Chapter 22
Elana
I stared at my reflection in the mirror, remembering the hot mess I’d been not that long ago. But despite the emotional whiplash of feeling confused and betrayed, I couldn’t help but notice something weird: I looked damn good. Like, suspiciously good. Almost younger than I remembered.
Even Tansy had noticed, making some crack about mountain air being better than Botox and needing to get some herself. My skin was practically glowing. I slathered on my usual face creams anyway.
Ready to face whatever mayhem the day had in store, I stepped out of the bathroom and into the Redrock penthouse.
I’d barely been back in Darlington long when Chief Henderson called, sounding like he’d just chugged three espressos and hadn’t slept.
It turned out the EA had been hiding crucial details from the police department, and he’d only just discovered that morning that a certain wizard had pulled a Houdini from containment.
I’d given him the rundown about that fun little phone call I’d received from Samuel and mentioned that I’d be crashing with the Redrocks for the time being. That had been Tansy’s suggestion anyway. The penthouse always had room for unexpected guests.
The massive penthouse spanned the entire top floor of the building and was divided into five separate areas, a corner for each of the three gargoyle brothers and the last corner for Eamon. The central section—which was currently utter chaos—was a communal space where everyone congregated.
Chicken Nugget had gone full banshee mode, screaming, “Such a cutie! Suuuuch a cuuuuutieeee!” at the top of her lungs while perched on a lamp.
Meanwhile, Eadie was floating in the middle of the room, just beyond everyone’s reach, bawling her eyes out as Meera and Shelby were trying their damndest to get her to calm back down.
Tansy was MIA. “Where’s Tansy?” I asked.
“She stepped downstairs to grab the food,” Shelby said, looking like she’d rather be anywhere else.
The measuring tape around her neck was practically vibrating with stress.
“I swear on my favorite pair of fabric sheers, we had this under control. Then Meera went and said—” she cupped her hands around her mouth and stage-whispered, “‘You’re such a cutie’ to Eadie, and all hell broke loose. ”
“I didn’t know those were magic words!” Meera protested, looking genuinely remorseful.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. Nugget’s vocabulary might be limited, but “cutie” was one of her favorite words. And what she lacked in word variety, she made up for in volume and enthusiasm. The screaming had set Eadie off, and now we had a full-blown meltdown on our hands.
My first instinct was to reach for Eadie, but let’s be real, I had about as much chance of catching her as the other two. I also didn’t know how to get her down either, not without magic, and I wasn’t sure I trusted that yet.
Since the other two women were already focused on Eadie, I put my attention on Nugget instead.
Perhaps the crying would stop when the screaming did, and if it didn’t, well, then at least it would be half as loud.
I soon had the little sun conure playing peek-a-boo, her favorite game.
She was basically a toddler stuck in a bird’s body.
Shelby was just about to take over with distracting Nugget so I could help with Eadie when the door opened, and Tansy came in carrying our food delivery.
She saw what was happening, handed me the food, and got to work coaxing her baby down from the air.
And when that didn’t work, she resorted to magic.
Compared to Eadie, Melly was a dream. Okay, so she’d lit a few things on fire, but she’d been a perfect angel when I was around. But then again, she couldn’t fly yet. I wondered if I would say the same thing in a year or so.
Except I would never know because I couldn’t risk being around a man, dragon or not, who wanted me for my magic, especially when he could fake caring so well. I wasn’t sure if the chemistry was fake though, because that had felt real. So freakin’ real.
Yesterday, Dizzi had called with an update.
She’d been snooping around, trying to ferret out the truth, and I could tell the moment I heard her voice that the news was bad.
She’d heard them talking about me, and Leroy had sounded angry that I was gone, asking Emmett how he was supposed to bolster his magic now.
Emmett had then told him that he was working on finding him another source.
She’d taken that to mean I’d been the original plan.
Tansy had argued that, technically, Emmett hadn’t said anything incriminating. Maybe Emmett never actually entertained the idea, but Leroy kept bringing it up.
Me? I wasn’t sure what to think.
We were in the middle of our poke bowl lunches, with Eadie and Nugget both happily painting her highchair with berry puree, when I noticed a winged humanoid form flying around outside the penthouse, waving his arms like a madman.
Tansy, who was sitting next to me, stopped mid-bite. “You know this guy?”
“That’s Cassian, Emmett’s demon. What is he doing here?”
Realizing he now had our attention, Cassian formed a sign with his arm—instead of normal bodies, demons had soul stuff that they made solid and formed them into whatever shapes they wanted—that said, “Let me in. We need to talk.”
Shelby, Tansy, Meera, and I exchanged four-way glances.
