Page 46 of Winter Unleashed

He nodded. “They are, but not in the way you’re thinking. Lyle is one of the youngest.”

“Well, that’s a refreshing change of pace. Between you, Liam, Astrid, Cybil, and Celeste it seemed every new being that comes into my life is older than time. How young is he?”

His creepy smile pulled at his lips, and I knew I wouldn’t like his answer. “He’s over ten thousand years old.”

The shock of what he said had me jumping up from my seat. “Are you fucking with me? How is that… Why is he… He’s one of theyoungest?”

“Yes.”

“Philly,” Stella said, snapping out of her shock, “are you messing with Ember? I know how much you like to.”

“No, my love, I’m telling the truth.” His smile for her was not creepy, in fact it was sweet and made him look more handsome than usual.

“Oh.” She looked down at the table as though an explanation would be there.

When Philip turned back to me, his spookiness had returned, which told me he did it on purpose. He gestured for me to sit down again. “Demons used to be male fairies.”

“Used to be?” Utterly lost to my curiosity, I sat back down. “Are you telling me Artemis castrated all the male fairies?”

He nodded. “In a way, yes. After millions of years of betrayal and infidelity, Lyle and some of his buddies had a night full of debauchery. Which was typical of the male fairies, but one of them went too far and hurt someone close to Artemis. She’d already locked herself away. However, when she heard of what happened, she punished all males by taking away the one thing more important to them than their dicks: she severed their magic.”

“Wow. This is amazing.”

“That’s when the Fae started their quest for the perfect companions, which you know led to shifters.”

“Amazing,” I repeated. “So, what did this guy do to Artemis’ friend?” The writer in me was hooked when he had said demon, and it just kept getting better.

“That doesn’t matter right now,” Liam said as he entered the room with Isaac. “What does matter is why Belial is here.”

I furrowed my brow. “Do you know why he’s here? Why does his name sound familiar? And what happened with Ciara?”

“Ciara had a relationship with him many years ago. Things got carried away, and she made some bad choices. The name familiar because Belial is the name some religions use for the devil. And with good reason. He’s not quite evil incarnate, but he’s damn close.”

“And he’s a friend of yours?” I asked. Liam hadn’t told me everything about his long history but bits of it kept popping up. From what little I knew it wouldn’t surprise me to find out he’d run with the devil at some point in his past.

Liam snorted and shook his head. “Friend isn’t exactly how I’d describe him.”

“And exactly how would you describe me?”

We all looked toward the man leaning against the doorjamb. The man had meticulously groomed black hair, black eyes that gleamed with mischief, and he wore an impeccable black suit with a black shirt unbuttoned to show just a hint of chest hair.

“Um, all the black is a little overkill, no?” I said, unable to tear my eyes from him. He wasn’t handsome like Liam or Isaac, but there was something about him that made him just as desirable.

He pulled his lips into a smirk that rivaled Liam’s but didn’t have the same effect on me. There was something there, but it wasn’t even close to the level of desire I felt for Liam.

“So, this is the Vinura, is it?” he said in his deep, smoky voice.

“Ithas a name,” I said.

He leaned forward a little. “Oh, I know. I bet I know more about you than your Vinur does.”

I nibbled my lip to stop myself from saying something that might get me killed. He may not have magic, but his energy reeked of malevolence. His eyes lowered to my lips then back to my eyes. The message in them was clear, and I was ashamed how hard it was for me not to go to him.

“Lyle, why are you here?” Liam asked, trying to pull the man’s attention from me.

His efforts didn’t work. Belial’s eyes stayed on me. “You haven’t answered my question,friend.” He blew me a kiss before finally looking at Liam. “If I wasn’t a friend to you, what was I?”

I expected to feel prickles of Liam’s energy move through the room, but they didn’t come. Instead, he let out a little laugh. “You know very well you’re not a friend to anyone. Have a seat.”