Chapter Fifteen
Amalthea
“Were you going to say goodbye?” Iademos was at Amalthea’s door, not quite leaning, but as close as he ever allowed himself. His arms were crossed accusingly. As usual, not a single button of his uniform was anything less than gleaming, the fabric pressed in crisp lines. Order to her chaos.
No. “Of course I was.”
Some lies came easier than others.
“I spoke to Raphael.”
Thea hid her sigh. Of course he did. It must have been just now, as they were an hour from dusk and most vampires wouldn’t even be awake. She herself had only spoken to Raphael after dawn.
“Then you know why I’m going. It’s hardly a quick journey.”
Demos said nothing, just staring at her. She fought the urge to squirm. She might be the oracle, but that vampire saw too damn much.
“You’re going to let a draft in,” she complained, turning back to her packing.
Demos took that as invitation to step farther into her rooms, the door shutting with a soft click.
Thea went back to stuffing her satchel for travel.
A few outfits, a couple vials, and some basic provisions.
When the situation called for it, contrary to the state of her room, she could pack light.
The only thing a witch truly needed was her deck, after all.
Thea’s held over a hundred cards in various suits.
“I don’t like the thought of you going.”
She hadn’t expected him to… hence how she’d planned to slip out before he could say anything.
She slid a spare set of undergarments—lacy ones—into her larger pack.
And if she loved and loathed the way Demos’s eyes were pointedly at the ceiling as she did so, that was her prerogative.
“You never do. If you had your way, I’d never leave, which would make me a shit diplomat. ”
Demos’s gaze was back, pointed on her. She had daggers that were less pointed. “You could send a letter. This isn’t the time to take risks, not with things so turbulent.”
“You know full well this political disaster is why I have to go. Debuting his fledgling without inviting either of the other rulers? His only turned vampire in the kingdom’s memory?
” Thea scoffed. Of course, Raphael wouldn’t have considered letting them near Samara.
He was too protective, especially after finding out the Witch Kingdom had at least one spy in his court.
“Someone has to smooth the ice queen’s feathers. That’s my job.”
“I think there are other ways to get this done. You’re being stubborn.”
He was calling her stubborn? The mermaid was telling the siren she smelled fishy.
“Your king agreed with me that it should be handled this way.” Normally as good a trump card as any.
Demos narrowed his gaze. “Our king.”
She waved the pedantry off. “Yes, but you’re the one questioning his decision.”
Demos just glared. She bit her lip to hide a grin.
“How was the debut, by the way?” She hadn’t attended.
Rare for her to miss a ball, but some things were urgent.
Raphael had offered scant details when she’d asked him, but he’d looked absolutely aggravated in the way only Samara could make him. “Did they look just stunning together?”
“Don’t change the subject, Thea. Why are you really in such a rush to go?”
Everyone else, she could fool with distractions. Not Demos. Always seeing through me.
“Eka is guiding me north.” It was the most she could say. Things were coming to shape, flashes of visions. Change, for good or ill, was coming to every corner of the continent.
Demos drew closer, his expression softening. “Are you sleeping well?”
No. “Like a baby.”
“So kicking and screaming at all hours?” Just a trace of dry humor that she wanted to bask in. The stupid vampire could be funny when he wasn’t trying to wreck her plans.
“I’m managing,” she said. She hoped it was true.
He didn’t speak, just stayed there, waiting. There was something about the silence he offered that always made her want to confide in him.
Confiding in those they cared about was a dangerous thing for oracles to do.
“I’ll be fine, General Worrywart,” she said when she couldn’t take it anymore. It was hard to breathe sometimes when he was in her rooms like this. Not bickering, but concerned. Trusting.
This time, Demos accepted the dismissal. “Very well. I’ll see you when you get back.”
She nodded, and he shut the door softly behind him. So quiet at this hour. She closed her bags and counted to a hundred to ensure he had truly gone.
Thea pulled her bag over her shoulder. It was maybe half an hour until dusk now. But she had one last stop before she could go.
She paused outside Samara’s door and slipped the letter under it, ink barely dried.
It was the best goodbye she could do, letting her friend know she wasn’t abandoning her, with vague enough details that she would be reassured but not able to slip something crucial if the vampire compulsion betrayed her.
Thea could’ve delayed her departure another hour and told Sam herself.
But it was so much harder to lie to a friend when looking them in the eyes.