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  “Almost there,” she told him, quickly moving her fingers out of the way when he tried to nip her.

  Mikayla was panting when she finally rushed into the dark playground. There wasn’t another person in sight and the moment she released Ciar from her arms he started to change. She watched in silence as the dog she’d stolen shifted and morphed back into his natural form.

  For a moment he stayed kneeling to catch his breath. The sight brought a frown to Mikayla’s face. She’d noticed his transformations were affecting him more and more lately. But when he looked up at her with rage-filled eyes everything else stopped being important.

  With a snarl he launched himself at her. Grabbing her upper arms he pressed her back against the red plastic slide.

  “You keep forcing me into situations against my will,” he hissed at her. “Why is it you think I won’t retaliate just because it’s you?”

  “We might be in danger.”

  Ciar leaned closer. “You have two demons under your roof and you’re just realizing this now?”

  His anger beat at her like a physical presence. “Who’s Rouke?” she demanded before his rage could escalate.

  Ciar’s eyes widened and he released her like she’d burned him. “What did you say?”

  Mikayla took a few steps back to put more space between them. “Tonight I heard Alina on the phone with someone named Rouke. It didn’t sound like a happy conversation.”

  He shook his head in denial. “No. Alina wouldn’t have anything to do with Rouke.”

  “Why? Who is he?”

  “He’s…” Ciar stopped.

  “Ciar,” she snapped.

  “Rouke is my cousin,” he replied. “And with my brother dead and me here, he is the next in line to be the Clan Lord.”

  The mysterious Rouke was in charge of one of the demon clans? Not the best news she’d ever received. “How is he connected to Alina?”

  “I have no idea,” Ciar replied. “But there was no love lost between me and my cousin. Are you sure, Mikayla, you heard all this correctly? Alina would never associate with him.”

  Mikayla tried to shrug off the sting of his doubt. “I wouldn’t lie to you,” she said. “I know you’re going to leave here soon but until you do I want…” She paused. “I want to protect you.”

  His eyes warmed at her words. “Protect a demon?” he asked, stepping closer.

  “Protect someone I care about.”

  Carefully he reached out to touch her cheek, caressing her skin in a feather-light touch. She leaned into the contact, closing her eyes.

  “Why do you think I’ll leave soon?” he asked softly.

  Mikayla looked up at him. “Are you not? I heard Alina tell Rouke she was bringing the true heir home.”

  Ciar stiffened. With a hiss of anger he drew away from her. “What?”

  “I—” Mikayla hesitated. “I just told you what I heard. Aren’t you returning to the demon realm with her?”

  “I will never return there,” Ciar snarled.

  Mikayla frowned at the vehemence of his words. “Does Alina know that?”

  “She should.” Turning, Ciar paced away from her. Mikayla could see the tension thrumming through his body. Not for the first time she felt like she was trying to put a puzzle together only to discover she was missing all the most important pieces.

  “Ciar,” Mikayla called, stopping him. “I can’t play this game with you anymore. Please, tell me what I’m missing. If something dangerous is coming our way, I need to know in order to protect my family.”

  “Rouke would never come here. He considers the human realm beneath him.”

  Mikayla moved closer, careful not to touch him. “Why didn’t you go back when your brother died? Shouldn’t you have been next in line?”

  A cold smile twisted his lips. “Not exactly.”

  Mikayla frowned. If she didn’t know better, she’d say Ciar was hesitating. What was so bad he didn’t want to tell her?

  “Whatever you’re hiding, you can tell me,” she told him. “I can take it.”

  “You want to know all my darkest secrets, hmm?”

  She nodded. “If you want to share them.”

  He shook his head, a cold smile twisting his lips. “My father was the Clan Lord, it’s true, but my mother was not his wife. She was a servant in his home.”

  Mikayla frowned as she processed the information. “So you’re illegitimate.”

  His face was an unreadable mask as he nodded.

  Mikayla waited for more but he merely watched her. After a moment, she asked, “That’s it?”

  Ciar blinked in surprise.

