Chapter 13
I barged into the smithy. “Hello!”
Of the five demons within, Raes’s father jumped, his mother screamed, and his brother shouted. Gratia’s fake smile dropped like a rock.
Raes… total relief.
He and Gratia had been here for about one minute, and things weren’t going well. Surprise, surprise.
“Why are you here?” Gratia demanded.
“Oyx Wehy goes where she wants,” I answered, then strode forward with my hand outstretched. Raes’s family shook one by one, each in a state of shock.
I sighed happily. “How are things?”
“Why are you here?” Gratia repeated.
“You mentioned this visit, and I had an inkling to join you both and see the smithy. Unfortunately you’d already left, so I hurried after your carriage and managed to find my way. Going well, Raes?”
He tore his focus from Gratia. “I’m well, Syera.”
He’d rethought his relief at my presence.
I peered around. “This is a whole operation.”
I knew very little about blacksmiths, but there were two fire things, maybe furnaces or forges? Then there were a lot of heavy, metal things they must bang hot weapons on—were they anvils? No idea.
Also unwilling to learn.
Finished weapons gleamed on the walls, and I walked closer. Whoa. “Are these commissions?”
His father had blue scales, and after glancing at his son, he joined me at the wall. “No, mate-intended. They are swords that my father, Raes, or I have made over the centuries, though they are now for sale.”
These were serious weapons. Not all swords. Daggers, hammers, bows, pikes, axes, a variety of incredible maces, and flails. “You’re selling them because Raes is gone and the smithy is struggling to get by?”
Silence.
Gratia’s dislike burned into me from here. She would assume I was here to “crumble her mating.” I was okay with that. My gut told me that Gratia would rise to the occasion with my presence where she might not have by herself.
Sure enough.
Gratia blurted, “Is there something we can do to help matters?”
Raes whipped to look at her, brows raised.
How many emotions could a demon feel in five minutes?
His father bowed. “Thank you, your royal highness. I cannot take advantage of my son’s mating.”
Gratia frowned. “Why not?”
I had to second her confusion. What an un-demonlike statement.
He glanced at Raes, who faced Gratia. “Because I have said it is not possible.”
Uh-oh.
“Why would you say that?” she replied.
He wisely said nothing.
I wisely did the opposite. “You’ve made it clear that you’re embarrassed by Raes’s origins, Gratia. He sought to please you by distancing himself from his struggling family.”
“That’s not true!”
As a torrent of excuses rushed from her mouth, I returned my focus to the weapons. My gut twinged, and in the next beat, my divination magic swept in a flood to my fingertips.
My voice, when I spoke, was dreamy and deep. Not my own.
My body moved me to stand before the sword on the end. “This is mine.”
Gratia stopped babbling.
“Uh, yours?” Raes tentatively asked.
I trailed my fingertips over the hilt. “Mine.”
“Raes’s grandfather made that during your father’s reign,” the green mother spoke for the first time. “For your father, but he chose another blade.”
I opened a portal and reached through. In my hand was my father’s sword, still infused with so much of his power.
“That sword,” she said in awe.
I had mixed feelings about this weapon. I hadn’t known my father, but the love he’d shared with my mother was the catalyst for so much pain.
I wouldn’t exist without him, and neither would Tempest. But my mother and grandmother may still be alive.
They would never have left their coven and other family members to protect us.
My father would still reign in the demon realm, and Carmine wouldn’t have gained the power and resources to wage war on other supernaturals.
This sword had protected me too. At sixteen, and as an object of ridicule, carrying this sword had made the surrounding demons wary of the power I may one day possess.
I didn’t need that protection any longer.
All my ponderings about him and this blade had never led to much. The past was the past, and I could only worry about what was, and what was yet to come.
My affinity released its hold, and I glanced at Raes’s mother. “I would like to trade my father’s sword for this one.”
Everyone spent some time blinking.
Except the mother. She said, “A king always keeps his sword.”
“Not dead kings.”
Her lips twitched, and that may have been the extent of her efforts to inform me of the mistake I was making. Because she was a mother who understood this would end the struggles of their family for a long time.
