The Demon Lord (A Demon Outlaws Novella) (Entangled Edge) Read Online Free PDF

strength to withstand any type of assault.
    But she had to want to withstand them. In that regard he would have to trust her, and trust was not something he did easily.
    As he rose from the rocks and shifted to demon form, preparing for flight, he pushed worry aside. She was his. She had given him her name, and he had given her no reason to stray. Physically, she had been well satisfied when she left. But he did not like being parted from her.
    That had to end.
    …
    Allia returned to the mountain temple as dawn reddened the sky.
    She did not enter at once, but rather found a secluded spot in the sprawling forest where she could sit alone and think. She chose a wooden bench that crouched beneath a canopy of interwoven branches in an abandoned garden. The bench was gray and withered with age, and covered in a thick mantle of pine needles and curled leaves.
    This place had once been a favored refuge, but the goddesses had neglected it for so long that the mountain had reclaimed much of it. The change startled her. Immortals were not good at measuring time, and she had not realized so much of it had passed since she’d last been here.
    The amulet she had been given was safely tucked in her clothing, near her heart. She did not want the others to see it, but she could not bear to take it off.
    She had made her decision. Now she needed to find the courage to implement it.
    Familiar footsteps approached, moving with caution through the underbrush, then hesitated, as if the person did not wish to interrupt her privacy but had no choice. She knew who it would be, and she could use her support.
    “It’s all right,” Allia called out. “You can join me.”
    Desire moved into view, pushing aside the low-hanging, grasping branches of pine and fir that had spread over the old path.
    “Forgive me for intruding. You seemed troubled,” she said, the kind concern radiating from her face giving her a loveliness no immortal could ever possibly emulate.
    This was yet another bond Allia had not fully realized was so important to her. Once touched by a goddess, a priestess was hers for life. While there had been other handmaids over the years, none were as devoted to her as Desire, who knew instinctively when something was wrong and sought her out to offer comfort.
    “I’m leaving,” Allia said to her. “I have no idea what will happen to you when I go.”
    Desire did not seem surprised by the announcement. She sat on the bench beside her and took her hand. “I’ll be fine. I knew after the first night you spent with him and said nothing about it to the others, that there was no turning back for you.”
    “Why didn’t you say something to them? Or to me?”
    Desire squeezed her fingers. “Who am I to offer guidance to any immortal?”
    “My most trusted companion. My friend. I value you as much as my sisters.” Allia blinked back tears. “Am I making the wrong choice?”
    “You’ll be giving up a lot for him,” Desire said. “What is he giving up for you in return?”
    Nothing, as yet. She hoped that would change, and had given it a lot of thought. “I want to take him to the goddess boundary and see if my amulet, the one I wear, will help him cross through it with me. If it does, we can find another place on this world for us to be together.”
    Desire chose her response carefully. “Why not leave this world entirely?”
    “Because I can’t,” Allia confessed. “I could never bear to be so far from my sisters. I’ve come to love this world and everything in it, including the pleasures it brings me when I’m with him.” Especially those. If they were to leave, the bond between them would remain. So would the love. But the physical pleasures would be lost to them because those pleasures were mortal. “I don’t expect you to understand.” Desire took the wonders of her world for granted. She’d never known anything else, so had nothing to compare it against.
    A twig cracked nearby. A squirrel dashed up a tree and