~ Mia ~

She was gone.

   Gone!

What would we do? What would I do?

   It was him. Eternity save me, I did not think I would ever see that wretched male again. Yet, there he had stood, utilizing Elemental power and Moon magic. The very creature I created and bore for a year, whom I sacrificed so much for to hone into the most formidable male in existence, only to have him stolen and turned against me.

   My son.

   I should have known the moment I saw him at Asher’s ball. He had Xavier’s ridiculous dimples and his unruly black waves, but it was my freckles and blue eyes that should have given him away. I never let my own hideous blemishes show, using cosmetics daily to hide them, but he wore them like battle scars—as if they were something hard won.

   Arrogant male. Just like his father, like my father, like Malcolm. All males were fools, but my son most of all. A fool for thinking he could take from me and live—to believe he could win when I knew my Asher like no one else. I knew how deeply she loved me, how strongly she held her convictions. If I was a betting fae, I might say she would have them all slaughtered come nightfall.

   But that did not account for the hemlock, nor the harm he might do upon her. Or worse, the charms he might attempt to work on her.

   She was not strong, not brave, not formidable. I had not raised her to be that way, and for good reason. What I required of her was obedience, nothing more. That might be my downfall if she is not found as soon as possible.

   Deafening screams sounded at my left, breaking me from my thoughts. I looked down at the blonde, his curly hair soaked in his own blood, his eyes wide as Tish finally controlled the injury enough to begin the healing process.

   “Quit your whining before I put that dagger back in your chest you idiot!” I shouted at him, watching the tears fall from his eyes in disgust. Weak. So embarrassingly weak.

   I could not stand to be near him any longer and soon found my feet taking me from the healing quarters of the palace, the golden floors stained red and looking horribly unroyal.

   It made my teeth grind, seeing my precious gilded castle ruined by his foul blood.

   “Get this place cleaned up, immediately!” I shouted at passing servants, scowling at them when they did not move right away. They quickly curtsied, rushing to retrieve supplies.

   Storming my way through the halls, I begrudgingly searched for the only creature I knew would be able to help me solve this. His chambers were on the same level as the dungeons, our goal to keep him hidden away until we needed him. Though I knew he snuck out, his wicked and cursed magic allowing him to leave when he pleased.

   Malcolm was exactly where I knew he would be, sitting atop his blue sheets, the silver pillows spread around him as he read a book. Wasting his time, as always. He did not flinch when I threw open his door, the faded wood slamming into the gray stones with such force that it splintered.

   “Get naked, draw me a bath, and start planning. Now.”

   The demon smirked, tossing his book onto the mattress carelessly as he stood.

   I watched him strip, hating how much my body craved him, just as I hated the way it craved Xavier. How it yearned for any of the males I spent my time with. This one though, was an abomination, a demon. Far worse than bedding a fae. Still, I watched the way his muscles contracted as he walked, his back a ripple of strength beneath the brown skin. His mahogany hair and nearly black eyes, the features of my greatest enemy, were beautiful in a way that made my fists clench.

   “What has you so angry, Your Grace?” His tone, ever the sarcastic imbecile, grated on my nerves. If I did not need him, I would gladly slit his throat with a thorned vine and bathe in his blood. 

   “Angry? No, demon, I am not merely angry. Angry does not begin to describe the rage I feel burning inside of me,” I said as I slowly untied my gown, layers of gold fabric falling to the ground. The very ground that now shook as my wrath boiled over.

   Not once in the time since Asher came into her magic had I been this furious, but I still recalled the last time I had allowed my emotions to take over this way. Still recalled the molten lava that had poured into the streets and killed hundreds of fae.

   Malcolm quirked a brow, wholly unimpressed and unconcerned with my outburst. He moved for the door that I knew held his bathing chambers. I did not take him to my bed, and I never would. If I wanted him, I came here. Just as I went to Xavier’s bed when I wanted him. Only Asher and my most trusted servant had been allowed there. I would not risk my peace in such a way.

   Black tendrils of magic slithered from Malcolm, grabbing onto buckets of water and vials of who knew what. They filled the tub, which was intentionally large enough for two. As he worked, I spoke.

   “Asher has been taken.” For a moment, he faltered, stumbling and causing a vial with pink liquid to fall to the ground. I rolled my eyes at the shattered glass, continuing. “The Elemental has abducted her, snatched her straight from her wedding. You and I must find a way to get her back without making Adbeel Ayad aware of the fact that you still breathe.”

   Those words were all he needed to begin moving once more.

   Traitor. It was a word Malcolm hated above all else. The thing that truly broke his blackened heart. I did not balk from the term around him, because it was what he made himself into. The betrayals he committed, the atrocities he rained down on his home, they were done out of ambition.

   Luckily, that ambition aligned with my own.

   “So how do you propose we get your lovely little princess back? Do you not think they will tell her the truth? I do not imagine she will be excited to hear about your many sins. Though, you might have been onto something when you cut those ears of hers, horribly unappealing as they were.”

   My body was shaking as he spoke of her ears, and there was no thought left in my mind that would stop my power from reaching out. Dirt from every potted plant within the palace flew to me, finding its master. It was mere moments before I sent it all flying towards Malcolm.

   He fell to the ground, writhing as he suffocated on the grains I had forced down his windpipe. Darkness fought its way through the dirt that was still around him, but it did nothing to stop that which had already found its way inside him. 

