He cleared his throat again. “Yeah, let’s go on that walk,” he said before I could comment. Then he focused on Az. “If you harm so much as a hair on her head while I’m gone, I’ll kill you. Understand?”
Call for me the second you think something might be wrong,he added mentally.I’ll be here.
I nodded. As crazy as it was to try to trust Az, it was the only way to test him. We could sit here and watch him all day, waiting for Lucifer to attack or for Az to try to drag us to hell.
Or we could give him a chance to uphold his side of the bargain.
The latter might be the more dangerous option, but this was the only way we would know his true intentions.
Az bristled in the kitchen as Shade headed toward the door. “Have fun,” the Midnight Fae murmured, winking before disappearing through the wood.
Literally.
Like he walked right through it without so much as casting a spell.
When Ajax followed, I lifted my eyebrows.We can walkthroughthe door?
It’s the Midnight Fae Realm. Nothing is what it seems here,Az replied, his bird still posturing in the kitchen. After a few seconds, he sniffed again, then went back to guzzling his juice carton.
The image had my lips curling into a grin I couldn’t fight. Watching him like this was pretty humorous.
I feel you laughing at me,he muttered.
You’re about to dump juice all over your face.
My Phoenix has more control than you think,he returned as his bird set the now-empty carton down.Ready to begin your next lesson?
“Sure,” I replied out loud. “Is it another mental exercise?”
I felt him smirk in my head and caught the answering excitement in his black eyes.No. This one will be physical. Let’s go find an appropriate room to play in.
Thirty minutes later, it was clear to me that the vines, flowers, and trees decorating the palace were more than ornamental fixtures. I swore they were alive, perhaps even monitoring our every move.
But no one stepped out to stop us; just a handful of gargoyles asked if we needed directions.
When I inquired about a sparring area, a little stone creature led us to a room where scorch marks lined the dark walls. Whereas most of the palace was covered in trees and florals, this place was a contrast of hard, stone interior. Little else occupied the space, suggesting that either whatever had been in here had been burned, or it had been purposefully kept empty.
It was the only space that wasn’t covered in roots and other plant life that would have made training rather difficult. Maybe this had once been a sparring area, but I had a feeling that more recently it had been used as one of Florica’s playrooms.
Because a lone teddy bear rested on its side in the middle of the room. The skylight above seemed to illuminate the toy, telling me the poor little bear had seen better days. Patches of fur had been burned off, and one of its buttons was melted, but it was clearly well loved by a certain little faeling.
I hadn’t had many stuffed animals as a child—at least, they hadn’t lasted very long. My mother had given me some, but my father had felt that attachments to soulless objects made me soft, so he’d preferred to infest them with demons that would then try to stab me in my sleep.
That had not gone over well.
“Is this one of Florica’s playrooms?” I asked the gargoyle. I was questioning it more because I didn’t want to intrude as a guest if Florica still intended to use it.
“One of many,” the little creature confirmed. “I’ll add a marker so others know the room is in use. If you need anything, call for Sir Fletcher.”
With that, the gargoyle left.
Apparently, this space was ours. Hopefully, that was all right.
“Hmm,” I hummed, bending to pick up the bear. “I don’t want to risk anything happening to this.” The last thing we needed was to upset a little girl who liked to play with fire. Not to mention the mother of said girl—who happened to be a very powerful queen.
I turned over the bear in my hands as I headed toward a bench along one of the walls, then nearly dropped it as the beady black eyes burned red.
What the fuck?I thought, alarmed.
