17. Lovette
Chapter 17
Lovette
I wasn’t privy to everything that happened once the councilmen left my care, but I understood well that the next several months were going to be full of serious changes.
Hugo’s and Augustus’s fate would be decided following an investigation from within not only the stone kin council but those of the mages and witches as well. To get all of the factions involved spoke of serious transgressions… and rumor had it they were not the only ones under a watchful eye. My father had never been so enthusiastic about being a required participant in council meetings.
Ophelia, who had yet to be wrong about much of anything, certainly had the right of things when she proclaimed it was time for the stone kin to experience change starting at the very top and to set down some roots. Construction was beginning both at d’Arcan and at the conclave, and it felt like the first breath of spring when the flowers begin to show through the soil, despite it being nearly time to turn over the earth for winter. Something good was coming. Something hopeful.
As I entered the infirmary under the cool white light of a full moon, I found it bustling with people. The cots had all been pushed against the walls to make both useful flat surfaces and more standing room.
Gaius spotted me and came over as quickly as he could, his cane thumping along the stone floor. When he kissed me on the cheek, I looked up to find my father watching, expression indiscernible. When I met his eye, though, he winked reassuringly back at me.
“Does everyone have their assignments already?” I asked, stunned at how many stone kin they’d recruited for our late-night journey into Revalia.
“Yes. Here’s yours.” He handed me a small grouping of necklaces hung on a short rod, each tagged with a name and address.
We’d finished sorting the jewelry just a couple of nights prior, and after enlisting some invaluable help from Calla, Grace, Greta, and the girls that worked at d’Arcan, as many items as possible had been linked to updated family names and addresses. It had taken some firm handling, but I’d managed to convince my mate that trying to manage the return of such a vast number of pieces was far more than he could handle alone, even with my help. People would start talking, and the more times we had to return, the more dangerous it would become. So, over several tankards of ale between Gaius, Imogen, and my father, a blitz was planned.
Funny thing was, the more they talked about it, thinking they were being quiet, or at least well ignored, the more people volunteered to help.
Pride swirled through me, making my heart thump and the bond glow. I looked around to find my sister mixed in the crowd, double-checking everyone had what they needed. But there was also an unfamiliar face. A demon, if I had to guess.
“Who’s that?”
“Ah! Seir? If you please?” Father gestured him over. “I’d like to introduce you to my daughter.”
Like his brothers, the demon was tall, quick to smile and more handsome than he had any right to be. He had short auburn hair, cut to just above his jaw, the front pieces pulled back away from his face with a leather tie. Twisted brown horns extended out and back from the top of his head through his russet hair, and he had a pair of dark wings tucked tight to his back.
Gaius shifted beside me, a frown on his face as the demon enthusiastically shook my hand. “Hello, I’m Seir.”
“Lovette.”
He turned to my father. “Have you installed the portal then?”
“Portal?” I asked, glancing between them.
“Like a doorway, you just need to think of where or who you want to go to and it will take you there.”
“Yes, I’m aware of what they are, I just didn’t know we had one of those.”
“Of course you do! I gave him one ages ago.”
I tilted my head, silently questioning my father. “It wasn’t that long ago, and it’s a permanent installation, I had to be sure of my choice.” He shrugged.
Seir laughed, then his face abruptly became serious, and he nodded. “He’s right though, once put up they cannot be moved. It’s wise to be very, very sure.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Seir,”
“And you!” He jiggled my arm up and down once more, grinning broadly, his several additional pointed teeth showcased by the gesture. “This is going to be fun.”
“Quiet down!” my father shouted. “Everyone has been briefed of the plan, correct?”
“Yes sir!” was the majority response.
“We are to move as quickly and stealthily as possible. Your entry points are on your documents. Think of that place and only that place as you step through the doorway. It may feel a little disorienting but having a way to move in and out faster than we could fly is very important, understood?”
“Yes sir!”
“You have one hour to deliver your items. If for some reason, it is unsafe to leave one, move on to the next. The return portal is located on the grounds at d’Arcan. Enter at the observatory, and they will direct you from there. If you have items left when the hour is up, deliver them back here. Everyone is to check in at the meetinghouse once they are finished, clear?”
“Yes sir!”
I found myself giving the response as well, adrenaline pumping as Gaius squeezed my hand, then moved to the front of the pack to lead the group out of the infirmary with my father.
We crossed the square in front of the meetinghouse, proceeding toward the ancient tree under which celebrations were always held.
“If you don’t mind demonstrating?” Father asked Seir, who was positively giddy.
“Of course.” With another broad grin and an odd salute to the crowd of gathered stone kin, Seir stepped up to the trunk of the tree and… disappeared.
