Chapter 8
Raes threw a punch. The kind of punch I’d thrown at five.
I shifted a few inches to dodge the blow. The guy was strong, but he possessed the coordination of a baby deer. No coordination, in other words. Yet he’d been a blacksmith, who must have had coordination.
I didn’t understand.
“Nearly got you,” he puffed.
I schooled my expression. “A good start. Let’s stop there for today.”
He was screwed. Gratia would need to kick ass for him.
“I’m going to stay and look at the weapons,” he said.
I muttered a goodbye, then hurried out of the training hall. I had so much to do. So much to figure out.
“Syera,” came a hiss.
I peered into the shadows of a branching hall. “Gratia?”
“Shh.” She beckoned me closer. “What do you think? Of Raes?”
“That I could train him for a decade and he’ll never fight as well as you naturally do.”
She cursed. “I thought that too.”
I took in her heavy robes. “Did you disguise yourself to watch us?”
“What? No. Of course not. Why would I do that?” She threw back the deep hood. “I mostly came to thank you for sticking up for Raes at dinner last night. We were doing so well, but since Carmine woke, things have reverted to what they were before. There’s this sudden void between us.”
No way.
I stared. “Thank me? You are so much smarter than that. You want to thank me for doing what you’ve had weeks to do?
I stole an opportunity from you last night.
You could have used that moment to show Raes what he meant to you, and instead you let someone else do it for you.
I weakened your mating last night, Gratia.
I didn’t strengthen it. Everyone is watching you.
They’re witnessing your shame about your mating.
They don’t really care about your mother’s bullying.
They don’t care that I defended Raes. They’re watching what you’re doing, and what you’re not doing.
He’s relying on you to show him the way.
Why did you tell him that he couldn’t visit his family? ”
She grimaced. “Because—”
“Because of your shame. Another opportunity to cross that void that you let pass by. If he’s floundering, then that’s your fault.
How is he meant to have any idea how this fucked-up place works?
Every chance I get, I’ll steal more opportunities from you.
I’ll take and take them until your mating crumbles in a heap. ”
Her chest rose sharply. “I won’t let you.”
I smirked. “If you were going to stand up for your mate, you would have done so already. I’m going to enjoy this.”
I left her in the shadows.
Yikes. I hadn’t seen that conversation moving that way, but perhaps a nudge was what she needed.
I bumped into Carmine around the next corner and jumped. “You scared me!” I peered over my shoulder. “How long have you been here?”
“Long enough to hear you threaten my sister’s mating.”
So the entire time.
I placed my hands on my hips. “Something to say?”
“You were all for their mating. Why the change of view?”
Carmine didn’t speak female. Our claws really came out with adversity. I guessed that would have looked super icy from the outside. “No change of mind. I never approved.”
Denial had worked so far.
His brows drew together. “You were the first to welcome Raes.”
“Anything else?” I asked. “Or would you like to help me wash this sweat off my body? We can do a training of our own.”
I wiggled my ass, then winked. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
“No time,” he said firmly. “I need you at the war council.”
The war council? But that would delay me researching how to kill him. “Right now?”
“We are joined, Syera. You must step further into queenly duties.”
“I don’t like cold sweat situations.”
“I know.” Carmine walked in the opposite direction.
“Did you mean what you said to your mother about our mating?” I called after him.
He halted, and I caught up.
I said, “There’s no point in queen training if you don’t want to continue this.”
He captured my hand, and I shoved back the urge to pull away.
“We will complete our mating,” Carmine said. “But you were lifeless in my arms. You were gone, and I won’t step into the next ritual until I’m sure that can’t happen again.”
I steeled myself against the emotion in his gaze. “Because you’ll be weaker if I die.”
Carmine’s face firmed. “That has never been why. Hunger for power was not why I drained myself to the point of death to save you. If you were dead, then I was going too.”
He sounded surprised and awed by that, so why had he expected me to leap to that conclusion?
Carmine released my hand and continued down the hall.
I trailed after, trying to collate this version of him with the monster he so often became. As usual, there was no way to pair them, and so I gave up on the endeavor that had wasted so much of my life to date.
The four other councilors were already seated and arguing over a map.
“Where’s this?” I asked, moving to my seat at the far end.
Tsee glanced up. “Deception Valley. Luther territory.”
A shift of gears. “They’re the next targets?”
No one answered, but their exchanged looks said it all. Can we trust her?
