“To torture you. You might not be able to die, my soon-to-be bride, but you can enjoy our nightmares.”
I wake up with a start, feeling someone shaking my shoulders, and instantly I whack out my hand, only to have it caught by Ryker.
“Narrowly missed my pretty face there, Dae,” Ryker jokes, his blue eyes looking down at me, tints of red on the edges showing how close he is to losing it. “Was the Seelie king in your dreams again?”
“Yes,” I breathe out as Ryker lets my hand go and straightens up. “Although this time, he didn’t try to kill me, so small bonus points.”
“I’m going to find Finn. Maybe he has some god way of protecting you when you sleep,” he states before staring at me. The fact he is my mate, and our conversation from last night, makes the silence almost awkward between us. He smiles and leans down, kissing my forehead softly. “Be safe on Earth. Seth is here, eating breakfast with Mossy.”
“What time is it?” I ask, looking at the clock on the wall. It’s only early, just gone seven in the morning, so Seth must be eager to get back to Earth. “Never mind. Thanks for waking me up.”
“I will always be near from now on to wake you up,” Ryker replies. “No more dealing with this on your own.”
“That’s not something I’m used to doing,” I reply as he walks to the door.
He turns slightly to look back at me, running a hand through his black locks of hair. “No time like the present to learn.”
I chuckle as he leaves my room and shuts the door behind him. Slipping out of my blue pyjamas, I change into black leggings, a dark blue tunic top and clip on a weapon belt, sliding the straps around my thighs to hold daggers. There are five daggers in my wardrobe waiting for me, and I clip three of them on before picking up the whip I was saving for a special occasion.
Seeing my old boss and removing his head is the perfect excuse to use it. I hook it onto my hip before brushing my hair and braiding it until the plait falls perfectly in a line down my back. Lastly, I pull my socks and boots on and head out. Seth, Mossy and Toth are sitting around talking, and they don’t see me as I sneak past to the bathroom, only to bump right into Poppy as she comes out.
“Hey, you okay?” she asks with a bright smile. I pause in the doorframe.
“I’m about to go and fight a soul-stealing higher demon with a big attitude problem. Aka, my old boss and the demon that raised me since I was eight,” I reply, making her eyes go wide. “But I’m actually looking forward to the challenge.”
“Can you kill him?” she asks. “I mean, without losing your soul?”
I bite on my lip. “I don’t know. I’m going to see Queen Evelina first, and she has a library full of records on demons. Maybe she has found a weakness I can use. If not, chopping off his head will work.”
“Sounds difficult,” she replies and steps closer. “You will be careful and not do anything reckless, right?”
“Define reckless?” I counter. She smiles and pulls me in for a hug. “I’ve never been a hugger.”
“Tough luck, as I am,” she tells me but does let me go. “See you later.”
“You will do,” I say before slipping into the bathroom. After I use the toilet, I brush my teeth and wash my face before going back to the living room. Sword pushes a massive cup of steaming coffee with a plate of fruit and waffles over to me before I’ve sat down, and bows, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
“Where did you get Sword from?” Seth asks as I slide into the seat. “Better yet, do you think he would come back to my house?”
“I doubt it,” I reply, breathing in the coffee fumes before taking a hot sip. Damn, I missed coffee. “He is loyal.”
“So…good morning, my Syn,” Seth says, looking over at me, putting his own cup of coffee down. “You look especially beautiful today.”
“You just like me in weapons,” I reply before sipping more coffee. “And tight clothes.”
Seth laughs, brushing his leg against mine, and I shiver. “I prefer you without anything on, if you want me to be honest.”
“You’ve never seen me with nothing on.”
“But I will, darling,” he replies, and I chuckle, shaking my head.
“It’s like I’m not even here,” Mossy dramatically protests. “Just an invisible monkey.”
“Considering you never stop talking, it would be hard to miss you in a room, Mossy,” Seth counters.
Mossy pouts and crosses his tiny little blue arms, standing up on his hind legs. “I could take you down, demon.”
Seth grins. “Want to bet?”
Before either of them says anything else, I grab a waffle and stand up. “Time to go and hunt some demons.”
“Evie is waiting on us. She wants to come with us on this,” Seth tells me. “Therefore we must meet her at your apartment.”
“Why there?” I ask.
“Why not?” Seth counters, and I shrug, trying to imagine the Protector and demon queen inside my tiny bedsit.
“Never mind, let’s go,” I reply, patting my shoulder. Mossy jumps on my shoulder, and Seth waves his hand, making a portal burn into existence in the middle of the room. “I’ve got to learn how to do portals.”
“You need a reaper to train you,” Seth suggests. “The prince would be a suitable tutor, being he is half fae and half reaper like yourself.”
“I will think about it,” I reply, walking to the portal. I pick Mossy off my shoulder, holding him tightly in my arms before jumping through the portal. For a few seconds, I feel burning hot, like I’m on fire, and then I crash into the street, landing on hard gravel.
The familiar smells of the street I’ve lived on for years come rushing back to me in a jolt, as does the noise of cars shooting past me on the main road nearby. Thankfully, my street is empty, like usual, and the tiny row of terraced houses is well hidden. It’s exactly why I chose this place and the fact the rent is cheap for the ground floor flat. Mossy is passed out in my arms as I slip one of my daggers out and head to the front door, feeling Seth right behind me.
“It’s good to have you back on Earth,” Seth tells me as I get to my front door. The door is slightly open, the locks all broken, and the magical witch spell I had on the building is now gone, leaving only traces of magic in the air.
“I will say the same if we manage to kill my boss,” I reply, pushing the door open to see Evie sitting on my couch, eating a packet of bacon crisps. Seth’s brother, Azi, stands behind her, his hands resting by her shoulders on the back of the couch. Evie and I are dressed for a fight in tight clothes and kitted with weapons, but the overlord demons look more fitted for a business meeting in their expensive suits.
“Is the monkey your familiar?” Evie asks me as I walk closer, seeing my flat has been trashed. Every bit of it is burnt or cut up, even the toaster lies in ruins by the sofa. The sofa itself is burnt in a few places but seems to have withstood the bulk of whatever storm crashed into this place. “And why is he passed out?”
“Fae magic and demon magic are a bad mix, and I don’t think reapers or fae have familiars,” I reply, gently putting Mossy down on the sofa near her. I notice my messenger bag is still hanging by the door, so I grab that before I slip my dagger back into my holder. Evie traces the movement before she eats more of her crisps, making the room stink of bacon.