The Demon's Deal

The Demon’s Deal THE DEMON PRINCES BOOK ONE L. ALEXANDER Copyright © 2023 by L. Alexander All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, incidents, etc. are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual events, persons, gargoyles, demons, witches or fae, living or dead, is purely coincidental. ISBN: 978-1-958933-02-2 (Ebook) ISBN: 978-1-958933-03-9 (Paperback) Cover Design: Jessica, Enchanting Covers Interior Design: Stephanie Anderson, Alt 19 Creative Edited by: Krista Dapkey Created with Vellum For anyone who learned something about themselves when Howl said, “That’s my girl,” to Sophie. This one’s for you. And for me too, because same. He was her dark fairytale and she was his twisted fantasy and together they made magic. F. SCOTT FITZGERALD Contents Author’s Note 1. Calla 2. Calla 3. Calla 4. Calla 5. Calla 6. Rylan 7. Calla 8. Calla 9. Calla 10. Rylan 11. Calla 12. Calla 13. Rylan 14. Calla 15. Calla 16. Calla 17. Rylan 18. Calla 19. Rylan 20. Calla 21. Rylan 22. Calla 23. Calla 24. Rylan 25. Calla 26. Calla 27. Calla 28. Rylan 29. Calla 30. Calla 31. Calla 32. Rylan 33. Rylan 34. Calla 35. Calla 36. Calla 37. Rylan 38. Calla 39. Calla 40. Rylan 41. Calla 42. Calla 43. Calla 44. Calla 45. Rylan 46. Rylan 47. Calla 48. Rylan 49. Calla 50. Calla 51. Rylan 52. Rylan 53. Calla 54. Calla 55. Rylan 56. Calla Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Author’s Note This is not a dark romance, but there are some potentially triggering themes that come up throughout the book. You can find a list of tropes & content warnings below. Please reach out to me directly for specifics if needed, I’m more than happy to give details, page numbers — whatever helps you best decide if your mental wellbeing and this story are compatible. Tropes: fated mates, who hurt you, one bed, hidden powers, training sequence, amnesia, magic, familiars, gargoyles and demons, pseudo-medieval European setting, praise, affection through care-giving Content: kidnapping, instances of abuse & sexual abuse, explicit violence, death, explicit sexual content, brief gore, use of magic Chapter 1 Calla “Stop! No!” Thunder cracked angrily, swallowing my protests as a storm raged all around me. “Let me go!” Rough hands pulled at my arms, dragging me out the door of my grandparents’ home into the cold rain. I dug my heels into the dirt, but it was useless. The heavy rain had already turned everything to mud. I slid along behind my captors as lightning brightened the night sky with lethal beauty. The horses thrashed in the barn; their high-pitched whinnies screeched across the yard as the heavy clatter of hooves struck the walls. “Please, take whatever you want! There’s nothing of much value, but I have tools and bags of rye grain ready for market. There’s no reason to—” A meaty hand cracked across my cheek, leaving behind a hot sting and stunning me into silence. Taking the brief opportunity my shock provided, they picked me up and tossed me into the back of their wagon. My ribs protested as I landed hard on the wood floor. Hope flared as four young women reached forward to grab onto me as I tried to regain my breath. Their hold was decidedly unfriendly instead of welcoming, and my thoughts of gaining allies evaporated. These were not women in my same predicament. They were accomplices. The man and woman who had knocked on my door requesting shelter from the storm just a few short moments ago climbed into the wagon after me, blocking the exit. With all of our bodies crammed into the space, there was hardly room to breathe. “Silence!” The woman was well dressed, though bedraggled thanks to the heavy rainfall. “Why are you doing this? I don’t understa—” The man’s fist clipped me above the ear, making my head ring. “Quiet!” he admonished, the scowl on his face stealing every bit of what might have once made him handsome. “Girls, hold her tight. No matter what happens, don’t let go.” My stomach twisted, and a deep ache took root in my hip and shoulder where I’d struck the unforgiving wagon floor. “Yes, Father.” The chorus of their voices was weak, as though they were empathetic to me but grateful someone else was on the receiving end of his wrath. “Drink.” The woman shoved a small vial between my clamped lips. I thrashed, which only resulted in another cuff from the man. She muttered something low while pinching my chin, and the bitter contents of the tube ran down my throat as I sputtered and coughed. “You are a simple girl with no living family. You ran away from a farm you could no longer maintain on your own. You have nothing and no one.” “What? No! That’s my home, I …” My tongue grew thick and unable to form coherent words as I processed what she said. Whatever she’d given me to drink made me dizzy and stole my strength. The taste reminded me of how the tiny green berries my grandmother warned I was never to eat smelled as they shriveled on the vine. Acidic, sweet. Poisonous. Panic made my heart pound in my chest as the paralysis took hold. “I can’t believe it’s true,” one of the girls whispered anxiously, her grip easing away from my wrist as I struggled to keep my eyes open. “There’s been rumor of a girl being born to that family, for years and years, but nobody’s ever actually seen one. Mother, are you sure this is her? She’s older than Stella! At least twenty-five. How would they have kept her hidden for so