The First Book of Demons (The Book of Demons Saga) by Raquel Dove Read Free Book Online Page B

slender form, droplets of water glistening in the sun as they trickled down her taught stomach.  He inhaled her scent, that still hung in the air of the tent.  It was intense; It was purity.  It was like nothing he had ever encountered before.  He wanted more of it, much more.  He remembered the hint of her arousal in her scent when his name was mentioned, and it served to deepen the strange allure that surrounded her. 
    Balthazar shook his head, clearing his mind of distractions.  He had to concentrate on defeating Baal before he had a chance to gain more support to anoint Hasan.  Then he could turn his full attention to the girl and the possibilities she brought. 

Chapter Fourteen
     
    Baal sat at a low table, reading his scout reports.  Hasan sat across from him, fidgeting with the end of his silk belt.
    “I’m bored,” Hasan said , reclining against a triangular cushion.  He let out a heavy sigh, “I want to return to the palace.  Do have this business taken care of quickly.”
    Baal lowered the parchment in his hand to his lap and looked up at the younger demon, his aged forehead heavily creased with wrinkles of vexation.  “Perhaps you should prepare for the upcoming fight. I don’t believe Balthazar will sit idly by and allow you to take the throne from him.”
    “Fight?” Hasan scoffed, reaching over the table and grabbing a fleshy piece of fruit from the table.  “I do not intend to dirty my hands with this.  That is what I have you for.”
    “So you do,” Baal said, his yellow eyes flat with the annoyance he was suppressing.  He returned to the report in his hand.  He would take care of the spoiled whelp in time, but for now he would have to tolerate him.  Baal had been waiting many years to seize power.  The kingdom needed a strong ruler.  Sultan Sami had at one time been a great and terrible leader, but the last years of his reign were plagued with compromise and a weak constitution.  In Baal’s opinion the assassination was the best thing that could happen, and now he would be the one to set the kingdom on the proper path. 
    A young, yellow eyed demon stepped through the heavy silk flap that covered the tent entrance, his broad shoulders opening to stand taller. He gave a passing glance at the demon prince that sat across from his father, his family’s ticket to royalty. 
    “Father,” he said with a curt bow, “I have located Balthazar.  He is with Tavi as you suspected.” 
    “You serve your father well, Raza” Baal said, his face alighted with pride in his only son.  Raza stood minutely taller at the measured praise from his father. 
    Hasan envied the two in that moment.  Sami had never showed much interest in Hasan, no matter what he did.  All Hasan had ever wanted was a little recognition from his father, a word of praise, or a glance of satisfaction.  Now the brother he most hated, Balthazar, stood to become the Lord Sultan.  The thought churned his stomach.  Baal offered him a glimmer of hope, a possibility that he could become the unchallenged ruler of the kingdom. Balthazar was fool enough to dismiss such an experienced and powerful demon as Baal, and replace him with a lowly concubine’s son.  It was an insult, and had he been as savvy as their father and the rest of the kingdom believed him to be, he would have known better.  His mistake would be Hasan’s final redemption. 
    “It appears they have found a strange creature , father.  She is not Devasi, or even demon for that matter,” Raza continued, “They are keeping her well protected.  I believe she is of value to Balthazar, and her scent is…unusual.”
    “A strange creature?” Baal asked, a calloused hand scratching at the stubble on his chin, “Bring her to me.”

Ch apter Fifteen
     
                  Alex intertwined her fingers, raising her arms high over her head and yawning lazily as a deep stretch washed over her.  She had spent much of the day carried on the litter;