38. Seir
Chapter 38
Seir
H ailon tucked herself into my body, arms wrapping around my middle. I held her back, arms tight around her shoulders, my tail wound securely around her leg.
“You’re safe with them, and that’s all I’ve wanted since the moment I figured out what was happening to you in that house. I feel very confident nobody would survive crossing you unless you wanted them to, but I’m not willing to take the risk. And I’m very thankful there are others I know will look out for you in my absence.” I breathed in deeply, face nestled in the space between her neck and shoulder, trying to bolster my courage to leave.
“Ridiculous demon. As you said, I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can, Moonflower.” I kissed her forehead. “But my point is you shouldn’t have to. You don’t have to. My family can be your family. They already are.”
She glanced over at the gargoyles patiently waiting by the carriage. Her lips parted again, but instead of the argument I thought was coming, I got a very gentle kiss. “Thank you.”
“Truly, it’s been my honor, Hailon.”
“That sounds ominous.” Her arms tightened around me. “That sounds like goodbye, Seir.”
“I don’t mean it to.” My stomach lurched. I could feel the echoes of the preparations being made to summon me back in my bones. “Make me a summoning circle, Moonflower. Show me how well you can draw my sigil.”
“I don’t want to.” Her voice was weak, throat constricted with tears.
“I know. But you must. It’s the best way to ensure I can come back to you quickly.”
After several more breaths, she pulled away with a sniffle and picked up a stick the size of her arm.
In the soft soil, she executed a perfect summoning circle. My pride flared when my sigil appeared next, well drawn and including several little marks that were her own flourish in the strokes. She pulled my dagger from its sheath and poked the tip into her finger, dripping three little drops onto the ground in the very center of her art before handing it back. I licked the remaining smear of blood from my blade and put it back in my belt, the flavor as bright as I remembered on my tongue.
“You have to say the words, Hailon.”
“I know.” She sniffled again. Our eyes met, and she threw herself back into my arms, my strong mate clinging to me as desperately as I held onto her. “Come back to me,” she whispered.
“I will,” I promised. “I always will, Hailon, I swear it. No matter what happens, I will come back to you.”
She nodded into my shoulder and slowly measured out the next several words, the ones that would send me away from her. I closed my eyes, breathing her in, and captured her mouth in a kiss.
Then my arms were empty, and my chest ached.
I was in Hell.
“Glad to see you back,” Keplar greeted me from behind his desk. “On time, even.”
“Sir.”
His eyes roved my face, and he sighed. “So? Is everything resolved with your summoner?”
“No,” I said plainly. My bond was raging, I didn’t want to be here, and I didn’t want to waste time pretending about it.
“You’re not finished?”
“I completed her request, and she banished me back, so technically the summoning contract is complete. But no, I’m not finished with her.”
Keplar sat back in his chair, eyes narrowed as they focused on my hand rubbing over my chest. “Shit.”
“Sir?”
“You’re sure about the bond?” he asked, cutting right to the chase.
“Yes.”
“And it’s been completed?”
“Yes.” My blood flared, every time Hailon and I had satisfied the bond flashed through my mind.
“You have my congratulations.”
My eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Thank you. Sir.”
He crossed his arms, looking for all the world like he was preparing himself to have his day ruined. “So tell me, what have you come up with? What do you propose?”
I laid out the vague ideas I’d had, Keplar becoming more and more intrigued the longer I talked. “Do you think any of that’s possible, sir?”
He’d taken at least one full page of notes, and he scanned it again, giving a slow nod. “I don’t see any issues at first glance. It’s actually quite brilliant. I imagine Tap will be grateful for the assistance.”
I smiled, the first one in what felt like a long time. “I hope so.”
“Let me get the paperwork going on this. You know that’s always the hardest part.”
“Yes, sir.” My heart thumped, but I was wary. This felt too easy. At what point would I learn the catch to getting what I wanted? “What’s the trade?”
“Trade?”
“We’re demons, sir,” I said. “Respectfully, none of us do a single thing here unless there’s a benefit to us. We don’t take bad deals. So, what is it that makes this situation a deal worthy of you accepting it?”
Keplar sighed, then started to laugh. His smile was infectious, his chuckle a deep, resonant boom as it rolled around the room. “You’re smart, Seir.”
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been accused of that, sir.”
He shook his head and leaned forward again, weight on his elbows. “I’m not losing you altogether, son. You’re going to get what you want, at least as far as I can manage. I don’t see any reason this won’t work to everyone’s advantage, honestly. You get your time on Earth with your mate, I get to keep my best traveler instead of losing him to the wastes, and your brother gets a little help. There’s no part of this deal that isn’t advantageous.”
“And?”
Keplar laughed again. “ And I look like my unit has its shit together. That we’re performing above expectations.” There it was. “Maybe I get a little push for my next promotion.”
“Happy to help, sir.”
“Go on then, get out of my office. I have a stack of papers to sign so we can make this happen. Make yourself useful in the meantime. Pack up your things and turn in anything that belongs to the unit at the desk. After that, report to the reassignment office.”
I stood so fast my chair scraped across the floor and sifted directly into my apartment. There wasn’t much left to be packed, so I made quick work of it, putting my clothes in one bag, odds and ends in another. The rest was unit assigned and could be dropped with Meg at the desk.
