“Then walk beside us,” I say, inviting him with a wave. “No demon would be foolish enough to confront a soz’garoth and a trolvor at once.”
Piper glances up at me with a smile.
It warms my cold heart, but I don’t let it show.
Eth’tak scowls, but shrugs. “Fine. I do prefer the sky, though.”
“Noted,” I say, carrying on with our silent trek, Eth’tak falling into step on her other side. I hate to admit that it is a comfort to have him there, even if my magic is sufficient to keeping her safe. Another pair of claws never hurts.
The castle cannot be missed, and when we get within sight, Piper lets out a small gasp. I catch her hand for comfort, thumbing the delicate flesh of her palm. It is all I’m allowed, in our short acquaintance, and I’m going to cherish it.
The trolvor guards open the way to us, but as we enter, another is leaving. A volvath that I know only by necessity. He’s a creature that slinks around the Hooded One, and yet holds scant little standing within Ti’lith.
I do not acknowledge him, issuing a frown.
But Ulstrath doesn’t take the hint. “Well, hello there,” he says despite a low growl from Eth’tak, measuring up our ward. “What is this, now?”
He looks from Piper to us, and his red eyes narrow.
She shrinks against me while Eth’tak takes a step forward. No one in their right mind would cross this particular trolvor, unburdened by the station of his equals. “It does not concern you.”
“It could…” Ulstrath trails off, regarding our small entourage with some humor. “How I’d love to be cut in to whatever you’re doing for the King. It never hurts to have a little extra muscle around, especially with everyone clawing for these humans.”
His words send a chill up my spine.
Ulstrath only means to increase his reputation with the Hooded One, and I’m not interested in surrounding Piper with more demons than necessary.
Eth’tak, I trust. Ulstrath, not at all.
“Leave, before I send a cloud of stinging dust after you. Trust me,” I say, putting a hand to my chest. “You will not enjoy it.”
Even as Ulstrath scowls, I don a simmering sneer.
But his eyes never leave Piper. “You are lucky, soz’garoth,” he says dismissively, taking all of her in with his searching gaze. “She is a beautiful one.”
Eth’tak cuts in, but not before I notice Piper going red again. “Getlost, volvath.”
Ulstrath offers a wink in her direction before he does so, and the rest of our short journey is thick with silent tension. Did shelikethe attention? I hate to admit it, but her ears are red again.
And she’s- smiling.
I share a heated glance with Eth’tak, who expresses the same, guarded fury as I’m feeling. “Let’s get this over with,” I growl, pushing past the trolvor guards and into the throne room with Piper in tow. She is good at following closely, but when her gaze falls on the Hooded One, she goes unnaturally still.
“Tolmond,” comes the Hooded One’s resonating voice. “What is this you bring me?”
“The woman you asked for,” I say, noticing how her skin has gone too pale, and her limbs are starting to shake. Eth’tak drops his attention to her as I converse with our King. “Just as you requested.”
“That isnota wielder of chaos,” he snarls. “It is a leaf in the wind.”
Her breath is coming rapidly now, making Eth’tak glance up at me with some measure of panic, himself. He doesn’t dare speak, however, trying to rub the warmth back into her flesh.
“Perhaps, but-”
A scream interrupts me, high and thin as the air leaves her body, and she slumps to the floor in a heap of leather and limbs. Eth’tak is there to catch her, and I’m grateful for him in this moment.
“You were saying?” the Hooded One asks.
I firm my jaw. “I made no mistake with her. She is the one you are looking for. I saw her destructive powers with my own eyes and I sent Eth’tak after her.”