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CRADLING HER HORN LIKEa babe, Eilea strolled down the city’s cobblestone streets, assailed by various scents and sounds that took her back to a time long ago. Much of the city was exactly as she remembered it, yet many of the people had changed. There were new demons she didn’t recognize who gave her curious looks as she passed by. Many bowed their heads together, speaking behind their hands, the words ‘lost queen’ standing out among the whisperings.
She briefly wondered what her mates and children in the mortal realm would think of this place.
She finally came to a fruit stall, recognizing the demon farmer, Lago, who’d provided food for their tables three millennia ago. Lago had pointy rabbit ears, long whiskers, and a furry but humanlike torso and eyes. She wasn’t fooled by his cute, puffy tail. He had powerful hind legs that could shatter the bones of his foes.
Nose twitching, he held out a palma fruit and bowed. “For you, my queen.”
She took the fruit, heavy and round with soft skin like a mango, but with a milder taste, almost like vanilla and coconut. Palmas didn’t grow in the mortal realm, and she hadn’t realized until this moment how much she missed her favorite fruit. “You remembered,” she said as she took a bite, and delicious flavor exploded in her mouth.
“Always.” He flashed a broad smile, his two rectangular front teeth hanging over his lower lip. “It’s good to see you.”
She held up the fruit in salute. “Likewise.”
Soon, other demons she remembered from her past came out to greet her. They exchanged hugs and stories. Talking with the common demons had always been so easy for Eilea, which had earned her the nickname, The Commoners’ Queen. She never took it as an insult. She’d always preferred talking fabric patterns with the seamstresses and coal supply with the miners to holding court with the demon nobles. She saved the pomp and circumstance for her sister, who reveled in her nickname, The Goddess Queen.
She smiled to herself thinking how different their personalities, yet they ruled side by side with such ease, their love for each other and their children always prevailing over any differences. What had happened?
Mindful that her sons needed her, she said her goodbyes and headed to the outskirts of the city. A few demons tried to follow, but they respected her wishes for privacy. This reunion wasn’t for other eyes.
The weight of the horn slowed her down as she made her way to the lake, a vast body of water stretching on so far that she couldn’t see the distant shore, even with her wolf-touched eyes. Shadow Lake, that’s what they’d called it, named for the cobalt blue waters, so dark at night that the lake looked like a giant pot of spilled ink. She was nearly out of breath by the time she reached it, but the walk had been worth it, for the lake was just as beautiful as she remembered, nestled beneath a blanket of stars, even though she knew the sky was an illusion created by her sister. Gentle waves lapped a shore of fine, dark sand. Feeling the need to ground herself to the earth, she slipped off her shoes, which were nothing more than house slippers, the soft sand molding around her feet. She padded to the water’s edge and raised the heavy horn, blowing into it with what little breath she had remaining after her hike. The sound that came out was deep and rich, despite her breathlessness.
Water seeped into her pajama pants when she sat, digging her toes into the wet sand. She didn’t mind as a warm breeze blew back her braids and tickled her horns. Horns. She reached up and felt them, the soft satin skin covering the spikes triggering distant memories. How she missed having horns. Her life before as queen of Atlantia had been surprisingly simple. Though she’d had various lovers, she had no mates and no need for them, for she had her best friend, her dragon, Tan’yi’nug.
Now that her ancient memories had been restored, she wondered how she could reconcile her two lives, for she feared her mates wouldn’t accept her past. She loved her mates and her young children, but she knew she couldn’t return to the mortal realm and simply forget her subjects and Tan’yi’nug, and she certainly couldn’t forget her demon sons. Boris and Jovan were such stubborn alphas that she feared they’d fight her, demanding she give up her role as queen of hell and remain with them, so that they could reign as chieftains of one small tribe. She dug her nails into the sand, her chest aching from the thought of them forcing her to choose. She didn’t want to choose. She wanted both worlds, both lives.
This was too much to think on now, especially when she realized her mates were probably wild with rage. There was no telling what her mates would do to try to get her back. The thought of them traveling back to Romania and going through the portal in the haunted forest churned her stomach. Damn. Why hadn’t she written them a note before she left? She would need to hurry and save her sons so she could get back to her mates.
She shot up, spine rigid, when she saw a winged shadow framed by a bright, full moon, its figure growing as it flapped toward her. She jumped to her feet, the breath escaping from her lungs, when the shadow released a roar, followed by a stream of fire.
Tan’yi’nug. My best friend. My protector. My familiar.
She hadn’t seen him in almost three thousand years.
She swallowed back her tears, her chest tight with a mixture of relief, sorrow, anticipation, and longing as his flapping shadow grew larger and larger. Fate had been cruel to Eilea and Tan’yi’nug. Once, thousands of years ago, she had thought she could be happy with just her dragon companion. Then her creator had introduced her sister, born out of flame and shadow, just like her, yet entirely different. The creator had told her that together they would rule the uppermost dimension of hell where her favorite demons resided. Then her creator left them to rule in her stead.
Tan’yi’nug hadn’t liked sharing his mistress with anyone, but ever eager to please her, he’d begrudgingly accepted that Hecate would be a part of her life. Nothislife, though. Not if he could help it. He preferred to remain loyal to just her. He eventually accepted Eilea’s sons and Bennu, but for some reason he never fully accepted Hecate and her sons and mate.
Perhaps Eilea should’ve listened to her dragon’s instincts. Then again, if she hadn’t been obliterated, she wouldn’t have resurrected and mated with her four wolf shifters and she wouldn’t have her beautiful babies. Pain sliced down her chest at the thought. She felt like she had two hearts, both wanting different lives, longing for different families. Would she ever be able to reconcile the two?
A trill raced up her spine when Tan’yi’nug landed with athud,his crimson scales gleaming beneath the moonlight, his nostrils flaring, his golden eyes glowing, as he hovered over her, breathing steam down her back.
Is it really you?he asked through thought, his deep voice thick with emotion.
She blinked up at him through a sheen of tears, emotion constricting her throat. “It is.”
Do you have your old memories?
She slowly nodded, too choked up to say more.
When he flattened his chest against the earth, his big eyes glossy with a sheen of tears, she threw her arms around his neck with a sob. He wrapped his wings around her, cradling her like a mother soothing a child, and together they cried a thousand tears. She’d only had her memories a few hours, and it wasn’t until that very moment that she realized how much Tan’yi’nug had meant to her, and how much she’d missed him. How could she possibly abandon him again to return to the mortal world? How could she possibly stay and abandon her mates and babies?
