Noah. Jacquelyn Frank
separate for generation upon generation. Of course, we cannot know for sure until she comes into power as a Demon does or remains dormant as a Druid does…but the Prophecy speaks of Leah as a new breed of Demon—” Noah cut himself off, drawing even more of Corrine’s curiosity as he fidgeted with a small statuette in a manner that was very much out of character for the unflappable King. “Your sister will be busy these next nights. I had wondered who she would entrust Leah’s care to, considering that Demons can never be fully trusted around Samhain and—”
He broke off again, wrestling with intense private thoughts. Of course Corrine was quite familiar with the drawbacks that came with Demon holy days like Samhain and the phases of the moon around them. Just as she was familiar with the benefits of them.
It had been a full Samhain moon that had brought her and Kane together, giving her a blissful new life filled with passion and love. However, it had come very close to completely destroying her in the process. Corrine could appreciate Noah’s trepidation. Also, the King wasn’t married, or mated as the Demons called it, and that made it all the harder for him. Corrine hadn’t noticed any signs of Noah losing control, but it wasn’t exactly her area of expertise. What she could see was his disturbance of the moment.
Noah’s restraint was legendary and unparalleled, and his nature was consistently serene. It was only ruffled when his family came under threat. Even a threat to his society as a whole couldn’t disturb him to the depth that a threat to those dear to him could. So to see him disturbed in any way incited concern as well as curiosity.
Despite the soft warning in the back of her mind, Corrine threw patience and protocol aside with a sigh. “Noah, is there something I can help you with?”
Noah looked up from his distant study of the figurine, his jade eyes with their clouds of gray meeting hers in that way that only someone of royalty or great position seemed able to manage. Noah wasn’t a cruel or overtly strict monarch, but he was a man used to the privileges that came with his position, a position he’d earned the hard way. Demons selected their royal leader on merit alone, not entirely because of lineage or fortune of birth.
“Come on,” she coaxed the King gently, advancing into the room and purposely putting the warmth of her body into the influence of his personal space. It was a trick she’d learned from Kane. The best way to soothe the sometimes volatile temper of a Fire Demon, he’d told her, was to bring the warmth of her energy and its good intentions so close to them that it had a soothing effect. “I’m aware you care for me and Kane as much as anyone else, but you’re not in the habit of dropping in just to shoot the breeze. You love my sister like that, not me.”
Noah looked down at his feet and chuckled softly, a short sound followed by a rueful shake of his head. “You shame me,” he said quietly. “I never realized I played favorites so obviously.”
“Frankly, I prefer to be ill-favored,” she teased him with a pretty, flirtatious smile. “When you love someone, Noah, you elevate them to remarkable status in your circle of advisers or in your army of defenders. By all means, Noah, love my sister and leave me the hell alone!”
Finally, Noah truly laughed. He threw back his head, the reddish highlights within the ebony fall of gently curling hair gleaming sharply in the muted gaslight that lit the room. The sound of his laughter was infectious, and it made Corrine laugh with him. It also eased her to hear it, to see him relieving himself of the seriousness of whatever it was that was on his mind.
“You know something, you may have just thwarted your own effort, Corrine. Until now, I do not think I have truly appreciated the warmth of spirit and heart that runs through your family. I have credited one sister, while overlooking the other. For that, I beg your forgiveness.” He gave her a smart, cordial bow, and she stepped back from him with a chuckle.
“Damn it, if you make me a Council member or something, Kane is going to freak out,” she joked.
“Sorry. Only Elders are allowed on the Great Council.”
“Then explain my sister!” she demanded, reminding him that Isabella was barely thirty years old, not the requisite minimum of three hundred.
“Well, that is different. She is an Enforcer.”
“Yes, yes.” Corrine waved that off the way only an older sister could wave off a younger sister’s accomplishments. “Don’t make me accuse you of trying to change the subject again, Noah.”
“Perish the thought,” he assured her, his eyes turning serious again only a heartbeat after his words had. This time, she allowed him the pair of minutes he took to order his heavy thoughts. “I have struggled with myself for quite some time about the matter of seeking you out, Corrine,” he began at last. The King paced away from her briefly, and then turned to look at her. Corrine watched as he rubbed his hands together, as if warding off a chill. The concept of a Fire Demon catching chill was preposterous. She bit her lip, held her tongue, and somehow managed not to overstep herself. “Since we found you and Isabella, we have only been able to find three other Druids. Can you tell me why? What do you think is the cause?”
The question was pretty much out of left field, but if Noah was headed in the direction she suspected he was, it perhaps wasn’t so off topic.
“I have only a theory,” she responded willingly. “No one knew Druids still existed. Every Demon thought Druids had been annihilated in the war a millennium ago.” Corrine knew he was familiar with the history, so she kept it brief. “But when Jacob met Bella, and the night Kane touched me for the first time, triggering the birth of our dormant Druidic DNA, we all learned differently.”
“A hard lesson,” Noah observed.
“Yes,” she agreed. She tilted her head down with a half smile on the corner of her lips, the expression seeming more ironic than amused. “As you know, once a Druid’s genetics are triggered, they must remain within relatively close proximity of that Demon who will become their perfect Imprinted mate. Since Kane and I were separated right after our first contact, I was deprived of his key energy and suffered for it.
“With Bella, power acquisition was nearly instantaneous. With me, because of the energy starvation that Gideon likens to brain damage, it took a year or so before we even knew that my key talent was the ability to quest for the hidden Druid hybrids destined to be perfect mates for the Demons fate designed specifically for them.” She gave him a wry little smile. “So the first part of my answer is centered on the setbacks I suffered when I first became Druid, since there really is no other way to determine the unique Druidic dormancy that’s hidden amongst millions of humans.”
Corrine exhaled a deep sigh.
“The rest of the blame, however, lies at Demon doors,” she said. “I’m at full power now, Noah. I have been for the better part of a year. I’ve made no secret of what my main Druidic ability is. Still, I have to wait for your Demons to voluntarily come to me in search of their mates.” She flicked a frustrated glance over him as he stood there as the ultimate representation of his people. “They’ve been inexplicably recalcitrant. Why only three other Druids, you ask? Because there’s only been three Demons who have come to request my help. I can’t chase Demons down and force them to let me seek their mates. I need them open and willing in order to aid me in the success of my search. And those three Demons who did come to me? They reeked of the mental and physical desperation of Beltane and Samhain.
“I’m convinced that they came to me only as a last-ditch effort at avoiding doing something rash that would attract the punishment of the Enforcers.” She exhaled a short, bitter-sounding laugh. “I suppose I’m looked on as the lesser of the two evils. Better to be saddled with a Druid mate than to find the Enforcers bearing down on you.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand it! In human culture, we spend our lifetime seeking and longing for the perfect soul mate, most of us never knowing anything close to it. We’re left hurting and jaded as we fail over and over again. But here your people have a guaranteed path, through me, to finding that very thing, and they approach it like complex dental work or a plague! Maybe you can explain that to me, Noah, because I know I don’t understand it.
“Am