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“Bonds that include obeying your laws with unwavering loyalty.”
His gaze narrowed. Her words had touched a nerve. “The loyalty isn’t just for my benefit,” he said coldly. “It’s a visible reminder that these people are depending on me to protect them. And if I neglect my duties, I won’t be alone in paying the price for my failure. Each and every demon in my territory is my responsibility. I never want to forget that.”
Peri turned her head to gaze out the tinted window. They’d reached the outskirts of New Orleans, but she barely noticed the clusters of apartment buildings and storage sheds that hugged the highway. She was busy battling back the sting of guilt at her eagerness to think the worst of Valen.
“It still seems…feudal,” she muttered.
“Why do you dwell on my people’s pledge of allegiance to me? I assume you offer Maya your loyalty?” His voice softened, as if sensing the regret she refused to admit.
Peri eagerly latched onto the shift in conversation, turning back to meet his steady gaze. “She earned it.”
“How did you end up at the Witch’s Brew?”
“After I escaped the ranch I spent several weeks hiding in the mountains,” Peri said without hesitation. Valen already knew about her homicidal mother and the coven who’d betrayed her. There was no reason not to offer the details of her journey to the Witch’s Brew. At least, the details she was willing to share. “It wasn’t until I was fully healed that I headed east.”
“Why east?”
“It wasn’t really a decision.” At the time, Peri had been walking around in a daze. Not only had she just discovered she was a powerful mage, but her mother had stabbed a dagger into herchest and tried to murder her. That was the sort of trauma that took longer to heal than the wound. “I moved from one small town to another, picking up odd jobs to make a little money. I never paid attention to where I was or where I was going.”
“You never felt the urge to settle down?”
She shook her head. “Not until Maya.”
“Why was she special?”
“I was working as a waitress at a truck stop in Pennsylvania. One night I got off work late and was walking to the trailer I was renting a few blocks away. I didn’t sense the danger until a van pulled up next to me and three guys jumped out.”
Lost in the dark memory, Peri abruptly shivered as an icy blast coated the windows in a layer of frost.
“Are they dead?”
Peri didn’t bother to answer the blunt question. The last thing she wanted was Valen hunting down those creeps. They weren’t worth the effort.
“When I finally realized I’d been surrounded, they knocked me out before I could form a spell.”
Valen’s features remained clenched, but the frost thankfully melted. “What happened?”
“I woke up in my bed with Maya pouring a foul tasting potion down my throat.” Peri’s lips twisted. Almost nine years later she could still remember the nasty taste. And she was still convinced that Maya added an extra layer of vile to the potion to teach her a lesson. “I tried to fight her, but she wrapped me in magic and told me not to be stupid. Then she spent the next hour scolding me on the dangers of walking around with my head up my ass and not carrying a collection of potions to use in case of an emergency.”
Valen arched a brow. “I’m sure that made you happy.”
“I was so pissed I would have beat her senseless if I could have broken her spell,” she confessed. “Thankfully, I couldn’tmove a muscle, and by the time she released me I’d calmed down enough to realize she’d not only saved me from a revolting situation, but she’d reminded me that no matter how much power I might have, I’m not immortal. I needed to take better care of myself.”
“And that included joining her at the Witch’s Brew?”
“Not at first. Maya left her business card and told me to look her up if I was ever in New Jersey. She knew if she tried to pressure me into taking a job at her coffee shop I’d dig in my heels.” Peri sent Valen an innocent smile. “It’s probably hard to believe, but I used to be a little pigheaded.”
Valen made a choking sound, but he didn’t bother to point out she wasstillpigheaded. It was one of those things that went without saying.
“What made you decide to look her up?” he asked instead.
“The next morning I read a story in the newspaper about three men found butt naked and tied to a tree in the middle of the local park. All three were covered in a mysterious rash and were babbling about being attacked by flesh-eating butterflies. They were thrown in jail for indecent exposure and the suspicion they were responsible for the opioids flooding the area.” Peri chuckled. At first she’d wondered if Maya had someone who’d assisted her in dealing with the men. Although they were humans, they weren’t helpless. And the few mages that Peri had encountered since fleeing the coven hadn’t possessed more than average magic. Certainly nothing that could have accomplished such a feat. Peri had realized that she’d finally encountered a mage who could teach her to control her magic. “I respected Maya’s attention to detail. The illusion of flesh-eating butterflies was a nice touch.”
“They should have been destroyed,” Valen insisted.
“The last I checked they are back in jail,” she assured him, even as she accepted there was a very real possibility that Valenwould send someone to track them down. He had a rigid sense of justice. “A few days later I packed my bags and headed to Jersey.”
“You’ve never felt the urge to move on?”