Raes stepped forward. “Syera, that’s a priceless sword. The sword that speaks to you is one of a kind, but the life and experiences of a weapon are more valuable still. Your father’s sword is one of immense power, and it belongs with someone of immense power.”
A strange knowing swept through me. I smiled. “My father’s sword will belong to someone of immense power again.”
Just who, I could not guess. I met Raes’s gaze, also aware of Gratia’s mounting fury at me stealing the attention. She was going to love when I invited myself here for a family dinner. That was on my list for “future plans to mess with Gratia.” “What would this sword mean to the smithy?”
Raes didn’t answer.
Thought so.
“Your father made this?” I asked his father.
The blue swallowed. “Yes, mate-intended. It was his best work. When your father chose another, I remember his surprise. Your father said that though the blade was excellent, it was not intended for him. Perhaps he knew something we did not about who would eventually claim it. I would be honored on my father’s behalf to see it in your hands.
We have heard much of how you fought in Tiers. ”
I unhooked the blade and a shiver worked through me. Power warmed me from the inside out. “Yes, this is meant for me.”
I hung up my father’s sword on the wall. “I hope my father’s blade fetches you a good price. But do not fear. The demon you sell it to is not the demon who will retain it. Eventually the sword will find its true warrior.”
Everyone, even the mother, stared this time. Being part Magus in a world of demons tended to have that effect.
Raes unhooked the matching daggers. “Take these too.”
“Only if that’s okay with your family,” I murmured demurely, peeking at Gratia after.
She rewarded me by storming out.
Raes grimaced and rushed after her.
I chuckled.
“How is our son?” the mother whispered.
I lifted a shoulder. “He could be fine. That’s up to them. I’m giving them a nudge when I can.”
The sounds of their hushed argument drifted back through the door.
I grinned at his family. “In his defense, the fortress is a beast of its own. He will understand how things operate in years to come, but their mating must survive until he does. And until Gratia understands how to… adjust her life in the fortress to his presence.”
His mother seemed to gauge what I meant. She was the brains of this operation.
“For instance,” I declared loudly, “if Gratia cared for Raes, she should have announced your family as the royal blacksmiths. She hasn’t, so I will do so this evening.”
Hopefully Gratia heard that part.
The couple had moved farther away to continue their dispute.
“In return for our trade, I would also like a favor,” I said to them in a softer voice. “When Gratia and Raes return, you will tell them that I have only just departed.”
The three demons bowed.
Sometimes I loved this realm.
I banished my new sword and daggers to my room, then exited the blacksmith. No sooner had I reached the narrow lane outside, than a letter arrived in my hand.
Just like that. Not there one moment, then in my hands the next.
I lifted the letter high, and my heart stuttered at the handwriting.
Syera
“Tempest,” I breathed. Checking for company first, I found a nook to wedge into before ripping the letter open.
My heart pounded.
Dear Sister,
There is so much to say that I’ve sat here wondering where I can possibly begin.
Since the day of our mother and grandmother’s death, I have believed you dead. The first I learned of you was through my nephew, and then through my demon who you released from the dungeons. Thank you, Syera. Without reuniting with that side of myself, my mate would be dead.
There is much to discuss, but you must know that I’ll protect Adeuto with my life and all the might of the coven. I loved him the first time I saw him.
I’m writing this letter in anticipation of the negotiations being held with the demon king tomorrow.
The coven has explored how best to get communication to you, and it seems clear that communication can only occur when the gates are opened.
When negotiations begin at one of the gates tomorrow, I will attempt to banish this letter into your hands.
I stopped reading.
Doing so took everything in me, but if Carmine was currently in negotiations, then I had a window of opportunity. I could feel his location, so he was still in this realm, and there was a strong chance that he wouldn’t leave negotiations with the other supernaturals to track me down.
I portaled out to the shack where I’d last seen Owu and Adeuto. The surroundings were painfully familiar, and at the sight of my son’s bed, a deep ache filled my chest.
I swallowed back my pain. “Owu?”
Not here. I already knew. The scents were old.
