42. Seir
Chapter 42
Seir
I was tired of pacing hallways waiting for Keplar or Rune to send for me.
It had been hours without any kind of update. I went to the dining hall with Asim and ate tasteless food while I filled him in on how I’d found Hailon. I even managed to bathe, change, and catch a few hours of sleep in the apartment that would soon no longer be mine to use. I made sure my mission notes were up to date and all reports were filed. I wandered the halls, aimless, willing myself to be patient even though that was the very last thing I was feeling.
“Find something to do, Seir, or I’ll find something for you. The process is moving as fast as possible, I swear it,” Keplar had warned me the last time I’d strolled by his office.
Not wanting to get caught up in anything I couldn’t drop and leave immediately, I’d gotten a pass for the archives.
There was a frustrating lack of information on anything I could think to look for, particularly nulls. The only thing helpful I was able to locate was a scroll with a list of known magical nullifiers through history. One appeared every couple of generations or so, but only ever one at a time. Sometimes there was as much as a five-generation gap between them. Thankfully, the scroll I found also contained the known nulls’ immediate family trees. I copied it down so I had something to take back to the surface with me to reference against the archives the mages and stone kin both kept. Hailon’s name was not in the records, but her mother’s was. Wyn was listed as the great-granddaughter of Elowyn, a null who resided peacefully in Vincara for all of her normal, mortal lifespan. No husband was registered for Wyn on the tree, and she was the last entry for that line.
Vassago had spent a very long time at a monastery in Vincara. I scribbled a little note to myself on the parchment to speak with him about it. Perhaps he’d known an Elowyn, not realizing she was a null, or had crossed paths with her at some point.
I turned to seeing if there were any new developments in regard to several demon horde infestations that my brothers had managed in and around Revalia. Thankfully, that whole strange situation seemed to have cleared up since Ris had taken back the throne in the fae realm.
Bored, I wandered between the shelves, picking up a tome here and there, hopeful I’d get lucky and stumble across something helpful if I glanced through enough books and scrolls.
Unfortunately, I found nothing more than boring battle reports, many of which I’d participated in, and instructional manuals for torture.
I’d given up and was walking past the check-in desk when Meg stopped me.
“Did he find you?” she asked.
“Who? Keplar?”
“Yes, he was looking for you just now. Said to send you down to Rune’s office. Good luck!”
I turned and sifted, arriving at Rune’s office just steps behind my unit leader. He laughed when he saw me. “Anxious?”
“Of course I am, sir.”
Rune sat behind her desk, stoic as ever. “Welcome back. Your paperwork has been approved, but”—she held a hand up, stopping my premature celebration—“the boss requires you to bring something to Earth for him.”
“The boss?” I asked. Rune leveled me with a stern gaze that I was certain had reduced many demons to terrified puddles on the floor. I hadn’t seen Lucifer himself in decades, but we’d never had friction. “Of course. What does he need me to take?”
“He wants you to deliver this to Lilith.” She held up a thick parchment envelope.
“She’s notoriously difficult to locate, but I’m sure it can be arranged. Is there a time limit?”
“No limit was given, but he impressed a sense of urgency. He requested you specifically, Seir. Any notion as to why?”
I shrugged. “I have a reasonably friendly history with Lilith. I don’t doubt she’ll see me, that I can deliver this as requested. Once I’m able to find her, of course.” I kept to myself that I’d seen her not all that long ago, when she, Ris, and Tap had collaborated on the creation of a series of portals so we could all be a bit more easily connected.
“I see. Report back as soon as it’s done. Sooner is better, of course.”
I reached across the desk and took the envelope from Rune, finding it dense and heavy. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Good.” What might have been the ghost of a smile crossed her mouth under the black smoke. She turned to the papers in front of her, signing them one at a time in bright red ink before handing them to Keplar to do the same. Then it was my turn to sign. “Here you are.”
“Thank you.” I looked between them after putting my name down with a flourish in the magical red ink. I finally relaxed when Keplar laughed.
“I need you back to work as soon as possible.”
“Yes, sir.” My blood was thumping through my body, the need to get back to the surface my only focus.
“Get yourself set up. Check in as often as you can. We’ll begin the transfer of door monitoring from the crossroads to your new location as soon as you’re set up.” He grinned at me and reached out his hand. I shook it. “It was a good proposal, Seir. I’m more pleased than you know that you found a way to stay out of the wastes.”
“Me too, sir. Will someone be sent in my place?”
He shook his head. “They wanted your talent, so unless someone presents with similar abilities, they will continue to put in a request that will remain unfulfilled.”
I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. They were willing to sacrifice a prince to the wastes, but there was no true urgency? What was out there that they needed help with so badly then? Perhaps I could get one of my other brothers to look into it, they generally worked much more on the outskirts than I did.
He tilted his head, a sly grin on his mouth as he watched me process his response. “We’ll discuss that another time. Get out of here.”
I didn’t hesitate. I sifted to the main hall, waved at Meg as I sprinted to the portals, and dove through the one for d’Arcan, done with waiting to get back to my mate.