He tasted like coffee and sweetness. His mouth unforgiving as he demanded my compliance with his whole body. Power fizzed across my nerves as I nipped at his lips in retribution. My position on the edge of the table meant his cock was perfectly lined up against my core as he bent me backwards and stole my breath. Fire travelled from my mouth straight to my pussy, leaving me damp and gasping as he pulled away just long enough for us both to breathe before descending again.

  The hand in my hair tightened slightly when I moaned softly while the one at my back pushed me even closer, holding me up effortlessly as our tongues swept out to duel.

  Some part of me knew that kisses with Neo would always be like this; a battle of wills.

  “Do you want me to stop?” he demanded when we surfaced for air. “Or is this not what you had in mind?”

  I couldn't think past the lust fogging my brain. We were so close that each word from his lips sent warm air over my bruised ones, and I raised my head to meet his eyes once more, our mating bond purring in contentment between us at the contact. “Just kiss me already.”

  His mouth sealed back to mine. The heat of him and the fierceness with which he kissed me was almost enough to disguise the chill of the shadow realm. I ignored it, happy to keep shutting out the real world for a moment longer.

  Softness at my back made me jolt upright.

  “I'm not ready for—” I began, looking around our empty room back at the fortress in dismay.

  Neo was already gone. The only evidence of our outing was my coffee and leftover breakfast, still steaming, on top of my dresser.

  “Stupid, irritating, obnoxious god!”

  I could swear I could feel his laughter down the bond, and that only made me madder.

  “Fine. Fine! I still have work to do, anyway,” I muttered.

  As if I was going to be able to concentrate when my whole body ached for him.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The little black dress I wore was not revenge for Neo leaving me high and dry after breakfast and disappearing for the rest of the morning. It was just the only black dress I owned.

  Or at least, that was what I was trying to tell myself as I paced the foyer in frustration.

  I was going to be late to the memorial if he didn't hurry up. As the organiser, I should have been the first to get there, even if I was working remotely.

  When I got my hands on that irritating, gorgeous, arrogant⁠—

  I almost squeaked when I felt the shadow realm once more, but my first reaction was to whirl, looking for the man responsible.

  “We're late!” I growled when I saw him.

  He looked delectable, of course, in a black shirt and matching jeans.

  “Actually, we're seven seconds early.” He didn't even have the decency to sound repentant as he shrugged.

  “I'm the organiser. I should be the first one to arrive!”

  I was dimly aware that we had an audience, but I'd had it with the way this man manhandled me at every opportunity. Then, as if to taunt me, another bolt of power zapped through me so strongly that I almost fell over.

  Infuriating man!

  The redhead who stormed out of Vice distracted me just long enough for my mind to realise that literally everyone was watching me lose my shit.

  “Aren't you going to introduce us?” Rina said, glancing between us.

  I sighed, cheeks flushing with embarrassment as my eyes danced between my twin and the rest of our friends.

  “Guys, this is my mate, Neo. Neo, this is my twin, Lulu; her mates, Adrian and Dorian; Rina and her mate, Fintan; and you know Lilith and her mates…”

  “Neo?” Lulu echoed.

  I just shrugged. “He picked it, not me. It's better than calling him 'Strange God', don't you think?”

  “Definitely easier for you to scream when you come all over my face.” Neo had no qualms about interjecting himself into my thoughts.

  “We're now late,” he announced aloud, distracting the others so they didn't notice the tomato colour my cheeks turned at his sneaky antics.

  “That was rude!” I hissed.

  “More or less rude than being late to a memorial service?”

  “Aarrghhh!” I growled.

  That was it. I needed girl time.

  I linked my arm through Lulu's and dragged her away from the group, the rest of the girls keeping close while our men lingered behind.

  “He's driving me insane.”

  “That's what mates do.” Rina rolled her eyes. “Fintan makes me so crazy I want to stab him most of the time.”

