Page 29 of The Magic of Eternity
“Thank the stars,” I breathed. Saige was only just getting to know her father and his death would have destroyed her. “So for now, we know Saige and Sloane are together. Somewhere. The babies are doing fine. Bram and Khol are alive, somewhere in this castle. That leaves Faris. Where is he?”
Fischer shifted, and I knew he was anxious to hear, but hell, if this was about to be news of his death... I don’t think there’d be any coming back from that. Fish was already teetering too closely to the edge of oblivion.
“He is in the pit.”
“What pit? What do you mean?” Fischer asked, his voice deadly and calm.
Balor ran a hand down his face. “The fighting pit. After he was healed, he was taken there. He has been... unreachable.”
A fighting pit? “He’s been there this entire time?” I balked, my mind already drawing conclusions just based on the name.
“Mostly. I heard that when he came to after his injuries and realized the queen wasn’t with him, he lost it. Took down ten guards with his hands and teeth before being subdued. He doesn’t speak. All he does is... kill.”
“Fuck,” Kai cursed, pushing himself up so suddenly his chair fell back and clattered to the floor. My stomach twisted as I thought of Faris, alone. The guy was scary as hell, but he also had this innocence to him; it enraged me that he was alone, probably without any idea of what had happened to any of us. He’d been taken out of the fight quickly that day so if he remembered anything, it was likely just us arriving in Besmet.
“I have my powers now. There are things I can do,” Fischer said slowly, as though he was thinking as he spoke. “I can get information from those loyal to Asrael. The most pressing matter is this execution. What I need to do is attempt to reach Saige and Sloane telepathically. If we can share information with them, it will help us all. What we really need, Balor, is more bodies. More demons loyal to Bram. Also, if we can get to Faris, we can give him this injection and restore his magic. With his power, we’d be able to sway the majority of the people here to simply... walk away.”
All of us focused on Balor who was nodding in agreement with Fischer’s plan. “The issue is that the pit is heavily guarded. And not only that, there was word that there may be three deaths at dawn.”
“Faris?” Fischer demanded, and when Balor nodded, we all leaned away as Fischer’s eyes turned completely black. “Asrael will regret the day he was fucking born,” he spat before spinning and storming to the bed.
“We’ll make him pay. They’ll all pay, brother,” Kai vowed, the rumble in his chest fortifying his promise.
Fish sat on the mattress, staring at us with those endless black depths. “I’m going to contact Saige and Sloane now. I think while I’m doing that, it would be wise to come up with a game plan for how the fuck we’re going to save three people from execution mere hours from now.”
“We got this. Do what you need to. You’re safe here,” I assured him, knowing he was going to go into some kind of trance-like state where he’d be vulnerable. He nodded and lay back on the pillows, going completely still.
Sighing, I tugged at my beard. Balor cleared his throat, and I gave him a questioning look. “A couple of loyalists left hours ago to see if we could convince a wild group of demons to join us here, to fight for the true king. They don’t have any love for the monarchy, but if nothing else, I know they’d consider coming just for the possibility of fucking over Asrael.”
“And they’re skilled in combat?” Kai asked. “Because I don’t think we’re getting out of this without a fight.”
For the first time since I’d met Balor, I saw a glimpse of his demon lurking beneath. Excitement flashed in his eyes, and a grin that started out innocent quickly turned sinister. Balor laughed.
“Oh, they can fight. Don’t worry about that.”
Sloane’s hand was firm in mine as we followed Vaeryn. My gaze lifted as I took in our surroundings. I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was here. Huge looming mountains broke out of the ground, climbing higher and higher until their peaks disappeared into the clouds. The mountains formed a circle surrounding the pink lake that we had surfaced in. The sand beneath my feet was warm, but not warm enough to burn, and was the color of green seaglass.
I had no idea where we were, but I knew that we were no longer in the demon realm. And I knew that somehow this place was sacred.
“Welcome, again, to our home,” Vaeryn said. “We’ve waited for you for many years. And now here you are. Come. There are many dragons here who wish to meet you.”
The smile on Sloane’s face was blinding. It seemed as though, I don’t know, he was finally home. This was where he belonged. These were his people. Maybe this was where he should have grown up, instead of with his monster of a father.
“I didn’t know that you could shift,” I said to the dragon. He chuckled over his shoulder and gave a shrug. Like it really wasn’t that big of a deal.
It was a big deal though.
“We haven’t been able to shift in a long time. Only recently has this changed. And this is our home. It’s well protected and hidden from those who would seek to capture us or to use us for nefarious purposes. We are free creatures. Not tools made to be used for other creatures’ gain.” He was agitated, judging by the way he barked his last sentence.
And I understood—because had I not also been used?
Sloane sighed. “This place is amazing, Vaeryn. Thank you for the warm welcome. We are desperate to discuss what’s happening at the castle with you.” He paused. “However, I would feel a lot better if we could make sure that our queen could get some more water, and perhaps a warm meal. If you have something?”
Vaeryn looked sheepish, but I waved him off. He was excited to have us here and they’d already given me water. Sloane was being… attentive. I fucking loved it.
“Yes, yes, of course. We must make sure that the little princesses are well taken care of. Let me show you to my home and we can eat and discuss matters.”
I nodded along, because what was I going to say? No? As we followed Vaeryn, it didn’t escape my notice that nearly every dragon was staring at me. If I met one of their gazes, their eyes would immediately shift to the ground. And I didn’t like that—I wasn’t some ruler, some kind of dictator like Asrael. Hell. I still hadn’t even accepted myself as being a queen.
