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I shook my head. “I can’t talk about it now. Just… try to enjoy the party, Daphne. He wanted this for you, whatever happened. Hector wanted you to be happy.”
Her gaze slid behind me, and she nodded slowly in acknowledgment.Instinct told me it was the Wind-Blood Alpha.
I let her go. There was someone I needed to find.
I left in search of the scent of cloves.
Chapter XXXVII
“What are we searchingfor, little wolf?”
The moment I’d left Daphne, Cole had come to my side, sensing my need.
“The Libra demon.”
I didn’t need to specifywhichLibra demon.
“He could be anywhere,” Cole pointed out.
I shook my head. “He could. But he’s nosy and he has nowhere to go. His home was destroyed. He’s certainly not welcome in our realm. I think he’ll be here.” No doubt lingering in the shadows.
“Then let’s find him.”
My search took me deep into the woods. The same woods I’d fled to all that time ago. I braced for unpleasant memories to slam into me, as they often had before, but none came. Maybe because, even though I hadn’t wanted to die, it had brought me back to Cole.
Or maybe because those who had wronged me were all dead now too.
I caught the scent of cloves a moment before Phaidros emerged from the shadows.
His wings were bent stiffly behind his back, drawn in like he wished they’d go away. I reached for Cole with my magic to let him know I’d found our quarry.
“Looking for me, love?”
I nodded.
He sighed. “And here I thought you meant what you said about me not owing you a favor. What could you possibly need already?”
That favor thing really bugged him. “You don’t owe me a favor for saving your life, though a thank you wouldn’t be amiss.”
“I thanked you before,” he pointed out.
“Never hurts to hear it again.” I waited a beat, but obviously, no such expression was coming. Phaidros obviously likened debts to being weak, and a thank you was an admission of the debt. He might have been willing when he’d been on the brink of death, but nothing less would compel him. I let it go. I didn’t need thanks, though it was fun to needle the demon. I had done it because it was the right thing. “I wanted to talk to you because we didn’t finish our game.”
Cole appeared in my periphery. Phaidros’s head tipped towards my husband and then back to me. “I believe we did. And even if not, the point is moot, darling. The Moon Goddess is rotting in the pits of Tartarus, where she belongs.”
“We agreed to a trial for every realm,” I reminded him. “The under-realm is a realm as much as that of the living, the dead, and the heavens.”
Phaidros drew a breath. “No.”
“We had a deal, demon,” Cole reminded him.
He didn’t probe me for details on my plan. He trusted me.
“You’ve both been there. Can you honestly tell me you want to go back?” Phaidros hissed in disbelief.
“I don’t,” I admitted. “I’d like nothing more than to move on with my life and forget this whole thing ever happened. But it did. And Iowe it to those who fought for us to fight for them now too.”
Phaidros growled. “If you want to walk back into the shackles of eternal damnation, find another demon foolish enough to take you.” He lifted his hand to make a portal.
