Felicity sat back in the velvet chair. “Why?” she breathed. “I really don’t understand. Why is this so important to you?”
He blew on soup before shoving the spoon in his mouth. “Your brother and I had an agreement.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Why else?”
His dark eyes darkened further. “You’ve been in my dreams for a century. Perfect golden hair and black eyes. A purebred female demon.”
“I’m not some trophy.”
“Sure you are.” He smiled again. “Do you have any idea how rare you are?”
She leaned back. “Yes.” The guy was a narcissistic asshole who’d rather see her dead than living away from him. “Have you tried seeking professional help for your narcissistic, sociopathic tendencies?” Steeling her shoulders, she dug into the soup to banish the dizziness.
He chuckled. “I like your spirit. You’ve caused me so much trouble, I now have my own people wanting to spill my blood. Mating you, the mother to Zane Kyllwood and a purebred demon, will put me back in control. Especially when I combine your fortune with mine and start investing again.”
“I’m broke.” She finished the bowl and sat back. As if by magic, the waiter appeared with her next course, a big steak. She winced.
“We both know you have plenty of money.” Ivan handed over his soup bowl. “You still don’t like meat?” He shrugged. “For now, I’d eat it anyway. Protein is the key to flushing your system of the current drug and preparing you for the next one.”
Yes. The queen had had Felicity eat a high-protein diet for a month before trying out the mutated drug. But Felicity had taken time to find protein she liked and didn’t have to eat meat. She had no objection to anybody else eating meat . . . she just didn’t like the taste or texture. Even so, she immediately reached for the fork and steak knife left by the waiter. The knife would come in handy.
She cleared her throat and tried to use reason when all she wanted to do was shove the blade through Ivan’s jugular. “Listen, Ivan. I hate you. With a white hot, raw need to see you decapitated.” Her voice shook, and she forced air into her lungs. “I want you dead. That is not going to change ever. So if we stay in the same vicinity, I will kill you. Dead.”
He sighed. “I know.”
“So what the hell?”
He wiped his pale mouth and set his napkin back on his lap. “Since you’re being so honest, so will I.” His dark eyes burned with an odd light. “You’ll take the drug and negate the mating bond with the lowlife witch. You and I will mate, or I’ll kill Logan.” Ivan sat back and eyed his steak. “Mating you will get me back on track professionally and personally? I want two kids. Purebred demons.”
She shook her head, her chest aching. “You’re crazy. No way will I have children with you.”
He lifted a shoulder. “My doctors tell me all I need is to mate you and then harvest your eggs.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What?”
“Yes. Using the technology created by humans, I can just harvest your genetic material and use a surrogate.” His face lacked any sense of humor. “But we have to mate first, or the pregnancy won’t take, as you probably already know.”
He was over the moon crazy, but what if a crazy plan like that actually worked? She couldn’t leave any of her kids alone, and no way could she have a kid with the bastard. “Under no circumstances am I giving you genetic material.”
He smiled. “After we’re mated, I don’t see that you’ll have a choice. You’re stuck on this mountain, Felicity. And if you want Logan to live to see his next birthday, you’ll mate with me.”
She coughed out and tried to keep from puking. While the plan was absolutely insane, Ivan did have the resources to make it happen. “Then what?”
He smiled, his canines glinting. “Then I’m going to cut off your beautiful head.”
Chapter 29