Page 70 of Her Demon Mate

Vylco walks up to us, lifting a glass in the air. “Here’s a toast,” he says gravely. I know that he is very drunk right now. “A toast to the living. And a toast to being bound by rock and fire and all that.”

“Yes,” Elia says seriously after we clink our glasses together. “I think it is time for me to focus on the living.”

And I know exactly what she means.

33

ELIA

“This was so perfect.” I cannot help but gush as we look out at the scene around us.

Azron and I are still linked by the Mesoa rock bracelet that the soz’garoth demon who married us tied around our hands. The Mesoa rock is pitch black with a silver hue and shimmers in the moonlight that shines down from Ediea.

Neomia is nowhere to be seen tonight. Tonight, only one moon hangs in the sky.

It is as if the gods and goddesses knew that I needed a night free of the reminder of the xaphan.

“I’m glad you liked it.” Azron lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses the back of my palm.

I smile up at him, and we wander over to one of the tables where food is being served.

There are very few people at this wedding. Vylco is there, to represent both Azron and I. Azron’s mother is attending the wedding, and some of his distant family members are also in attendance.

But not everyone approved of a demon having a human bride, and that really cut down on the numbers.

And of course, I have no one.

I cried about it at first, before the wedding, when I realized that, aside from Vylco, I would be completely alone.

But I think I came to terms with it. Besides, I am no longer alone.

I look down at the bracelet that links Azron and I, while he scarfs down a plate of braised dripir meat.

I will never be alone again.

We only retire for the night after two in the morning. We wait for all the guests to leave, and then we help clear up the slight mess we made on the beach.

We also disentangle ourselves from the Mesoa bracelet, though Azron folds it up carefully and places it in his pocket.

We are already bound together for life, but I know that we both want to keep the bracelet as proof.

Afterwards, Azron helps his mother home. Despite her illness, she was determined to spend the entire night with us. But by the time everyone else has left, she is so weak and exhausted that Azron practically has to carry her home.

I am waiting for him outside the front door to our cottage when he returns. I already kicked off my shoes and pulled my hair out of its ornate braid.

The flowers, aracin blossoms that grow on the beach in patches that I threaded through my hair for the wedding, have fallen to the ground.

My breath catches in my throat as Azron walks up to the cottage.

I can’t believe all this is mine. After all this time. This is all mine.

Ediea’s light shines bright and burning tonight. Usually Neomia is the brighter and stronger of the two moons.

But tonight it is as if Ediea is taking full advantage of Neomia’s absence. And right now, Azron is standing in the center of one of Ediea’s moonbeams.His red skin glows, and his horns, which are darker even than the night sky, glint in the moonlight.

He pauses at the gate of the cottage before he strides confidently up the path.

As if the situation we are in is nothing new to him. As if he has been preparing for this marriage, for this house, forme,his entire life.