Demons Amongst Us (The Book of Demons Saga #2) (10 page)

“You defy the orders of your Lord Sultan, boy,” Ashdad barked, his eyes hard
ened as he looked at the two with heavy disapproval.  He looked much the same as Alex remembered him.  His snow white hair was slicked back and accented with gold clips throughout.  His bushy white beard had been trimmed down and well groomed.  “Your punishment will be severe.”

“You are to
be quarantined,” Ashdad said, as he sat behind a low wooden desk in his office chambers, glaring at Balthazar.  The demon prince was flanked by two security officers.  “I am sending word to Lord Krishna.  You will mate his daughter, the Princess Kali.”

“I will not,” Balthazar said, his lips curling into a silent snarl.  “I will mate Alexandra.”

“You will do nothing of the sort,” Ashdad said.  His voice remained calm, but his aged blue eyes betrayed his anger. 

“You cannot stop us,” Balthazar snapped back at him.  His could feel the red overtaking his eyes, even though he was trying his hardest to keep his beast in check.  The thought of Alexandra being taken away from him was almost too much to bear.  He was stuck and he knew it.  Ashdad was not only an older, more powerful demon, he was also able to transform, putting him in a power class far beyond Balthazar.  There was really nothing Balthazar could do, and they both knew it.

“You will remain separated from her until your bond is broken,” Ashdad said, his voice low as he spoke slowly to emphasize his point.  “And you will mate the Asuri Princess.”

A growl bubbled in Balthazar’s chest as his eyes began to cloud over with red.  His beast was quickly gaining control, blinded by his
growing rage.

“That is not all,” Ashdad spoke again, ignoring Balthazar’s threatening behavior.  “You will apologize to Hasan for your callous actions.”

“Never,” Balthazar growled. “The brat got exactly what he deserved.”

“He is a royal prince,” Ashdad said, “the same as you, and you do not have the authority to pass judgment on him.”

“And you do?” Balthazar fired back at him.  Things were not so clear-cut as Ashdad would have it seem.  There could only ever be one Lord Sultan.  But they had both been anointed.  Balthazar was as much a Lord Sultan as he.

“I am the Lord Sultan of Devas,” Ashdad sa
id, raising his chin with pride, “So yes, I do.”

“You abandoned this kingdom long ago,” Balthazar accused.  He was doing everything he could to not release his beast
and go flying across the room at the demon lord.

“That was a mistake,” Ashdad admitted with a heavy
sigh, trying to suppress his anger, “and I am trying to prevent my mistakes from repeating themselves.”

“I will never let Alexandra go,” Balthazar said, a thick growl echoing in his words.

“Which is exactly why you will be held in the palace prisons until I am able to return her to her home,” Ashdad said, motioning for the guards to take him.

“And the Magi?” Balthazar said,
shrugging the two soldiers off. “They are still alive and well, we both know that.”

“And I will take care of them,” Ashdad said.

“Like you did the last time?” Balthazar snapped back at him.

“
I believe you are the one who allowed Alexandra to be captured,” Ashdad said.  His words hit Balthazar like a ton of bricks.  He could not argue that point.  Had he not let her distract him, she never would have been captured. 

“I can protect her,” Balthazar said, trying to convince himself more than Ashdad. 

“Not from yourself,” Ashdad said, standing and walking over to Balthazar.  He placed a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

“I understand your desire for her,” he said, his tone turning
more friendly.  “I understand it much more than you know.  And that is why I must do this.  It is not only for her own good, but yours as well.”

“I have to have her,” Balthazar said, his voice almost pleading.  Ashdad could see the pain behind his eyes, though he hid it as well as any proud demon would. 

“I understand the need,” Ashdad said, “but you must understand that is the bond.  It will get easier with time.”

“I do
not want it to,” Balthazar said.  The red in his eyes was fading, replaced with such a deep sadness, like nothing Ashdad had ever seen before.  Perhaps he had underestimated the strength of their bond.

“This is not just for your own good, Balthazar,” Ashdad said.  “She is human.  Mating a demon will only diminish her power.  Being with you will do more harm to her than good.”

“I cannot bear to be without her,” Balthazar admitted, shaking his head.  He could see the truth behind the older demons words, but it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.  He was so concerned with his desire for Alexandra that he had never even considered the possibility that being with him would actually harm her.

“Her power will augment yours,” Ashdad said, “but yours can only taint her pureness.  I know from experience that is not something you want on your conscience.”

“She will not agree,” Balthazar said, hoping he could truly rely on Alexandra’s perpetual defiance.

“Which is why I must intervene,” Ashdad said.  “I wil
l do what neither of you can.  You will be kept apart, for the good of all.  You will mate the Princess Kali and put this whole mess with Asur behind us.  In time, your heart will heal.  You will forget about Alex.  She will return to her home, and eventually, upon my death, you will reclaim the Sultancy.”

“Where is he?” Alex
demanded as she barged into Ashdad’s office.  He was reading over the parchments that were scattered on his desk.  He calmly set the paper he was reading down and looked up at Alex, his eyes shining with kindness, but tainted with tired.

“Alexandra,” he said,
motioning to the cushion across the desk from him.  “Please, sit.”

“Don’t play nice with me,” she said, her face fixed into a scowl as she crossed her arms over her chest.  “Where is Balthazar?”

“If you would allow me to explain,” Ashdad said, signaling that it was alright to the guards who were becoming increasingly nervous at Alex’s casual manner towards their Lord Sultan.

“Fine,” Alex said, still not relaxing the angry look on her face.  She plopped down on the cushion before Ashdad.  She remembered the last time she was sitting here.  Balthazar had been the one sitting across from her in that very same spot, making her just as angry.  It seemed so long ago, though she knew only a couple months had passed. 

