Page 87 of Pain

“Cool!” Maxar said. “Can I have one? I want one. Where can we get those?”

Like a parent with one remaining frayed nerve, Kenvin exhaled. “They are no longer forged. They are illegal.”

Oh.

“However, given the circumstances and who you are, I figured having one in your pocket wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.” He stood up and gracefully walked over to the wall, pulled out the lullabei, closed it up, and handed it to me. He brought my fingers over the weapon where it rested in my right palm. “I trust you will not use this unless absolutely necessary. Unless it is a matter of your life or theirs.”

I nodded, accepting the massive responsibility possessing a weapon like this came with “What are all the other goodies?” Maxar asked. “Do we get to keep them all? It’s like Christmas for sadists.”

“Would you shut up?” Kenvin snapped.

Maxar sat back on his heels, surprised by the demon’s outburst. “Relax, old man. I’m just asking.”

Pocketing the lullabei, I rested my hand on Maxar’s thigh. “Just cool it, Sparky. Okay? Maybe see how long you can go without talking, hmm?”

Maxar dropped down to his butt, crossed his legs, and plunked his chin on his bunched fists like a scolded toddler.

Smiling at my sexy psycho, I turned my attention back to Kenvin. “Thank you, Kenvin. This means a lot.”

“It means a lot that you are willing to fight for the Realm, a realm that may not necessarily accept you easily. But Lerris would be …”

“An absolute disaster,” Shoy finished.

Kenvin nodded. “An absolute disaster.”

We went through the rest of the unfamiliar weapons. Then we gathered them all up in the velour blanket and stuffed them into my backpack. I kept the lullabei in my pocket though. Just in case we needed it for our trek to the portal.

Kenvin and Shoy packed our backpacks full of food, and Shoy made sure to stuff a few jars of Vip’s skivern syrup and blankberry tea leaves into the bag for me too.

“Skivern slime is in that jar there,” Shoy said, making sure I knew the difference between the slime jar and the syrup jars.

“I’ll be careful not to mix them up,” I said, thanking him.

My heart lodged itself in my throat, and it was a heavy heart at that, when Shoy and Kenvin walked us to the edge of town. We drew a few curious glances from early risers, but not too many. And once Kenvin shot a glare the way of the lookie-loo, they were quick to avert their gaze away from us. It wasn’t even sunrise yet, so it was a good time to venture through town. We needed to make it to the other side of the mountains, that way we had all day to search for the portal. The last thing we wanted was to get stuck back out in the desert come night fall. If I never saw a bisibra again, it would be too soon.

“Well, this is where we leave you,” Shoy said as we stopped at the mouth of the passageway through the mountain.

My bottom lip trembled as I looked up into the friendly demon’s brown eyes. They were watery and sadness filled his gaze. Then I lunged at him, wrapping my arms around his thick neck. “Thank you so much for everything, Shoy. I will never forget you, or Vip. Never ever.”

He squeezed me tight. “It’s been an honor to serve you, Your Majesty. And we will continue to speak your praises until all of Hell knows how wonderful of a queen you are.”

I hugged him even tighter, tears welling up in my eyes. “You give a big hug to Vip for me. Okay?”

“I will.”

We broke our embrace, and the big lug turned away, wiping his eyes and clearing his throat. I turned to Kenvin, but he shook his head, keeping his eyes on the ground. “None of that, none of that,” he said.

But I wasn’t having any of it. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him just as tightly as I did Shoy. “You said I was the daughter you never had. And I didn’t have a dad. So … I’m just going to assume this is how fathers and daughters hug and say goodbye. Get used to it, you old goat.” He started to relax a little and his hands came up to wrap around me. A small tremble coursed through him, then he tightened his grip on me. “I’ll never forget you. Thank you for your help. For taking us in, and for having my back.”

We held on for a little longer, then eventually, emotions got the better of the old demon and he cleared his throat and released me, mimicking Shoy and turning away so I didn’t have to see his face. He sniffed and wiped at his eyes, then coughed and stepped away again.

I smiled up at Shoy, who had now composed himself, then turned to my mates behind me. “I guess that’s that, hmm?”

Kenvin, with a blotchy face and red-rimmed eyes, faced us. “I’ve taught you everything I can. Just practice, go with your gut, and embrace the magic. The rest will follow.”

“Embrace the magic,” I repeated, nodding.

He and Shoy joined in with my nod. “Embrace the magic,” he said again.

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