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Mirceo didn't think anyone could deserve his beloved sister--he'd raised her since she was a bashful, six-year-old imp--but Caspion came closest

"A fated connection to your family?" Excite to explain our connection"

"Where nothing else could?" Mirceo murmured As a prince of Dacia, he'd never had a best friend I'd hoped that Ito do with this bond

"That ca" Caspion took a drink from his flask "I only rounds, occupations, andstations We don't have ether"

But we finish each other's sentences Our minds seem to be synced We trust one another

Did his affection for Caspion run deeper than the reverse? How? Mirceo was beloved by everyone, celebrated in his kingdom And in his otherland social circle And in pleasure palaces the Lore over "In any case, Mina is of age now" Ferew into full i draht around the time she'd turned twenty-one

He pulled out a picture of her that he always kept in his pocket Handing it to Caspion, he said, "May I present Princess Kosave a shy smile

"Stunning" The deht "But I never saw myself with a royal Someone so superior" Caspion cared more about class distinctions than anyone Mirceo had ever known--yet he never fawned or groveled

"Being considered superior would aer's eyes"

"A passive female would suit me well"

Hard to believe that not even a er The joke's on me Caspion, his possible brother-by-fate, was officially off the menu

Pity Mirceo had begun to suspect he could truly seduce Caspion, dragging hih the demon had shown no desire to join in when Mirceo bedded males, he'd never seemed particularly averse to it either "Basically, she's as retiring as I a Mina is a mistress at arms"

"She sounds incredible" Caspion gazed over at Mirceo with an unsure expression "Hoould you feel about a no-name demon paired with your beloved sister?"

Rolling his eyes, Mirceo shoved hie

Used to Mirceo's antics, the demon simply traced back into place Attention on the likeness, Caspion said, "I do feel soly boyish sive you a score of nieces and nephews" The de: Though I have no line before ive fate for that if I had a line to come after me "When can I meet her?"

"There's the catch It's too dangerous for her to leave Dacia" A plague in the otherlands had wiped out female va visitors inside our hidden real to remain in our underworld forever"

"I'd be trapped down there?"

"Worse You can leave, but if you did, you'd be hunted bycompared to their older cousins that they called Trehan, Viktor, and Stelian uncle "You would leave only to die"

"I can't meet her for five minutes just outside of your realm?"

Mirceo took the portrait back "Though she would love to venture forth, I will never per her

"Then what choice do I have?" Caspion said "Soo, and I trust them" He squared his shoulders "I'm prepared to take this risk"

"I want you to think about your decision overnight"

Surprise flickered over the demon's face "What's to think about? Whatto meet his beautiful mate?"

"Hear aze with his own--"your choice will affect the rest of your eternal life"

FOUR

The Realm of Blood and Mist

The demon is officially back on the menu

"I have a surprise for you," Mirceo said at the end of Caspion's first week in Dacia They stood on the balcony of Mirceo's sprawling clifftop villa, one nearly as elevated as the empty royal castle

As he and Caspion surveyed the sleepy realm and drank from crystal chalices, Mirceo savored the de I can do not to bite him

"A surprise?" Caspion asked absently, taking a drink Since discovering he felt nothing more than brotherly affection for Mina, he'd been rocked with disappoint protective of her--much as he did with Bettina