“They were submitted for review just this morning, Sire,” Leo, an older fae, answered.
I nodded, watching him stand and move to the large projection screen at the end of the room.
“As you can see, they’ve mapped out the new palace to sit in the east, and compound eighty-seven will be placed near the border." He pointed out each structure with a red laser pen, showing exactly where they’d be located. “The town will also undergo renovation.”
“This will work perfectly for what we need,” I said after studying the screen a few seconds longer.
A visible show of relief went around the room. After years of planning, re-planning, and a few lost lives, they could finally move past this and begin organizing production.
Once a few more topics were covered, the meeting concluded, and everyone was given a list of tasks to complete.
I left the room along with both of my brothers.
“So, how is our queen?” Cassimere inquired good-naturedly as he fell in step beside me.
“She’s as lost and confused as I expected. There are hints of recollection, though I can’t be sure they’re of me.”
Cass slowed. His concern for me was evident in the unbreakable link we shared as triplets.
Hades felt the same, but his face remained a blank slate.
“And are you all right with this?”
“I’ve bound myself to her, regardless,” I replied. It was answer enough. The pairing of our souls was just as permanent as the one we shared as brothers.
Regardless of who Duvessa had become in our time apart, she would always be the most precious thing in the world to me. One day, she might recall who I was. If not, there was plenty of time for her to learn.
“There are a few things we need to get in order before she can freely roam about. How are the other two faring?”
“Scarlett could use an attitude adjustment,” Cassimere answered with a casual shrug.
Hades chuckled at that.
I shook my head and grinned. I’d told him to keep a close eye on the succubus. It took four days before the sound of them fucking echoed throughout his side of the citadel.
What he chose to do with her wasn’t my concern. He’d laid claim to the headstrong demi two days after Duvessa woke. It took another two for her to wake from the necessary transfusion, receive Ice, and transition.
“And Jacinda?” I asked Hades.
“She pays me little attention,” he replied, suddenly somber.
I hid a smile at his perplexity. The young shifter paid him as much attention as someone did a house fly.
She wasn’t afraid of him and had a feasible excuse as to why she never responded when he spoke.
As it was, after a bit more digging, she was now a vital part of our future endeavors.
With her stuck in Purgatory, it was only a matter of time before her father got word and made a move to retrieve her.
Duvessa should truly be thanking me. She had no idea what was lurking on the horizon.
~8~
Time seemed to blur in the confines of the room.
I ate three times a day; the meals were all five-star quality with nothing spared. If I wasn’t showering or soaking in the Jacuzzi, I was sleeping.
At first, I tried to use the noticeable changes in my body to gauge how long I’d been here. That lasted for maybe a week.
I was gaining weight, slowly returning to my previous state. However, I knew I would never fully be the same as before.
My eyes were brighter, the demon part of me that had those slumbering senses was more awake every day, and the bond continually grew. The mark on my side was darker than before, that collar around my neck a little tighter.
I did all I could to keep myself preoccupied when I was awake. Reyes had brought in a television that now hung on the wall, but the movies had quickly gotten old, and it had none of the channels I needed to see.
I had no idea what was going on outside of this room. Reyes was an excellent evader, although he made sure to tell me that Jacinda and Scarlett were doing fine. Whether we had different definitions of that word or not was still debatable.
It didn’t help any that he and small glimpses of Dylan were the only ones I had to converse with.
By the time Reyes would enter the room after leaving me alone for hours, I was near desperate for company. He was well aware of this; I think he even liked it.
Some days he would go off and do whatever he did to keep control of the madness he ruled over, and then he would come back and bury himself inside me for hours. His mood played a major role in how our exchanges would go. If he was angry, my body became the outlet for him to relieve whatever was bothering him. At those times, he would always take me hard and fast.