Page 60 of Sweet Dreams

I barely got the words out before she was interrupting, “Oh my gosh. Do you know Bailey?”

I nodded, trying to connect the dots. “Of course.”

Lucia was tapping her chin now, her fingers drumming the neat red nails. “That must mean that you are Zaldi’s mate.” She nodded as if that made perfect sense and continued before I could even confirm, “A human mate–It makes so much sense. Arafel and I have been trying to figure out why he wanted to stay in the living world so badly. We always wondered. He never told us, but, clearly, there was something there that was keeping him tied to the living world.” Her eyes met mine. “That must’ve been you, huh?”

I wasn’t sure whether she really needed me to respond, but when she blinked expectantly at me, I finally nodded.

Lucia looked around the field again. “Why are you out here? And sleeping in a field? I know the village isn’t that far away, and it’s plenty nice.”

I blushed, and she must’ve noticed, because immediately her head fell back, and she was laughing.

“Okay. I’ve been there before, too,” she said, “I don’t have any extra pants on me, but I will stand here, and we can pretend that it’s normal if any other incubi come by before he returns.” She cast me a knowing look. “I’m guessing he ran back for clothes, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I said softly. “We were hoping to chat with his boss about him coming to stay in Salus Glen for a longer period of time. But I obviously couldn’t do that looking like this.”

Lucia’s lips puckered for a minute, her chin tightening as if she might be suppressing a laugh, before she cleared her throat. “Yeah, for sure, you shouldn’t talk to him like that. Pants are a requirement for the Prince of Hell.”

Chapter Nineteen

Zaldi

I looked from one woman to the other slowly, carefully, waiting to make sure that having both of them in the same room didn’t break this hallucination that I was currently living in.

“And you just ran into each other,” I said quietly, “in the field?” I directed the look at my mate as I waited to see what the Devil-damned Princess of Hell said back.

Lulu shrugged. “Yeah, I guess you could say that we’re pretty close already, considering that she has seen more parts of me than anybody else ever should. Except for you, maybe,” she said after a second.

I did not have the mental energy to unpack that, but my brain stuttered for a moment all the same. When I could speak again, I got out a simple, “And, you know who she is?” I repeated under my breath.

“Lucia,” Lulu said casually.

“Lucia,”—who could strip me from my bones if she tried hard enough—grinned broadly at me. “It’s good to see you again, Zaldi.”

“And you, as well,” I said, biting down on my tongue, refraining from calling her Lady Lucia, as I had once before, long before I knew that she hated the terminology and the extras that came with being Lord Arafel’s mate.

I opened my mouth, thinking about how I might start to explain this to Lulu before it went too much further, when the door opened, and in stepped the Prince of the Dream Realm, Arafel.

It didn’t surprise me that Lulu’s mouth actually dropped open. Compared to my red skin and strong build, Arafel was still monstrous-looking—well over six and a half feet tall, with his huge black wings spread over his shoulders. He looked like some kind of avenging angel from one of those TV shows everyone in Salus Glen was obsessed with.

But, as I knew him, he was a kind, good male. He would hear us out. Or, at least, I hoped he would. I now had to explain the years of dodging and ducking all of their questions and inquiries as to why I was so obsessed with staying in the living world. I glanced at Lulu, noticing that she had shaken herself free of stupor and was now watching with wide eyes as Lucia walked up to Arafel with a smile on her pretty face. In the next instant, Lulu’s eyes slid to mine, catching my gaze and giving me a hard what the fuck is happening look.

I straightened and stepped forward. “Lord Arafel, I’m so glad you could join us. My mate and I have a question for you. We promise not to take up too much of your time.”

“The human is yours,” the large demon prince asked, looking between me and Lulu and back again. “Interesting development,” he added calmly, turning toward Lucia. “I see that you’ve already met my mate?” His hand laid possessively at Lucia’s waist.

Lulu, who had remained mostly spellbound until now, suddenly shook herself. “It’s very nice to meet you,” she said, first pulling her hands free, then offering a half-bow–a half-curtsy before glaring at me with what I could only interpret as barely restrained exasperation at my lack of help in the circumstance.

I swallowed before bowing quietly from the waist and straightening again. From the corner of my eye, I saw Lulu do the same, shuffling closer to me as the demon lord nodded towards us.

After a long moment, he spread his arms wide. “So,” he said, “what do you want to talk to me about?”

I could hear the humor in his voice, the barely restrained curiosity he was well known for. “I wish to remain in the living world with my mate for as long as we both can,” I said.

“Ah, in Salus Glen,” Arafel clarified, “You’ve been happy there?”

“Yes,” I answered quietly. “It is where her heart is. And I belong with her.”

“Interesting,” he said—not quietly. “And, your brother and his mate also remain there as well, correct?”