Paula Altenburg - Black Widow Demon

“What about children?” he asked. “Do you want those, too?”

“If they’re yours,” she said.

The hope in him swelled a little more, the barrier against it ready to break, yet still, he resisted. “You don’t want children of mine.”

“Why not?” she demanded. “Demon blood has already been mixed with mortal. That can’t be undone. Do you think any children we might have between us will be somehow better or worse than the ones that already exist?”

“I haven’t led the kind of life most fathers do. I wouldn’t make a very good one.”

Relief left her faint. She gave a small laugh, even though tears blurred her vision. “My father was a demon ,” she said. “You hardly compare to that.”

He did not seem convinced, but she knew that he wanted to be. She stripped off her gloves and stuck her hand in her coat pocket, withdrawing the gift she had crafted for him. It glinted in the light, a heavy silver chain attached to a thick chunk of smoky quartz that she had carved into a dagger-shaped pendant. Walker had searched the mines for a lot of hours to find her exactly what she wanted.

She reached up to place the chain over Blade’s head.

“This is a dream stone,” she said, “from the mortal world. It has no special properties. You can’t walk in the demon boundary or create one of your own when you wear it. It won’t protect you from demons. It’s a symbol of my love for you and that I dream of you, nothing more than that.” She tangled her fingers in the silver chain and drew his mouth to hers. “You’ve faced demons for me. I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to prove his love more than that—although I’m not asking you for proof I don’t need. I’m asking you to allow yourself to love me back.”

He cradled her head in the palms of his hands, resting his forehead to hers. “I do love you. I can’t promise I’ll be good at it because I’ve never loved anyone before, and the thought of failing you frightens me far more than demons ever could.”

“Fail me?” She fought back tears. “You saved me. When I set Justice on fire—when I watched him burn in the boundary—in the back of my head was your voice, telling me you aren’t afraid of the demon in me. That I’m not a demon. You can only fail me now by not allowing yourself to love me.” She slid her arms around his waist. “Can you be happy here?” she asked, suddenly anxious. “With me?”

“I can’t imagine being happy anywhere without you.” He crooked a finger beneath the dream stone amulet and raised it between them. He blinked several times as he struggled for words. “You say this has no special properties, but you’re wrong. It speaks to me, reminds me we belong together, and that the future brings hope. I don’t allow myself to love you—I do so because I can’t stop myself. Nor do I want to.”

He kissed her then, as the stars began to emerge in the deepening sky. Her demon, never far from the surface whenever Blade touched her, almost purred with deep and intense satisfaction that this man was hers. Now and forever.

Blade rested his forehead against hers, holding her close in his arms. “I can’t keep you from the demon boundary, as much as I wish I could. All I ask is that you don’t go there without me.”

“Never again,” Raven said. “When you’re with me, I don’t fear the dark. We’ll fight our demons. Together.”

I’d like to thank Danielle Poiesz and Kerri-Leigh Grady for being such thorough editors and asking hard, detailed questions. The entire team at Entangled Publishing is so amazing to work with.

Paula Altenburg lives in rural Nova Scotia, Canada, with her husband and two sons. Once a manager in the aerospace industry, she now enjoys the luxury of working from home and writing full time. Paula also co-authors paranormal romance under the pseudonym Taylor Keating. Visit her at www.paulaaltenburg.com.