Page 28 of Demon's Obsession

He smiled as he remembered. “The oak chose me anyway. I was really surprised when Wanda showed up about five years later. I thought she was just visiting on her way to find her own tree. The forest had already accepted me as its protector. But then she came across the glade—the peach trees—and they really needed her, so she bonded with all four of them and has been my neighbor ever since.”

“Mom, Dad, other siblings?”

“The trees we bond to become our family, and then every now and then, very rarely I might add, a huge demon catches a dryad’s eye and…”

“There you are.” A shrill voice interrupted Silas’s attempts at smooth talking, and he looked up to see the same woman he’d noticed as Dakata’s date the first night he’d seen him, although he now knew the lady was Dakata’s sister after his interlude in the demon realm. “For fuck’s sake, bro. You do not want to know what I had to promise Merihem just so he could send me to you. Dakata, you’ve left a ton of shit that needs sorting, and you need to come now.”

In the time it took Silas to blink, Christa and Dakata were gone.

Disappeared.

“Well.” Silas picked up Dakata’s mug and sniffed, curling his hands around its warmth just like Dakata had done. “That was a lovely breakfast, I guess. Could’ve ended better, just saying.”

Chapter Eighteen

Dakata

Christa had latched onto his demon side to all but drag him away from Silas and from what had started out being a wonderful morning ‘of getting to know each other’. Only she’d rudely interrupted them. He heard‘could’ve ended better, just saying’, float through his thoughts from Silas as he stood in his mansion, in the demon realm, facing his family.

He glared at Christa, ignoring his brothers gathered in the vast living space that was communal in the mansion Dakata had bought for his family. A very ungrateful family to considersnatching him before he had a chance to even finish his coffee and bid Silas goodbye.

“What do you think you’re playing at, Christa?” Dakata snapped, his back molars grinding together as he revealed the depth of his frustration. And more, his demon’s anger at having upset Silas enough to cause his blissful one to be miffed at him. At him! It was Christa’s fault.

“Playing at? Me? You were the one who came down here and set about destroying half of Dusken. Leaving a trail of dead demons in your wake.”

“They deserved it, all of them.” He jabbed a finger at her, Berna, and Luka. “And your memories must be damned short if you’ve forgotten that you fucking helped. Their intentions caused harm to my blissful one. They kidnapped his sister, believing she was mine.” He snarled, his demon’s anger returning with the fresh memory of Silas coming out of the water, looking ravishing in the sunlight.I’m not going to see that again if I don’t work this shit out.“I’ve done the realm a favor by ridding it of the dross.”

“Is that your decision, Dakata?” asked Asmodeus, the king of the demons. His voice lacked any emotions as Dakata swung around to face their ruler.

He wasn’t there when I arrived. Fuck.

Hard eyes glittered with controlled anger. Asmodeus stood a good half a foot taller than everyone in the room, even in his human form. He was still a scary fuck with how his power rolled over anyone within twenty feet of him. The urge to bow was impossible to deny. At the ruler's side stood Merihem, looking all shades of uncomfortable.

Double fuck!

“Under the laws of this realm, yes.” Dakata stepped closer, careful to keep his tone respectful, he didn’t want to lose hishead. “Silas is my blissful one. I recognized the blissful bond immediately,” his demon answered for them.

“Only it wasn’t him they took, was it?” The icy, controlled voice sent shivers up Dakata’s spine. The force Asmodeus held gathered in the room, and everyone became still, as if they finally understood the seriousness of the situation.

Dakata met Asmodeus’ gaze and held it. He wasn’t just fighting to save his own life, he was fighting for Silas, too, and that changed everything. “They took Silas’s sister Wanda by mistake. The harm they inflicted on her, Silas felt. By our union, I felt Silas’s and his tree’s pain. Do I not have the right to exact my vengeance for this? Do I not have a right to protect who the Fates have deemed to be the second half of my soul? Of my demon’s?” he argued heatedly.

Asmodeus looked down his pointed nose, his eyes narrowing on Dakata, but he never moved. “Bring this Silas to me.”

Dakata was shaking his head before he could consider what such an action could cause. His family gasped around him, and Merihem winced. “Being in this realm depletes Silas’s life force. In his forest, by his tree would be a better place to hold such a meeting.” He worked hard to keep his tone respectful, while stressing his point. “His soul is sensitive, and the negative energies down here sicken him.”

It was as if everyone held their collective breath when the only sound was the noise of silk rubbing against silk as Asmodeus stepped to Dakata and took hold of his chin in a punishing grip. There, in the depth of his gaze, were the fires of hell where he could cast anyone he chose to with just a thought. “Do you dare to disobey me?”

“When it comes to my blissful one, yes. His safety is more important than anything else to me,” Dakata and his demon said, in total accord. They would sacrifice themselves to prevent Silas from having to endure one moment in his realm.

More gasps came, but Dakata didn’t pull away from Asmodeus's punishing grip to see who it was. As he scrutinized Dakata, there, in the depth of his stare, Dakata saw a flicker of confusion before it disappeared, and he was released. “This bond seems to have stolen the common sense of you and your demon,” he said in an emotionless voice that didn’t stop the chills running through Dakata. “I will need to get the historians to examine blissful bonds. Until then, I will spareyour Silasa trip to this realm.”

Asmodeus glanced at Merihem, and back was the fierce monster who ruled with an iron fist. “Your actions have no such rationale, Merihem.”

“He came at my request,” Dakata defended his best friend quickly. “They all did.” He would not let them take the blame for his actions. Asmodeus had never been known for being lenient.

“I’m well aware of who aided you, Dakata. And as this is a situation, not encountered in many eons, I will need to seek council.” His gaze swept the room, landing on each individual. “That does not mean this is an end to this matter. There will be consequences, as no one has the authority to run amok in my realmwithout my permission.”

With the threat hanging in the air, Asmodeus disappeared with Merihem.