Mirceo didn't think anyone could deserve his beloved sister--he'd raised her since she was a bashful, six-year-old imp--but Caspion came closest.
"A fated connection to your family?" Excitement lit the demon's expression. "Finally something to explain our connection."
"Where nothing else could?" Mirceo murmured. As a prince of Dacia, he'd never had a best friend. I'd hoped that I might have something to do with this bond.
"That came out wrong." Caspion took a drink from his flask. "I only meant that we have so many differences--our species, backgrounds, occupations, and . . . stations. We don't have much that ties us together."
But we finish each other's sentences. Our minds seem to be synced. We trust one another.
Did his affection for Caspion run deeper than the reverse? How? Mirceo was beloved by everyone, celebrated in his kingdom. And in his otherland social circle. And in pleasure palaces the Lore over. "In any case, Mina is of age now." Females grew into full immortality earlier than males--with no blooding drama to deal with. Mina had transitioned a few months ago, right around the time she'd turned twenty-one.
He pulled out a picture of her that he always kept in his pocket. Handing it to Caspion, he said, "May I present Princess Kosmina." In the likeness, fair Mina gave a shy smile.
"Stunning." The demon's pupils enlarged at the sight. "But I never saw myself with a royal. Someone so superior." Caspion cared more about class distinctions than anyone Mirceo had ever known--yet he never fawned or groveled.
"Being considered superior would amuse her. She's deathly shy and passive, can't meet a stranger's eyes."
"A passive female would suit me well."
Hard to believe that not even a month ago, Mirceo had planned to bed this demon and win a wager. The joke's on me. Caspion, his possible brother-by-fate, was officially off the menu.
Pity. Mirceo had begun to suspect he could truly seduce Caspion, dragging him over the finish line. Though the demon had shown no desire to join in when Mirceo bedded males, he'd never seemed particularly averse to it either. "Basically, she's as retiring as I am arrogant--except when she's sword fighting. Mina is a mistress at arms."
"She sounds incredible." Caspion gazed over at Mirceo with an unsure expression. "How would you feel about a no-name demon paired with your beloved sister?"
Rolling his eyes, Mirceo shoved him off the bridge.
Used to Mirceo's antics, the demon simply traced back into place. Attention on the likeness, Caspion said, "I do feel something for her. A sense." He flashed Mirceo his heartbreakingly boyish smile. "You help me with your sister, and we'll give you a score of nieces and nephews." The demon had told Mirceo he wanted dozens of children, reasoning: Though I have no line before me, I could forgive fate for that if I had a line to come after me. "When can I meet her?"
"There's the catch. It's too dangerous for her to leave Dacia." A plague in the otherlands had wiped out female vampires, even fully immortal ones. "And we allow no passing visitors inside our hidden realm. You'll be denied entry--unless you're willing to remain in our underworld forever."
"I'd be trapped down there?"
"Worse. You can leave, but if you did, you'd be hunted by my uncle Trehan." Mina and Mirceo were so young compared to their older cousins that they called Trehan, Viktor, and Stelian uncle. "You would leave only to die."
"I can't meet her for five minutes just outside of your realm?"
Mirceo took the portrait back. "Though she would love to venture forth, I will never permit it." He shuddered at the thought of losing her.
"Then what choice do I have?" Caspion said. "Something is at work here. My instincts tell me to go, and I trust them." He squared his shoulders. "I'm prepared to take this risk."
"I want you to think about your decision overnight."
Surprise flickered over the demon's face. "What's to think about? What male wouldn't rush headlong to meet his beautiful mate?"
"Hear me, friend"--Mirceo pinned Caspion's gaze with his own--"your choice will affect the rest of your eternal life."
FOUR
The Realm of Blood and Mist
The demon is officially back on the menu.
"I have a surprise for you," Mirceo said at the end of Caspion's first week in Dacia. They stood on the balcony of Mirceo's sprawling clifftop villa, one nearly as elevated as the empty royal castle.
As he and Caspion surveyed the sleepy realm and drank from crystal chalices, Mirceo savored the demon's rain-and-leather scent. Everything I can do not to bite him . . .
