City of Dragons: Of Flesh and Blood by Adrienne Wilder Page B

highly unlikely someone had the wrong apartment. Haley grabbed her robe and headed to the door.
    “Haley, it’s me. Please, open the door.” Months had passed since The Jersey City Prince had spoken to her. And their last conversation hadn’t exactly been all rainbows and kittens.
    There had been a puppy though, or at least what was left of it.
    As soon as the dead bolt was off and the chain loose, Deshi pushed his way inside.
    Two years ago Deshi made the mistake of marrying a Human. He claimed he loved her, which was fine, but the problem was, Emily Autry didn’t love him back. Emily loved his money. Unlike other Males, Deshi had a Mother, which made him a Prince. Specifically produced, cultivated, and groomed into a Queen’s ideal of physical perfection, Deshi was presented as a gift to the Queen of Atlanta from the Queen of Jersey City.
    With his blond hair, blue eyes, tall stature, and perfect physique, Deshi looked like he belonged in an art museum with the title “Sun God” or “Apollo” – a living testament to the level of vanity infecting the species. And his perfection was a confirmation of his Mother’s skill in genetic selection and metaphysical manipulation.
    Unfortunately, Medan turned Deshi down and sent him out on his own. Then he met Emily. And that’s when things went really bad.
    While Deshi made all of Emily’s dreams come true, she wouldn’t give him the one thing he needed, a Link. Without it, there was no bond between them so he could
feed
from her, the taking of flesh, blood, and metaphysical energy. And since Emily was all about monogamy, Deshi was SOL.
    So the Prince came to Haley a few months into his marriage after he killed Emily’s Chihuahua and ate it. Up until recently, Emily thought the dog had just run away, but then it happened again.
    Only the golden retriever had made a much bigger mess.
    In spite of her promises, Emily still wouldn’t bond with the Jersey City Prince, and Deshi wasn’t going to make her. And now they were all out of dogs to take one for the team.
    Sagging against the wall, Deshi’s face was a haggard expression of exhaustion. And he still looked like some sort of Greek god.
    Haley shut the door and flipped the lock. “Are you okay?”
    What she really meant is,
please don’t tell me you ate Emily
.
    Deshi nodded, then shook his head. Haley inhaled his scent. He didn’t smell like blood and Human flesh. Actually, he smelled
fed
. God of Man, did the crazy woman finally bond with him?
    No, something was wrong. Deshi was shaking like a leaf in the wind and putting out enough heat for a full shift. Haley touched his face and he flinched.
    “I’m sorry.” She knew he meant for his reaction. She was Female, and he was a well-schooled Male. Negative reaction to a Female’s touch was an insult.
    As in a getting-your-throat-torn-out kind of insult.
    “It’s okay, Deshi. You want to sit down? Talk?”
    Deshi shook his head, but he didn’t resist when Haley led him into the kitchen and sat him down on one of the stools at the bar.
    He stayed there for a while looking very scared, very lost. Haley stood close by but not touching. The silence stretched on forever.
    “Emily’s pregnant.” Deshi made a face, like maybe saying it out loud was a total accident.
    Haley touched his arm, not sure what to tell him. His breath leaked out of his lungs, and his shoulders dropped.
    “She doesn’t know I know.” Deshi closed his eyes, and his head fell into his hands. “She has an appointment at a abortion clinic next week. I found the card in her coat pocket yesterday when I was looking for the car keys.”
    “Deshi…” What the hell did she say? Killing Deshi’s unborn had to be the evil of evils for him. From birth, Kin fight to live, doing whatever it takes to survive the hatching ground, but killing the unborn was cowardice. While Half-Breeds were rare and not desirable by either Kin or Humans, it was still a life.
    Since Deshi was Kin and Emily Human,