Page 33 of January Blues
Mori, Gregoris, and Damon moved to Cody’s side, lending their support.
“I’m going to need more help to get this down.” Oak frowned, his dark hair falling over his forehead.
“Can’t you just work around it?” Damon said. “Like dig under it to break the runes?”
“There’s no way Basil would have left such a hole in his spell work. He’s meticulous in his spells and potions.”
Damon shrugged. “He left here not that long ago.”
“You can’t know that.” The witch argued.
“There’s a coffee over there that’s still warm from the pot. He had maybe thirty minutes’ warning, tops. He had proximity alarms, so got a head start.” Damon shrugged while the others looked at him with approval. He was smart for a human.
“Just try it his way, please,” I said in the silence. Damon smiled. I’d won him over, which was good. Damon loved my Cody and was kind to him. My mate needed more people like that in his life. Even with having his father wanting a relationship. I’d been too isolated for far too long. I was willing to be better for my mate.
“Ohhkay.” It was clear that Oak was doubting this plan would work, but he tried Damon’s plan. His eyes widening as the magic found purchase, the seal crumbling from under. “Holy shit! It worked.”
Damon took a little bow. “Happy to help.”
Within seconds, my arms were full of Cody and Hela. My cat, thankfully in her human-realm guise, clambered up onto my shoulder so she could head rub my horns, ears and purr into my hair.
Cody clung to me, his face against my chest as he sobbed. “I thought I’d never find you!” he spoke between hiccups. “I can’t do this again—“ he leaned back and wiped his eyes. “We need to go to the demon court and break this contract!”
I made to stand, but Gregoris stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “The boy found you with your bond. I believe there’s another way for him to free you.”
“There is?” Mori asked. He’d been watching from a distance, as if unsure how best to help his son. “Can we do it now? I don’t want either of them to go through this again.” I could feel his compassion. There was no pity there. He understood what I’d gone through, what I’d withstood.
“Now that their bond has been tested, Cody will be able to find Toth’s new name deep inside their shared magic.”
“A new name? Like in that movie?” Cody asked, an eyebrow raised.
Damon scoffed. “A new name for the princess to save the world.”
The pair shared a laugh. Cody sobered first. “So it’s as easy as finding his new name?”
“Yes. The contract under his old name will be void, as the mate name will become Toth’s new name.” Gregoris explained. “Everyone should back away. Even you, your Highness. This is a private matter between mates. Only they should know their mating names.”
We waited as everyone left the warehouse. Oak erected a bubble silence ward around us that even shifter hearing couldn’t get around. Then I focused on my mate.
I kissed him softly. “It doesn’t matter if this doesn’t work. We will go to the demon court and they will break it, okay? Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
His eyes filled once more. “I love you, Toth. You always put my feelings first. I never thought someone would care for me like you do.”
“I love you, too. I think I have since the moment we met. It’s my job to put you first. I always will.”
Cody took a deep, shuddering breath. “Let’s try this.” He closed his eyes, centered himself, letting the joint magic flow. We lit up. His arms clutched me tighter, but I was going nowhere. He was my home.
It didn’t take long for me to see something happening. Cody began muttering in the deep demon language. The sounds were guttural. I heard my new name, parts of it familiar, but it vanished like smoke when I tried to hold on to it. It wasn’t for me to know. All I knew was that Quill and Toth were in there, but it didn’t sound like the old me. A new me was reborn as he finished uttering my new name.
Quezalintoth was gone. I was free.
His eyes opened. A beautiful deep black that shone with love. “I feel it. It worked,” he said in an awed voice. “It does mean that your only contract is to me now,” he teased with a huge smile.
“What are your terms?” I smirked in reply.
“Just love me forever. Let’s make each other happy for as long as we both live.”
“Deal.”
