Chapter Fifteen #3
“Me?” His spine stiffened. “Why? You owe me nothing. We’re little more than strangers.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard the stories about demi-wolves allying with me.” Onyx took a drink and rubbed his lips together—another action that caught my attention and held it. “It’s true. When the kingdom turned on them, I welcomed them here. Starting with a demi-wolf named Varys.”
Lake stared at the demon lord, silent but his breaths kicking up a notch. Not long ago, he’d told me the story about Varys.
“He was the king’s advisor, right?” I asked. “Why did Varys betray him?”
Tingles erupted over my skin as a pair of deep red eyes trailed to me. “The question you should be asking is: what did the king do to force Varys’ hand? Is it truly a betrayal if you were wronged first?”
Lake shifted forward in his chair. “That’s what my father believed. He said Varys was devoted to the royal family and wouldn’t have turned his back on them or the kingdom without reason.”
“Your father sounds like a smart wolf. Listen to him.”
The voice came from the doorway.
A man with shaggy, gray-streaked dark hair stepped into the room. He wore formal attire consisting of a black suit jacket, a charcoal undershirt, and fitted trousers. A toned physique but not bulky, more of an athletic build. Black wolf ears protruded from his hair.
“Varys,” Onyx greeted him. “Your timing is impeccable as always. Please join us. Fane prepared lamb for tonight’s feast.”
“Fane. A demon after my own heart.” Varys approached the table. A fluffy, black tail moved behind him with each step. His gaze swept over Lake as he reached his chair and sat down. “A relief to see you’re recovering from your wounds. They were quite severe, yes?”
Lake only stared at him. I couldn’t read his emotions like he could with me, but I saw the mix of shock and anger in his expression.
“I see,” Varys said with a knowing look. His eyes were a light shade of brown, like sun-warmed sand. “You blame me for the mistreatment of our kind. You’re justified in that feeling. I bear the weight of that guilt every day of my life.”
“My father believed you had a reason for it,” Lake rasped. “Even so, your betrayal is what… it’s why he…” A tremble passed through his body, and his hands balled into fists.
“They killed him.” Varys sobered even further. Not a question. The pain in Lake’s voice made it all too clear. “You have my condolences.”
“Did you know him?” Lake’s fist relaxed before he took my hand. Holding me seemed to calm him. “His name was Arden.”
“Arden.” Varys pondered for a moment. “Ah, I wonder. Was he a carpenter by chance?”
“He was,” Lake said, his tail wagging before he forced it to still.
Varys softly smiled. “I regret to say I didn’t know him well. Our paths rarely crossed. He occasionally worked at the castle. Designed and built several structures in the royal garden, such as the gazebo and benches.”
The gazebo? The place where I often met Prince Sawyer for tea… had been built by Lake’s dad.
“Now that I think about it…” Varys regarded Lake with a scrunched brow. “I believe you and I have met before.”
“We have?”
Varys nodded. “Arden brought his son with him to the castle once. A wee, tiny thing with a mane of silver hair and bright purple eyes. The two of you were in the garden, and I was passing through on my way to a council meeting. You ran up and hugged my leg before giving me an orchid you’d plucked from the flowerbed. ”
I smiled at the mental image of a little Lake. Big purple eyes, silver hair, and a small fluffy tail. I would no doubt die from the cuteness. If only pictures and camera phones were a thing in this world.
“I had a bad habit of plucking flowers,” Lake said with a trace of his own smile. “Of trying to eat them too. Then I made the mistake of grabbing one of Father’s roses. A lesson well learned.”
Onyx sat quietly, listening to them talk. Our gaze met from across the table, and I quickly looked away. Geez. One shared look and my heart went nuts.
“If only your father had joined the rebellion.” A forlorn expression crossed Varys’ face. “As I said, I didn’t know him well, so I can’t presume to know his reasons for staying.”
“My mother,” Lake answered. “She passed from sickness when I was a pup. He didn’t wish to leave the home they’d built together.”
“Ah.” Varys poured himself a goblet of wine. “Much like the rose with its thorns, love, too, can be dangerous. All beautiful things are. And these beautiful things can either save us or be the reason we fall.”
“Why did you do it?” I asked, placing my hand over Lake’s. He was shaking a little. “Why betray the king? Did he do something bad? Hurt you or someone you loved?”
Varys slowly exhaled. “That’s a story for another day. For now, let’s enjoy the feast. I’m famished.”
