Page 63 of The Demon's Discovery
“You’re fine where you are,” I insisted. “If we need you, I won’t hesitate. But for now, we have it managed.”
Rylan sighed again. “Remember when you got irritated with me for not calling upon your talent to help me find Calla? Even though she wasn’t missing, but rather that she wasn’t supposed to exist at all?”
“Possibly.” I did indeed recall that conversation, I’d been sitting in the very chair he occupied now, in fact.
“In case you’ve forgotten, I’m an archmage. A powerful one at that.”
“Modest as well.”
“Vago.” The word came out thoroughly exasperated. “You have a magic problem, do you not? Does it not make sense to call upon my aid?”
“Are you versed in fae magic, brother?”
“Not in particular, but I’m sure I could help?—”
“If we need you, I will call you,” I promised. “Presently, I wanted you to be aware that I would be away from d’Arcan for a few days, nothing more. The school will be in good hands in our absence.”
“Fine.” He threw his hands up as if I were the most infuriating creature on the planet. I reveled in having won another round of our sparring. He narrowed his eyes. “I knew you liked her straight away, just for the record.”
“Nobody asked.”
“If I wanted to show up for a visit at the conclave, I could, and nobody could stop me. Not even you.”
“You think rather highly of yourself, don’t you, archmage?”
“I don’t have to, I have friends who reassure me of my positive traits. Have you made some of those yet, brother?”
“As a matter of fact, I have. Has anyone told you lately you’re a pompous ass?”
“Not in several hours at least. And you? Has anyone noticed yet how you avoid getting dirty at all costs or walk around like an old codger’s cane is up your ass?”
“Fuck off, Stolas. It’s not my fault as eldest I had to be the one to set a good example. Even Ophelia remarked on how much more well-behaved I am than you. How the rest of you failed so miserably to become properly cultured is beyond me.”
“I’m plentycultured,you self-important prick. And Ophelia drew my mate’s blood. There was reason for me to act the way I did.”
I smirked. “She drewmymate’s as well, and I didn’t charge at her… or whatever it was you did to be so memorably unruly.”
He sighed and pinched at the bridge of his nose. “I do so enjoy our talks, Vassago.”
“That makes one of us.”
He smiled. “Your mate?”
“So it seems.”
“Congratulations.”
We stared at one another through the mirror, dissolving into laughter at the same time. The bickering struck a particularly sensitive place in my chest, one that didn’t see much use since we’d all gone our separate ways outside of the legions of Hell. Some of our seven-way sibling arguments had been so full of incredible insults they should have been recorded for posterity.
“I do miss our weekly brawls,” he smiled. “Was excellent for the mind and body.”
“You’ll hear no arguments from me. I loved beating you every week without fail.”
“There was once,” he reminded me. “I bettered you once. The one time it mattered.”
“So, you did,” I capitulated. There was a companionable beat of silence between us as my memories with my brothers swirled around in my mind. I never really considered how much I missed them, but having Rylan close recently had made me unusually nostalgic.
“With the fae and portals to other realms involved, you should probably reach out to Seir or Tap,” Rylan suggested.
