Chapter Sixteen
Evan and the Realm of Misfit Beings
Morning arrived with a hard knock on the door and a feisty Fane delivering our breakfast. His mistake was barging in before Lake and I could cover ourselves. Lake’s naked body was wrapped around mine, and the sheet had been kicked off.
“Oh. Pardon me.” Fane placed the platter on the table and rushed from the room as fast as he could.
I snorted. “Poor Fane. He’ll be scarred for life.”
Lake lifted his head from the pillow and sniffed the air. “Potato hash, bacon, and eggs.”
“Ugh. No more potatoes,” I said with a small groan. “I still haven’t recovered from last night.”
He released a sleepy chuckle before moving his hips forward, bringing attention to his impressive morning mood. “I can always help you burn more of it off. A workout before breakfast.”
“My, my.” I tsked at him. “How naughty you are, Mr. Wolf.”
Lake responded by showing me just how naughty he could be, pinning my wrists above my head and sliding between my legs. He pounded me into the mattress and nipped at my throat, no longer holding back his wolfy growls.
Something had shifted between us. He seemed more relaxed, as though our conversation from the night before had freed him in some way. Gave him the confidence to be himself.
After he made me come so hard I nearly blacked out, he placed a soft kiss to my neck and got out of bed to retrieve the tray. I needed a bath but needed food more. Priorities. My appetite was back with a vengeance. We sat against the pillows and fed each other.
Once our bellies were full, we cleaned up in the adjoining washroom and dressed for the day. Not that we had anywhere to go.
“What do you think?” I sat on the edge of the bed and brought one leg up to tie the laces on my boot. “Should we give ‘Operation: How Not to Become a Demon Lord’s Dinner’ another go? Sneak from the room and explore the castle?”
He chuckled. “First, I believe we need a new mission name. That one’s too long.”
“The same could be said for nearly every isekai anime. Did you know there’s one where a guy is reincarnated into a fantasy world as a vending machine?”
Lake slowly blinked at me. “Vending… machine?”
“Right. You have no idea what I’m talking about.” I sighed. “If only I had my phone. I could whip it out and educate you.”
His head cocked. “Phone? What’s that?”
“A device about this big.” I used my hands to show him. “Where you can listen to music, talk to your friends without having to leave the comfort of your couch, watch videos, and play games.”
I then imagined an alternate universe where each of my men had a smartphone, explaining it to him as the ideas rolled in.
“Rowan would be all over social media and obsessed with gambling games, like online poker,” I said. “Callum would blare music while working out. Sleep Token, maybe. Or Taylor Swift. He seems like he could be a Swiftie.”
Lake stared at me.
“Hmm. Briar would use it to browse scholarly articles and research herbs and rare plants. He’d probably download a reading app too and have his library full of e-books.
” I poked his cheek. “I get the feeling you’d enjoy the relaxing matching games where you could shut off your brain for a while and crush candies.
And Maddox would definitely be like those old people who don’t know how to use a phone and peck at the screen with one finger. ”
More staring.
“So yeah,” I said once the massive ramble died down. “If by some miracle we’re all whisked away to my old world one day, I’ll be your guide and show you all you need to know. About phones and everything else.”
Lake looked like a deer caught in headlights. Or like his brain had malfunctioned.
“You alive?” I moved my hand in front of his face. “Lakey-boo?”
His nose crinkled. “Tell me more about the candies. Can you eat them after they’re crushed? Are they delicious?”
I giggled and fell into him. His arms came around me, and he kissed the top of my head. I felt him smile into my hair.
A hard rapping came at the door.
“Are you decent?” Fane asked.
I stifled a laugh.
“Yes,” Lake answered. “Come in.”
The door opened. Fane walked inside, not meeting our eyes. Despite his dark complexion, I noticed a deeper tint to his cheeks. Yep. Definitely scarred for life. Two other demons filed in behind him, a male and a female.
“I see you enjoyed your morning meal.” Fane eyed the empty plates on the table near the hearth with a sense of pride. “Good. I’ve been instructed to show you around.”
“Show us around?” I asked, bringing my other leg up to finish putting on my boots.
“To explore,” he explained. “Not to be confused with the other word you’re so fond of: escape.”
I feigned a gasp. “I would never.”
“Keep it that way. Milord would be awfully cross with me otherwise.” He motioned to the two demons behind him. “They’ll be accompanying us.”
“Hi.” I waved at them. “I’m Evan.”
