Page 71 of Her Males

“When are we meeting with the elves?” I ask.

“Their leaders will be arriving tomorrow afternoon. Kato will be coming to speak on behalf of the shifters, and if all goes well, we should have a verbal treaty in place by the end of the day.”

Mammon’s lips flatten into a straight line as she looks me over, but whatever emotion starts to spread over her features disappears as she squares her shoulders and turns away. I follow her out of the sitting room, acutely aware of the guards that watch my every move.

I don’t know why they bother. Even if I wanted to, it’s not like I could hurt anybody here. Demons are stronger than even the largest humans.

I doubt I’d get as much as one hit in, and I have no weapons.

Well, except for one.

Thankfully, Mammon hasn’t seemed to recognize my necklace. I’m not sure who’s stronger, her or Silas, but I’m willing to bet she’d demand I remove it if she knew what it was.

“I think I can get Asmod’s support, as well, but he can be tricky,” Mammon admits.

My lips purse at the mention of Gray’s dad. It’s safe to say I’m not a fan of the King of Lust.

Mammon comes to an abrupt halt, and I freeze as a shadow comes hurrying around the corner with her infant. The baby reaches for Mammon with a loud whine, and he wraps his tiny limbs around her neck as she takes him from the shadow.

“Did you miss me?” she coos, bouncing him on her hip.

The baby looks in my direction, and I make a goofy face. He squeals and gives me a gummy grin, and I hope that means he likes me. I’ve never interacted with a baby before.

“Will Shay be joining us tomorrow?” I ask.

I’m a bit shocked she didn’t come with us today, but I wouldn’t be too surprised to learn she’s done something to piss off the shifters and was told to stay away today.

Mammon purses her lips and glances at her baby. The boy, whose name I can’t for the life of me remember, grabs at the front of her shirt. I politely look away as she readies the baby for feeding, her voice soft as she apologizes to him for being gone for so long.

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing a woman so openly loving her children. My mother loved me, but there was always a hint of fear and pain behind it. Mammon loves hers like she knows they’ll never be taken away.

“It seems the Wrath Trio got to Shay before me,” she answers. “They brought her body here last night.”

I stiffen. Her body?

“They killed her? They were here?”

Fear is thick in my voice, but I can’t bring myself to care. Shay didn’t do anything wrong, and I can’t believe they would be so cruel as to kill her. It was I who shared the information and betrayed Aziel. Shay was only my form of transportation.

“Yes, to both. They wanted proof you weren’t being held captive.” Mammon says. “My promise to protect you still stands, though, so there’s no need to worry,” she continues, seemingly misunderstanding my horror.

“Proof?”

“Yes. I brought them to your room, but they left without a fight after ensuring you weren’t harmed,” she admits with a slight roll of her eyes.

She brought them to my room? My mind reels, and I place my hand on the wall for balance. I suppose I should be grateful Mammon didn’t let them take me, but why didn’t she tell me sooner that they’d come to my room while I’d been sleeping?

That’s a big thing not to mention.

“We were with the shifters for longer than anticipated.” Mammon’s quick to change the subject. “Go to bed, Charlotte, and we’ll discuss more in the morning.”

I don’t like her dismissal, but I don’t want to seem rude by continuing to force conversation. Sending me off to bed is probably more for her benefit than it is mine, anyway. She’s not like my males, and she has an entire family to look after.

Mammon leaves, but a shadow lingers behind and leads me to the room I’ve been staying in. I dread spending time alone, my thoughts of Gray and Silas all-consuming.

Especially knowing they killed Shay and visited me while I was sleeping.

I wonder if Aziel came, too, or if he was too busy torturing Shay to bother.

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