CHAPTER 32
Zarreth
The hall smells of wood-smoke, roasted meat, and spilled mead.
Falkyrie are singing and shouting over the clash of mugs.
I’m sitting at an old wooden table with my back to the stone wall.
Frankie’s laughing at something Kara says.
She seems happy here, in the Light Realm.
Her smiles are brighter, not forced like they were before.
A voice calls down the table, “Long way from the rivers, isn’t it?”
The Kelpie next to me snorts, lifting his mug.
“Aye. The fish have gone skittish ever since the portal started bleeding through the rivers. Figured it was either come up here for a proper meal, or stoop to begging for scraps at the fae’s table.
I’d rather starve.” He elbows me like we’re good friends. “You know what I mean?”
My gaze drops to his elbow, then to his face. He flinches and quickly picks up his plate, moving to a different table.
A falkyrie with streaks of black paint down her cheeks watches him leave, then glances at me. “You ever going to use that scowl for something other than scaring off allies?”
I don’t answer, just let my eyes drift back to my mate.
The falkyrie shakes her head, muttering something about demons and our manners as she walks away.
The seats around me are now empty. They’re smart to keep their distance.
With the way I’m feeling right now, I might rip someone apart for simply bumping into my mate.
Why can’t they watch where the fuck they’re going?
Frankie makes her way over, a plate overflowing with food in one hand, a mug in the other. She stops here and there to talk to random falkyrie. They love her and treat her with so much more respect than the demons do. She belongs here…and I belong with her, so they better get used to me.
A mug appears before me. “Drink up!”
I take it, along with the plate, setting them on the table before pulling Frankie onto my lap.
She feels so good in my arms. We haven’t had much time together lately, and when we do, we argue over the fucking portal.
I plant a kiss on the tender spot behind her ear, rubbing a hand over her stomach.
The gentle tugs coming from our babies put me a little more at ease.
Kara and Brynn take the other empty chairs. “What’s wrong, firefly? Too good for our food?” Kara teases. She’s probably the only falkyrie who’s taken to me, but I’m getting tired of her calling me firefly all the time.
My eyes narrow at her. “Demons don’t need to eat.”
Brynn grins around a mouthful of food. “Well, neither do we, but you don’t see us passing up the smell of a good roast and a full table.”
Frankie leans forward. “You don’t need to eat either?” She bites into a chunk of meat and moans, instantly making my cock hard. She flashes a smile at me over her shoulder and moves her hips over the bulge. Naughty little mate. She knows what she’s doing.
Brynn shrugs. “Not for fuel. We just like the company.” She picks up another slice of meat and flicks it at Kara, who ducks and laughs.
A voice cuts through the noise. “South-pass scouts say the ward fizzled again last night. They tried to reset it, but it wouldn’t hold.”
Brynn’s mouth tightens, the atmosphere changing in an instant. “That’s because the portal’s too unstable. Every time we lay a ward over it, the energy tears it apart.”
I slam my mug down and try to calm my voice. “What’s to say the portal doesn’t tear my mate apart?”
“Zarreth!” Frankie scorns. “We’ve been over this already.”
“No, you’ve been over this already. Every time I try to discuss it, you change the subject.
” I know we need to stabilize the portal—for Jess, for our realms. We can’t bring our children into this chaos, but there has to be another way.
Everyone’s just too focused on the fucking prophecy to find it.
Fuck the prophecy. I won’t let it take my family away.
A brief hush ripples along the table before Brynn chimes in again. “All the more reason to keep training.”
Kara raises a mug toward her. “To the valkyrie blood that keeps the portal from swallowing us all!”
Frankie tips her cup back, smiling like she doesn’t give a fuck how I feel about this whole thing. Like she’s not walking into a fucking death trap.
Her eyes slide to mine, narrowing while I shake my head at the stupid fucking words. “What?” she demands.
“They’re toasting to your death!” I scoff. “And not just yours.”
She stands, moving to the empty chair next to me. “What do you want me to do? Just ignore…”
Her sentence trails off as a scout stumbles through the door, face pale. Before he can speak, a shriek cuts through the air. The singing dies. Every head in the hall turns. A wave of beasts explode through the door, claws scraping across the stone, eyes glinting like coals.
I’m pushing Frankie behind me before the first falkyrie even finds her sword. Fire roars along my arms and the closest creature bursts into flames. The others keep coming.
“Stay behind me,” I command, but of course she doesn’t.
She’s already on her feet, moving quicker than she ever has before. Her stance is solid, shoulders squared as she gracefully holds her sword, slashing it through a beast’s shoulder like it's nothing. I’m so fucking proud of her. I send my flames searing through it, burning it to ash.
She’s become a strong fighter, but that’s not enough. The beasts keep knitting themselves back together as fast as the falkyrie cut them down. The only thing stopping them are my flames. I’m not sure if it’s the fire itself, or the magic it’s made from.
A beast with half its face missing scrabbles up the tavern wall behind a falkyrie as she yanks her sword free from another. I burn it down before it reaches her.
She glances back. It’s the same female with the black streaks under her eyes. Her painted cheeks split into a grin. “Didn’t think the scowling demon would have my back.”
I grunt. “Keep your eyes on the fight and you won’t need someone to have your back.”
She barks out a short laugh and lunges back into the fray.
My focus snaps to Frankie. She’s kneeling next to a wounded falkyrie, eyes wide with panic.
“Damn it,” she curses, pressing her palms to the blood-soaked armor.
“Come on!” Her eyes squeeze shut, strain tightening her face as she tries for her magic.
Nothing answers and the falkyrie cries out in a painful gasp.
A beast barrels toward them, and I’m about to burn it to the ground. But shadows slide over Frankie’s shoulders, spilling down her back and spreading into the first hint of wings. She doesn’t glance behind her—her focus is solely on the wounded warrior.
The shadows flex, sweeping outward and over the lunging beast. It collapses, black blood running from its eyes and ears. Frankie flinches like she felt something, but doesn’t look back, still focusing on the falkyrie.
The shadows seep back into her skin while I finish the beast. She didn’t realize what happened, had no idea the darkness at her back was even there.
Brynn shoves Frankie aside, white light already gathering in her palms as she clamps her hand around the falkyrie’s wound.
The shove makes my blood boil, and for a split-second I’m ready to tear her head off for laying a hand on my mate, but then movement catches my eye.
The last beast is dragging itself back together, bone and muscle knitting like wet rope.
I cut the thought off and scorch the beast to ash instead.
For a moment, the only sound is the crackle of flames and harsh breaths of the survivors. The falkyrie I saved earlier catches my eye, giving a brief nod before helping one of her wounded sisters.
My gaze goes straight to Frankie. She stands in the middle of the carnage, her expression dazed. Her eyes search the room until they find mine. I cross the distance between us, in awe of what I saw—her shadows, spreading into wings, silently cutting down the beasts.
I pull her in, needing her close to me. “Do you even realize what you just did?” My voice comes out rough, a mixture of awe and relief. “You were incredible.”
She looks at me, confusion etched on her face. But before I can tell her what happened, a falkyrie steps over a burning beam and shouts, “Hey Demon, how long can you keep these fires blazing?”
Another calls back, laughing, “Let’s keep it going all night, we still have plenty to drink.”
A third snorts. “I can’t wait to see the look on the Queen’s face when Brynn has to explain that her rowdy guardians burned down another tavern.”
Laughter rips through the crowd, sharp and shaky after the fight, but I barely hear them. My attention is fixed on my mate. Maybe she’s closer than I thought to finding the balance she’ll need to stabilize the portal. Maybe, just maybe, we stand a chance after all.