Rowan looked at me. “You wanted to know where I was this afternoon? Checking in on these two.”
“Why?” I folded my arms on top of the table and tapped my index finger. “What are you keeping from me?”
Maddox scowled at Rowan before regarding me. “The knights received a report from the Guild Hall. A party returned from a quest in the mountains and found something of interest. Callum knows one of the adventurers and went to speak with them.”
My chin wobbled. No doubt it was the pretty brunette who’d kissed his cheek. Had Rowan’s teasing provoked Callum to surrender his v-card to the first pretty thing to cross his path? Or was she special to him?
Not sure which thought I hated more.
“What did they find?” I asked, trying to shove those thoughts about Callum aside. “Treasure? A dragon? A super powerful artifact that grants immortality? Maybe a magical coffee bean?”
Maddox’s lips twitched. “No.”
“No to the treasure or the coffee bean?”
“No to all of it.” With a smile shining in his eyes, he reached over and brushed his thumb over my lip. “Yet, your imagination never fails to amuse me, sweetheart.”
“They found a dead demon,” Rowan said. “We heard the adventurers speak of it in a tavern late last night.”
And by “we,” he meant his new order of brothers. I would’ve teared up had I not been so freaked out.
“The corpse was brought to me for examination.” Briar released a slow breath. “No visible wounds or anything to indicate manner of death. Based on where it was discovered, in the mountains half-buried in snow, I initially believed it froze to death.”
“Really?” I asked. “I didn’t know demons were susceptible to the cold.”
“Demons are still living creatures, love. Though some are stronger than others, they can become ill, freeze, and starve just like anyone else.”
I hadn’t considered that before. For so long, demons had been phantoms from my nightmares, the memory of them causing me to wake in a cold sweat. With the exception of Oreo, I’d considered them to be monsters who could only be taken down by swords and arrows, not from something like snow. But Briar was right. They bled like the rest of us. Felt pain and hunger.
“You said initially thought.” Lake’s ears lifted in his curiosity. “You believe differently now?”
“Yes.” Briar lifted his glasses to rub at his eyes. A tell-tale sign of his fatigue. “Upon further examination, I discovered something peculiar. Complete organ failure. It then led to another conclusion. Mana sickness.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“A sickness caused when one’s body, or vessel, isn’t strong enough to hold high concentrations of magical energy,” he explained. “I believe the demon was exposed to powerful magic, and its body became weak from it, essentially causing its organs to fail.”
“So, the demon died from magic exposure?”
Briar nodded. “Humans can suffer from it as well. It’s most common in those who aren’t born with mana, like myself. Exposure to high degrees of magic can be deadly, which is why it’s taken me years to improve my craft. I had to build up my tolerance.”
“What caused the sickness?” Lake asked. “If it came from the demons being exposed to too much magic, whatwasthat magic?”
“That’s what I’ve yet to determine,” Briar answered, brow wrinkling. “Over the years, higher ranked adventurers have discovered powerful gems in caves and enchanted artifacts deep within the forest. It’s possible the demon made contact with an item of that sort.”
“Curious and curiouser,” I muttered, rubbing at my chin. “This sounds like a case for the muffin detective.”
Maddox almost choked on his food. “I think not.”
“Have to agree with Captain Glutton here,” Rowan said. “You’d wind up getting yourself into trouble. Going from detective to damsel.”
“Rude.”
He smirked.
After dinner, they helped me clear the table, and then I washed the dishes. It was a never-ending chore, but there was something therapeutic about it. Keeping my hands busy gave me something to do other than obsess about things.
“Aren’t you a vision?” Maddox caught me around the waist and kissed the top of my shoulder.
