Page 49 of Oath-Maker

At least, we hoped they’d become suggestions. Until then, demons vowed to respect it. My hope was that, one day after all of this was behind us, we could all be one again.

For now, Ian’s Order would patrol for errant demons, the humans would be free, and Alastia would remain under Lucius’s and my rule.

It seemed the best solution for now. There was a hope that soon we could have representatives from all the cities and towns within Serenia, demon or human, and form a council of sorts. But I wasn’t sure that was possible, and Lucius was concerned about how the other demon lords would see it.

All of these were problems for a different day, one not to be marked by a public, full coronation. One for all of Alastia, all of Serenia to witness.

Mine.

The first had been hasty and done in the privacy of Lucius’s court. Word had spread, as all court gossip does, but my rule as Queen Consort was still not official.

I wanted it to be over already—truthfully, I didn’t want to leave this bed at all. I looked up at the ceiling now, lost in thought and daydreams as I stared at a magic night full of stars. Lucius watched me from the balcony through open doors, smiling and enjoying the sun. The scars from the light sickness—both instances of it—were gone, but every now and then, weakness still took him.

“It will take time,” I’d told him.

He’d nodded and smiled before saying, “We have all the time in the world.”

Luciuskeptsaying that, and I was starting to wonder if he was serious or being metaphorical. Because the Light had been a Fallen celestial and it had been around for as long as Serenia.

Was Lucius immortal?

Was I immortal now, too, because of our mate bond?

I closed my eyes and set aside the thought. Today wasn’t the day to discuss that, and maybe neither was tomorrow. We’d just gotten through so much. I wasn’t ready for my world to turn upside down again quite yet.

Lucius pushed off of the balcony railing he’d been leaning on and returned inside his chambers. Within a few steps, he was next to the bed and climbing into it. He pulled me into his arms and I sighed, relieved to have his touch once more. I was wrapped up in his sheets, still naked from our intimacy the night before, while he’d at least put on some loose, black clothes before going outside.

“You look pensive,” he murmured against my ear. His voice there, and the slight stubble on his chin, tickled my ear. An excited chill ran down my spine.

“Just hopeful,” I said.

Lucius lifted a finger to smooth the wrinkle on my brow. “Pensive and hopeful are two different things. What’s wrong?”

Might as well ask rather than put it off. “I was thinking about our future.”

His brow raised. “In a good way, I hope. You appeared rather serious, and the coronation is rapidly approaching.”

I groaned mightily. “Don’t remind me. I love Nesta, but I’m growing tired of being dressed in fancy gowns. I prefer a paladin uniform.”

Lucius ducked his head and placed kisses along my neck. “Think of the dresses as another uniform. One you look rather more ravishing in.”

I melted at his touch, simply and quickly. “I guess I could grow to like them.”

Silence captured us, one I interrupted by kissing him thoroughly until I found him malleable enough to allow me to straddle him. Although with the way his hands quickly found and held my hips, maybe he wasn’t so opposed after all.

Looking down at him now, I didn’t need our shared potentiality power to see my future, or any variation thereof. There was simply Lucius and anything we set our minds to.

“I was wondering if you were immortal,” I said quietly, like it was some secret to be uncovered. “And therefore me too, now.”

Lucius chuckled. I felt the rumble of it up through my core. “Who told you that demon lords were immortal?”

“N-No one,” I said, backpedaling. Maybe it’d been a stupid question after all.

He reached up and held my face, laughing again. “It’s okay, Ayla. No, we’re not. Clearly, we’re not impervious to damage, either.”

“You were only hurt because of the light sickness,” I commented.

“An unfortunate weakness, yes,” Lucius replied, “but it’s only the easiest way to hurt demons.”

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