I opened my mouth to protest, only to be silenced by a gentle squeeze to my thigh. Lake’s ears remained drooped as he met my eyes and shook his head.
Fine. Food now, questions later.
By the time Fane came to escort us back to our room, my stomach was close to bursting, like roadkill that’d been left to bloat under the hot sun. One jab would pop me open. Instead of asking the million and one questions poking at my brain, I’d gorged myself on potatoes and bread.
“Can I trust that you’ll stay put for the night?” Fane asked once we’d stopped in front of the door. “Or do I need to lock you in?”
“We’ll behave,” I said, one hand going to my hip. The other held on to Lake, who hadn’t spoken a word since his conversation with Varys. He’d barely even touched the rest of his food.
“See to it that you do.” Fane’s eyes bore into me. “I’ll return at first light with your breakfast.”
My stomach turned at the thought of eating again. I could barely even walk. I just wanted to collapse into bed and sleep for the next ten years.
He stormed off down the hall, and I guided Lake into the room, closing the door behind us.
***
Later that night, Lake sat on the cushioned bench, staring out the window.
He’d said very little since we’d returned from dinner.
After kissing me softly, he’d taken a seat and turned his attention to the outside world, blocking out everything else.
He did that when upset or trying to process his thoughts.
I sat beside him, rubbing his back. “If you want to talk, I’m here, okay?”
With his gaze still on the night sky, he gave a small nod and pressed his leg to mine. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes to what seemed like hours, before he finally stirred. “This must be how you felt.”
“About what?”
His purple eyes moved to me. “When you were in Exalos and learned about your mother.”
“Oh.” I breathed in deeply. “Yeah. It was… a lot. On one hand, I was happy to know more about her. But on the other, I just felt…”
“Sad,” he roughly said. “Having so much you want to say but knowing you’ll never get the chance. There’re so many questions I want to ask my father. I know he wanted to stay in the place he and my mother built together, but if he had left Bremloc with the other demi-wolves, he wouldn’t have…”
His hand balled into a fist.
“Maybe he was scared.” I grabbed Lake’s closed fist and lightly unfurled it. Once his fingers were relaxed, I traced the pronounced veins leading from his knuckles to his wrist. The touch seemed to soothe him.
“Scared?” he asked.
I nodded. “Leaving the safety of his home and journeying into the unknown, potentially risking your life in the process, might’ve seemed more dangerous than staying.
The Shadow Realm doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being rainbows and sunshine.
Callum told me all kinds of nightmarish stories about it.
I bet your dad heard those same stories. ”
“Perhaps you’re right.” His eyes glistened as he refocused on the window. “I only wish I could speak with him one last time.”
“I know you do, my sweet wolf.” I brought his hand up and kissed the back of it. “The lamb was yummy tonight, huh? When we see our men again, we’re gonna have to tell them all about it. Then add it to our weekly dinner menu.”
There was a subtle quake in his chin before he turned back to me. “Rowan will want it served with peppers.”
The change of topic worked. The sadness still lingered in his eyes as we spoke of our men and all the things we wanted to do when we finally reunited with them—when, not if—but the heaviness in the air gradually lifted.
We eventually moved to the bed and propped against the pillows. The only light came from the whispers of moonlight streaming in through the window and the glow from the hearth burning in front of us. Flames from the fire cast shadows along the wall.
“Good news is we got some answers tonight,” I said, threading our fingers together and holding them up to the firelight. He smiled. “Onyx has a soft spot for demi-wolves. Something he and I have in common.”
“We also learned that he finds you intriguing.” Lake slipped one arm beneath my head and curved his body around mine. “Something he and I have in common.”
The last was said in an awful imitation of my voice. I nudged his belly, earning a gruff sound in response. He then brought my hand to his mouth and nipped at my fingers. These playful moments with Lake warmed my heart.
“Not sure it’s a good thing to be intriguing to a demon lord,” I said, shifting my focus to Lake’s inner wrist. Dark blue veins stood out against his porcelain skin. “Feels like I’m an insect or something he plans to study and dissect. I’m still convinced he wants to eat me.”
“Aye, I’m sure he does.”
“What?” I flipped to my side. “So you think so too! He intends to fatten me up first though. And you let me eat all those potatoes earlier. The audacity.”
A familiar rough sound left him. “Not eating in that sense of the word. More so… devouring you. Every delicious inch.”
Sparks jolted in my core. “Oh.”
Lake smiled against my hair before adding, “If Rowan were here, he’d say Lord Onyx is harem member number six.”