I was far more hopeful than I thought I would be as I made my way through the halls. Keplar had probably barely had enough time to find, sign, and file the paperwork.
To my surprise, my unit leader was already there when I arrived at the reassignment office, discussing things with the studious little demon behind a massive desk with a chest-height counter in front of it.
“There he is now. Seir, this is Rune.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
“Don’t leave, Keplar,” she said, voice raspy. Black smoke puffed from her throat when she spoke. “If you want me to rush this, I need you here to sign off.”
Keplar gave a loose salute and sank his body into one of the big chairs that faced her desk.
“Have you spoken to the crossroads demon about this plan?” she asked me, eyes focusing on me over the tops of her glasses.
“Not yet, but I can take a portal. I feel confident he will be in agreement.”
“And the stone kin ally?”
“Already discussing with the council—or will be shortly.”
“Good. And you’ll still be able to be here, to do your job, at least part time?”
“Yes, I’ll be able to portal back and forth quite easily.” I left out the part where that might only work in theory, at least temporarily. Surely we could figure out a work-around if need be.
“Any special demands?” She seemed skeptical as she looked over the paperwork one more time.
“No. Except that my ability to be summoned be restricted. I can make a list of the summoners I’d approve of. And that I am able to stay with the same unit. I don’t want to change command, I want to stay under Keplar in perpetuity.”
Rune’s eyes swept from me to the paper and back again. “Fascinating. For a prince, I expected much less flexibility.” She used a special quill to sign the documents in glowing red ink. “Go, speak with Tap. Make it fast. We’ll be waiting.”
I grinned, bursting with pride. It still felt too easy, but hopefully that meant it was simply a good plan. “Thank you!”
I dashed for the hall of portals, going through the familiar one that would transport me to the place between places, the origin of all gates. I went to the crossroads.
Tap stalked by the portal I stepped out of, stopped, and spun on his heel. “What are you doing here?” A smile graced his face, and he pulled me into a quick hug. Tap was a similar build to me, though more slender thanks to his less physical job. He’d cut his dark hair very short since I’d last seen him and added several new rings to each ear. His gray eyes were tired behind his round spectacles.
“I have a proposition for you.”
He groaned. “Walk with me. I don’t have time for any of your schemes, Seir. You know this. I’m barely dug out of the weeds from when I attended Rylan’s wedding. And the stone kin have a massive project for me. I can’t run off to visit the fae or go in search of a hidden treasure?—”
“It’s nothing like that, brother, I promise.” His shoulders relaxed. “How’s the portrait coming along?”
Tap turned a glare and a frown at me. “I’ll finish it up one day,” he insisted. “You’ll see.”
“I have faith in you, brother.” I slapped his shoulder encouragingly.
The portrait was a running joke between us, though a sore point for Tap. When we’d first fallen, all of us had struggled to find fulfilling hobbies as we adjusted to our new lives. Tap eventually landed on sketching and art. Unfortunately, his assignment to the crossroads left him no time to work on anything like a portrait. Even if he’d had the time, his attention span had become increasingly divided because of how every hour of his day went. He was torn between twenty things at all times, monitoring doorways, making sure that things stayed where they belonged. And that didn’t even address all the animal familiars he was in charge of managing or the hundreds of deals that regularly crossed his desk.
“What’s this proposal then?” he asked, handing me a cup of ale and grunting as he sat down on a worn leather chair.
“You’re not still sleeping in that, are you?”
He simply stared back. “And if I am?”
“You need more rest, Tap.”
“I get what I can.”
“It’s not enough.” Worry for him had long since infected my thoughts, and visiting always reminded me that he was not taking care of himself.
“Are you here to hen peck then? We’ve had this conversation at least the last seventeen times you visited.”
“Actually, I’m here to offer some relief.”
“Oh?” He perked up a bit. “How so?”
I gave him a brief version of my plans, measuring my enthusiasm against his careful questioning.
“And you think it will work, truly?”
“I do.” I grinned at him, pouring him another ale from the seemingly endless bottle that always sat in the same spot on his little table.
“I don’t know what to say. I’ve always held it together, but this past little while…” He frowned, chin going to his chest as he shook his head. “I’m ashamed to admit I feel as though I’ll never catch up again, never feel like I’m on top of things. I don’t have time to reorganize or train someone to pick up some of the weight, never mind filing all the deals that are stacking up. I’m barely keeping the familiar bonds in order.” He heaved another sigh, adjusting his spectacles as they slid down his nose.
“That’s not shameful, Tap. It’s alright to need some help. I’m sorry I wasn’t faster thinking this one up. Truth be told, I’ve been trying to find a way to help you for a very long time.”
“I know. I appreciate you for it.” He stood, the weariness twice as apparent as when I first arrived. “Alright then. I’ll send my approvals over and requisition some things. I’d be grateful for the help, and I trust you can manage without my guidance. You’ve watched me do the job here more than most.”
“I have. Sorry I can’t stay longer, I’m rather hopeful to get back quickly.”
“Back?”
“Oh! Of course, I haven’t told you that part yet. I’ve found my mate, on Earth. She summoned me! I think you’ll like her. There may be another wedding for you to attend at some point in the future, so it’s best we get some of these things straightened out sooner rather than later. You need a holiday. A real one.”
I dragged him in for another quick hug, then dashed for the portal back to Hell, leaving him standing there with his mouth hanging open.