Chapter Sixteen
A Tale of Dragons and Butthole Wizards
“Listen here, twig.” I pointed at it for extra emphasis. “You will do as I command and lift off the ground or else I’ll toss you in the swamp with those vipers.”
The twig remained limp in the grass, clearly not swayed by my threats.
I sighed and half-heartedly kicked at the ground before continuing down the path. My powers had been fully awakened according to Phantasia and were no longer blocked, but actually using those powers would take some practice.
Purification of dark miasma. Counteracting poisons. Setting throne rooms on fire. All of those powers I knew about. But what else did I possess in my saintly arsenal? The twig had been an experiment on levitation. Or would it be considered more telepathy, moving things with my mind?
Another sigh, this one heavier.
The excitable, adrenaline-charged voices of warriors joined the clangs of swords and grunts from the training field. One of those excited hollers came from my cinnamon roll.
Callum took down a demon twice his size before spinning around and whacking another with his shield.
The trio of knights were a short distance away, sparring with two female warriors.
The demons were outnumbered by humans, but they held their own against them.
Quincy was knocked backward, falling on his ass in the mud.
A chorus of laughter rang out as he stood up, a brown stain now on the seat of his pants.
I laughed and continued down the path, no destination in mind.
I just wanted to stretch my legs and try to clear my head.
Peaks of the distant mountains vanished into low clouds, and the air was damp.
The storm from last night had cleared, but rain clung to the grass and dripped from leaves of nearby trees.
Case in point being the tiny patter on the top of my head as I bent to tie my boot lace. And the raindrop wasn’t the only thing that landed on my head.
Cheep.
Smiling, I reached up and gathered Pumpkin in my hands, then brought him to eye level. The little rascal stared at me with his big green eyes and chirped again. A peak of a snaggle showed from the slit of his mouth. Seemed he was like both Onyx and Rowan. Mischievous and with a tooth to match.
“I know you don’t know what I’m talking about, but thank you for guiding me through the elixir world,” I told the cute and fuzzy tree demon. “Even though it was scary, you helped me not feel so alone.”
As a sudden lump wedged in my throat, I held Pumpkin to my chest and kissed the side of his orange head. Another chirp reached my ears, followed by him wiggling his butt. I breathed out a laugh, a tear slipping free as I did.
“Good afternoon,” a smooth voice said from a short distance away.
My heart skipped a beat as the owner of that sexy-as-hell voice came into view. Several strands of Onyx’s hair were braided and pinned back, giving him that familiar regal but warrior-like air about him.
“Hi,” I said, then turned my face away to wipe at my eyes. Pumpkin nuzzled my cheek. “You weren’t at breakfast this morning.”
The demon lord arched a brow. “Should I have been?”
“Yep,” I answered, one hand going to my hip. “Fane and I made fluffy pancakes and hash browns. You missed out.”
“Is that the cause of your tears?” He closed the distance between us and touched the quiver of my bottom lip.
“I’m not crying.” I stepped into his chest and pushed my face against his neck. “Don’t look at me.”
A soft laugh left Onyx. The sound glided over my heartstrings, the reverberations traveling through the rest of my body. He lowered his face to the top of my hair and slid both arms around me.
“Did you come back to the room last night?” I asked, resting my head over his collarbone. “You kept to the shadows, but I smelled woodsmoke.”
“Nothing escapes that nose of yours, does it?” He withdrew from the embrace and peered down at me. “Thunder frightens you. I worried the storm had caused you distress and came to check on you.”
The tears I’d worked so hard to blink away earlier returned, as did that tightness in my throat. “You should come out of the shadows and join us next time.”
“I believe your captain would rage at that idea,” he said as the tiniest of smiles touched his lips. His hand found mine. “Walk with me.”
The urge to ask where we were going was on the tip of my tongue, but I decided to let it be a surprise. Not everything needed an immediate answer. Living in the moment instead of thinking about what happened next.
Pumpkin moved to my shoulder as Onyx and I walked along the path at a leisurely pace, passing the field of grunting, sword-wielding warriors and the pasture where Ghost and the other stallions grazed.
He led me to the greenhouse.
The moment we stepped inside the glass dome, I stared in awe at the small paradise he’d created there. An oasis with flowing water and countless species of trees, tropical plants, and flowers in various shapes and colors.
