Page 88 of The Demon's Delight
I stood so fast my chair scraped across the floor and sifted directly into my apartment. There wasn’t much left to be packed, so I made quick work of it, putting my clothes in one bag, odds and ends in another. The rest was unit assigned and could be dropped with Meg at the desk.
I was far more hopeful than I thought I would be as I made my way through the halls. Keplar had probably barely had enough time to find, sign, and file the paperwork.
To my surprise, my unit leader was already there when I arrived at the reassignment office, discussing things with the studious little demon behind a massive desk with a chest-height counter in front of it.
“There he is now. Seir, this is Rune.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
“Don’t leave, Keplar,” she said, voice raspy. Black smoke puffed from her throat when she spoke. “If you want me to rush this, I need you here to sign off.”
Keplar gave a loose salute and sank his body into one of the big chairs that faced her desk.
“Have you spoken to the crossroads demon about this plan?” she asked me, eyes focusing on me over the tops of her glasses.
“Not yet, but I can take a portal. I feel confident he will be in agreement.”
“And the stone kin ally?”
“Already discussing with the council—or will be shortly.”
“Good. And you’ll still be able to be here, to do your job, at least part time?”
“Yes, I’ll be able to portal back and forth quite easily.” I left out the part where that might only work in theory, at least temporarily. Surely we could figure out a work-around if need be.
“Any special demands?” She seemed skeptical as she looked over the paperwork one more time.
“No. Except that my ability to be summoned be restricted. I can make a list of the summoners I’d approve of. And that I am able to stay with the same unit. I don’t want to change command, I want to stay under Keplar in perpetuity.”
Rune’s eyes swept from me to the paper and back again. “Fascinating. For a prince, I expected much less flexibility.” She used a special quill to sign the documents in glowing red ink. “Go, speak with Tap. Make it fast. We’ll be waiting.”
I grinned, bursting with pride. It still felt too easy, but hopefully that meant it was simply a good plan. “Thank you!”
I dashed for the hall of portals, going through the familiar one that would transport me to the place between places, the origin of all gates. I went to the crossroads.
Tap stalkedby the portal I stepped out of, stopped, and spun on his heel. “What areyoudoing here?” A smile graced his face, and he pulled me into a quick hug. Tap was a similar build to me, though more slender thanks to his less physical job. He’d cut his dark hair very short since I’d last seen him and added several new rings to each ear. His gray eyes were tired behind his round spectacles.
“I have a proposition for you.”
He groaned. “Walk with me. I don’t have time for any of your schemes, Seir. You know this. I’m barely dug out of the weedsfrom when I attended Rylan’s wedding. And the stone kin have a massive project for me. I can’t run off to visit the fae or go in search of a hidden treasure?—”
“It’s nothing like that, brother, I promise.” His shoulders relaxed. “How’s the portrait coming along?”
Tap turned a glare and a frown at me. “I’ll finish it up one day,” he insisted. “You’ll see.”
“I have faith in you, brother.” I slapped his shoulder encouragingly.
The portrait was a running joke between us, though a sore point for Tap. When we’d first fallen, all of us had struggled to find fulfilling hobbies as we adjusted to our new lives. Tap eventually landed on sketching and art. Unfortunately, his assignment to the crossroads left him no time to work on anything like a portrait. Even if he’d had the time, his attention span had become increasingly divided because of how every hour of his day went. He was torn between twenty things at all times, monitoring doorways, making sure that things stayed where they belonged. And that didn’t even address all the animal familiars he was in charge of managing or the hundreds of deals that regularly crossed his desk.
“What’s this proposal then?” he asked, handing me a cup of ale and grunting as he sat down on a worn leather chair.
“You’re not still sleeping in that, are you?”
He simply stared back. “And if I am?”
“You need more rest, Tap.”
“I get what I can.”