  “I’ve got to tell you, Ciar, I was prepared for something a hell of a lot worse.”

  He shook his head with a rusty chuckle. “Mikayla, Mikayla. Where have you been all my life?”

  “Seriously, this is your big secret?”

  When he looked back at her, she caught her breath at the expression in his eyes. No one had ever looked at her with such gratitude, such tenderness. The man of her dreams stood before her, looking as if he’d just realized she was the woman of his dreams.

  “The demon realm works differently than the human one,” he explained to her, moving closer. “Your bloodline is everything. A bastard son could never rule and Alina wanted to be the Clan Lady. She switched her affections to my brother and no one blamed her. Not even me. It’s simply how things work in my world. Power is life.”

  “But instead of pursuing power, you chose to come here instead.”

  He shrugged. “I’d always been fascinated by the humans. This seemed as good a place as any to start over.” He ran a hand along his jaw. “But when Teivel died the clan was left without an heir. I have half of the bloodline, which was a stronger claim than anyone else.”

  “Why didn’t you go back?”

  He smiled ruefully. “I have no desire to rule a bloodthirsty clan. Besides,” he added, settling his hands on her waist and pulling her into his arms, “I made a life for myself here. There were things I didn’t want to leave behind.”

  Mikayla swallowed hard, trying to focus on what she was learning and not on the perfection of being in his arms. “You think Rouke took over when you didn’t go home.”

  He shrugged. “Rouke is strong.”

  A chill raced through Mikayla as she put the last piece of the puzzle together. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a revelation she wanted to share. Not when he was finally treating her the way she’d always dreamed.

  “What?” he murmured, studying her face.

  Slowly she raised her eyes to his. “I think I know where Alina fits into all this.”

  Ciar clenched his jaw but made no protest to stop her words.

  “Alina has already proven she does whatever is necessary to get to the top. She left you because you didn’t have the power she craved. But when your brother died she was left without a power base. Along comes Rouke, taking over the position her late husband had held. A position she probably became very accustomed to.”

  “You think she is involved with Rouke.”

  Mikayla nodded. “When my sisters tracked her down she must have seen an opportunity to live the life she wanted with the man she—” She stopped, the last word locked in her throat.

  Ciar looked away from her, no doubt well aware of the unspoken word. The man she loved. Or at least claimed to.

  “She means for us to go back, and for me to take over my brother’s place,” he said.

  Mikayla flinched from the heartbreak in his voice. How many times was this woman going to betray him before he got the message? “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “Demons,” he joked, desolation clear in his eyes. “Can’t trust any of them.”

  “I disagree.” Reaching up, she cupped his face between her hands.

  Closing his eyes, Ciar turned his head and pressed his lips to her sensitive palm. “What a mess this is.”

  “All of it?”

  He opened his eyes and met her stare. Mi
kayla tried to stay strong and ignore the butterflies in her stomach as she waited for his answer. Never before had she been so vulnerable to a lover. When had she given him the power to shatter her so completely?

  Ciar didn’t reply to her soft question but he did lean closer. Mikayla caught her breath as his lips nearly touched hers.

  An enraged screech rent the silence of the park. Ciar spun with the trained instincts of a warrior, prepared to take on the unexpected threat.

  Alina stood behind them, her eyes blazing with anger. “How dare you,” she hissed.

  “How did you get past my sisters?”

  A vicious grin curved Alina’s lips. “They may be strong but I am no weakling.”

  Ciar shifted, putting himself in front of Mikayla. “Did you hurt them?”

  “Only a little,” she replied with a shrug. “I didn’t do anything you wouldn’t have. At least, not in years gone by.”

  Rage filled Mikayla. With a snarl she lunged forward, bent on extracting her vengeance from Alina.

  Ciar wrapped a deft arm around her waist, holding her back.

  Alina strolled toward them, her gate smooth and confident. “I came to help you, Ciar,” she said, not taking her eyes from Mikayla. “She has damaged you enough. I didn’t want her to have another chance to bespell you.”

  Ciar shifted to put Mikayla behind him. “I am more than capable of looking after myself, Alina.”

