The Demon Master's Wife (Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction Romance) (FORCED TO SERVE) (31 page)

“Conor—what are you saying?” Issa demanded, her voice quivering with hurt as she interrupted his fierce statements with one of her own. “You forced me to volunteer for Lotharius where you knew I would become a prisoner to Fener Sel. You have sold enough females to him to know he never returns one. You don’t feel any impulse to save me all? Even after I have done all you asked every time you demanded anything of me?”

“Stop being so dramatic, Issa,” Conor said flatly, his tone stern and critical of her complaints. “I’m trying to determine if Ambassador Looren is laying a trap for me.”

Ania could see the clever wheels turning in Conor’s brain.

“I have already laid the only trap I intended to set, and your mate fell into it by helping me contact you. Now I’m talking about an alliance that serves the greater good among us. Do we have a deal or not?” Ania asked. “Swear it to me by the creators of all. If I find out you are false, I will spell someone to kill you.”

“Issa—what say you about this situation?” Conor asked. “Stop pouting about what I said that offended your pitiful female sense of worth. I would have mourned your death. That is all you can expect of me as your mate.”

Issa looked at the only male she’d ever known that could be both savage and savior at the same time. “I wish I didn’t want you, Conor Synar,” she said tightly.

Conor just laughed at her declaration.

Ania smiled as her gaze went between them, not having to fake the condescension she felt for Issa. She would never let any male she bonded with speak so poorly to her without suffering for it.

Issa looked at Conor and then resentfully at Ania Looren.

“I have seen her kill without remorse, and I have seen her power. If she wanted me dead, I would be dead. You can believe what you like. Take your own risks,” Issa exclaimed, crossing her arms. “I have already offered her my body in exchange for my life. Make your own deals.”

Ania laughed at the petulant female, who was hurt over a male who so obviously cared little for her. She put as much false sympathy in her voice as possible. “You need to find a new mate, Issa. No male is worth the loyalty you have granted this uncaring beast.”

Ania heard Conor laughing, but kept her gaze on Issa’s. Conor Synar seemed more impressed by her laughter at Issa’s hurt feelings than by anything she had said to him so far.

“My brother has no idea what you’re really like, does he?” Conor asked finally.

Ania smiled, happy to hear awe in Conor’s voice at last.

“No,” she said firmly, turning to look at Conor and shrug, knowing in some respects the statement was very true. She kept trying to tell Liam about her past, but he was still refusing to believe it. “But of all my complaints, it’s hard to hold anything against Liam when even I don’t know what I’m like anymore. I was once like you, Conor. Maybe I still am. Maybe you can’t trust me. If this goes wrong, never doubt that Liam will take my side. I have done what was needed to keep his loyalty.”

Conor turned away from the monitor to pace. Ania switched tactics.

“I bore of trying to convince you of my sincerity, Conor Synar. One day I will have the outcome I want even without you—or your disposable mate. I am offering to work with you only to ensure the outcome I seek happens more rapidly. Since I currently control the demon, I lose nothing by your reticence except time. You’re the one without any access to Malachi’s power.”

Ania watched Conor hang on the edge of deciding, and then snorted as he tipped over, pushed to take the risk by what drove him.

“For the chance to gain back my demon, I will come,” Conor said at last.

Ania bowed her head and then met his gaze again through the monitor. “I will find a way to obtain the amulet and prepare for the ritual. When you arrive, I will arrange a time with Issa when I know Liam will be busy on the bridge. Your life is about to change in ways you have never even imagined, Conor Synar. Now I seek to gain to your trust to strengthen our accord. Want to see a sample of how much control I have as a merged host?”

Conor nodded.

Ania looked at Issa.

Malachi, go into Issa Onin and take away all her memories of bonding with Conor. Don’t let her keep anything but the awareness that her precious memories were taken,
Ania directed.
I want her to weep with regret
.

She felt Malachi go out of her and saw the ambassador shrink back when the black mist hovered over and around her. Ania heard Issa draw in a ragged breath when Malachi entered her body. Ania didn’t look at the monitor while Malachi was in Issa, but she could tell Conor was riveted to what was taking place.

Issa started calling out “No,” and shaking her head.

Then Malachi lifted from her and went immediately back into Ania.

Conor’s gaze traveled between the two females.

Ania smiled, saying nothing as she watched tears were streaming down Issa’s face.

“Why would you do that? Why take the only solace I had? Why not just kill me?” Issa asked tearfully.

“What has happened, Issa?” Conor demanded. “I sense my energy is gone from you.”

Issa sniffed and glared at Ania, lifting her hand to point an accusing finger. “She took it from me. She had the demon take it all from me. I have no energy left of our bonding. I am alone now.”

“The energy still exists, but now is mine to enjoy. It will prove most useful the next time I have to endure bonding with Liam,” Ania said, meeting Conor’s gaze at last. “This is just a small benefit to merging with the demon. I have not had a chance to explore all that is possible.”

Conor smiled genuinely then, and Ania saw Liam’s face, saw the boy that Conor must once have been. He looked excited and alive. The blood sickness of wanting to control others truly did own him. A full knowing came to her that Conor Synar really was beyond redemption.

“I look forward to meeting you,” Conor said at last, closing out their connection without saying goodbye.

Ania stood from the table and walked back to the console and Ensign Dre. She pushed a button to end the transmission and another to erase the log of the destination. She coded back in the Peace Alliance coordinates.

“Ensign?” she said gently, putting a hand on his shoulder as she watched him wake from the trance sleep. “I’m sorry we bored you so much. We are finished now. Please close the transmission. Thank you for assisting us.”