  “Then he's got being mated down to an art.” Lulu chuckled. “Does he do the thing where, whenever he's in the wrong, he distracts you with something adorable or sweet, and suddenly you forget why you were angry in the first place?”

  Rina rolled her eyes again. “At least yours can't read your mind—memories—ugh, whatever it is he does.”

  “None of you can complain,” Lilith said, that happy, sappy, love-sick smirk plastered on her face. “I have seven times more trouble than most of you.”

  “None of yours have the ego of a man who used to be a deity,” I retorted, glancing over my shoulder at the object of discussion.

  I'd be surprised at how far away Neo had let us get, if I didn't know he could be right beside me in the blink of an eye.

  “At least he's hot.” Lulu sighed. “But you're okay, right?”

  If Neo was to be believed, I was the furthest from safe I could possibly be.

  I couldn't say that. Couldn't say anything that might constitute betraying his secrets.

  Fucking bargain. We'd have a much better chance of solving this problem together. Not that Neo saw it that way.

  I took a deep breath and nodded. “I think so. It's different than I expected, but not bad. He has his quirks, but nothing I can't handle so far.”

  “Quirks?”

  “He blew up the microwave when it beeped at him, then an hour later, he destroyed the little automatic hoover when it bumped into his foot.”

  “Really?” Lilith laughed.

  “I'm hoping to make it through the week without him slaying any more household appliances. The washing machine already had a near miss when it kicked into a spin cycle.” Rasz had taken to reporting Neo's household accidents to me.

  “No sign of him trying to take over the world yet?” It was hard to miss the worried undertone in Lilith's voice.

  “Not yet.” I shrugged. “He has to figure out a computer first. Though he does learn fast. And things that took us forever to learn—like PK, aerokinesis, and that sort of stuff—he just seems to know without being told.”

  I didn't mention chronokinesis. They thought they knew how powerful he is, but they didn't know. Not like I did. Right now, they thought they'd have a chance against him. The truth would scare them.

  When Neo caught up with the ways of the modern world, nothing would be beyond his reach.

  Our conversation drifted into silence as we reached the hall.

  Lilith led the memorial with a confidence that made me smile from my seat beside Neo. A few years ago, she'd been afraid of her own shadow. Now she was Prime. Powerful in her own right.

  The nostalgia was bitter-sweet, and I smiled at the memory of those early days when things were so much simpler. It might have been wrong of me, but I didn't really pay attention to the rest of the remembrance speeches, or the blessings that followed them. My thoughts were on Neo, sitting stoically beside me.

  Did he regret that his rebirth had come at such a high cost? Sure, Vendra had been to blame, but by his own admission, he'd engineered this whole thing. Surely he would have chosen a more peaceful path if it had been available, right?

  Then came the moment we'd been dreading.

  Lilith stood back up and began to speak, but my focus was firmly on Neo.

  “During the battle, when Vendra looked close to victory, I was graced with a surge of power from the Strange God.” She flared her larger wings to emphasise my point. “His touch was strong enough to draw the shadow realm fractionally closer to our own, triggering the showings of every unshown on this earth. Now, all demons are equal. As long as I live, no demon will be subjugated or enslaved because of their caste.”

  Neo was frowning, and I could sense his displeasure down the bond. On autopilot, my hand came up to rest on his bicep.

  “Don't make a scene. She's doing this to protect you.”

  I didn't know if my words got through to him. The tension in his muscles didn't leave, but his own hand came up to trap my own in place.

  “In addition, I can confirm that demonic pregnancies are now occurring across the world without the traditional rituals.” Lilith dropped the bombshell that had triggered the need for her 'confession' with the calm, reassuring manner of a healer. “This blessing will play a huge part in bringing our species back from the brink of extinction, but I must urge all demons—male and female—who are not in a position where they would like to conceive to visit a healer to have their fertility refrozen in an easily reversible process.”

