Page 24

When I landed on her front walkway, though, she was waiting for me. She had a deep frown on her face and she beckoned me closer before I could even fold my wings again.

“You need to go back.”

“What? Why?”

“They followed Dante here. They could’ve followed you there. Go back and protect him.”

Stunned, I looked around. “How–”

She made an irritated sound, waving me away with a shooing motion. “There’s no time for that. They won’t attack in daylight, not without catching attention from the council. Stay there until daybreak and then come back here. Go!”

With a frustrated growl, I teleported back to Declan’s place. Sure enough, one of my uncle’s soldiers was casing the place. He startled hard when I landed behind him.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Pulling himself together, he sneered at me. I didn’t know his name, but I didn’t really care to. Not all the soldiers who worked for my uncle were blood relations. No one cared if I remembered their names. “I could ask the same thing of you. Wait until Lord Camus hears about you hooking up with humans. He’ll have your head for sure this time.”

Lord Camus. What a fucking ridiculous title. He was lord of nothing. He just liked to make himself sound important to his peons.

The little soldier made a mistake coming here. I might not fight humans, but I had no issue fighting other demons. I didn’t want my uncle to know about what happened with me and Declan. And I had no problem making sure that secret never got out.

Pulling a packet out of my pocket, I tossed it at him. “Catch.”

He missed, and the packet bounced off his chest, powder exploding all over him. He looked stunned, shooting me an incredulous look. “What the fuck was that?”

“Teleportation blocker. Didn’t want you running off before I could deal with you. I wonder if my uncle will notice one missing pawn?”

The lower ranks underestimated me a lot because of the way my uncle treated me. They thought I was a pushover who couldn’t fight. This one wasn’t the first to find out how wrong that was.

By the time the sun crested over the horizon, I was exhausted. I stayed on the roof of Declan’s place, watching over him, until I was sure no one else wouldcome. The little shit I dealt with last night didn’t get a chance to report to anyone else, at least according to what he told me. No one else knew about Declan, aside from him being related to Dante getting information. And I was going to keep it that way, even if I had to sit up here every night.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that. Athena’s vision said if I submitted, that I’d finally be free. I did that. Protecting Declan afterwards was a kindness, because I didn’t want him hurt being involved with me. The sun was up, Athena said they wouldn’t come in broad daylight, and I could distance myself from him to keep him safe. Only Dante needed to stay close. I could drop him off with Ollie so he could continue to get information and stay the hell away from Declan.

I headed back to Athena’s place once the sun had fully risen. I was too tired to fly, so I teleported to her front door and pushed inside, joining her and Dante in the kitchen. Athena was making breakfast with Dante on hand to help her. I remembered a time when I did the same exact thing. She was the reason I knew how to feed myself.

“How did it go?”

“You were right. A street soldier was poking around when I got back. No one else came the rest of the night.”

Her wrinkled skin made her frown more pronounced, and she flicked her gaze to Dante and back to me.

“Dante, dear. I need to go to the farmer’s market this morning. You will join me. Do me a favor and go into the back garden. The crows should have left me some new bones. I’ll need them. They like to scatter them instead of leaving them in a convenient pile, so you’ll have to search a bit.” She rolled her eyes at me. “To get me to exercise, according to Vivi, the last time she visited.”

Dante looked suspicious. He was old enough now to know he was being sent away to stay out of the conversation. He didn’t argue, though. We both waited a few minutes, I heard the back door open and shut, and I opened my mouth to speak, but Athena put her boney finger up.

“You’re not clever, boy. Your cousin used to do the same thing when he was being nosy. Go outside until I say otherwise.”

I heard Dante huff from the hallway. He stomped off and this time, the back door slammed loudly as he did as he was told. Athena shook her head.

“Children. Always think they’re the smartest people in the room.” Her eyes turned to me. “You’re sure he was the only one?”

“As sure as I can be. It didn't take much to get him to talk. He was going to take Declan and bring him to Camus when he reported me, so my uncle could punish me by hurting Declan. He hadn’t reported it yet.”

She hummed, stirring the food in the pan. “You’ll have to be more careful in the future, then. I doubt he’ll be the last soldier sent to watch you.”

I frowned. “What are you talking about? I did what you said. I fulfilled the vision. I don’t need to see him again.”

She shot me an irritated look, turning off the burner on the stove. “No, you did not. If you did, you would be there with him and not here with me.”