Chapter 32 - Thorne #2
They flinched and one of them actually dared to point her weapon at me!
I snatched it away with my shadows, flinging it safely into the ground.
A hush fell over the townsfolk as they gave us a wide berth.
This was about to get ugly, and they knew it.
I glanced back at Dain, expecting him to step in and deal with this, but he just shrugged. What was he thinking?
“Don’t you want to say hi?” Dain asked Leo, nudging him a bit to get him moving. “They came all the way here to see you.”
And fight me by the looks of it.
Leo’s expression hardened. “You should leave. All of you. There’s no place for you here. You made that very clear.”
The guy in front winced. “Sorry. We just needed time to process, okay?”
The woman I’d stolen the sword from nodded. “Yeah, you didn’t really give us any time. You just showed up all demony and expected us to love it right away.”
“So it’s my fault?” Leo asked softly.
“No, that’s not what we meant,” she said, then sighed and turned to Dain. “We’re doing this all wrong. Can you help?”
Leo frowned at the sneaky bodyguard. “Why would you help them? How do they even know you?”
Dain shrugged. “I might have visited them.”
“Might have?” The woman exclaimed. “He threw us in a sack and dropped us off at the edge of town!”
Another kidnapping then. Great. This didn’t look good for peaceful relations. Before I could say something, the guy in front spoke up again.
“We’re glad though.” He nodded at Dain. “We’d been wanting to apologize for a while, but didn’t know how.
He seemed to know that and gave us the push we needed.
” He bowed to Leo. “We’re sorry for failing you.
We’re the hero’s party and we should have stood by your side no matter what.
We should have fought the King with you, created peace with you, and finished this whole mess together. ”
The others nodded and Leo’s eyes widened. “That’s why you’re here? To apologize?”
“Why else would they be?” Dain asked. “I wouldn’t have bothered if they were going to be rude again.”
A smile finally cracked Leo’s hard expression, and he nodded. “Thanks, Dain.” Then he turned to his party. “Let’s go somewhere quiet and talk. Bunny Brews makes the best coffee.”
“And has bunnies?” The guy in front’s eyes lit up. “Sounds perfect.”
Leo turned to me. “Is it okay if they stay for a while?”
They all held their breath like I was still the great villain they’d spent so much time hunting. I dropped my shadows. “It’s fine, but they are not staying at the castle. I’ve already got enough of you roaming around, and I don’t need any more.”
“That’s fair.” Leo grinned, his shoulders loosening. “Come on guys, let’s go.”
“You’re in charge of them!” I called out after him. “If they get into trouble, you’ll be cleaning it up.”
He held a hand up in the air, waving like he agreed.
A tightness in my chest loosened. Seeing him with his party felt right, like the last piece of the story that needed mending.
Dain glanced at Willow with a questioning look, and when she nodded, he trailed after the group quietly.
It was like they’d had a whole silent conversation.
“Since when did you two get so familiar?” I asked.
“Jealous?” She grinned, looping her arm through mine. “Let’s head to that bakery you mentioned, and I’ll get a little familiar with you too.”
Her wink sent sparks through me. Why was I wasting time on Dain and Leo when Willow and I were finally alone together?
We walked in happy silence, just watching the curious new additions to the town, until we found our way to the Destroyer’s Bakery.
The sound of a massive cleaver thunking into the counter and the sweet smell of apple pie filled the air.
Willow inhaled slowly, her eyes closed, and a smile on her face.
She was beautiful, content just being in a cozy little place like this. It reminded me of how she’d looked in the apothecary gardens and gave me an idea.
“Have you ever thought of writing cozy fantasy?” I asked, nodding at Miri and Noki as we sat down. “I think you’d be really good at it. You’ve got a peaceful vibe to you and even managed to bring that into our book. I bet more people would enjoy stories like that.”
Her eyes sparkled. “I was actually thinking the same thing.” She pulled a notebook out of her bag, showing me dozens of pages of notes about a cozy fantasy she’d been planning.
“Being with you made me realize that if I really care about something, it’s worth risking a little pain for the ending I want. ”
Warmth spread through my chest. “Are you talking about us or the book?”
“Both?” She grinned and scooted her chair over to my side of the table so we could look at her notes together. Her arm pressed against mine and her fingers toyed with my shadows like they were hers.
I’d never dreamed of having a moment like this, but now? I wouldn’t give it up for anything.
She’d claimed my story and my heart, so if she wanted my shadows too, they were already hers.
Because I was her Demon Lord, and she was my consort.