“Firstly,” Ashdad began, his voice was calm and kind, “I would advise you to remember to use proper titles during your stay here.  I realize such a thing is of no consequence in your world, but it is terribly improper here.”

“Whatever,” Alex said, rolling her eyes.  She knew very well the demons around here expected to be called properly, but she hadn’t cared the last time she was here, and she didn’t much care this time.

“I am only trying to help you,” Ashdad said, with a small shake of his head.  “You will not be here long, but while you are, it would be in your best interest to follow protocol.”

“Fine,” Alex said, her eyes sparkling with defiance as she spat the word, “Where is Lord Balthazar?”

Ashdad knew she was trying to anger him by calling Balthazar the Lord Sultan, but he would not let such a thing bother him.  He could see the guards behind her stationed at the door looking nervously at each other.  They had never in their lives seen someone speak to any Lord Sultan with such disrespect and live to tell about it.

“You know as well as anyone here that Balthazar is merely a prince, Alexandra,” Ashdad corrected her, more for appearances than anything else. 

“He is the Lord Sultan to me,” Alex said, her jaw tensing with her defiance. 

“That is of little matter,” Ashdad said with a smirk, “you are not a citizen of this country, or this world.  You will be returning home in short manner.”

“No,” Alex said, her face dropping from anger and defiance to shocked surprise.  “What about the Magi?  The Ancient?  I have to stop them.”

“Alexandra,” Ashdad said with a chuckle, “you do not even know what they are.  Your powers are not even close to
being developed enough to be a match for them.  If they found out you were here, they would make very quick work of you.  Then both our worlds would be lost.”

“I…” Alex wanted to respond, wanted to fire back a witty retort, but she knew he was absolutely right.  She could come face to face with the Ancient right now and not even know he was before her.  Her powers were spotty at best, and even when they did kick in, she could hardly control them.

“Alexandra,” Ashdad said, seeing the confusion in her eyes, “I understand your desires.  Defiance and fight are in your blood, it is part of who you are.  You would not be the protector without them.  But you need to understand your own limits.”

“I hadn’t really thought of that,” Alex said softly, hating to admit that he was right.  “But I can’t leave Balthazar.”

“Prince Balthazar,” Ashdad said, his eyes narrowing behind his bushy white eyebrows.  “It is important for you to use his proper titles.”

Alex could see the annoyance creeping up from behind the mask of kindness Ashdad was wearing. 
She had trusted this man before, and that had landed her here.  Now he was in such a rush to send her back to her world.  It didn’t make sense to Alex, and a creeping doubt about him began to gnaw at her.  She would have to be careful of what information she divulged to him.  She would need to get as much information out of him as possible, and she would have to play nice to get it.

“Sorry,” she said, her voice placating
, “Prince Balthazar.”

“That’s better,” Ashdad said with a pleased smile.  “Prince Balthazar is in seclusion.  He has chosen to break the bond, and he will need to remain apart from you in order to do so.”

Alex wasn’t expecting to hear those words.  Her heart sank to the bottom of her stomach, and she could feel the sting of tears already forming behind her eyes.  She couldn’t believe the words, even though she had heard them with her own ears.  She felt like she had just been stabbed in the chest, and someone was twisting the blade around. 

“No
,” Alex said, her voice crackling, “I don’t believe you.”

“I’m sorry, Alexandra,” Ashdad said, “but this is for your own good.  Prince Balthazar recognized that.  You must as well.”

“No,” Alex said, shaking her head as the tears began to stream down her face.  “He wouldn’t.  He wouldn’t leave me.”

“Alexandra,” Ashdad said, rising from his cushion.  He moved to the other side of the desk and took a sea
t beside her.  His larger hands came to rest on her smaller ones, and when she looked up at him, he had shifted into his human form.  “You must understand, this is for the best.  Humans and demons cannot mate.  It will never work.”

“We could make it work,” Alex argued, pulling one of her hands back to wipe at her tears. 

“Maybe,” Ashdad said, “if Prince Balthazar was not destined to be Lord Sultan when my time is over.”

“What difference does that make?” Alex said, her mind still grasping for an argument.  “If he is Lord Sultan, he can do whatever he wants.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Ashdad said.  “The Lord Sultan must make many sacrifices for his kingdom, whether he finds them to his liking or not.”

“So?” Alex said, her face contorted
in pain as the tears rolled down her hot cheeks.

“So,” Ashdad responded, “how will you feel when he takes another bride?  Or many other brides?”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Alex said, realizing as soon as the words left her mouth that she didn’t know that to be true.

“He must,”
Ashdad said, “it is only one of the many duties of the Lord Sultan.  Even if he were to make you his Sultana, he would need to build a large harem, with many ladies that will bear him many sons.  It is the way our kingdom works.  It is protocol, and even the Lord Sultan cannot escape protocol.”

“No,” Alex said softly, the pain that gripped her heart wouldn’t allow her to speak louder than a whisper.  Tears fell freely from her eyes.  Her mind searched for another argument, but could not find one.  She knew, deep down, that the words he spoke were true, but she simply could not face it.  Not now. 

“I’m sorry, Alexandra,” Ashdad said, “but this is only for the best.  In time, the pain will subside.  You will see the truth in what I speak.  You will understand in time.”

Nila poked her head around the corner of a hall in the harem complex.  Seeing no one, she made her way quickly down the passage.  She stopped near the end of the hall and, looking around cautiously, opened the door to one of the vacant harem apartments, stepping inside.  The far end of the entrance hall was also the very back wall of the harem complex, and it was there she was going to make her escape from the gilded cage she had lived in her whole life.  The harem was the height of luxury.  With airy, columned pink marble rooms, dripping with the finest silks and an army of eunuch slaves to satisfy her every whim.  But it was a cage nonetheless.