Page 37 of Grabbed By the Guard

A pregnant human mate who couldn’t have been here too long if she knows about Whiskey Rose…

“I do,” I say. “I actually manage her these days.”

“That’s awesome! I’d love to meet her.” You and me both, sister. “She’s my favorite singer. I even have all of her records downloaded on this mp3 player Shannon brought me. It’s like my Kindle. I can have all my favorite songs and books here in Sombra for when I miss being in the human world.”

Loki’s purple eyes flash, a hint of white overtaking the violet shade for a heart beat. As though he’s completely forgotten about me and Glaine, he moves in on his mate. “My Kennedy,” he murmurs. “I want nothing more than for you to be happy and content with your male here.”

“I am. You know I am. Maybe not at first,” she admits, and the look she tosses my way makes me think I have a ton more questions for Kennedy, “but I love you, Loki. You know that.”

“You are my heart,” he rumbles, taking her hands gently in his, pulling her into his embrace. “My everything.”

Loki bows his head over his mate, pressing his forehead to Kennedy’s, his double pair of horns just skimming the top of her crown as she murmurs something softly in response to her mate.

Purposely ignoring their display of public affection, I grab Glaine by the forearm, dragging him to the side so that we’re not overhead. And, yes, I know he only comes with me because he wants to, not that I can actually make him go anywhere, but still. “Aren’t you going to ask him about the travel spell? So I can go back home?”

Glaine’s lips thins. For a heartbeat, I’m sure he’s going to remind me that I’m his mate, and that despite his implied promise to get me out of the dungeon, then help me return to New York… but then he sighs.

“I will, Billie. He already did more than he should, removing the chains before he spoke to Apollyon and got his permission to interfere. Let’s wait until tomorrow. We’ll know more then.”

Tomorrow. I can wait until tomorrow.

“But what about now?”

If given the choice, I’d rather not watch the happily bonded couple coo at each other. I also don’t think I want to hear Kennedy fawn over Sierra anymore. I’m sure I’ll have that to look forward to it if I bump into Kennedy again before we go—and, if I want her mate to do me a favor, I need to be nice to her—but for now… yeah. I’m okay.

We’re not chained together anymore, but that doesn’t mean that Glaine is ready to give up on our connection. Moving his hand, shifting it so that mine falls from his forearm, he takes my fingers in his. His hand swallows mine up, but he holds it as best he can, turning the tips of his claws to shadow so that he doesn’t accidentally jab me.

“Now? I take you home.”

I’m so excited about finding a place to sit, to rest, to get clean that I don’t even point out that it’s his home, not mine.

Nuit is just what I think of when I hear the term ‘village’. From what I understand, there are countless communities in Sombra, each one nestled together with a communal area known as the village square. There are houses that remind me of squat condos built side-by-side in a large circle, providing a border that protects the demons from any of the threats that lurk in Sombra’s darker shadows.

There are no skyscrapers here. No apartment buildings. Each home is for single demons or mated pairs and their families. A couple have a second floor, though most are a ranch-style with multiple rooms on that ground floor.

Because of his status as a soldier, Glaine has a narrow two-floor home made of burnt wood and magic, similar to the structure where the doppelseers live in their corner of the shadows. The magic provides light and running water; the windowless wood forms shelter from the rest of the village and the oppressive heat.

I don’t know why it’s cooler inside, only that it is. In Glaine’s home, he has a living area that doubles as a dining area, with the table made of the same wood as the house itself. There is a stove in one corner for cooking hot meals, and a box that keeps perishables cold in a way that mimics a refrigerator but it isn’t one. It works the same, though, and I’m amazed by how magic in Sombra makes the hellish realm seem so much more advanced than back home.

Take the demon version of a toilet in the assigned ‘facilities’ room in his place. Sure, it took some getting used to going in a hole in the ground, but once you drop your waste inside, it simply vanishes. A puff of air and a bidet-like squirt of water cleans you up and dries you off; it’s so much more sanitary than toilet paper without having a toilet to scrub when you’re done! There’s a water basic and soap dispenser for your hands, and a tub even larger than the one the demon twins had.

Despite Glaine admitting it has been quite some time since he returned to Nuit, his home is dust-free—if not ash-free—and nowhere near as musty as I expected. I see why when I go to the second floor. There, in the ceiling, are circular cut-outs like they have in the palace.

He gives me an illustration about their use when I ask. Going from his solid demon form to that mess of shadows, he contracts in on himself before whizzing out of the hole.

Shadow travel, I realize enviously. If it hadn’t been for the chains keeping him from turning transparent like that, maybe we could’ve cut a couple of days of walking off our journey to Nuit.

When he comes back, he’s holding his sword. I don’t even get the chance to ask why he is before he’s gripping one of the newly generated horns by the tip, raising his sword up to it as if he’s about to?—

Shear it off.

Oh, hell no.

“What are you doing?”

He pauses, sword still in the air. “Would you rather I go in another room? There won’t be any blood when I cut off the horn, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

No. I’m worried about the demon thinking it’s perfectly normal to chop off his horns. “Why would you do that? You just got them back. If it takes centuries to grow… why would you want to get rid of them?”

---