Page 136 of Wicked Magik

I cleared my throat. “He will only listen to her now. Oryx has grown an attachment and thismonstercan speak. In fact, we prefer if everyone will stop calling him that entirely and call him by his name.”

The crowd continued to talk amongst themselves until another person yelled from the back.

“Are we going to get reimbursed from our livestock then?”

Vesper scoffed loudly and crossed her arms. “You are going to charge the once Lord of the Shadow Court, the male that brought you your freedom from all courts so you may govern yourselves for cattle?” Vesper stepped toward the crowd, pulling on Oryx’s leash.

Oryx snarled, snapping his jaw. “You are going to be so ungrateful as to make his Lordship pay you tiny flecks of gold for your freedom while others sacrificed themselves by his hand and he must suffer the guilt?”

While there was pain in me from the words he said, he understood how I felt. I don’t know if I appreciated that he knew or if I wanted to fully explain to the both of them what had happened.

The goblin stepped forward. “We are not unappreciative. We are sorry.” He bowed his head. “We fear the…Oryx. We have only seen him while he is in a frenzy.”

Vesper hummed and pulled on Oryx’s chain. She bent down to lean closer to the goblin who only stood up to her waist. “He only drinks human blood now and… desire.” She smirked. “I don’t think anyone here will have any problems.”

The goblin and the rest of the crowd gasped in shock.

And now I’m hard.

Vesper rubbed underneath Oryx’s jaw and his tail whipped back and forth. “He will be leashed when he is in town. He will listen to me and if you wish to speak to him, you speak to me first. Ask permission. There will be no touching him or we will consider it a threat.”

Oryx growled fiercely, "Anyone who lays a hand on Vesper will be destroyed."

I sighed and shook my head. So much for subtleties.

The play was a disaster. No one could concentrate due to the stares from the actors and the constant look of the crowd’s eyes directed toward us.

Perhaps I should find a spell that would glamour us all but that would take time since I have never done such a thing.

As I guided Vesper and Oryx toward a food stall, I ran my hand down my face and handed over coins so Vesper could eat. Watching her practically drool over the food, I knew that if my future bonded mate was hungry, I had to make sure she was fed.

Vesper moved through the market with newfound ease, her shoulders relaxed as vendors nodded in greeting. Whether their kindness stemmed from genuine acceptance or the looming shadow of Oryx at her heels, I couldn't say. But watching her smile, I realized it hardly mattered—she belonged with us now, and we were all she required.

If she wanted a friend, I would fucking make her one.

I muttered to Oryx to guard her, then slipped away through winding alleyways toward my destination. The cramped bookshop had been my sanctuary whenever I sought forbidden knowledge—whether crafting ancient magik or pursuing lichdom…its shelves tended by a fae older than any I'd encountered in all my centuries.

He wielded no magik, no special skill other than collecting ancient books, known folk lore, histories that have been passed down by word of mouth.

That is what I wanted the most, this mating lore I had never heard of.

He could laugh in my face and say nothing of the sort existed and it was only for the humble to know. A fake religion to bide their time before death, something to believe in.

But I had to know.

Was there something that pulled Oryx, Vesper and I all together?

And if there was, how do I seal it?

At last I found myself in a dim alley marked only by a single guttering torch. A bell tinkled overhead as I pushed open the door, releasing a cloud of ancient paper dust that filled my lungs while aged floorboards announced my arrival with every step.

“I could hear you coming a mile away,” the voice said gleefully as he came up the aisle, holding a book by his side.

I rolled my eyes. “If that was so, why are you not here at the register ready to hand me what I needed?”

Amaris sighed and rested against the desk. His once dark hair was now streaked with gray, a testament to his advanced age for a fae. Apart from his hair, he showed no other signs of aging, which was typical for our kind.

"I'm not certain what you're looking for. You know I don't possess any mind powers," he said with a sly grin, placing a book of apocrypha on the desk. "Is this what you need?"