Slowly she turned to look at what remained of the demon who’d ruined her life. This time, numbness quelled her nausea.

“I should have made you suffer for longer,” she whispered to his mangled corpse.

It was several moments before the faint hum of a motor finally tore her attention back to the present.

She may have escaped one enemy, but she was still being hunted. Mysterious white light or not, she needed to get to safety before the Prince found her, or both she and Kain were doomed.

22

Selma

The café Kesh had directed her to turned out to be more of a pit stop for truckers, with only a few patrons at the tables, thanks to the late hour.

Selma paused at the entrance to let her gaze sweep the shop in hopes of spotting the man she was here to meet.

At the farthest table facing the door, an obscenely handsome man looked up, his eyes widening in outrage at the state of her.

Selma tugged self-consciously at her ruined coat. Underneath it her clothes were even more ripped from Marathin’s attack, but she hadn’t exactly had time to do anything about it.

The stranger got up from his chair, his movements carefully measured in a way that more than hinted at inhuman strength as he made his way toward her.

She swallowed automatically, fighting an instinct to flee. He was most definitely a demon Lord, given the way invisible power radiated from his huge form.

“Kesh?” Her voice cracked when he stopped in front of her. She had to tip her head back to look at his face.

He nodded as his black eyes narrowed to slits. “Naharan did this to you?”

Oh, great. As much as she appreciated his anger on her behalf, now was not the time to deal with primitive demon instincts, and Kesh looked an awful lot like Kain had when he’d sworn to kill Marathin.

“No, but can we please get out of here? I don’t know if they’re still after me.” Even though she felt distinctly uneasy about being this close to a demon Lord she didn’t know, Kain had trusted him with her safety. No matter his overwhelming presence, she much preferred to be in his company than out in public where the Prince could get to her.

Kesh growled low, but nevertheless placed an oversized hand on her shoulder so he could steer her out the door.

“How many were there?” he asked when they made it to the parking lot.

“Seven. Prince Naharan and six females.” Selma turned to look up at the demon accompanying her. “They made a deal—the females helped the Prince secure Kain, and in return he’ll be used for... for breeding. We need to save him.”

Kesh’s eyebrows rose at her words, but instead of commenting, he simply guided her to a black motorcycle.