  The mutterings in the room grew louder, but Lilith just held up her hand for silence and continued. “Our world has changed, yes. But if we focus more on what we have to gain, and less on what we have to give up, I'm confident that it will be a positive change for all of us. Today we've honoured the memory of those people who died to protect our freedom. Men and women who gave everything because they believed in a fairer society. I believe these changes will bring about the equality they fought for, and I welcome the future where new generations of demons will never know the anguish of being declared unshown, or the struggle of multiple long and convoluted rituals to try to conceive.”

  She stepped down from the dais as the room erupted into applause. Only those who knew her would recognise the determined set of her jaw and the uncomfortable look in her eyes.

  “She lied,” Neo grumbled as I dragged him out of the room and away from the crowd who had swamped my best friend.

  “If she hadn't, they would have chased her for the truth. You didn't want your presence here advertised, anyway. This was the best idea we had.”

  He didn't say any more as I pulled him out of the castle and through the grounds. The farther he was from the questioning eyes of everyone else, the better things were.

  If I didn't already know how talented he was at using hallucikinesis, I might have questioned how no one in the audience had noted his wings or horns.

  “Nells, wait up!”

  Lulu's voice carried, and I jerked to a stop automatically, looking over my shoulder.

  My twin dragged her mates behind her as she raced to reach me across the courtyard.

  She pulled me into a hug as soon as she saw me, and I returned it, glancing over her shoulder at the two men behind her.

  Hadrian and Dorian were brothers, but they were complete opposites. Not quite in the same way as Neo and Matteo, but still. How come Lulu's mates weren't jealous of one another? Lilith's managed to share her between seven of them, for fuck's sake.

  “Are you really okay?” she whispered into my hair.

  I nodded. “Yeah. It's… not how I imagined it… but, yeah. I hope it will be.”

  Lu pulled back. “He's not…”

  I understood her immediately. “No. Nothing like that.”

  “And there's everything…”

  “I'm fine. I promise. I can get anything I'm missing, no problem.”

  “I worry about you.”

  “I know. I'm really fine, though.”

  “Mum was pissed that you didn't bring him to see her.”

  I rolled my eyes at that one. “She was occupied.”

  “Still, you could have waited.”

  Lulu had always had more patience for our mother than I had. Perhaps because they both had the same tendency to love fast, free, and easily. Still, introducing Neo to her was the last thing on my mind.

  “Have you bonded?” she asked, and gasped when I nodded. “Have you…?”

  I wish I didn't know what she meant by that question.

  “No.” God, could my cheeks get any redder today?

  “Do you want to…?”

  I gave her the look. “Lulu.”

  “Stupid question, of course you want to.”

  My whole face must have been blushing as I shot a glance over my shoulder at Neo and tried to untangle myself from her embrace. “Let go, you weirdo.”

  “Neo and Nelly sitting in a⁠—”

  I fake swatted at her. “Go and bother your own mates.”

  She didn't. Being Lulu, she strolled straight up to Neo instead.

  “What are your intentions toward my twin?” she demanded.

  Neo's smile grew impossibly wide. “Why, little sister, that's no way to greet your future brother-by-mating.”

  Lulu snorted. “Stop avoiding the question.”

  “I intend to keep her locked in my bedroom for the rest of her days.”

  Some sisters would be concerned by that statement. Lulu just shrugged and beamed.

  “Good luck.”

  With a last wink at me, my sister abandoned me, skipping back toward her mates with an extra spring in her step.

  I collapsed onto the bench beside him with a sigh of relief, only to stand straight back up when I saw Rezinax darting through the crowd.

  “I'll be back⁠—”

  Neo's hand on my arm stopped me in my tracks. “Where are you going?”

  “I've got to speak to Rezinax.”

  “Are you sick?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Weren't you listening? Demons can get pregnant now. I could get—” I broke off, laughing. I couldn't hold it back when he had such a comical, shocked expression on his face. “You honestly didn't consider that at all when you were trying to get into my pants?”

  His grip on my arm loosened, and I hastened toward the fleeing healer.

