SINS OF THE FATHER

CHAPTER 3 - DAY

The moment she spied him with his cousin at the far end of the room she regretted coming to Helion's ball.

Nyx looked up at her, as if he sensed her watching.

Danae blushed at the intensity of his gaze, as if he knew exactly what she'd done the last time they'd seen each other during the formal meeting at Dawn.

He'd looked so devastatingly handsome that day, in Night Court black and his magnificent wings glinting purple in certain lights.

She had to put up a shield to hide her scent from her parents and the entirety of Prythian. Cauldron knows how she made it through the meeting. By the time it ended she'd been rubbing her thighs together to rid some of the pressure.

Danae didn't even bother shielding the room as she flung herself onto her bed. She'd hiked her skirt up and pushed three of her fingers inside her. She was utterly drenched. That was how she finished, with three of her fingers in her cunt and a hand on her breast. The image of his large wings spread wide and the ripple of the muscles of his thighs made her breathless.

Currently she took a step towards him. But then all hell broke loose.

A child's terrified scream had echoed along the marble pillars. A heavy silence and a dreadful sight embraced them. In the middle of the ballroom, the scalded skin of a demon-like-beast gleamed beneath the firelights. Its scarlet eyes wide with glee as it took in the sight of those gathered. Danae saw its forked tongue briefly before it snapped its fangs.

The Attor. What the hell was it doing here?

Danae tried to stop her chest from rising and falling. Sweat gathered on her palm as she gripped her sword in her hand.

"Do not kill the messenger, princess of Spring," the demon hissed, its voice like a brush of cold air on the back of her neck, "my Queen has sent me here to relay a message to you. A clever riddle that she loves so much; Have they told her yet? Have they told her of her death? For it is a certain thing approaching, she will not die by my hands, of course, but I will weep with tears of joy when she is wiped from this world. There is nothing more delicious than to see my enemies betray each other; after all, what wound cuts deeper than a loved one turned against you?"

Danae blinked. Shocked that he'd been addressing her.

She felt movement beside her. Nyx was there, an Illryian blade in his own hand. "What queen?"

The Attor laughed, "Oh, you are simply the exact image of your father. He was once her whore. Perhaps she'll enjoy breaking you the same way she did him."

The demon chuckled.

Nyx stiffened at the title once bestowed upon his father. The details on this part of history were vague. Perhaps purposely so, after all his parents and her father were involved in that tragic tale of Prythian.

"Amarantha has been dead for a long while." Danae's voice did not waver. But she heard Nyx suck in a breath.

"Has she?" The Attor's grin widened before he charged.

Not at her. But at Nyx, who'd been completely frozen by the mention of his father.

Something snapped inside Danae's chest as she raised her sword. The creature had only a second, its scarlet eyes widening in surprise before Danae struck it down.

Her blade struck true, somewhere between the demon's throat and shoulder.

Danae grunted as she tore the blade free, stumbling back. But her rage; it was a living, breathing thing inside her ribcage and she charged forward again, releasing a cry as she swung her sword.

This time the blade sliced through the Attor like a knife through butter. Its head and body tumbled to the ground.

She looked up to find Nyx watching her with a stunned expression.

There was only one thought in her head as he grabbed her shoulders and winnowed them out.

He's my mate.