  She shook her head. “You are strong, Ciar,” she breathed, stopping before him. Lifting her hands, she ran her fingers over his chest. “But around this woman you lose all sense of reason. The death of a witch reverses her magic. You know that as well as I. Why haven’t you freed yourself from this curse?”

  Mikayla flinched. Taking a step back, she shifted into a defensive position, ready to fight if she needed to.

  “Some freedoms are not worth any price,” Ciar said. Grabbing Alina’s wrists, he forced her hands from him.

  “Why do you protect her?” Alina asked.

  For the first time Mikayla heard the thread of pain in the other woman’s words. No matter what other lies she had spun for them, that faint glimmer of emotion was real. Perhaps she truly did love Ciar. In her way.

  “Do you care for her?” Alina whispered. “As you once did for me?”

  Mikayla leaned forward, desperate for the answer as much as Alina.

  “You left me,” Ciar replied. “You have no right to care now.”

  “Then what am I doing here?” she demanded. “I came for you. To make amends for how I ended things. If you don’t want me, why haven’t you sent me home before now?” She tried to move closer but Ciar kept her firmly at bay. “You remember how it used to be with us,” she murmured. “We can have that again. Forget Mikayla. Look to our future. We can have everything we’ve ever dreamed of. Choose me.”

  “Don’t you dare.” The words were out of her mouth before Mikayla realized what she’d done.

  Ciar twisted to look back at her.

  She hesitated for a moment, wondering how to phrase her protest. “She has betrayed you over and over. You are no fool, Ciar. You can’t really go back to her.”

  “And he’d be better off with you?” Alina snarled.

  She didn’t look away from Ciar’s gaze. “Yes, and he knows it. You and I, Ciar. Tell me you don’t see the future I do.”

  Alina hissed at her, baring her teeth in an inhuman gesture. “You speak of betrayal? Despite what you think you heard, you know nothing about me.”

  “I know you like power,” Mikayla said. “And I know Rouke is your latest meal ticket.”

  She stiffened at the accusation, her eyes widening.

  “Is it true?” Ciar asked her. “Are you involved with Rouke?”

  Alina clenched her jaw and stayed mutinously silent.

  “He’s dangerous,” Ciar told her. “As well you know. He’ll do anything to get ahead, including eliminating anyone in his path.”

  “Your little magical pet is trying to set me up,” Alina charged. “She’s trying to turn you against me. Don’t let her succeed, Ciar. You know me. Far better than you know her. Trust me.”

  A slight smiled curved his lips. Hope leapt in Alina’s eyes at the sight. “Yes,” he murmured, lowering his head. “I do know you.”

  Rising on her tiptoes, Alina tried to kiss him but Ciar pulled back.

  “I know how vicious you are, Alina. I loved you for it once,” he told her. “You would risk anything for power.”

  Growling, she twisted her hands free from his grip and pushed away. “Mikayla is warping your mind.”

  “No,” he said. “This is about you and me. I trusted you once before and look where it landed me.”

  “It’s different now.”

  “It’s not,” he replied softly. “Even if we might wish it was.”

  Mikayla flinched, pain stabbing her.

  Desolation filled Alina’s face. She looked like a woman who had finally realized she couldn’t have all her dreams and didn’t know which ones to leave behind.

  “Do you care more for your witch than you do for me?” she asked finally.

  Ciar opened his mouth but had no answer. He glanced back at Mikayla as if trying to decide what to say.

  As much as she wanted to hear his answer, a brush of cold magic played over her skin.

  “Ciar,” she snapped, calling up her power in case she needed it. “Something’s coming.”

  Both demons stiffened as if they too felt the approaching storm. Something was moving toward them with a power darker than anything Mikayla could command.

  “Demon magic,” Alina hissed. Black nails elongated from her hands as she prepared to defend herself.

  Across the playground a tear appeared in the air. Black space lay beyond the rip, a portal to a dark world. Mikayla flinched as the icy magic battered her. Witches did not deal well with energy that black.

