Page 59 of Fated to the Demon Lord

Silence followed as everyone stared at me.

All the emotions raged, but a part of me also wanted to see my mother. A part of me had wanted to since the moment I learned Bargoth might know her. The two sides warred within me.

“Fine,” I finally ground out. “But only for a short while.”

“Come, my love. Let us go.” Bargoth went to my mother and took her hand.

I blinked. Mother and… and Bargoth?

Mother gave me one last despairing look but turned to walk with Bargoth. Vaelor and I left a small amount of distance before we started following behind them.

“Are you all right?” Vaelor murmured.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked as evenly as I could.

“Maybe because you are acting as though your mother is a viper waiting to strike.”

“She might as well be.” I couldn’t stop thinking about how she left and how everything deteriorated from there. Years of not knowing where she was, wondering if she was dead and that was why she was unable to return to me and Gerand. “She walked out on us without a word, and now she’s just here and expects me to be happy about it?”

He studied me. “Hmm, that explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“Your lack of trust.”

“What, in you? You tried to kill me. You said you’d most likely still kill me.” Although I no longer feared that from him.

“Only one of us succeeded at killing the other, and it wasn’t me.”

Despite what had happened only a few days ago, from the time that he’d refused to poison me, he’d done nothing but protect me—fight for me, even when it wasn’t to his advantage.

He wasn’t a monster. He only pretended to be one.

I tried not to think about how fast my feelings for him were shifting, and how dangerous it would be if I let them.

As the bordering trees thinned, I made out a modest hamlet not far from us, concealed by the surrounding forest.

I gazed at it in wonder. “You have a hidden town?”

“That we do,” Bargoth said proudly.

Buildings of varying sizes lined the road as we came into town. A few were as small as my and Gerand’s cabin, most were much larger. Moss and ivy covered most structures and even wrapped around a picket fence in front of one cozy-looking home.

As we entered the town proper, I immediately noticed the demons bustling about, selling wares, blacksmithing, cooking. They were the mixed breeds that Misophae was known for—creatures with human bodies and animal heads like Bargoth, and some with two different animals mashed together with no distinguishable human traits. We came to a small market. Booths where merchants sold their wares dotted the square, displaying meats, baked items, tools, and art trinkets.

More importantly, there were actual full-blooded humans. Not humans in chains or moving about in the shadows with their heads lowered. They spoke with the demons, sold goods to them, laughed with them. A human child ran down the street with a demon child playing a wheel and stick game, calling to one another.

Vaelor peered around, his fists unclenched, a look of amazement on his face. “This place is different.”

I nearly stumbled into my mother, who had paused for us to catch up. “Derand is a special place. There are only a few other towns similar to it in Misophae, all of them hidden.”

“Derand?” I asked with a frown.

Mother gave me a soft, affectionate glance.

I blanched, uncertain whether to feel flattered or sickened that she cared enough to name this town after her children but never made any effort to come and find us.

“The demons are kind to each other,” I said, swallowing my emotions.