I walked a perimeter around the shack, focusing my efforts on the area between the shack and the outskirts of the realm. No traces remained. A simple windstorm could have erased footprints, and Adeuto had likely shown Owu how to hide his tracks.
If I was five, would I kill my grandparents first or try to find my mother?
The answer wasn’t so simple when it came to a five-year-old demon. Owu blamed his grandparents for his father’s death. But after losing one parent, he yearned for the one that remained.
I tugged up my hood and portaled to the house where Owu had last seen his mother. Tsan’s home.
Tsan had only vacated this morning, but that didn’t mean that Owu hadn’t visited. I circled the tiny home on the outskirts of the realm.
Yes!
I crouched by the footprints behind the shack. “Recent.”
He was looking for his mother.
I portaled to their old home next. How much time did I have before negotiations ended? Carmine wasn’t one to waste time or words, but he would want to see how the other leaders reacted when tested. He’d try to seek out any weaknesses.
“Owu?” I called, striding through the home that was far cleaner than the last time I’d visited.
His mother was doing okay. Caring for herself anyway.
I inhaled, then walked to Owu’s old room.
I couldn’t smell any signs of him in the house. I slipped outside to scope the perimeter and quickly came across his scent.
“You’re watching her,” I murmured. Smart boy. He must feel that his presence could mean trouble for his mother, and he was right.
He’d chosen a spot out of sight of the road between houses and hadn’t returned in a few days. So where was Owu now?
Shit. He was only five. Wiser than most five-year-olds, given the pain he’d experienced in life, and the loss. But still. I was worried about him.
I couldn’t be sure when I’d have another chance to search for him, and I didn’t know where his mother worked these days.
Returning inside, I found a scrap of paper and etched out a note with some gluggy ink and a split quill.
He is in the realms, and has been here.
If he returns, send a blank letter to Tsan at the royal fortress.
I jogged upstairs to place the note under the mother’s pillow.
I didn’t dare stick around. I’d need to search the grandparents’ mansion another time.
I paused in the act of opening a portal and instead drew out Tempest’s letter again. This couldn’t come with me. I’d risk another minute.
Sascha and Andie have confirmed that you plan to aid us in bringing the demon king down.
Your life in the last five years must have been hell, Syera. Adeuto has told me about living in the desert with our demon grandfather. What have you gone through?
Whatever the king has done to you, we will make sure he pays for it. We’ll take him down together.
The supernatural alliance has plans in place, and with your intelligence from the other side of the gates, I know we have the power to remove him for good.
I don’t know if getting you this letter will work, so before I divulge anything further, I will await your reply when the gates next open.
I am going to help you, sister.
We’re going to get through this.
Love, Tempest.
A smaller message was scrawled at the bottom.
Hey girl,
Basilia Atagio here.
My father-in-law died by your mate’s hand. So let’s kill him slowly and painfully.
Glad to hear you’re on board!
Kisses,
Queen Basilia
My brows rose. That was… difficult to interpret.
Yet another message was beneath, even shorter than Basilia’s.
Queen Syera,
Welcome to the supernatural alliance.
Andie
If Basilia was crazy, then at least Andie seemed levelheaded. That was the impression I’d received from her in pack lands too.
I burned the letter to a crisp, then portaled to my rooms in the fortress.
Phew.
How the hell did I pull that off? He must still be in negotiations.
When Carmine still didn’t explode into my room, I paused.
He was still in negotiations. Which meant the gate was still open, and my sister was there too.
I knelt in my wardrobe and drew out my letter to Tempest, then I rushed to my desk and scrawled an extra line on the back.
Got your one.
I could imagine Tempest’s eye roll. I was a woman of few written words, and always had been. My thousand-word essays in high school had been two paragraphs. Why say more if I could get my point across in less?
I stared at the letter. Now to banish it. To my sister. Who was in sight of Carmine.
Tempest’s Magus power was far greater than mine. I did banish things regularly, but I often used my demon power, which was easily sensed, so I couldn’t use that.
I hadn’t banished anything with my Magus power in a long time.
But the gate was open right now.
My stomach churned at the thought of the letter not reaching my intended target. Carmine could see.
No. I had to be closer.
If I was brave or stupid enough to do so.