Chapter 15 #2
My brother and I both stare at her, wondering if it’s safe to speak.
“Can we not make a big deal out of this? Considering this is all very new to me, I think I’m handling it pretty fucking well.” I’m not going to stand here and pretend her confidence and badassery isn’t a turn on.
So, I don’t.
Instead of answering her, I eat up the space between us, sliding my hands across her cheeks and around her head until our mouths are fused together in an explosion of lips and tongues. There’s nothing sexier than knowing your bonded mate is a force to be reckoned with.
“Not to be a downer but, I’m still here.” Pierce clears his throat, reminding us that we have a mission and not a lot of time to do it.
“Sorry, Piercival. Sometimes we just forget the world exists around us.” I frown at the name she calls my brother and when I turn my gaze to him, he’s just as lost. “King Arthur? The Holy Grail?” Sage throws up her arms and shakes her head.
“He’s one of three knights to find the Holy Grail.
Percival. Oh my goddess, nevermind. It’s not witty if I have to explain it. ” Then she stomps away.
Stomps. Like a toddler.
“I think it was a compliment.” Pierce speaks low, just for me to hear, but it’s not low enough.
“You know, for demons who have lived a zillion years, you sure don’t have basic culture.” When she turns, she pops a fist on her hip and narrows her eyes at us. “Of course it’s a compliment. The Knights of the Round Table were pretty freaking awesome.”
“Should I tell her or…”
I shake my head. This is clearly not the time.
“Tell me what?”
“Nothing, Satapti.”
When the exterior part of her pupils starts shining with bright light again, Pierce blurts it all out. “Never happened. All made up. The Grail, the knights, the round table. All myths.” We both brace for…something, but it never happens.
“Well. That’s disappointing.” She shrugs then starts walking back up the narrow footpath that leads further into Faloria.
“If the unpredictable had a face…”
I finish Pierce’s phrase for him. “It would be my amazing chosen one.”
“Yup.”
“Once she hones it all in, she’ll be a formidable force of nature.”
“I can hear you.” Of course she can, and I’m not trying to be quiet.
With my attention divided between Sage and the masked movements all around us, I follow her straight through the Valley of Chants, where the green of the land is highlighted by the long-stemmed flowers dotting its landscape.
The name comes from the high pitched melody that is produced when the breeze hits the petals of the Fae’s Lanterns just right.
Some of the stems grow to be taller than Pierce and I, stacked one above the other, the hanging, bright-pink flowers swaying with the wind and echoing through the valley.
The Spirits have always been in awe of the Elementals so I’m guessing the musical note mixed with the beauty of the flower inspired them.
Nobody knows where the name comes from, but it fits somehow.
“Can you hear that?” Sage stops her determined pace and looks around, trying to pinpoint the musical notes of nature.
“Depends what you’re hearing, Satapti.” Because I can also hear movement on the side, as if we’re being followed.
“It’s like Chopin meets Evanescence and it’s…everywhere.” I love seeing her like this, in awe of the world she’s discovering. I spend so much time in my own bubble, in my own restrained circle, that I forget all the beautiful and magical things our world has to offer.
“I hate to say it because…” Pierce lowers his voice. He, too, can hear the eavesdropping little fuckers out there. “Ears are listening, but the Valley of Chants does have its plus sides.”
I shrug, but also I agree.
“What is it?” The awe on her perfect face scrambles my brain a little.
It’s more than her beauty, it’s her curiosity and her unshakeable determination.
The way she steels her spine in the face of danger even though she’s terrified.
How she’s ready to die to protect those she considers family.
All of this combined in one tiny body feels too good to be true.
“The wind blowing through the Fae’s Lanterns,” Pierce answers since I’m too busy admiring her.
“Oh! Are there fae here? Oh my goddess, I can’t wait to meet one!” She’s clapping her hands like a child about to open Christmas gifts and I swear to fuck, my heart just broke a little.
“Fuck.” Exactly that, brother.
“Ruining the magic twice in an hour kinda sucks.” Pierce laughs at my defeated voice, but I’m not kidding. I don’t like disappointing her.
“What? What’s wrong?” When she narrows her eyes again, I just sigh.
“Fae aren’t exactly one thing.” I shrug because I’m not the creator of all things, so I can’t be blamed for this travesty in Sage’s eyes.