Pumpkin leapt off my shoulder and scurried up into a tree, hiding within the green leaves. Or trying to. His orange fur stood out too much.
“Just as pretty as the first time I came here,” I said, surveying the pool of crystal clear water and the waterfall that emptied into it, the stream creating a winding path that traveled from one side of the dome to the other.
“The elixir made you see things that continue to weigh on your heart,” Onyx responded, keeping hold of my hand as we walked farther inside the greenhouse. “Being here always gives me a sense of peace. I thought it would help you as well.”
Once again, I felt a tickle in my throat and sting behind my eyes.
The first time he’d brought me there had been for the same reason: he’d sensed my restlessness and worry over not having my men with me in the Shadow Realm and wanted to help ease my mind.
To give me the same peace he felt while being there.
“Thank you,” I said, voice thick. “See? You’re sweet. Exactly as I told you the other day.”
He gave me a look. “I’m not sweet.”
“You are.” I smiled and lightly bumped against his arm. “You brought me here to make me feel better. The definition of caring and sweet. Like the Grinch before his heart grew three sizes.”
“The… who?” Onyx asked, leading me closer to the stream.
“A character from a book.” I focused on our joined hands, loving how long and slender his fingers were compared to my short and stubby ones. “Instead of a dark tower, like you, he hid away inside a mountain.”
“I feel as though I need to read this book,” he responded, glancing at our hands too. A tenderness touched his eyes as he gently squeezed my palm. “What is the title?”
“Not sure you can find it around here.” I rubbed my lips together, debating on whether this was a good time to slip in the whole ‘from another world’ thing. He had opened up to me about him being half dragon. I needed to be honest with him too. “Wanna know something?”
“Do tell.” Onyx guided us over to a stone bench, pulling me close to his side as we sat. “Your mind is quite the source of entertainment.”
Now it was my turn to give him a look. He smirked.
“You asked me once how I stayed hidden from Nocturne for all these years,” I started, dropping my gaze to his hand again.
A gold ring sat on his index finger with a ruby in the center that matched his eyes.
“It’s also why your scouts couldn’t find any information on where I lived before Bremloc.
It’s because I’m… not exactly from this world.
Well, I guess I am from here. I was born in this world.
But after my parents were attacked, my mom took me to someone who… sent me far away.”
My insides jumbled, just like they’d done the other times I’d told my men the truth. It never got easy no matter how many times I told the story.
“I see.” A mask slid over his features. I didn’t get the impression he was hiding intentionally.
Out of habit, probably, for when situations took a surprising turn.
Anything out of his control made him uneasy—a thing I’d learned about him in our time together.
“This place that you’re from… it’s where you learned that strange dance? ”
Strange dance? I cocked my head, unsure what he meant.
But then realization slammed into me and, with it, a sudden swarm of heat to my cheeks.
“The twerk, yes,” I responded, then cleared my throat. “It’s a mundane world. Not like this one at all. There’s no magic, demons, demi-humans, or creatures like Ghost and Pumpkin.”
I explained how I’d stumbled upon Lupin’s shop the evening of my birthday, made a wish on the stone, and woke up in Bremloc.
“But I’ve since learned it was actually a heart stone, not a wishing one,” I continued. “Lupin said the stone joined me with the missing pieces of my heart. It had all sorts of colors in it. Blue, purple, topaz, and a green-brown. And ruby red.”
“The eye colors of your fated mates,” he said, brow heavy. He was deep in thought.
I nodded. “I was told you’d all play a pivotal role in my destiny. I’ll need all of you to face what lies ahead.” I nibbled my bottom lip. “And, if Lupin was right and not just pulling my leg, I still have one more to find.”
“A seventh mate?” His frown slipped as surprise took its place. “Who?”
“Don’t know,” I answered. “Guess I’ll figure it out once I smell him. Nothing gets past my nose, you know.”
He smiled. “That it doesn’t.”
We sat in a comfortable silence for several moments, listening to the soft rush of the small waterfall and the chitters from Pumpkin as he leapt between trees, as though searching for the one he liked best.
“You’re taking this a lot better than I expected,” I said, noting his smooth features and lack of apprehension or any of the other emotions you’d think someone would experience when being told about different worlds.
In fact, his biggest surprise had been the info about my number of fated mates. “Aren’t you a little freaked out?”