Fated to the Demon Queen (Book Two of the Demonic Angels Trilogy)

Chapter 5-Damon

Well, that could have gone worse; at least I'm still breathing. The gaping hole left in my chest after she spewed venom at me and walked away disagreed, but I knew this was coming. Once she's gone, I lay there for another minute looking at the stars, begging them to grant me this one wish. A wish I didn't even know I had; I never imagined myself mated to anyone, let alone someone as divine as Aylin. I had wanted three things in my life: a comfortable and fulfilled life for my family, and then when that was no longer a possibility, to see Silas fall and make the world right for the vampires.

But, there was no way I could let her go so easily; I do not know if it was a mercy or a damnation that I was fated to her. Mercy if she one day accepts me, damnation if she doesn't, and I live the rest of my immortal life without her. Fuck, I couldn't even imagine that. I would never be able to look at another woman, even if I did accept her rejection. I would die with her, or I would die alone.

I swallow the lump in my throat and get my pathetic ass up. When I go inside, I find Samirah's room and knock; the guard outside her room eyeing me suspiciously. A second passes before she opens the door and lets me in.

"Given that you look like a scorned lover, I'm going to assume things with the Queen aren't going to your liking?" she says as she sits cross-legged on her bed, her werewolf smut book next to her, lying open and face down, telling me I interrupted her before she was about to sleep.

"That's putting it nicely," I grumble before I scrub a hand down my face. "Samirah, I don't know what to do. I can't let her go, but I can't force myself on her. She rejected me, and I rejected it, but I didn't even know how to get close to her. She wants nothing to do with me," I tell her as I plop in the chair opposite her bed.

Samirah thinks for a moment before speaking.

"Well, first of all, you have to prove yourself a good man to her. Only you and I understand why we had to do the things we did, and she was a victim of that; if you're forced to accept her rejection, that's the price you'll have to pay. Second, take her to the Haven. There's no one who understands her better than them, and they trust you. Third, don't touch her." she says, looking at me sternly.

She actually bitch slapped me when I told her what I did yesterday in the garden. It truly was stupid and inconsiderate of me; rule number one at the Haven is that you touch no one without their consent, not even if it's something as simple as touching their shoulder. I deserved it, honestly. I let my own selfish needs get in the way. After watching her react to that wolf's touch earlier, I would go out on a limb and say she doesn't like contact unless necessary.

"And when she finds out I was leading the invasion on her castle the night she was raped?" I say

"You tell her the truth; Horace and his brothers disobeyed your orders whenever they saw her and did what they wanted, and you're not the only guilty one; I was there too. I had to hear of them killing children and not tear them to shreds. Maybe don't lead with that, though; we don't even know if she's seen a vampire since that night; it's likely you being mated to her is taking a toll on her. Just take it slow; if you've done everything you can and if you are making her suffer, accept her rejection.

"That's easier said than done," I sigh

"You're preaching to the choir, boy," she says, looking almost pained

I look at her for a long moment. She has been my only friend for almost a hundred and fifty years, and I know when something is eating at her. I know all about her human life with her late husband and son, and there's always sadness and longing when she talks about them, but this is different

"You going to explain?" I say, leaning forward

She sighs again, looking at her book before putting a bookmark in it and setting it on her nightstand, which tells me I've thoroughly annoyed her.