Chapter 9
“Daraxerxes?”
Xev cringed at the name even while his heart quickened at the sound of Myone’s voice. “Xev.”
She pulled up short. “What?”
“I don’t use the name Azura gave me. My name is Xevikan or Xev.” The name Michi had given him when she took him in. That was the only name he’d ever wanted, and it was the one he’d bear to the date of his death.
“Sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s all right. In case you haven’t heard, I don’t think much of the creature who gave birth to me.”
“Understood. And there’s no need to be polite. I’ve heard many rants from Cam about her.”
“Bet you have.” Xev scowled as he realized she held a practice sword. “Where’s your real weapon?”
“She’s resting. I almost never use her for practice. She doesn’t like it.”
That told him something very important about Myone. “So, you’re one of the Mimoroux.” There were ten of them who were allowed to carry a Seraph sword. Or, more to the point, the sword had chosen them to carry it. Those swords were inhabited by a war spirit who guided them and helped them in battle.
As such, they were the most cherished swords and warriors in their ranks. It was a high honor, indeed.
Myone looked away sheepishly. “My mother wielded her originally. After she died giving birth to me, Kasumi refused to allow anyone else to wield her.”
That saddened him for her. He hated for anyone to lose their mother. “I’m sorry about your mother.”
“Thank you.”
Clearing his throat, he quickly sought to change the subject to a happier topic. “So how did you know you were her designated warrior?”
Myone’s mind went back to that fateful day. “She called to me when I was a girl.”
Barely nine, she’d been playing in the garden when she heard someone calling out to her. Thinking she was in trouble, she’d gone inside their home slowly. “Hello?” she’d called out, looking for her father, or someone else.
No one had answered.
Not until she turned around to return to the yard.
“Myone…” Definitely a female voice.
That had confused her, as there weren’t any women in their home. Her father had refused to allow another woman near him after the death of her mother. His love for her had been so great that, to this day, he’d never even looked at another.
“Hello?” she’d called out again.
“In here, child.” The voice had begun to hum.
Curious, she’d followed that hum into her father’s bedroom. She stood in the doorway. “I’m not supposed to enter here when my father’s not home.”
“Come closer, child. I want to see you.”
Those words had seemed eerie, and yet she’d been compelled against all reason to follow the ethereal voice that beckoned her to break her father’s rules. So she’d walked into the bedroom, prepared to run if she heard any noise.
The humming led her into a small antechamber off to the side. Inside that antechamber where her father stored his clothing and weapons, there was a glass case on top of a pedestal table. Myone knew this was her mother’s sword that her father kept in a place of honor.
The gold sword gleamed in the dim light. Intricately engraved, it was a thing of absolute beauty. Instead of leather, her mother had used a beautiful red silk scarf to secure the scabbard to her armor. The color of blood. It was a stark contrast to the gold.
“Hold me.”
She’d blinked at the order. “What?”
“You will be my warrior, Myone. Don’t be afraid. Come closer to me, child.”
Biting her lip, she’d been terrified. Yet the gold had warmed her. As did the voice of the sword.
“Bond with me, and I will make sure that you never fall in battle.”
Before she even realized what she was doing, she’d opened the glass and taken the sword in hand. The moment she did, pain tore through her so fiercely that she’d screamed out.
Her father had appeared in the room instantly, then cursed.
It was too late. Kasumi had claimed her. Even though no sword had ever chosen a child before, Kasumi had wanted her and taken her to be her initiate.
Myone had been training for war ever since.
Clearing her throat, she met Xev’s curious gaze. “Kasumi can be bloodthirsty. She’s not a good practice partner.”
“Very well.” He changed his sword to a wooden one with his powers. That was definitely impressive and reminded her that he was a full-blooded god. “You ready?”
She nodded.
“First lesson. Demons don’t play by any rules. Nor do they follow them. There’s only one law in battle.”
“Don’t die.”
He saluted her with his practice sword. “Exactly. And if you do, make sure you take your killer with you.”
She widened her eyes at that. “What?”
“Demon law. No sonofabitch kills me and lives. They will do whatever they can to take you with them. So expect that. And I do mean anything.”
“Good to know.” She put her left foot behind her and fell into her practice pose.
He started to swing at her.
As she went to block that stroke, he reversed direction and went for her feet.
She jumped without thought.
Xev pulled back. “Good. You’re better than most. Remember, they don’t telegraph where they’re going to strike, and they believe in misdirection.”
She nodded. “May I ask you something personal?”
Xev didn’t like the tone of her voice. But he was curious what she considered personal. “What?”
“Were you really suckled by a demon?”
That unexpected question brought a ferocious pain to his chest—one so bad that, for a moment, he couldn’t breathe as he tried to determine the source of what he felt. Was it grief over Michi or rage that Myone would ask him anything about his mother?
He decided it stemmed from any mention of the fox he’d loved more than his own life. “An Inari, and she was goodness personified. Speak of her with only reverence in your voice.” Michi’s kind were often referred to by the name of the goddess she’d served. She might have been a demon, but there was no evil in her.
Myone scowled. “I didn’t think any demon was capable of kindness.”
Xev had to force his anger down. She wasn’t trying to be insulting. Like most, she was ignorant and curious. He needed to respect that. “Forget what you think you know about demons. They’re not all evil or bad.”
“Like Malphas?”
That brought out a grin as he thought about his brother. “Mal is his own kind of evil, but he’s nothing like the ones who serve Azura. Think of demons as you would people and gods. Some of them are exceptionally kind and giving, and others will cut your throat without hesitation for something as simple as making the wrong comment.”
She nodded. “Your Inari?”
“Absolute decency. Everyone should have a mother like her.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I never knew my mother. She died when I was born.”
Feeling bad for her, Xev stepped forward and brushed away the single tear on her cheek. “I’m sure she would have been like my Michi. Just be grateful your mother wasn’t Azura.”
Myone didn’t miss the bitterness in his tone when he spoke of the goddess who’d birthed him. “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault. That I lay fully on Jaden’s groin and drunken stupor.”
She let out a squeak. “You like to shock me, don’t you?”
“I would say no, but you are awfully cute when I do.” His eyes widened an instant after he spoke those words. “I mean, I?—”
She cut his words off by placing her finger over his lips. “It’s all right, Xev. I think you’re cute, too.”
Xev couldn’t breathe as those words registered. She thought him cute?
Then, before he realized what she was doing, she kissed him quickly on the lips…and set him on his ass with one swift move.
Smiling, she planted her foot on his chest and held her wooden sword at his throat. “Is that demon-like enough for you?”
Stunned and aghast, he stared up at her in awe. “You did not just do that.”
When he moved to flip her, she used her wings to hover over him.
Wow. She was a fast learner.
He growled, then flew after her.
Squeaking, she started altering her path in an effort to avoid him.
It worked until he used his powers to flash himself in front of her.
She collided with him.
Xev wrapped his arms around her and held her against his chest to keep her from falling. “If I were a demon, you’d have been stabbed, Myone. Remember to always expect the unexpected. They don’t fight with honor.”
“Do you?”
“Depends on who I’m fighting.” He scowled, then shook his head. “No, it doesn’t. I fight like a demon. Always.”
“Then I will fight like one, too.”
And he would spend the rest of eternity making sure no demon ever harmed her.