  “Head Healer?” I called as soon as I was close enough.

  “Drabos.” She looked a little relieved to see me, and I tried to hold in my smirk and failed.

  Rezinax and McCormix's tumultuous courtship had become the stuff of gossip legend. How the strict, matronly healer had become mated to the affable rebel was beyond most people's comprehension. It certainly made things entertaining.

  “I suppose you want your fertility frozen?” She was as businesslike as usual, her hand outstretched.

  I took her palm, smiling at the gentle, soft feeling of her power.

  “Done.” She turned on her heel.

  “Aren't you staying?”

  She didn't even turn back. “Not a chance. That bloody lunatic…” Her words trailed off as she got too far away for me to hear.

  “You could have asked me to do it.”

  I wasn't surprised that Neo had followed me. His arms banded around my shoulders, pulling me into him even as he pushed my boundaries that little bit further

  “You're my mate, not my doctor,” I replied. “I'd rather not have you rummaging around in my insides.”

  I smirked as I realised the unintentional innuendo, but Neo wasn't smiling.

  “You had your fertility frozen.”

  “Yes. I'm not ready to be a mum. I want to be—” I knew it was cliche, but I wanted a house filled with tiny demons, chaos and laughter in my future. “But not while things are so crazy.”

  He was silent for a long time, just holding me close. After a while, I tugged out of his hold and headed for a bench. He trailed behind me, still unspeaking, and sat when I did.

  What was going through his mind? Did he not want children? Had I really just rendered the Strange God speechless?

  “When Lilith comes, can you give us a little bit of space?” I asked, switching to a less personal subject.

  He nodded but still took a second to respond. “I will remain close if anything happens.”

  I broke his hold and stepped away, gaping at him. I'd expected him to refuse that request, arguing about my safety.

  “It would look suspicious if you suddenly disappeared,” he defended, not meeting my gaze. “I'll be in the shadow realm.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I'm not a complete Neanderthal.” He appeared bemused by the idea. “I'm not that old.”

  We lapsed back into silence, and I dared a glance up at him.

  “Penny for your thoughts?”

  His soft smile soothed something in me. “What if I'm not thinking of anything?”

  I rolled my eyes. “We both know that's not true.”

  A familiar set of horns started heading towards us in the crowd, interrupting whatever either of us might have said next.

  Neo stood as Lilith drew closer.

  “I'll return when you call for me,” he murmured.

  With a brief nod to her, and a final cautious scan of the crowd beyond, he teleported away.

  “Well, that was intense,” Lilith muttered as she approached, less awkward now that Neo was gone.

  “He's just like that.” I supposed it came from decades of dictating things to his minions as a god. “I wasn't lying earlier, Lilith; he's strange—a little scary—but I feel safe with him.”

  Neo wouldn't do anything to put me in danger, and that was half the problem.

  “You know I have to ask this,” she whispered, slipping into the seat beside me. “And I wouldn't if he wasn't who he is. But, is he dangerous to others?”

  I shrugged, because that was really a matter of perception. “Is Enzo? Is Blaze? Neo is dangerous, but that doesn't mean he's going to do the terrible things he's capable of.”

  “Just in case, humour me… Have you learned anything about him? About why he wanted to come to the physical realm?”

  This was the tricky part. I had no idea where the boundaries of my bargain would come into play. I needed to play it vague, but not so vague that she called my bluff. Any hint that I was being silenced and Lilith would raise hell on my behalf.

  I loved her for her protectiveness, but I knew what I was doing.

  If she started anything that drew attention to Neo, it could tip off the Sect. Then things would get messy fast.

  I nodded as I considered my words carefully. “He came here for me. As far as I can tell, he's been trapped in the shadow realm for thousands of years and was planning his escape all that time. His house is huge, and people were working there when I arrived—paid servants who've spent decades building his assets and following his instructions. They know exactly who he is but owe him a debt, so they keep their silence.”