Page 53 of Demon's Bane

Rhett and I both turn to see an older demon pushing her way through the crowd. She shares an unmistakable resemblance to Halla and Rhett, with the same bold features and with long black hair threaded through with silver.

“Hi, ma,” Rhett says softly, stepping forward to enfold her in a brief embrace.

She returns it, then steps back and looks me up and down. “And who is this?”

“This is Joan. Joan, this is—”

“Alva,” she finishes for him, and studies me for a moment more before looking back to her son with a wide smile. “You’ve found yourself a fine mate, Rhett.”

Rhett’s expression goes slack in surprise, and a murmur ripples through the crowd around us.

“How did you—” Rhett begins, but Alva cuts him off with a wave of her hand.

“Never mind that. There will be time to talk later. What news do you bring from the human realm?”

She walks into the center of the pavilion, gesturing for Rhett and I to follow, and Tyvar backs off. The rest of the demons also make way as we pass. Apparently Rhett’s mom has some serious sway here, at least enough to silently declare I’m not some kind of threat who needs to be tossed right back through the Veil.

Now that our secret’s out, Rhett doesn’t feel the need to keep any distance between us. Wing at my back, tail curling lightly around my waist, he keeps me close to his side as we step up to the table covered in maps and papers.

On one hand, I still don’t mind the demon escort, and I certainly don’t mind having him as my figurative and literal shoulder to lean on.

On the other… should I mind?

I’m in the demon realm, in Rhett’s village, and his mom’s just called us out as mates in front of everyone. I don’t know all the consequences of that, but it feels… important. Significant. Like something that’s probably a big fucking deal in his culture and his community.

With how uncertain everything still feels between us, maybe I shouldn’t be leaning into him so hard, but when I try to shift away, Rhett keeps me right where I am. His arm joins his tail and his wing, settling over my shoulders.

“Have you been informed about the latest round of thefts?” Alva asks, gesturing to an area of the large map in the center of the table. It looks to be a layout of their mining tunnels beneath the mountain, with bright red notations placed in several spots.

Rhett shakes his head. “No specifics.”

Alva and a couple of the other demons fill us in. The latest theft occurred when a guard on duty was knocked out with some kind of noxious gas set off near his post. The guard was alright, but when he came to and went looking, he discovered a significant number of very large, very valuable crystals were missing.

“All crystals that were intended for trade with the coven,” Tyvar says, again not bothering to hide the distaste in his voice as he glances my way.

“We have reason to believe it may be someone other than a Crescent witch who's responsible,” Rhett says, drawing the attention of everyone gathered around the table.

“Who?” Tyvar asks, clearly not buying it.

“His name is David,” I say, and it’s my turn to be the focus of a dozen demon stares.

I repeat what Seren told me, and what I know about David. I don’t include the detail about him being my ex, and feel a slight flush climbing my cheeks, knowing Rhett will be all too aware of that lie of omission.

He doesn’t out me, though. He just curls his tail more snugly around my waist, squeezing in a silent gesture of support.

“David is skilled in potion-craft,” I explain. “Not just things like tonics and elixirs, but poisons and explosives, too.”

I can’t keep the note of disgust out of my voice. He’d always claimed his research was theoretical, that he’d only brewed sample amounts of the toxic shit he liked to come up with. I believed him at the time, but now…

Tyvar grunts his disapproval. “This is what witches—”

“Wielder,” I correct, prickly enough to want to have the record straight. “David is a wielder, not a witch.”

He scoffs, but doesn’t argue the point. “This is what wielders waste their talents on? Gifted with the ability to manipulate magick, and this is what they find most useful?”

I bite my tongue instead of responding.

I could point out that witchesandwielders have plenty of uses for magick that don’t involve harming others, but with the audience I’m facing, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t change their minds in the slightest.