Chapter 32 #2
My lips curved. “There is very little I won’t do to protect my son. If fucking Carmine makes it easier to kill him, then that is what I’ll do.”
Kyros and Wild didn’t appear to see a problem with that. Neither did Basilia. The others felt varying degrees of horror over my statement. If I was once the same as Tempest, then the last five years, and having a child, had altered my views a lot.
I continued, “Carmine has a magical source that makes him far more powerful than he otherwise would be. Whatever our plan is, it needs to overcome that.”
“I am concerned about this source,” Tempest said, and her focus turned inward. “I can see that it’s dangerous.”
Was she assessing her quipu? There was so much to catch up with her about.
I nodded. “So I’ve learned.” The divination journey hovered on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed the words back. I had to decide what I thought of the wrath curse before sharing that with others.
I said instead, “I have a potential way to eradicate his extra power, but the healing requires a blue gem. I only have one left.”
I leaned down and drew out the blue gem from my boot, then passed it to Tempest.
Her apothecary affinity surrounded the stone. She murmured, “I’ve never seen a mineral like it.”
“More of them must exist in the demon realm, but I’m not there to search.
” I scanned the others. “I’m not there to share more rituals with Carmine either.
There is also no guarantee that Carmine would wish for that after discovering my subterfuge.
If he does capture me, then I will attempt another ritual.
Leaving me in your hands is too risky for him.
You could kill me at any time to leave him vulnerable. ”
The other supernaturals peered at me.
Andie said slowly, “We’re not going to kill you. Syera. We wouldn’t do that.”
Ah, the enormous differences between demons and other races. “He will expect that you won’t, and also won’t leave that to chance.”
Basilia blew out a breath. “What’s the go with your mating anyway?”
Andie grimaced at her question.
I didn’t mind. “Carmine killed my whole family, or so I thought until recently. He only confessed that he’d killed them two years after doing so.
I escaped the fortress once I knew the truth, after also discovering my pregnancy.
I found my paternal grandfather, and we lived in the desert with Adeuto for three years.
Adeuto woke up one day and told me about a tether to Tempest. I hadn’t known she still lived.
I assumed only the demon part of her was left, locked away in the dungeons.
I entered an annual game in the demon realm called Tiers, where the winner can demand their prize of the king.
The idea was to demand her release, but Carmine had other plans.
I still got there in the end with the help of Carmine’s mother. You know the rest.”
“Where is our demon grandfather now?” Tempest asked.
Uh… well. “Carmine’s mother killed him to cover our tracks. Carmine would have searched the desert otherwise, and we still had to keep Adeuto and Owu safe.”
Another brief silence.
Kyros voiced what the others were thinking, “You sacrificed your grandfather?”
“As I do not fully understand your battle for control,” I answered, “you will never fully understand the nature of relationships between demons. We do not see betrayal the same as most other races. If my grandfather had seen an easier way to achieve his ends than by allying with me, then he would have betrayed me too.”
“The king’s mother is helping you, though?” Basilia asked.
She was upholding what she believed her son’s wishes would be. “She is helping to keep her grandson alive. She’d betray me, too, if there was a way to certainly do that. And I’d be okay with that, even if I believe that a mother cannot be replaced.”
Wild whistled. “That’s a brutal system.”
“One that demands strength of each person in a relationship,” I countered, part of me reeling that I was defending the trust system that had often baffled me.
“Each demon is responsible for proving their value in a relationship. They are also responsible for looking for areas of weakness where another might take advantage or betray them, which builds cunning. The system serves a demon’s nature well. ”
Sascha tapped a finger on his armrest. “I suppose the concern is that you’ll betray us.”
I smiled. “My loyalty comes hand-in-hand with my son’s safety, pack leader.
Carmine will certainly kill Adeuto, and I do not believe that any of you will.
Also, I am not entirely demon, and I was raised with Magus morals, which remain intact.
You can also be assured because my sister ranks among you.
I risked Adeuto’s safety and my own to free her from Carmine’s dungeons.
I will always choose to figure out a way forward with her.
” My smile widened to a grin that held no humor.
“Keep my son safe, and continue a respectful and honest alliance with my sister, and I won’t have any cause to question my part in this. ”
That wasn’t the “I’ll never betray you” reply that the alliance had wanted.
That was all they’d get. I had my lines in the sand just the same as them.
Sascha considered that, then said, “Good to know. What’s the defense plan for when the demons arrive?”
“Will he attack the coven directly or try to draw us away?” Basilia asked.
They looked at me.
I answered, “Either is possible.”
Tempest’s magic hummed. “It’s time to use our hideaway.”
Andie straightened. “That’s what your quipu says?”
My twin blinked out of her trance. “Yes. We need to empty the vulnerable out of your territories. Everyone who can fight, must come to the coven. There are too many possibilities if we don’t, and the end result in half of those possibilities is a result we don’t want.
” She glanced at me. “We’ll force his hand.
He can’t fight a battle with empty air.”
Knowing Carmine, he’d try his best. “If you have already built a secure location for your peoples, then I agree with controlling the battleground. Carmine has had most success using decoys to confuse your retaliation and divide your forces.”
Kyros leaned back. “Which divides his forces too.”
Wild added, “Our defense has always worked—until the last time when Syera touched her power to Tempest’s. Unless the demon king comes up with a different strategy, we know we can fight him back.”
Carmine would continue to attack until he succeeded.
Tempest touched my leg. “We should explore that. Our battle affinities will want to practice against you too. Obviously we didn’t want to do that to a three-year-old, but you’re fair game.
We shared a smirk.
“When you do stuff like that, I can see the twin vibe,” Basilia said. “You look so different.”
Andie smiled. “But their mannerisms are similar.”
I cut her a look. That was the opposite to her and Rhona. They’d looked identical, but been so different. “I’m sorry about Rhona, Andie. How are you doing?”
Andie’s calm demeanor faded to a stricken look, and Sascha wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
She took a breath. “We didn’t have much time to know each other.
Our relationship was damaged, and I could see things were improving.
She was trying to restore what she’d broken.
But we didn’t get enough time in the end.
So I suppose I’m left feeling robbed of what might have been.
There are regrets too.” She met my gaze.
“I meant what I said, though. Rhona would have been at peace knowing that she wouldn’t be used to harm her tribe or me.
The knife you got to her gave my sister that choice. ”
“I’d intended that she free herself and escape,” I confessed. “A wishful plan, but I could not think of anything else in the moment.”
Andie’s voice hoarsened. “Thank you anyway. I knew there was little hope…”
The resulting quiet was pain-filled, and I felt how much Carmine had stolen from these people.
Families broken apart. Loved ones dead. Entire races uprooted and kept in constant uncertainty.
Did they see that Carmine intended to win the war that way?
A demon had such endurance to despair and violence.
Their confidence over their defense strategy wouldn’t last one hundred years. They would tire and lose hope, which would only further fuel demonkind against them, and demons would be just as strong.
This had to end sooner rather than later.
I shifted forward to the edge of the couch. “I need to know what the response is when Carmine arrives. And then we should discuss how I can be used to an advantage. We can control the battleground, and with me as the target, we can control the direction of his attack too.”
A slow grin spread on Basilia’s face, and Andie cocked a brow. My sister laughed under her breath, and Wild smiled in response to her amusement. Kyros’s meadow-green eyes glinted with anticipation of battle, and Sascha’s mind was already seized by the possibilities of what I’d outlined.
“He’s going to regret coming for you,” Tempest said.
I’d wanted this over for so long. Years, really. Now the moment was upon us, and want wasn’t good enough. I would assure Adeuto’s future.