Chapter Nineteen
Muffins Shouldn’t Play with Matches
Dark golden rays of sun filtered in through the windows in the reading parlor as the day came to a close. I sat with Lake on the couch, relaxing with a book as he whittled. The soft scrape of the blade against the wood joined the soothing crackle of the fire in front of us.
The book was a collection of fables. The first story spoke of an island that couldn’t be found on any map.
It appeared and vanished throughout the vast sea and was believed to contain immense riches.
The second story was about a magical seed that blossomed into a beautiful weeping willow.
A small illustration showed a knight in black armor standing beside her. Guarding his queen.
I smiled and kept flipping through the book. It made me curious though. If the story about the willow was true, what about the others? The mysterious treasure island. The sea creature that lived in the deepest depths of the sea, big enough to swallow ships whole.
Oreo lay on the rug and yawned, showing his canines and floppy tongue.
A new leather collar adorned his neck. Lake had finished the wooden charm he’d been making for the pup and had fastened it to a strip of leather armor and one of Callum’s boot laces, along with a tiny white stone he’d found while working with Koga in the garden.
“He loves it,” I said, peering down at the puppy. “I saw him prancing around the castle earlier with his little head held high like he was showing it off.”
Lake’s responding smile veered on shy. “I suppose it’s not bad for my first attempt.”
He was modest when it came to his work. Too modest, I’d say.
Not long ago, we had sat in this very same parlor as he told me about his dream of owning his own shop.
The Shadow Realm didn’t treat demi-wolves horribly like Bremloc did.
It was a place where he could walk in daylight without worrying about anyone seeing him—where he could have an actual life.
“So, about this woodshop you want to open…” I rested my head on his shoulder and smiled up at him. “We still thinking of naming it Lake’s Hard Wood?”
A tight smile touched his lips. “The name matters very little. Life has other plans for me. Plans that don’t involve me settling in one place while the human I love is in peril.”
“In peril?” I sighed, trying to keep the mood light despite the ache in my heart. “The only danger I’m in at the moment is from Fane when he sees the chicken casserole baking in the oven.”
“Did you add bacon?” he asked, amusement ringing in his gruff voice.
I grinned. “Maybe.”
He roughly laughed.
“Speaking of the casserole, it should be ready soon.” I sat up on the cushion and closed the book, placing it on the side table. “I should head to the kitchen.”
“I’ll come with you,” Lake said, then tucked away the whittling knife and project he’d been working on.
As he and I left the parlor, the castle felt different. I no longer saw creepy corridors and gloomy rooms long since neglected. Fading daylight trickled in through the windows, breathing life into what once felt so cold and desolate.
“It’s as though I’ve been trapped in ice for centuries and can finally feel the sun on my skin.”
A tear slipped free at the memory of Onyx’s words.
A dwelling reflected the soul inhabiting it was what he once told me.
It was why his castle had once seemed so desolate, mirroring the way he’d shut himself off from the world.
But now there was warmth, albeit small. And I would do everything in my power to prevent that chill from sweeping back in.
Just had to… you know, figure out how to break his curse. No big whoop. Where there was a will, there was a way and all that. The weeping willow believed in me at least.
Lake and I reached the kitchen several minutes later, led by an excitable puppy, who was still prancing around and holding his head high. He puffed out his little chest too.
“You’re banished from this kitchen hence forth,” Fane told me, both hands on his hips. He had already taken the casserole from the oven and sneered at it.
I laughed so hard I had to lean on the counter to stay upright.
The dining parlor was lively for dinner as usual. Varys and Koga joined us, sitting beside Lake and Briar as they spoke of herbs, vegetables, and mana particles, all of which had my eyes glazing over. The trio of knights sat with Nina and Cyan and told the female demons about my café in Bremloc.
“Nina wantsss to go,” the snake demon said with a sense of wonder in her yellow, serpent-like eyes. She flipped around to me, her tail swishing faster behind her. “Evan can build a new café here! Then Nina can come eat all the yummiesss.”
Lake offered me a sad smile from across the table. Until I fulfilled my destiny as the Hallowed Saint, life couldn’t return to how it used to be. Days when my biggest worry after waking in the morning was whether the humidity would affect how the bread dough rose and baked.
“Maybe someday,” I told Nina, keeping a smidgeon of hope alive. “Until then, I can bake you all the yummy things here in the castle.”