“Do you trust him?” Tansy asked.
“I’m not sure.” I wasn’t sure who I trusted anymore. “But I do want to know what he has to say.”
We covered our food with bird-proof domes—because any uncovered food was fair game for Nugget, and Tansy had stressed several times that the avocado in our food was toxic to birds—and headed out to the rooftop patio. Cassian floated about four feet from the railing, unable to get any closer.
“Cassian, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“Emmett sent me to ask the two ifrits the real reason why you left. And I thought since I’m technically free now and can do whatever the fuck I want, I’d just come ask you directly.”
“What do you mean by technically free now?” Tansy asked.
Cassian eyed her. “You must be Elana’s sister!”
“She’s my daughter,” I corrected.
“Ah! I always knew you were a MILF.”
I rolled my eyes. “Quit it with the flattery, it won’t work.”
“Fine. I’ll just ask. Can you, by any chance, let me in? I promise I won’t be trouble. And I think it’s best to talk somewhere more private.”
By now, Grayson, Shelby’s mate, was already here. “Let him in,” he said. “If he causes trouble, we can kick him out again.”
Tansy shrugged. “Cassian, was it?”
“Affirmative.”
“Cassian the demon, you are invited in, for this one single instance.”
Cassian reached tentatively toward the railing as if testing the waters, his face in a preemptive wince. When nothing happened, he relaxed and floated over the railing to land on the patio.
“Okay, now explain,” Tansy demanded. “What do you mean by technically free now?”
Cassian explained that Emmett had let him out of his contract early and forced Leroy to remove any and all spells cast on him.
“You should’ve seen the asshole’s face when he tried to lie about it, and Sena’s old spell caught him.
He’s pissed. Which is why I decided to come here and ask you directly and save me some time.
I need to get back to make sure the asshole doesn’t fuck with Emmett. ”
I frowned. This didn’t sound like something Emmett would do if he’d been planning to trap me and give my magic to Leroy.
“Now, Elana,” he focused on me. “What exactly made you leave? Were you not feeling safe?”
I shook my head, then decided I might as well tell him. Why? Because if Emmett really was going to be an ass, I was already out of his grasp. And something, call it intuition, told me that this was my chance to find out the truth.
I told him what I’d overheard by Emmett’s office. “It’s not like I can just go up to him and ask. If he really did plan on handing my magic over, I’d never have been able to leave the castle. So we decided to get me somewhere safe first, while Dizzi sussed out the truth.”
“So Dizzi does know! I asked her first, and she wouldn’t say anything to me except that she was disappointed in him. No wonder, if that’s what she thinks.” The demon was pacing now.
“And what do you think?” I asked.
He looked pensive and stilled for a moment. “I think that he might have considered it at first, before I finally got my warning out to him, and before he actually spent time with you.”
“Your warning?” I asked.
“That Leroy was the one to murder Sena. I saw it with my own eyes, but wasn’t able to say anything because that asshole wizard spelled me into silence.
I was finally able to tell Flame because he wasn’t part of the spell.
I couldn’t prove anything, but I think Emmett believed me.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have forced Leroy to sever all the spells. ”
“Why did he have spells on you to begin with?” Tansy asked, clearly disgusted.
Cassian eyed Eadie, who was currently bright red and had little horns, showing her half-demon ancestry.
“I owed him a debt. And I had not been trustworthy enough in my youth to repay that debt on my own,” he admitted.
“But I don’t think Emmett would trick you just to use your magic.
I know one thing for certain, you leaving really has him worked up.
He cares about you more than anyone else I’ve seen him care about.
And you’re good for him. The whole castle thinks so. ” He hesitated.
“There’s a but,” I said. “I can sense it. Spit it out.”
“I swear, that dodgy wizard is up to something. I don’t have proof, but I know it.
Emmett is being careful while he investigates lest Leroy sabotage everything.
He has a lot of control over the castle wards, so we have to be careful.
But you heard what you heard, and so did Dizzi.
” He looked pensive. “I will question him. In the meantime, I agree that it is safer for you to be here. Not because I think Emmett would betray you, but because it keeps you away from Leroy. And the castle may not be safe for long if my hunches are correct.”
“Because Leroy’s magic feeds the wards,” I said, realizing the full extent of the danger. “What about Melly?”
The demon pressed his lips into a thin line. “Everyone in the castle would protect her with their lives.”
I shook my head. That wasn’t enough. I suddenly had an idea. “I’ll send Flame and Blaze to watch over her. And if we have to, we can portal her over.”
Minutes later, the demon and the two ifrits were all the way back at the castle. I still didn’t have a solid answer, but I had something even better now. Hope.