Page 65 of The Demon's Delight
“She’s not afraid to use her blades,” I assured them, as much as myself. “And she’s as stubborn as the day is long.” I found myself smiling.
Vassago nodded good. “And you have the mirror.”
“We’ll look into the archives for you in the meantime,” Rylan promised.
“And I can help make the arrangements for her to meet with Ophelia.”
“Ravenglen is not all that far, especially if you can find a nearby portal to have us use. But wings would be effective enough for that distance,” Vassago offered. “Even if we aren’t able to fly the whole way.”
“The horses are strong,” Calla said. “We can also send the carriage with someone.”
Rylan agreed, and I could see all the gears turning as they started to formulate a plan.
A warm sensation different from the burning ache I’d been feeling since being pulled away from my mate infused my chest. My brothers and I had been very close once, before we all went our separate ways and got lost in our own little lives. It was nice to have their direct support and affection.
“So lovely to see you again,” I said, rushing to give each of my sisters-in-law a quick squeeze and kiss on the cheek. “See you soon!”
“Hands off my wife!” my brothers both chided me, but I was already out the door and on my way to the courtyard.
Nerves had my stomach tight in the seconds before I concentrated my will and deployed my wings, relief flooding me as I found my magic right where it belonged.
I leapt into the sky, joy at being airborne again rushing through me as I pointed myself east, toward Hailon, and a future I was willing to do anything for.
Chapter 29
Hailon
Nothing at all had made sense after I realized Seir vanished. My whole body ached, my chest most of all. Every emotion was exposed and raw, my reactions exaggerated and completely out of my normal range.
After regaining control of my ragged breathing, I cycled through everything he’d said and done that day. If he’d decided to up and leave, surely there would have been signs. If I’d missed them, I wanted to know how.
I thought back to the declaration he’d given me, the sweet fingers to mouth and heart gesture. With the stain of his abrupt absence, both struck me as him possibly saying goodbye. The notion brought a fresh wave of pain, my body stuck in a terrible feedback loop thanks to the irritated mate bond. But when sense returned, I discarded such an idea. That kind of behavior didn’t align with the Seir I knew. Besides that, I hadn’t banished him. He himself had made a big deal out of the fact that he was supposed to stay with me until that happened.
I stared into the fire, sorting through more and more outlandish scenarios. Perhaps he’d sifted elsewhere? But that wasn’t possible, not unless he’d suddenly figured out how to make all his powers work again, and at full strength. Flying? Stillvery unlikely, unless he’d figured out how to vastly improve his ability without telling me. None of that seemed plausible.
“Get it together,” I told myself when I could finally function, swiping away some stray tears with the back of my hand. “You’ve been through far worse than this.”
I fed the fire. I assembled our belongings so that if daylight came and he wasn’t back, I could continue on my own. I ate more than my share of the dried strips of root vegetables that we’d purchased from a vendor in the last town in the Valley, stretching out the time it took me to consume each one, mentally chanting that by the end of every next piece, Seir would pop back into existence next to me. My manifesting was unfortunately unsuccessful.
If nothing else, the time alone gave me a chance to explore every possible feeling I had for the demon while I tried to decide what my next move would be. It was not a surprise when my heart told me with quite a lot of certainty that Seir had burrowed deep, and I simply could not picture my life without him in it. Besides, before he’d left, we’d been on a sure track to completing the bond.
Or at least I thought we had.
Frustrated with myself, I turned my attention to planning. Should I continue on my own toward home? Wait a day? I could always try summoning him.
“That has to be what happened,” I mumbled to myself. Nothing else made much sense.
I worried myself in circles. Was he in trouble for being gone? Would he be punished if I tried to summon him back again? Could I even do that? I swallowed some dried beet, discarding any notion of taking that step unless I had no other choice. Ravenglen was only two more days or so, I could surely manage that myself.
Eventually, the adrenaline was completely gone, and I found myself blinking heavily against gritty eyes as I stared into the sky, right at the constellation of The Stallion. My hand strayed to my pocket, where the little carving stayed most of the time. I pulled it out and stroked along the smooth golden parts, the action soothing.
I managed a few fitful hours of sleep before waking up fully alert, heart pounding behind my ribs. The bond was burning, and nothing I did soothed the pain, though moving around did seem to help. Deciding I was not now—and had never been—a damsel waiting to be rescued, despite what had happened at Ignus’s house and craving any kind of relief I could get, I packed up our bedding. Then I set about making breakfast. Seir’s favorite hot grain cereal and tea seemed reasonable and was the little bit of familiarity I needed to truly re-center.
“It’ll be okay,” I reassured myself as I wandered near the trees, hoping to find some berries.
The small insects were extra loud and troublesome, flying too close to my face and ears as I scavenged a mere handful of what were probably tart blackberries.
Daylight was still a ways off, but when I emerged from the shadows, a faint orange glow lit the horizon.