“The Elementals as a whole would be what you’d consider fae, but an actual species named the Fae, well, we don’t have those. Closest thing to it are those flowers.”
Her entire body deflates and I hate it.
“How-what? You mean to tell me those horrible snake people exist but the majestic and beautiful fae don’t?”
When Pierce and I catch up to her, I take Sage’s hand in mine and we head for the pub just a few feet ahead.
There are houses coming up on either side, sparse but close, each with enough land to grow their own food.
Here, in Faloria, the djinn share space with all the other spirits, including the harpies, and two of them have been following us ever since we came through the portal.
No doubt wanting to know what we’re after.
“We do have fairies though.” I instantly regret my words.
“I know.” Sage sighs, remembering her loss.
“What if we went to the family’s home, when we find out who Saffron was, so you can talk to them about her. When faced with grief, it’s always comforting to talk about our loved ones.”
“I’d like that.”
I squeeze her hand, pulling her closer as we reach the pub.
“I’m thirsty. I didn’t realize it would be so warm here.” Pierce takes the lead, one foot on the first step to the pub, when the rustling in the bushes gets louder a nanosecond before a harpy grabs Sage by the hair and puts a knife to her throat.
“Move, demon, and her blood will spill.”
Pierce throws himself from his position, aiming to tackle the tall, razor-thin harpy, but he ends up falling on the knife of the second harpy, who was out of sight mere seconds ago.
There’s no time to get distracted by the blood pouring from my brother’s gut and quickly staining his shirt as he clenches his teeth with a curse.
“Motherfucker!”
I’m not worried about him. Unless the knife was dipped in itherium, he’ll heal right up, but it still pisses me off. Everyone knows we heal quicker than most and it’s pretty fucking clear that two demons against two harpies is hardly a fight.
But we need to be smart about this. Answers could come freely if we play our cards right.
With a quick glance, I check on Pierce, noticing the blood has stopped seeping out of his wound, which means he’ll be ready to lend a hand in a couple of minutes, then I cock my head to the side and assess the creature threatening my chosen one.
Tall and sinewy, the years of survival showing on her gaunt face, she looks like she’s been rolling in dirt her entire life.
That’s how encrusted the grime is on her skin.
“Tell me, harpy. Did you wake up this morning wishing to die?” My voice is low, calm to anyone who doesn’t know me, but beneath my hushed, soothing, tone lies my unmistakable desire to rip off her head. And that’s without my vines.
“Uh, no?” She looks at her friend, who just shrugs, then turns back to me. “That’s a stupid question.” With a mouth full of jagged teeth and eyes that dig deep into our childhood fears, she's most definitely a threat.
At least, that’s what she thinks.
This whole time, Sage just stares at me. She’s not afraid, she’s not angry, she’s…devoid of all feelings and I’m guessing she’s retreated into herself to gather the tools she needs to fight off the danger.
As soon as Pierce’s gut is healed, he wraps an arm around the second harpy’s neck and squeezes hard enough to cut off her air supply but not enough to kill. We want answers, not another trip to the dungeon.
“I hear you’ve been looking for me. How may I be of service?” Fucking djinn and their need to speak like weirdos. In a bloom of green smoke appears a figure that in any other context seems friendly and trustworthy.
No matter their gender, the threat against Sage remains. I set my vines free in two different directions and, within seconds, the harpy with a knife to Sage’s throat and the green djinn are both hanging from two of my vines, one bad decision away from being choked to death.
“This is much better for a conversation, right, brother?” I grin, but it’s not joy I’m expressing, it’s the promise of blood that motivates me. Pierce was right, Slash is going to be pissed off that he missed out.
“I am bound to the wind, demon. Kill me and the wind shall remember.” I roll my eyes at the djinn’s attempt to scare me with their pseudo magical powers.
“Hmm, will the wind remember that you tried to harm the bonded soul mate of a Horseman? Better yet…” I pull the djinn closer so their green face is close enough I could literally bite their head off.
“Will the wind remember that the bonded chosen you have threatened is also daughter to Hekate?” At my whispered words, the djinn recoils, but not in disgust, in unfiltered fear.
“I know of no such thing.” Of course they don’t. Has anyone ever heard of thinking before acting?
I’m about to respond when the soil beneath me starts to tremble and the light around Sage grows brighter. I grin and Pierce chuckles, but the rest of them, they whimper.