Chapter 29 Reason & Love #2
“Yes,” I mumbled, “Prim told me. Hopefully he will stay away now, for his own good.”
“I doubt it,” Devil replied, and I opened one eye to see a smirk on his face.
“What do you mean?”
“Archer’s Cup is not the only cause of lovesickness.”
I just squeezed my eyes closed, then muttered, “Antenor thinks it was you who love-spelled Helena.”
Devil’s mouth fell open and he let out what I could only describe as a cackle. “Oh, does he now? I am dying to know where that imbecile gets his ideas.”
“He found out about me and Will, and he thinks you did it to break us apart because you were jealous,” I said quietly.
“Hmm,” Devil mused, “now that does sound like something I would do.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “But you didn’t…actually do it, right?”
“Come now. Do you honestly believe I’d go through all that trouble, and risk Oberon’s wrath, when I could have just spirited you away at any moment per our bargain?”
I studied his face and frowned. “Put your silver tongue away and answer the question, Devil.”
“No,” he said with a long-suffering sigh. “No, I did not love-spell Lady Helena out of jealousy, nor was I involved in love-spelling her, nor did I have knowledge of any such plan. I swear it on my own life. And now, you need to rest.”
I was too exhausted to argue any further, and laid my head back down.
He pushed another strand of hair from my face, then vanished his wings and stepped away from the bed.
I watched out of the corner of my eye as he took the longbow off his back and removed the quiver of red-fletched arrows from his belt.
He sat on a low stool in front of the section of wall ledge he apparently used as a workbench and conjured up two orbs of light to illuminate his work.
Soon, the scraping noise of his sandstone against a half-stripped cedar branch lulled me into fragile, dreamless sleep.
I woke in the darkness, without Devil’s lights, nor the steady sound of his arrow-making.
Panic flooded me. Had Oberon come for him while I was asleep?
Had he already been unraveled from existence?
I sat up and tried to call his name, but my voice was merely a croak.
I fumbled with the heavy, silk blanket covering my legs, desperately wishing for my own light magyk as I pulled my aching body from the bed and felt my way toward the stairs.
They were pitch black, and I stumbled several times without a bannister, but a dim light was just visible from the bottom, and I heard voices.
My chest was nearly heaving with exhaustion and fear by the time I burst rather dramatically into the den.
Around the table sat Jon, Aliena, Larch, Briony, and several other residents of the Hollow.
They looked happy and relaxed, but my heart twisted when I did not see Devil amongst them.
“Oh, you’re awake!” Aliena came over to put an arm around my shoulders, then guided me to sit at the table and got me a cup of cold water from the sluice. Everyone stayed silent while I emptied it.
“Where’s Devil?” I gasped as soon as I was done.
“He went to see Oberon,” Jon said quietly.
“No!” I shook my head vehemently. “No, Oberon will kill him. I have to go.” I stood and shoved my chair back, head spinning as I lurched toward the stairs that led outside.
“May, you can’t just—” Aliena cried, but I was already gone. After only a few steps, however, I slammed right into something solid and warm.
“You’re in quite a hurry to save me from a horrific fate, Mayhem,” Devil mused, grabbing my arm to keep me from toppling over backwards. I peered up at him through the darkness and, once I had determined he was no worse for wear, slammed both my fists into his chest.
“You absolute bastard!”
“What have I done now?”
“I thought you were dead!”
“Oh dear,” Devil said, grabbing my other wrist and pulling me closer to him, “am I about to receive an angry but tearful confession that you cannot live without me? That you think of our kiss and little else? That you threatened the entire Arden just to spare my miserable, worthless life?”
Startled, I tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip. “How did you know about that?”
“Oberon told me what you said,” Devil murmured, his eyes searching my face with something like hunger. “I know that reason and love keep little company, but it was a foolish thing for you to do.”
“It was not out of love,” I spat, finally wrenching away from him. “It was out of…spite.”
“Spite?” he laughed. “You would keep me alive out of spite?”
I took a step back toward him, limbs trembling. “I merely wanted the opportunity to make your life as miserable as you’ve made mine, Devil. I have ten years of spite saved up just for you.”
“Well, I suppose you ought to get started then,” he replied, still smiling.
Aliena and the others came out of the den behind me, and Devil stepped aside so I could see down the hill.
The faint sound of music reached my ears, and I saw a glow coming from the area around Aliena’s cottage.
My chest was still heaving, heart hammering, but the rest of my body filled with embarrassment and confusion.
“W-what’s going on?” I asked under my breath.
“A party,” Aliena chuckled, taking my hand. “For you.”
“For…me?”
“Come on!” Jon boomed, slapping Devil hard on the back and walking away with Larch and the others. “I need a drink and a dance!” Aliena grinned and beckoned, then followed them.
Devil moved to stand just behind me and murmured, “If you’re too tired to go…”
“No, I…I just…” I turned to face him. “Did you really go to see Oberon?”
“Yes.”
“And he did not punish you?”
“He has become quite accustomed to my disobedience, I think. Besides, it was you who pulled us away.”
“Did he not order you to bring me home this time?”
“Oh, he did. But he understands that you need space after what happened, and I think he does too. I promised him you would be back in time for breakfast tomorrow. He must’ve been satisfied with that, because he let me go without so much as a strike across the cheek.”
Internally, I winced at the thought of it, but kept my face neutral. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For pulling you away.”
“Well, one good turn deserves another,” he said, offering me his hand. “I know how concerned you are with propriety, and it would be awfully bad manners to miss your own party.”
I allowed myself to smile up at him. “Will there be wine?”
“Of course.”
“And food?”
“Only the best for our beloved princess.”
“And plenty of handsome, winged men for me to dance with?”
“Certainly not,” Devil said seriously, shaking his head. “These events are very exclusive, after all. Only the most charming, talented, wittiest—”
“So you are excluded?” I cut him off, my smile widening to a grin.
He ignored the jab and bowed his head. “Would you spite me with a dance, Your Highness?”