  A hand emerged and gripped the edge of the tear. As the rip between worlds widened, a body dragged itself from the darkness.

  A man dropped from the portal, landing awkwardly in the sand. Behind him the portal closed with a last pulse of dark energy.

  “Rouke,” Ciar growled.

  The man stood, brushing the sand from him. “Hello, cousin,” he replied. “I believe you have something of mine.”

  With a puff of smoke, Ciar turned back into a poodle.

  “Crap,” Mikayla breathed.

  Chapter Nine

  Rouke looked the way Mikayla had always imagined demons would look. Big, powerful and mean. He towered over them all, Ciar included. Whereas Ciar had the compact body of a fighter, Rouke was far heavier. Thick muscles filled his large frame, making him appear more beast than man. His black hair was cropped short to his head, leaving nothing to soften his scarred face. Mikayla could easily see why Alina had wanted to cause a coup and replace this man with Ciar. She couldn’t believe any woman, even the power-hungry Alina, would want him. Cruelty shone from his silver eyes and Mikayla hated the way he stared at Ciar like a bug to be crushed.

  “When I was told you’d cut all ties to our world and made a new life here I had no idea you’d changed so drastically,” Rouke said, eying the growling fluff ball at his feet.

  “For hell’s sake, it’s a spell, Rouke. That’s why I’m here. I’m helping him,” Alina snapped.

  “You didn’t have permission to come to this world.”

  Drawing herself up, Alina stared at him with icy rage. “I need no man’s permission. I was a Clan Lady. None dare to stand in my way.”

  Rouke took a threatening step toward her. “How do you think it looks to have my betrothed running off to her old lover?”

  “Betrothed?” Mikayla demanded.

  Ciar snarled at their feet.

  Alina arched an aristocratic brow, not looking the least bit ashamed. “Nothing is set in stone yet, Rouke,” she declared. “Ciar needed my help and I came.”

  “And I am here to bring you back,” he snapped. His eyes dri
fted down to the dog at his feet. “However, since I’m in this cursed realm anyway, I might as well eliminate the competition. Especially as it comes in such an easily breakable package.”

  “No,” Alina cried. With a growl, she launched herself at her betrothed. Her nails sank deep into his biceps as she physically blocked his way with her body. “I won’t let you hurt him. Leave it alone, Rouke. Ciar is doing no harm in the human world.”

  “No harm?” he demanded. “Even from this world he consumes your thoughts. Did it even cross your mind not to run to his rescue when you were asked? Did you never consider your loyalty should be to me?”

  Regret shone in Alina’s expression. “He needed me.”

  Rouke’s eyes narrowed with rage. “I can barely count the number of years I have waited for you,” he snarled at her. “And now when I finally have you, he crashes back into our lives. I won’t allow him to do it a second time.”

  “Rouke, no!” she yelled, trying to hold him back.

  “Let go, Alina,” he ordered, ignoring the blood running down his arms from her attack.

  “No.”

  With a growl, he pressed his palm to Alina’s forehead. Mikayla winced at the dark magic that flooded the air. It coiled around Alina, dissolving into her skin. Rouke caught his betrothed as she dropped like a stone. He lowered her to the ground before stepping over her prone body.

  “Alina,” Mikayla said, jumping forward. She might not like the woman, but Rouke’s trick was underhanded at best.

  Before she could get near, however, Rouke appeared in front of her. His hand shot out to wrap about her throat.

  “This is all your fault, isn’t it?”

  Mikayla’s lungs contracted in protest as she tried to draw in a strangled breath. Clawing at the arm holding her, her nails scored deep grooves in his skin but Rouke didn’t even flinch.

  A vicious growl sounded from the poodle on the ground as the dog rushed them. Mikayla would have called out a warning had she been able. As it was, she was helpless to do anything but watch the tiny dog barrel toward a full-grown demon.

  Ciar launched himself into the air, teeth bared, but the flying fur ball never made contact. Instead the black mist enveloped him in midair. It wasn’t a dog that emerged from the smoke but a fully formed Ciar. The two men collided and Mikayla wrenched free from the hand at her throat.