Carmine sat at the opposite end of the stone table. “We will war with them next. The Magus have proven resourceful and highly adaptable as you warned. The Luthers have other strengths, but they do not possess magic. And as a food source for demons, they are the most resilient and long-lasting.”
I pulled a face. “I didn’t know that.”
“A Vissimo’s despair is poor nutrition for us because, like us, they relish pain—even their own,” he said.
“Magus are strong in magic, but emotionally vulnerable to lasting siege, so they are quicker to weaken and die when we feed upon them. Luthers are made for siege, and their pack bond and strong loyalties make their deep pain most nutritious of all.”
“Why didn’t we go for them first?” I asked.
Gnuz grunted. “Not the most formidable in battle. We were trying to take out our magical counterpart.”
“Though Luthers are immune to our smoke,” reminded Tsee.
Carmine regarded the map. “I assessed the area a few days ago. Luthers have a special affinity with the nearby tribe of humans that they used to war against. The wolves are in alliance with Vissimo and Magus now, but I believe taking their humans hostage could guarantee their submission.”
I nodded. “That will work. As long as you can get their humans. I bet they’ve taken measures to protect them.”
“Why would they?” Dris asked.
“They might be fond of them.”
Every single tiny sound in the council room disappeared.
Deuk screwed up her face. “Fon?”
“Fond,” I said slower. “They live in the same town, and their feud is over. The mate of the pack leader led the human tribe once. She’ll have many friends and possibly family still there. She will still care for them.”
Gnuz arched his brows. “She cut allegiances. There’s no mutual dependency.”
Oh, boy. How to dumb this down? “She will still feel an obligation to protect them. As you’ve said, Luthers are very loyal.”
“So taking them hostage will control her,” Carmine replied.
I pursed my lips. “If you can take them hostage. These humans held their weight in a game against Luthers. For hundreds of years, right? These aren’t humans who carry around enormous insulated water tumblers in the name of staying hydrated.”
More blank expressions.
I sighed. “I’m saying that they’ll know how to protect themselves.”
Carmine leaned forward and pointed at several areas on the map. “They rely heavily on cameras surrounding their lands, and then on an array of technology like guns and sound devices. None of which will work against a demon.”
I countered, “Luthers are in cahoots with other supernaturals, and if Luthers know about you, the human tribe will. However my sister beat you in battle, you can assume that everyone on her side has dissected what worked and what to do next time. Everything the supernaturals know about demon weaknesses, the tribe will know too. The humans might not have anti-demon devices on display, but they will have them.”
Carmine leaned further forward. “In my knowledge of human technology, there is not a single human weapon that would work against our kind—not that a mere tribe could access or possess.”
I leaned forward too. “Perhaps their weapons aren’t human tech.
Perhaps Magus have armed them. Magical weapons will certainly work against us.
My first call to protect the tribe would be a warning system.
As soon as demons entered the grounds, the humans could contact other supernaturals.
Or perhaps there’s an alarm system on the tribal grounds that immediately alerts the coven.
With the Magus ability to portal, supernaturals of all kinds could flood their tribal grounds in no time. ”
Deuk said, “Recall that our mission is to seize hostages, mate-intended. That can be done swiftly.”
Dang, I was totally engrossed in a debate with the demon king. I quickly leaned back to cut the tension.
“You don’t believe the idea has merit.” Carmine didn’t lean back.
I answered, “The idea does have merit. But my sister is smart enough to figure out this move.”
My sister was smart enough to figure out any move, which was why I felt no qualms about “helping.” My sister’s magic took the form of a peculiar sort of weaving and knotting system called quipu, where she organized information.
With enough input, the quipu then took on a mind of its own and could show her new information and unknown connections.
That was how we’d ruled our high school.
Probably how she’d taken Carmine out in the last battle.
I added. “She always loved to create traps, like my mother did. You can expect one or many of them in the area. You should assume there is an alarm in place. If you can get in and out in less than a minute, you might succeed.”
The demon king nodded. “I believe that your… sister believes I am dead or incapacitated. None of our enemy will expect an attack so soon.”
He was right. And I was to blame for healing him.
I had to get word to Tempest.
Carmine regarded the map of Deception Valley again, tracing along the northern mountain range of the valley. Our territory.
“Let us return to our other strategies for the time being,” he said.
“Which one, my king?” Dris asked, riffling through a stack of papers that I’d love to get my hands on.
The demon king tapped a finger on the label Pack Lands. “Taking the Luther pups.”