“Apologies, Peace Keeper Looren. I don’t know why I drifted off like that,” the ensign said, embarrassed as he closed the connection and watched the coordinates disappear from the screen.

Ania just patted him more. “It was no problem for us at all. Ambassador Onin and I had a productive, but boring meeting. Have a good day.”

She walked back and looked at Issa, who was still sitting shocked at the table. “Do not fret so much, Ambassador Onin. Things are working out as they were meant to work out. From what I hear of Conor’s bonding tastes, your mate will no doubt enjoy replacing those memories.”

“May you one day know what it is like to have a mate completely abandon you,” Issa whispered softly.

“Didn’t Conor tell you my sad story? Just a few days after our mating ceremony, Liam put the demon in me and left me not knowing anything that had passed. I spent almost two years without the only male I mated in nine hundred years, believing that whole time that he didn’t want me,” Ania said flatly, letting herself remember the despair of those years.

“Conor told me about the sacred contract and the protection it affords the demon masters in his family. Too bad you can’t kill your mate for treating you that way,” Issa said on a sigh, her voice holding reluctant empathy.

“Yes it is too bad, but there are all kinds of death,” Ania said softly. “And I am feeling vengeful.”

Issa nodded. “If you have no further need of me, I will retire to my room.”

“Keep a low profile,” Ania ordered. “Do not risk trying to contact Conor again. I don’t want anyone finding out that he’s coming.”

“I am not a fool,” Issa said stiffly.

“Proof of that will be determined by your actions,” Ania said firmly. “Good day, Ambassador.”

Chapter 26

“Stay with me,” Dorian argued.

Gwen looked at him, surprised to find herself honestly debating the wisdom of staying.

Then she thought about what it would mean to have pity sex with Zade without feeling the urge to own him like she had before. Her memories of how it had been between them were still vivid, including the desperate look on his face when he’d had her plastered against the training room door. Even though her body couldn’t remember the pleasure that followed those actions, nothing was going to wipe away the memory of Zade throwing her into the air and catching her.

She might not remember his desire or her reaction, but Gwen was still sure she had never been wanted that much by any male before Zade.

“No, I can’t stay. Until we decide what we’re going to be to each other, I want to maintain my own space. I might sleep over again soon if we both want that to happen,” Gwen said.

“Fine. I wish it to happen today,” Dorian said firmly, frowning and putting his hands in his pockets to keep from touching Gwen.

He didn’t need the mating lust to want Gwen’s company now that they weren’t fighting any more. The only thing missing from their connection was the insatiable bonding lust, but most relationships lost that over time anyway.

“I may not be as intuitive as you, but I still realize you’re just worrying about me the same way you worry about everyone. You’re just wondering if I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and forget where I am again,” Gwen argued. “Well it might happen, but I still don’t want to stay here just for that reason.”

“I can see you want me to hold you and comfort you. Your reasoning for going against what you want eludes me more now than ever, especially when all I want is the same,” Dorian said sincerely.

“I get that—I do. But I need my own space, Zade,” Gwen said. “I need to feel normal again. I need not to need you so much that I fear fading into nothing when you’re not around.”

Gwen ran a hand through her hair, angry that Zade had forced her to say what she hadn’t wanted him to even know she was feeling. Part of her knew she was being unreasonable, but the other part was just trying to survive.

“But you do need me, Gwen,” Dorian said, willing his voice to be reasonable and not sharp. “I need you too.”

“Not really—not the way you did. I just don’t have the energy to work on a relationship that may or may not be good again, especially since I still vividly remember how it was. I would rather we just . . .” Gwen faded off.

What did she want?
Looking at the male who had pity in his eyes for her instead of desire now, it was only clear to her what she didn’t want. Gwen didn’t want to see that look of sorrow over the situation every time her gaze collided with Dorian Zade’s.

“I swear to God—I mean—I swear by the creators that I’m not interested in doing anything intimate with anyone else. I just need some space for a while. I need you to give it to me and stop worrying,” Gwen said gruffly.

Dorian searched her energy, saw her fear of becoming more reliant on him, and had to steel himself against confronting her with it. Instead, he forced himself to settle for a truth reading of her last statement and knew he was going to have to be content with what he found.

Not that he believed Gwen would ever really desire other males over him, but with Earthlings you could never trust their physical loyalties completely. You had to continue to meet their needs to keep them truly happy. He had learned that from his other two mates.

“Fine—but you cannot stop me from worrying when you are not with me,” Dorian told her. “It is unreasonable to expect me to just be okay with you sleeping alone without me to hold you.”

Gwen snorted at his reluctant agreement. Turning her back to avoid looking at him, she made herself admit a truth he deserved to hear even though it made her feel like the biggest wimp to say it.

“Everyone knows I’m still wearing the Siren’s property sign you hung on me even if my energy doesn’t reflect it now,” Gwen joked. “And I’m not inclined to take it off anytime soon. Can’t that be enough?”

It wasn’t like she had ever wanted to be considered Zade’s property, but she had gotten used to other males instantly knowing they were a couple. Now that wasn’t the case anymore and she was back to deflecting as many bonding offers as she’d ever had, even though Chiang had told her he’d warned the other men to stay away.

What would Dorian do if he knew she was getting them?

Dorian walked up and put his arms around Gwen’s tense body from the back. “What would Dorian do if he knew? He would thank his faithful mate for turning down other males and try not to kill them when he saw them in the halls,” he whispered in her ear, enjoying the little shiver it caused in her.

“Reading my thoughts?” Gwen asked, surprised that Zade could still do that and more pleased about it than was wise probably.

“The ability seems to have lingered despite everything else we lost. I believe it is because of how much I want a way to connect with you,” Dorian said. “It only works within a certain range.”