Page 49 of By Mistake
Oresti grinned at him, sly and pleased."What would I do without you to keep me humble?"
"I assume your sisters did the job."
That made him laugh as he sat next to Andrus on the sofa, Greivs taking a seat that put him to Oresti's right, and Shimari resumed his place on the opposing sofa with Coret."So tell us what you've learned," Andrus said."Where have you been?"
"Talking to damn near every person in the city, down to the soil collectors," Oresti said, making short work of nearly all the snacks on the tray while an amused Shimari slipped away to order more food."We found out why he's so adamant about the change to punishment law.We made the stupid, amateur mistake of assuming he's just a greedy, sanctimonious noble who thinks poor people deserve to suffer just because they're poor."
"That would be entirely in keeping with him, so I wouldn't say it's a stupid assumption," Andrus said."So what's the real reason?"
"He's been manipulating the paperwork for the bulk of the hard labor prisoners so they're sent to one particular location on his family's land.The Fractured Mountains.He has them searching all over those mountains, mostly in the caves, working day and night to find something.If the laws change, he loses all that free labor, and won't be able to accomplish his goal without paying a fortune for the labor."
Greivs shook his head."No idea what in the world he could be looking for out there."
"Kressen, that's who," Shimari said."That's where I bound him, to keep him safe until his enslavers died off or I could otherwise get him free of his chains.Or he got himself free, but that will take another century or so.I was banished before I could save him, though.I told you a Farthing was likeliest to have summoned him, and if that's true and they did their job correctly, then a Farthing would be able to control him still."
Andrus blinked."Well.Fuck.That's a problem.I don't want you to get wrapped up in another horrible fight that forces us to throw you back…well, home I guess."But he didn't want Shimari to go, selfish as that was.He liked Shimari, damn it, even when he was being infuriating.
Shimari smirked at him."You liked when I kissed—"
"Shut up or I'll convince someone to seal you into a matchbox, I swear I will."
Coret looked between them, clearly amused, but said nothing.
Returning to the matter at hand, ignoring Shimari's continued smirking, he said, "So Farthing wants the change in law to fail so he can continue to use prisoners as slave labor to locate Kressen to…do what?Have a demon at his beck and call?Actually, never mind, obviously that's it.With Kressen at his side, forced to obey every order…" He shuddered.Farthing was bad enough on his own.With a zero class demon to command, he'd be a fucking tyrant.
Shimari said, "For what it's worth, no demon, from the most minor to the most powerful, enjoys doing the things we are compelled to do.I don't think any creature in existence enjoys being a slave.So Kressen only ever obeyed the letter of the law, as it were.There is also no guarantee that the binding is as secure as Farthing thinks it is, either.Unfortunately, without seeing the spell that was cast, we simply cannot know."
Oresti sighed."Our best bet is to find Kressen first, but if Farthing can't find him with hundreds of workers searching for at leastthree years, what shot do we stand?"
Shimari scoffed and stood up."You're joking, right?I'm the one who sealed him away.Do you really think I don't know exactly where he is?It hasn't beenthatlong, and barring something dramatic like a cave-in that changed the landscape of the cave complex, I can go straight to him.If nothing else, I can feel him in a way humans never could.Even if they did find him, it would take them many months more to breakmybinding.Silly humans, all you had to do was tell me to fetch."
Andrus rolled his eyes."Of course it's that easy.All the problems we are facing, but finding another zero class demon that shouldn't even be here is the one that's easy to solve."
"Incredible," Coret said."You could go and get him right this moment?Kressen of the Blood?Two zero class demons just lounging about the royal palace?The mind boggles."
Greivs chuckled."It's been a strange couple of weeks, and seems likely to get stranger still before this affair concludes.So is that what we're doing now?Fetching Kressen?"
"Not yet," Shimari said."We need somewhere to put him until we can work out the binding spell on him, how to break or alter it.Once we have that, I will get him out."
Oresti replied, "Wish I could see the look on Farthing's face as we snatch his prize right out from under him.Alas, it's better that he never knows at all.Maybe after he's arrested I'll stick him to hard labor on his own fucking mountain, let hope slowly choke him to death."
"I like it when you're bloodthirsty," Shimari purred.
"Right, I'm going to go get a bath and fall asleep for at least twelve hours," Greivs said with a laugh."Lord Whyte, shall I show you to your room on the way?"
"How do you know my room when I don't?"Coret asked as he stood.
Greivs only smiled, and led the way out of the room, leaving the three of them alone.
Oresti stood and Shimari was on him, the pair kissing as ardently as they had before, and Andrus would be worried about being replaced by his own damn demon, but he knew good and well where their thoughts lay.It wasn't like his were all that different, though he wasn't sure what to do with the fact he'd gone from having no one at all to having a prince and now the most dangerous demon in existence as lovers.
It all seemed like a life meant for someone else, but too bad, because he wasn't giving it back.
"You have some demon in you, little human," Shimari said, voice still that soft, deep purr as he slipped from Oresti's arms and prowled over to him."Come here."
Andrus went easily, because he couldn't deny he'd been wanting this since they had kissed before.Probably well before that.
Shimari kissed with bite, sharp and hungry, his fingers claw-tipped as they carded through his hair before sliding down his back to grip his hips.He bit down hard and quick on Andrus's lip and lapped up the blood that spilled before kissing him properly a second time.
