Page 106 of Demon Demands

I’d realized, since opening the bond back up, that I needed less sleep than I normally would have. My body was recharging faster, my senses had sharpened, and there were so many little changes that they were easily overlooked.

Atlas growled low, nudging me with his nose to come play with him, but being accidentally trampled by hellhounds didn’t sound like a fun time to me. He could tell I was close to falling into dark thoughts, so he trotted off, still keeping an eye on me.

Sloane walked a huge, elephant-like creature out of the stables on the far side of the yard, and I sat up to observe her before she noticed me.

No matter how hard I strained my ears, I couldn’t hear what she said to the beast, but she laughed as it picked her up with its trunk. I wondered if that was Pete.

Her three hounds bounded out of the pack, heading straight for her, and she tapped twice on the elephant. As she spoke it set her down, carefully avoiding hitting her with the lengthy tusks around its mouth.

When the boys reached her, she held her hand out, closing her fist. That was their command to stay and sit.

The creature behind her studied their movements and followed suit, appearing uncomfortable as he sat, but not willing to go against her silent command.

She offered her left hand to the hounds, allowing them to sniff while she pet them with her right hand. She was introducing them, but I couldn’t figure out why.

I stood from the chair I’d been planted in, taking a hesitant step closer to them. Curiosity bubbled through me as the creature once again picked Sloane up, dangling her upside-down before gently placing her on its back.

Sloane’s voice filtered into my mind as she met my eyes from across the yard. “Would you like to meet him?”

“Yes, Sweetheart. I want to meet anything that makes you that happy.”

Waiting patiently at the edge of the garden, I noticed the blood red azaleas blooming around me and grinned to myself. I was going to plant some of these as soon as we got a break at home. I’d put them in black pots on the rooftop patio.

She smiled down at me from where she was perched on the beast's back. “This is Pete. Say hello.”

“Hi, Pete. I’m York. It’s nice to meet you.” I waved, remembering my first encounter with the bratty hellhounds during their teenage phase.

He chirped back at me, waving his trunk in the air, mimicking my actions the best he could. And her fascination and love for the creature clicked into place.

Pete was intelligent and docile, not scared of her but willing to learn from her. He just wanted to be around her, almost like, “He missed you,” I muttered aloud.

“Yeah,” she sighed sadly, leaning over to stroke the leathery skin on his neck. “I try to visit, but it’s not enough. Palmer suggested bringing him home with us, but I haven’t decided what to change him into yet.”

“Palmer said that? The mage?” I spluttered.

“Yes,” she exclaimed, widening her eyes as she pointed her finger at me. “That one. Smart mouth, stormy eyes, reddish facial hair. You know the guy I’m talking about.”

I laughed at her sarcasm as she slid off Pete’s back, walking around him to stand beside me. “Are you going to bring him with us?”

She nodded, smiling at him. “If his body can handle a shift like my hounds do, yeah. I’ve already sent Franklin home to have the barrier around the property changed for Pete. He’ll have contractors out tomorrow to build a stable for him to sleep in.”

“Do you have enough space for a creature that big?”

She popped her hand over my mouth. “Pete is a pedmar. He’s very gentle,” she whispered, clicking her tongue at him. “Watch.”

Pete trotted off, joining the hellhounds as they romped around the yard. A few of them rolled together, tussling with each other, but Sloane’s hounds picked up what looked like a game of tag with the pedmar.

Twisting her head to view both me and Pete, she answered my question. “There’s fifty-two acres attached to the property that we live on, York. That’s plenty of space to start him out, but I have plans.”

“Of course you do,” I acknowledged, knowing her too well to expect anything different.

“There’s over a thousand acres surrounding us in Tennessee. It’s used to harvest timber and other crops, but I’ve got Franklin putting some bids in to buy it. I need to find a real estate agent, and it could take months to negotiate the purchases.” Her excitement grew as she told me about her plans.

“But Pete deserves it. He’s been here by himself for years. Pedmars are nearly extinct, but Pete doesn’t have a mate to keep him here. So I’m bringing him with us. I think I’ll try to make him a horse, and if that doesn’t work, then I’ll just make him look like an earth elephant. I may have to acquire an exotic animal license, but I’d jump through more hoops than that for Pete.”

Sloane’s hounds had been running side-by-side, but when the pedmar refused to give up his chase, they spilt into the different directions. And so did Pete. His gigantic body flickered, and in its place, three smaller versions of him continued after the hellhounds.

“Devil, save me,” Lo whispered in awe. “I knew he had magic, I just didn’t know what it was.”