Several men gasped, jostling one another in jest that they would throw one another in.
“Oh, for saints’ sake.” I shook my head and reached for Gaius’s hand. “Ready?”
“Not a chance, Little Dove, but I’ll go with you anyway.” He dipped down and kissed me, and then, together, we walked into the tree. For several long moments, I felt as though I was being turned inside out and upside down… then we walked out through the smithy in the Barrens.
Gaius and I worked together, crisscrossing our area of the city in flashes of wings and moonlight. There were more stone-kin prancing across roofs, in the sky, and running around stealthily on foot than I’d ever seen in Revalia, let alone at one time.
Seir caught up to us just after we’d delivered my final necklace to a bronze letterbox. My father had also joined up with us, a broad smile on his face. Everyone was doing their job, but also having an immense amount of fun.
“It’s like Samhain,” Seir said with a grin, “except instead of children asking for treats, we’re delivering things. Oh! Or Yule! My brothers and I always tried to sneak around late at night to leave one another little treats when we were young. We’d always end up running into one another then just sitting around in the hallway opening them. Too tempting to wait until morning.”
“Demons celebrate holidays in such a manner?” Gaius asked.
“Of course we do!” Seir replied, shaking his head and waving a hand like Gaius was jesting. “Don’t stone kin?” Then he disappeared.
“Wait. Did you …?”
“I saw it too. Or rather, I didn’t see where he went.”
“He does that,” Father said. “Instant travel, portals or otherwise, is one of his powers.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice?” Gaius chuffed.
When the hour was up, we flew back to the conclave, finding a full-blown party underway at the meetinghouse. If there was one thing for certain, stone kin would take any opportunity for a celebration, even during hours better served by sleeping. I hoped nobody required my attention in the infirmary because of it.
As we walked past, several of the men made a point to thank Gaius for having them along for the fun, his shoulder was sure to be sore after all the thumping. I stepped to the side and let him have a moment, his gruff expression breaking into a smile as he shook hands, trying to sidestep away from the crowd so he could follow me.
I checked in with the aunts who had been left to collect any undeliverable pieces, and Gaius finally caught up as I reached the end of the infirmary building, only a handful of leftover items in my pocket.
“Your place or mine?” he asked.
“Presumptuous question, sir.”
His smile was becoming easier to tease out. “Is it? Is it presumption to ask where my mate is going to allow me the honor of enjoying her company after such a productive night’s work?”
“It probably is.” I threaded my fingers through his and led him toward his hut, the stairs to my apartment feeling somehow like more work than the extra walk to his door. “But I don’t mind.”
He snorted, squeezing my hand tightly. “I have something for you,” he said as we stepped into his little hut.
“For me?”
“A bit early, but I’ll miss the actual day once they start me at the outpost.” He frowned a bit.
“My birthday?”
“Yes.”
“I thought we agreed that nothing significant happens after about a century.”
He scoffed as he guided me to the table. “I never agreed with what you said.” I sat in the terrible little chair despite his protests that I should take the more comfortable one. Before sitting himself, he pulled a small basket from under the bed and placed the contents in front of me.
“Gaius,” I gasped, finding a pillowy meringue pie in front of me. “Is it…”
“Yes. Lemon and lavender.”
Tears prickled. The depth of the gesture slammed into me like a boulder. “How did you know? About either the pie or my birthday?”
“I shouldn’t give away my very reliable source, but the credit belongs to Imogen. She’s been very helpful giving me ideas where you’re concerned, Little Dove.”
He turned to pull silverware out of the basket as well, and I realized what he meant. “She told you about the chocolates and the tea.”
A grin spread across his face. “She did. I would love to claim that I guessed that well, but I did not. For days I wondered what she was talking about since she threw random things out in conversation. But then when I realized, I appreciated the insight. Very much.”
I accepted a fork and wasted no time cutting a slice, opting to just scoop out a bite instead. “It was a good apology, Gaius.” The fluffy meringue top melted on my tongue, sweet to the sharp lemon and earthy lavender. “And this is perfect,” I sighed.
He copied me, filling his fork and rolling the bite around thoughtfully in his mouth, his brow furrowed as though he was trying to decide whether or not he liked the flavor.
“It’s unusual. But not bad.”
“Like us?” I teased. My bond pulsed in my chest, and I couldn’t help but smile at this frustratingly handsome, stubborn man the fates had given me.
He snorted, revealing a charming lopsided grin I was growing incredibly fond of seeing and said, “Yes. Just like us, Little Dove.”
Want a little more time with Gaius and Lovette?