Page 47 of Demon Demands

The only vampire that had regularly visited was my father, and he hadn’t been in Hell for years. I wasn’t really in the mood to show Novak around. I didn’t want to rest. My mind was overwhelmed and my heart felt heavy. I didn’t like it.

What I needed was some time with Palmer. I… I wanted to talk. To work out whatever was going on between us. With him. His distance was killing me slowly. I had to understand what he was so desperately hiding, and I was done waiting.

Walking out of my bedchamber, I focused on Palmer. His scent, the way his accent flowed with a lyrical cadence, the stormy gray of his eyes. I very rarely needed to use the tracking symbols, but in the maze of hallways, I was thankful for having an easy way to find the guys.

I couldn’t remember which rooms had been theirs when I checked them out the night before; I had been too exhausted to keep track. The thought of opening doors at random to find my mage sounded gods-awful and finding him by scent alone would take too long.

When I found his room, I slipped inside, padding across the floor on silent feet.

“Palmer?” I shook his shoulder slightly to wake him. “Palmer. Wake the fuck up.”

He sat straight up, nearly head-butting me as he looked around the room in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why’d ya wake me up?” He complained, lying back down and closing his eyes. “I was having a great dream.”

“I have something better than sleep in mind.” I grinned at him, wiggling my eyebrows. “Come on. Get up. There’s a pedmar in the stables that we can take. I want to show you something.”

“Love,” he grumbled, popping one eye open to study my face. “Fine. I’m up.”

I gave him a moment to get dressed, rapping my bare foot impatiently on the ground. When he emerged from brushing his teeth, I grabbed his hand, dragging him down the hallways and out the kitchen door. The stables were on the back side of the palace, and the pedmar would be more than happy to stretch his legs.

I pulled Palmer through the stable entrance after sliding the enormous door open. Unlatching the stall door, I snatched up the blanket hanging on the partial wall between the pedmar and the empty stall next to him. Pete watched me with shining eyes, curling his trunk up and blowing a gust of wind through my hair.

“Pete, stop it,” I scolded him, laughing as he wrapped his trunk around my waist so he could pick me up and dangle me in the air.

Palmer peeked his head over the wall, his eyes widening comically. “The fuck is that thing?”

“This,” I waved my arms around, showcasing the gigantic beast, “is Pete.”

“What’s he doing to ya?” Palmer asked, hesitating in the stall doorway.

“He’s excited to see me. I guess this is his version of a hug. I don’t actually know. He’s just always done this.” I shrugged as I pointed to his trunk, but it didn’t have the same effect while I was being held upside down. My face was level with Palmer’s, and he twisted his head and upper body, attempting to gauge my reaction.

“It’s fine, really. Pete, put me down.” As he placed me on my feet, Palmer rubbed the base of his palms over his eyes.

“What is he?”

“He's called a pedmar. Mmm, something similar to an elephant. Thinner, clearly, and more muscular. They’re herbivores and docile, despite their size. Unlike elephants, a pedmar’s tusks are made of obsidian instead of ivory. My daggers came from a pedmar’s skull, where the obsidian fuses with their bones. It’s the only beast we have in the Underworld that the hellhounds won’t eat.”

Palmer stared at me with the same blank face that I normally saw Stone use. The only difference being that Palmer’s look was because he was still half asleep, and Stone was just… Stone. I couldn’t think of a better explanation for my demon mate.

“Okay,” my mage tentatively agreed. “What do ye want me ta do with him?”

“What?” I glared at him like he'd lost his mind. “Nothing. We’re going to ride him to where we're going. The hellhounds hunt at night, so they’d ditch us when we got to our destination. Pete won’t. He’ll just hang out, eat, and probably take a nap.”

Palmer shook his head at me. “The longer I know ya, the stranger shit gets.”

I smiled at him, spreading my arms wide. “Welcome to Hell, Mage. It’s a whole new world for you.”

* * *

“What’re we doing here?” Palmer asked, glaring at the dark tunnel with suspicion.

I answered him with a question of my own. “You know how I like to sit on the roof at home?” When he nodded, I continued. “This is that place for me in the Underworld. The place where I come to think, to be alone, to de-stress.” I murmured, tracing my fingers against the glowing veins in the rock walls of the tunnel.

“It’s my favorite secret. When I found this cavern as a kid, I never told a soul. And as soon as I was old enough, I begged the old demon who owned this land to sell it to me. I grossly overpaid for the property, but I’ve never regretted it.”