   Taking deep breaths, I slowly made my way to him, bending down until my bare knees hit the floor mere inches from the crown of his head. His back arched, chin tilting up in a desperate attempt to get air. I watched as his face turned a purple hue, the fight within him weakening. Watery, black eyes locked with mine, prepared now to learn the lesson I would unsympathetically teach him.

   Leaning back slightly, I trailed my fingers down my neck, letting my touch travel between my breasts and across my naval. When I grazed the wetness between my thighs, I let out a soft moan, enjoying the pleasure of both my finger and his pain. Making sure he witnessed the joy, the pure lust, that I felt at the idea of his death, I began slowly stroking circles around my throbbing center.

   Only when his hands stopped clawing at his neck did I show him mercy. I reached up my other hand, ordering the dirt out of his throat, sending it flying to the floor around us. He coughed, gagging up chunks of mud from the dirt I had purposefully left behind. All the while I watched, touching myself, gasping in ecstasy as he gasped in pain.

   When his breathing somewhat evened out, I sprung. My hands grabbed his shoulders, forcing him back to the ground as I crawled over him. Then I was above him, straddling his face. It would hurt him, I knew that. There was no doubt in my mind that he nearly died, but I did not care. All I had wanted was him naked and plotting—for him to be wholly on my side for once in his miserable existence. He had made the decision to say idiotic things. He had made the decision to be useless. He had made the decision to further upset me.

   It was his fault.

   “Now do what you are good at while I figure out how to save us all,” I ordered.

   Malcolm grabbed my thighs, squeezing hard enough to bruise. The first swipe of his tongue was everything I needed and more. He traced up from that throbbing bundle of nerves to the top of my backside, forcing me to tilt with him. I moaned, reaching up to palm my breasts as he got to work making amends.

   For all his shortcomings, the demon knew me. He knew what I liked—what I loved—and did those things well. A starving creature could never accomplish what he did, never meet his hunger head-on. He was wicked with his tongue and teeth, giving me pain and pleasure, balancing it all just right.

   I cried out, beginning to move on him, forcing him to go faster. His hold on my hips tightened as his tongue entered me, and I could not help but scream his name as my orgasm neared. One of his hands reached up, grabbing my hair and tugging it. My back arched as my head was yanked backwards, staying that way for only a moment before he shoved me forward.

   My stomach hit his chest, his erection proud and ready. I knew what he wanted, what he craved. Normally I would give it to him, gladly so. This was not a normal day though.

   I grabbed onto his cock, fisting hard, knowing it likely hurt more than it should as I pumped.

   “We will get Asher back,” I hissed as I rocked on his face. “You either make a plan with me, or I end your pathetic excuse of a life. Choose, demon.”

   Ever the self-centered creature, Malcolm smiled. I felt the rise of his lips and the rumble of his laughter beneath me, though not even that could prevent me from falling off that edge as he gave one final shake of his head.

   My voice left me as I finished, body shaking and mind reeling with the many plans it was concocting. Malcolm shoved me slightly, his hand gripping my hair tighter as he forced my mouth around him. I gagged, considering biting down and laughing as his blood dripped from my lips.

   My throat began to burn as he violently thrust himself into my mouth, his hand forcing my head to meet him with the kind of force that brought tears to my eyes. Before I could follow through with the fantasy of castrating him, he gripped my hair and pulled me off, quickly lifting me.

   Twirling me in the air, the demon adjusted me to face him, my knees now straddling his thighs, and then he thrust into me. I bounced atop him, digging my nails into his skin to stop myself from screaming his name again. I hated giving him that upper hand, knowing how much I enjoyed his touch.

   “You stupid fucking bitch,” he seethed, suddenly forcing me back until my head and back smacked the ground. I hissed in pain, but that was soon replaced with pleasure as he wrapped his hands around my throat and began violently thrusting into me. “I love you; I give you my everything, and you try to kill me?”

   I meant to say something, to make him thank me for even gracing him with my presence, but all I could do was claw at his arms for purchase and resist calling out his filthy name.

   “Interesting how fate works, darling Mia.” It sounded more like a threat than a form of endearment. Somehow that was far more erotic, and I was left clenching around him as I neared another orgasm. He continued his assault, beating into me like he might die if he was not quick enough, hard enough. “I will find your princess, make no mistake. And when I do, you will finally be mine. You will allow me to get on my knee and make you the Queen of Alemthian—of the world. Together we will rule, and you will fucking thank me.”

   With those final words my back arched up, the wave of pleasure washing over me just as violently as his thrusting and making me scream so loudly that I knew those above would hear. Malcolm followed me, spilling inside of me with a roar.

   I had mere seconds to collect my breath before the wretched thing spoke.

   “I know of a pirate who used to make my sister quite furious with his trading habits. I will contact him. But you, my darling, need to prepare your best guard. I believe it is time I show you where I grew up.”

   Letting go of my neck, he ripped himself out of me, two of his fingers digging into me and scooping out his come. I had no time to stop him before he shoved them into my mouth, his lips diving down to seal mine closed. I was forced to swallow his foul release, to allow him to mark me in more ways than one. When he freed me, I gagged, glaring daggers at him.

   “Do whatever you must to find my Asher, and do it quickly.” I shoved him with a kick to his gut, sending him flying backwards. Then, with every ounce of grace I could conjure, I stood up and went to the tub, washing away the blood, the dirt, and the filthy demon to my left.