Zed's Dishonest Mate by Sydney Lain

complete the mating after his body heals. I don’t want to worry about touching his bruises or hurting him.” Zed laughed. “That’s more information than you needed to know. Have you heard anything?”
    “Zed,” Micah said as he climbed down the stairs. The small human was covered in blue and white paint. He walked over to Roman and pulled the demon down and kissed him on the cheek. “I finished painting the room.”
    “Painting?” Zed asked.
    Micah smiled. “I wanted a less modern feel.” The slow speech surprised him.
    Roman understood the unspoken question. “Micah worries about ordering people around, so he speaks in simple sentences. We haven’t learned how to control his power.”
    Micah’s smile turned sad. Roman leaned in and rubbed his mate’s back. Zed looked at Roman’s smaller mate. Micah controlled people with words. No one could resist his commands.
    “There’s something I’ve neglected to tell you. It’s the reason I’ve come here.”
    “Mason mentioned that you’d be stopping by. So, you’re finally ready to tell us everything.” Roman turned to Micah. “Can you get Thomas? I want him to hear this.”
    Micah nodded.
    Zed paced back and forth. The dragon kept his word. He had waited for Zed to handle this.
    It took Thomas less than two minutes to arrive downstairs. He looked behind the demon, but Micah wasn’t there.
    “Micah went back to painting. Toby’s helping.” Thomas walked closer to his brother. “Micah said something about a secret. Zed, are you finally going to be honest?”
    Zed closed his eyes. “Keeping personal things a secret isn’t the same as being untruthful. I’ve never told you something that wasn’t true. I’ve been honest about everything.” He sighed. “But yes, it’s time.”
    The story started centuries ago, but he didn’t need to go back that far. He settled on the recent past. “Twenty-five years ago, a power guarded by the dragon shifters was stolen. The power was sealed in a golden box made by fairy magic. It was one of the last things the fairies made before leaving this world.”
    “A box. This is all over a box?” Thomas ran a hand though his hair. The younger of the demon brothers had a bit of a temper.
    “What kind of magic was stored in the box? Who stole it?” Roman asked.
    “Theodore Carlson and King Kane managed to steal it from the dragon shifters. They wanted the magic sealed inside. When Mason and I arrived, they had already started to open the box. The magic couldn’t be pushed back into the container, so instead of giving it to those two I released it into the world.”
    “You released the magic. Why?” Thomas asked.
    “It couldn’t be held back. Theodore and Kane wanted to harness the magic, but I split the magic and pushed it back into the world. Separated the magic is weaker. It was the only way to keep them from it, but also to buy us some time.”
    “What happened after that?” Roman asked. “You released an unknown magic into the world. Even though it was diluted, it’s still dangerous.”
    Zed closed his eyes. This was the part he didn’t want to share. “Humans were born with the magic, weaved into their bodies.” The light went off in the demon brothers’ heads.
    “Micah, Toby, Sage and Jacob,” Thomas said.
    “No, Jacob’s different. But the magic manifested in Micah’s voice, giving him the power to control others, and in Sage’s ears, giving him the power to hear thoughts. I’m not sure about Toby. Jacob just told me he was like Micah and Sage. He didn’t elaborate on his ability.”
    “You’ve known. Since we discovered Micah was different, you’ve known,” Thomas accused.
    “No, Thomas. I’ve known since adopting Sage and Jacob. I found them and then saved them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the first to find them. That’s how their parents died.”
    “Who killed their parents?”
    Zed shook his head. “That’s a story for Jacob and Sage. I can’t tell you before telling them. And I