The female tipped her head. “You may call me Seraphina.”
Moss-green hair clipped the top of her pointed ears, and she had a greyish skin tone, like chimney smoke. Her yellow eyes, the shade of a dandelion, had slitted irises that reminded me of a cat. One horn jutted from her head like a unicorn. Most notable was the axe strapped to her back.
Which I was sure she’d use on anyone who dared to say the unicorn thing out loud.
“Borus,” the male said, his voice rough. Small tusks jutted from both sides of his mouth. He appeared to be a sort of boar-like demon. No hair—on his head anyway. Along with his super-hairy arms, he had a dark beard that was braided into three sections. Unlike Seraphina, he didn’t have an axe.
He had two axes. The kind that could easily cut someone in half.
“This is Lake,” I told them, looping my arm through my wolf’s. He regarded them cautiously.
Seraphina and Borus bowed their heads to him.
“Shall we head out?” Fane ushered us toward the door. “The day is wasting away.”
The five of us left the room and made our way down the corridor. The castle, even in the daylight hours, held on to the cold, desolate, and haunting atmosphere from the night before.
Onyx had said a dwelling reflected the soul inhabiting it… so was this a reflection of his feelings? A bleak emptiness. Kind of sad if so.
“Is there a ballroom?” I peered up at a cobweb and shuddered when I saw a huge spider crawling across it.
“Yes,” Fane answered. “Though it never sees any use.”
I instantly thought of a gothic ball with Halloween décor covering every inch of the place and seasonal bangers like “Monster Mash” booming from an orchestra.
“What about a greenhouse?” I asked.
“Yes. It’s filled with all sorts of plants, some that will take a bite out of you if you get too close.”
“Cool.” I smiled. Briar would’ve geeked out big-time over it. “Are there secret passages? Like hidden doors behind paintings or statues that you move a finger or something to open a wall? And before you say a word, I am in no way, shape, or form asking this for escape reasons. Simply curiosity.”
Fane didn’t look like he believed me. “Keep rambling on with all these questions, and if there is a secret door, you’ll soon find yourself thrown behind it and locked inside for the foreseeable future.”
“Rude.”
Lake smiled and linked our fingers. He must’ve known Fane’s threat was empty.
I was a muffin on a mission. As we moved around the castle during the tour, I mentally mapped out doorways, which direction we turned down hallways, and noted any windows with reachable latches.
I had no intentions of staying there for long.
One way or another, Lake and I would reunite with our family.
Sure, leaving the barrier of the realm would alert the mercenaries to my location, but what if we were in just as much danger, if not more, staying there?
Onyx seemed like a nice guy who genuinely wanted to help us.
But it could be a trick, an attempt for us to lower our guard before he swept in and did evil demon lord stuff.
His comment about hating the royal family kept rolling around in my head.
Yep. Best to stay alert and have an escape route mapped out just in case.
After being shown a small parlor that was most definitely haunted, at least by deadly arachnids, we descended a grand staircase and reached the entry hall. The two demon guards slash possible muffin assassins opened the large set of doors.
Sunlight flooded in, chasing away the shadows and eerie chill in the air.
“We get to go outside?” I asked, excited.
Fane glowered at me. “Milord is giving you the benefit of the doubt by allowing you to leave the castle. But heed my words, human. Any suspicious behavior and you’ll be dragged straight back to your room.”
“We’ll be on our best behavior.” Lake led me across the threshold, exiting the castle. The others followed behind us.
Nothing beat that first breath of fresh air after being cooped up inside for days. It filled my lungs, and I slowly exhaled. Then I coughed a little, still not fully healed from the fire spell.
“Evan?” Lake halted in step and frowned.
“I’m all right,” I told my protective mate, patting his forearm. I then surveyed the grounds. “This is beautiful.”
The vibrant plants, shaded groves of trees, and lush landscape created a touch of enchantment.
The castle in Bremloc had been beautiful too, but in a refined way.
This was a natural beauty, allowing the trees and greenery to shine.
Rock pathways wove throughout the garden, and wildflowers sprang from the soil along them in bursts of pink, blue, and yellow.
Lake regarded one of the flowers, and his ears twitched.
“You want to pluck it, don’t you?” I asked, recalling his habit as a kid.
A blush touched his pale cheeks. “Only so I could give it to you.”
I slid my arm through his. “I have you. You’re way prettier than a flower.”
The flush in his cheeks darkened.