That appeased her. She flashed a toothy grin, then ate more of the chicken casserole, washing it down with the tea Fane had steeped with oranges and honey.
Onyx didn’t join us for dinner. Not that I expected him too. We were going on four days without seeing each other. The longest we’d been apart since I first came to the Shadow Realm.
“Who’s ready for dessert?” I asked, standing from the table. I needed a distraction from those achy thoughts. “I made honey cake with a caramel glaze.”
“Honey cake?” Fane glanced toward the hall beyond the parlor. “You should take milord a piece. It’s his favorite, you know.”
If only I could. But I couldn’t tell him the reason why I couldn’t. Although Fane knew about me being the Hallowed Saint, he didn’t know about Onyx’s curse. Only Phantasia and Koga seemed to know about it.
“It might do him some good if you visited him, lad,” Varys added with a frown. “Lord Onyx has barely left his quarters in the past four days, not even for our scheduled meeting to discuss the state of the realm. I worry over him.”
Rowan met my gaze from the corner of the room before looking away.
He’d been awfully tight-lipped about his nightly lessons with Onyx other than to tell me he was gradually improving his shadow skills.
I got the feeling he wanted to keep me from knowing how Onyx was really doing.
Which didn’t seem to be that well judging by all the concerned expressions around the table.
Taking him a slice of cake wouldn’t hurt anything, right?
“I don’t like this, sweetheart,” Maddox said as he and the others trailed behind me later that evening, having insisted on accompanying me.
“It’s just cake, Maddox. I’m gonna set it outside his door and leave. What could go wrong?”
He sighed. A sound echoed by Callum. They didn’t fight me on it though. Both had remained firm on their stance against me trying to break Onyx’s curse, but they also understood the intensity of a fated mate bond.
However, when we reached Onyx’s room, the door was wide open.
Rowan stepped in front of me and poked his head into the room, then glanced at me over his shoulder. “He’s gone.”
“Where would he go?” I asked right before an idea stirred. A gut feeling told me exactly where the demon lord had wandered off to.
The greenhouse.
With my men trailing behind me, I took off back down the corridor and descended the stairs to the ground floor. Before stepping through the doors, I turned to them.
“Wait for me here,” I said. A protest was on Maddox’s lips, but before he could voice it, I softly added, “Please, big guy. Just trust me. If anything happens, Rowan will be nearby.”
Maddox regarded me with a heavy brow and clenched jaw before, subtly, exhaling and giving me a tight nod.
Callum took his captain’s lead and accepted my decision as well.
Briar and Lake weren’t as reluctant as the knights but still seemed apprehensive.
Knowing Rowan would be concealed within the shadows seemed to ease their concern though.
After tossing them one final glance and what I hope was a reassuring smile, I stepped into the greenhouse, closing the doors behind me.
It was quiet apart from the gentle rush of the small waterfall cascading down the rocky wall and into the pool of crystal clear water.
Moonlight cast everything in a silver glow, shining on the stones embedded in the pathway and glimmering off the surrounding leaves and flower petals.
Like the trees and plants beyond the castle, some of them glowed in shades of blue, purple, green, and pink.
I moved farther into the greenhouse, taking the path Onyx and I’d walked several days ago. Various scents wafted around me. Floral notes, along with traces of pine and soil. Black cardamom lingered in the air as well, a sign my redhead was with me, hiding within the shadows of the ferns and trees.
Cheep.
I glanced up to find Pumpkin sprawled across a low-hanging branch.
“You little turd,” I said, smile growing. “Have you been in here this whole time?”
He responded with another chirp before leaping on top of my head and scurrying down my body, his toe beans landing a cute thud on the path as he rushed toward the stream.
“Why are you here, Evan?”
I stilled at the voice. Slowly, I turned to see Onyx standing beneath a tree with bright blue flowers.
There were so many things I wanted to say to him.
The days apart had been brutal on my heart, just as, I expected, they’d been the same on his.
But talking about how much I missed him would only be salt to the open wound. For both of us.
“I brought you some honey cake,” I said, motioning to the plate. “I meant to leave it outside your room, but you weren’t there.”
“And you thought to look for me here?” He left the confines of the tree and approached me, his steps seemingly cautious. Like he didn’t trust himself.
I nodded. “It’s your happy place.”