"A surprise?" Caspion asked absently, taking a drink. Since discovering he felt nothing more than brotherly affection for Mina, he'd been rocked with disappointment. He'd confessed to feeling protective of her--much as he did with Bettina.
But Mina's loss was her brother's gain. Mirceo had become convinced he could bed the demon. Over the last week, he could swear Caspion's regard for him had deepened. Little hints made Mirceo hope.
A glimmer of awareness in the demon's eyes. An overlong stare. A change in his scent.
Whenever Caspion grew lusty, his rain-and-leather thread skewed more toward leather; Mirceo had picked up on that--when the two of them had been alone together.
Yet he was running out of time--his heart continued to slow--which meant he could no longer play fair with the demon. Tonight it will happen. "Yes, a particularly toothsome surprise."
In a noncommittal tone, Caspion said, "Your surprises always are." He seemed even less interested in the debauchery they'd enjoyed.
Mirceo's interest had waned as well. He'd used to love watching Caspion in the throes with others, but lately he'd experienced only dissatisfaction. He asked the demon, "What's going on in that head of yours?" Mirceo's ever-growing lust was equaled only by his fascination with Caspion's mind.
What shadows lurked? What hidden desires lay untapped? He found himself hanging on this male's every word.
Unhappiness tinged Caspion's eyes. "This place is a marvel, and I'm one of the few outsiders who's seen it. Not bad for a no-name demon." When Caspion had first beheld Mirceo's lavish residence, he'd pulled at his collar, fearing he'd break something valuable.
So Mirceo had set about smashing priceless vases until Caspion had cast him a hint of that boyish grin. Later, the demon had stared in awe at Mirceo's book collection. Though Caspion had never been jealous of his wealth, a stark envy had burned in the demon's eyes when he'd asked, "You've read all of those?"
Mirceo had already been planning to teach him to read. "I have," he'd answered. "And I promise you, my brilliant friend, you will as well. . . ."
Now Mirceo canted his head. "You didn't eat much at dinner."
Caspion had been surprised by the extravagan
t delicacies available in the kingdom, until he'd seen the number of otherlanders who made permanent homes here. Plus, vampire young ate food of the earth. He shrugged. "After so many years of hunger, I never thought I could lack an appetite."
Mirceo couldn't imagine starving. As perilous as royal life could be in Dacia, he and Mina had wanted for nothing.
Caspion's discontent was weighing on him, much as his sister's would. A crazy idea crossed his mind. What if the demon is my mate? Same-sex pairings weren't unheard of.
Mirceo couldn't know until his heart went full-stop. If it then restarted . . . "Do you have any theories about our strong affinity now?"
Caspion leaned against the balcony railing. "There are tales that have been passed down through generations of legendary friendships. Balladeers sing songs about them. I believe you and I share such a friendship."
In a softer tone, Mirceo said, "Yes. I like that idea." It made more sense than his own far-fetched notion. What hope did a thirty-year-old vampire have of finding his mate? "But you're not happy here?"
Caspion hiked his broad shoulders. "I took a chance. Given the same information, I would take that risk again."
"That's not what I asked."
"My instincts drew me to this place." The demon trusted his instincts more than Mirceo managed to do with his own. "But I do regret not checking on Bettina first. Coming here was rash. I got so caught up, so tunnel-visioned toward a certain future, that I couldn't see the things that are most important to me."
Mirceo wanted to be the most important thing to him. Damn it, why does he not fawn over me as others always do?
Caspion continued, "She is still vulnerable, and now I can't protect her." Without the ability to turn to mist, the demon wouldn't get permission to exit the kingdom. "She's used to me going away on jobs for months at a time, but things had been in flux when I left."
"What do you mean?"
"There was talk of going back to olden demonic ways." At Mirceo's questioning look, Caspion explained, "Marrying her off to whichever suitor is strongest."
"Surely she wouldn't agree to such a barbaric plan."
Caspion said, "Her guardians can be persuasive."
"Then I can go and watch over her. I'll check on her regularly."
Frustration thinned the demon's lips. "That's not the same." Caspion was as loyal as a Lykae.