardens like a buffalo in Lande. Your neck muscles are much stronger than mine for that flaming heavy crown, anyway.”

His thumb began loving circles on my belly. “No one will wear it, my love.”

“Hell can’t be a lawless place. That might be worse. Almost. Well, no.”

Ash’ren rolled aside to dig in the nightstand. “Hell needs its queen.”

He produced a palm-sized package of wrapping parchment. Leaning onto my elbow and squeezing my eyes shut at a wave of dizziness, I gingerly lifted the wrapping from one corner.

“Oh my goodness,” I breathed, ignoring another fresh dizzy spell as I sat up straighter. “It’s beautiful.”

“Hell needs its queen, Firefly.”

I examined the small, exquisite hairpiece. It had a row of metal spikes to slide into the hair, and two small rings on either side to lace a braid through, clearly made specifically with me in mind. Along the face of it, a delicate pattern of bones was interlaced with amethyst, my favorite gemstone. Before them sat a row of purple thorns. Dead center of it all was a lone Forgotten Ones’ bone, which stood taller than the rest. Somehow, the beauty of the piece made even the most dangerous of bones look elegant.

“A fitting replacement?”

“Absolutely,” I agreed through tears. I traced my fingers over the smooth bones, their edges fine but dull. Someone had spent extra care on every detail. “How did you make it?”

“Jadan’s handiwork. All I did was collect the materials.

I balked. “At a makeshift forge? But the quality!”

“I believe it was finished up after their fancy new title brought boons, like legit working conditions. But that’s not even the coolest part. Look closer.”

Tracing the smooth bones with his index finger, he gave me an odd stare. I peered at him skeptically, then back to the bones, trying to decipher his riddle. There were several of the smooth bones, arranged to make an upside-down V with the spiky one standing tall in the center. The spiky one was gray while the rest were white with brown splotches, like those I’d seen too many of, sticking out of flesh in the healer’s tents. I gasped.

“No way, Ash. They are not.” I gaped at him, but he only grinned and gave the slightest nod. “These are the bones of my people?”

“Freely given. Eagerly, even.” His eyes softened and he cupped my face. “You’re afraid to rule because the man who raised you was hard. But you are soft, and yet you rule without even trying. The moment you saw your people’s pain, it became yours, and you didn’t sit around delegating. You proved yourself by doing nothing more than what you felt was right.” He kissed my forehead and swiped a tear from my cheek. “Your family has grown. And I’m talking of the thousands who respect you, not just my pup in your belly.”

He nipped at my nose, and I squeaked. “I suppose I could be this kind of queen.”

I held it up to him and he obliged, tucking it into the crown of my hair and lacing my two small braids through either side.

“It suits you,” he said. “Now you need to eat something.”

He began to rise, but I stopped him, tugging him back down and launching my hands to his trousers with only a slight wave of dizziness. “Rings no, not until you finish what you started.”

Ash’ren’s brows flew past his horns and he laughed unexpectedly, the sound reverberating like joy personified in my heart. “What I started? What I started?”

“Don’t give me that. I remember you kissing me down there.” I waggled my brows.

“I think you mean what I finished. Did you know you get super horny while you’re in a coma? I was afraid if I didn’t help you come, you’d never wake.”

“Should I pretend to be asleep again, then, hmm?”

“No. You should eat .” Taking my wrists in his hands, he laced them with black flames that roped to the headboards and around the posts there. “But now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m starving, too.”

He ripped the covers from the bed and situated between my legs, lifting my ankles and dropping me open wide, the gossamer gown I’d woken up in falling to my hips. I wriggled and squealed in protest.

“No, Ash! Not that! Please, just fill me—oohhh,” I slackened involuntarily, but wasn’t ready to give up. “Please, Ash, I want you to fill me.”

“And I want you to fucking eat,” he said, words muffled. Something nudged at my cheek, and I hungrily turned to let it in—

And got a mouthful of sticky bun. I yelped in surprise and he laughed, his rumbling laughter quaking at my core. I squeezed my thighs around him and rode his stupid face, begrudgingly taking a bite of the tasty treat.

“F-fine. D-don’t stop.”