24. Vemar

Chapter 24

Vemar

L ater that night, I joined a bunch of others at the impromptu pig roast. Captive Lady sure could cook. Hadriel's raving hadn't done her justice—not even close.

Calia walked over to me, the roll of her hips indicating she believed herself the prize of the party. She sure was pretty.

"Hello, Kind Lady," I said, a name I'd given her when we met in the demon dungeons. "What can I do you for?" I popped a bite of pork into my mouth. I offered her a morsel from my plate.

She hesitated, probably running through the rules in her mind. If a wolf or other shifter offered food, accepting it meant you wanted to head to the sack—or to eternity—with them. When a dragon did it, we were just being polite. We didn't need to trade food for sex—we got laid just by being us.

She gave me the sort of smile that said she wouldn't be opposed to heading to the sack this evening, and reached for a bite. I wouldn't say no.

She tossed it into her mouth. "Everyone has been somewhat tight-lipped about what happened yesterday when the new... castle inhabitant shifted for the first time."

"Yup. King's orders?—"

"What..." Her brow furrowed and she stared at my plate. "What is this?"

She looked around at the crowd of people gathered. There were more people here than Aurelia had been expecting. She'd planned on doing just one pig, but it seemed my little buddy, Hadriel, had correctly surmised the word would get out. Aurelia had prepared more food accordingly.

"The Captive Lady did a little cooking for the friendlies." I put another bite into my mouth.

"Aurelia did this?" She reached for pork this time, watching me as she chewed. "This is delicious."

"Yes, it is rather good."

She took a root vegetable and looked it over for a moment before eating it. "Mmm." Her gaze turned intense. "The first was pork, but what is this?"

"That I do not know. Something edible that grows around here in great supply, apparently. I've never had it before."

"How'd she know about it?"

I shrugged. "Apparently she went through long periods of not having enough food and figured out a solution. She knows a lot about foraging and natural foods. I'm sure the locals know what it is, but the castle cook isn't the type to go traipsing through the woods looking for vegetables."

She grabbed another type of vegetable, surveying it first and then sliding it into her mouth. She sucked on her finger, and I started salivating.

As was usual for this female, she didn't voice what she was thinking, her gaze far away while her wheels clearly turned. She issued a soft grunt, coming to some sort of conclusion, before refocusing on me. I continued to eat, and she continued to help me clear my plate.

"I got wind of an emoting situation," she told me. "Yesterday, I mean. She emoted very strongly. So strongly that very loyal dragons turned on their king."

Who'd been talking, I wondered . . .?

"I didn't turn on anyone," I said.

She studied me. "I remember you from the demon parties. It took a lot of magical effort on their part to get you to... perform."

"That is because I don't like people pulling levers in my brain without my say-so."

"You killed a lot of their demon guards."

"Not as many as Micah, but I did all right."

She paused for a beat. "Aurelia doesn't affect you."

I wasn't supposed to talk about yesterday, that was true. None of us were. The king wanted to keep the Captive Lady's talents close to his vest. She was valuable to a kingdom because of her bloodline, her power, and now this new magic. Granny had been keeping a tight leash on a very interesting sort of shifter. It spoke to Captive Lady's talents and intelligence that Granny hadn't capitalized on her beyond making the drugs. Aurelia was turning out to be a treasure, and the king was a political animal. His mate might want to bring this lady to justice to appease her people, but he wasn't so considerate. If Aurelia wasn't careful, she'd become a pawn in the scheming of kingdoms.

So no, I wasn't supposed to talk about yesterday, but no one said anything about any other time I'd spent with her. I wouldn't sandbag her ability to have a better life.

"I wouldn't say she doesn't affect me," I said delicately. "I would say that I choose when and how she will affect me."

Calia's eyes gleamed. "How strong is she?"

"She is completely untrained and has no idea what she is doing, but when she really panics and she thinks survival is on the line, she'll rattle your brain with the need to do as she bids." I put my plate forward for Calia to grab another bite and listen in a little closer. I lowered my voice. "She needs training, Calia. Are fairies the only ones who emote?"

She chewed slowly, her gaze going far away again. Her tongue slid across her bottom lip, lifting any juice she might've missed.

"Because you are being honest and forthright, I will too."

I snickered. This woman was a spy for her court. We all knew it. She didn't hide it. Her friendship with the royals was based on the understanding that politics would forever be mixed in their affairs. They'd all found a way to work with that. If she was giving me information, it meant it helped her cause in some way.

She went on, "Some demon magic includes emoting. That's what we experienced in the dungeons."

"They only have the one form of it, right?" I asked. "Forcing sexual desire?"

She narrowed her eyes in thought. "I can't recall if there are others. I have to look. I've kind of... tried to block all that from my brain."

I didn't much believe her, but I went with it. That was a very dark time in all our pasts. "I know what you mean."

She nodded. "Vampires can hypnotize, but that's not the same thing. Goblins can deflect, in a way. They can make people want to turn around and leave a cave, for example. But to the best of my knowledge, it is just demons and fairies."

The beta was being really chill about the whole Hannon situation, the only wolf that probably had the control to do so, but he would never, not ever, no matter how much she pleaded, allow his mate to be subjected to sex demons. Never. And if he relented, I'd step in. And if I relented, the royals would step in. No fucking way. They were not welcome in this kingdom, thank the royals.

The only choice for training was the fairies, at least according to Calia.

"How rare is someone who emotes?" I asked, wondering if she'd tell me now, or if I'd have to make her tell me later by edging her for a couple hours and making her beg me to come.

That gleam was back in her eyes. "Not rare at all. We have many who emote. It's a trait that has appeared frequently."

I stared at her. She stared back and popped another bit of meat into her mouth. This little fairy wasn't giving anything away. Too bad I knew how her wheels turned. They might have a lot of people who emote, but judging by her interest, they didn't have anyone strong enough to turn a dragon against their king.

The fairy king would give his left nut for that ability. The dragon king scared the crap out of that ol' fairy. He'd shit himself for a way to keep Nyfain minding his manners.

I laughed. "Keep your secrets, little fairy. Let me sweeten the pot, though. Captive Lady made the queen's head spin earlier today. Your courts' fairies have magic to make potions and whatnot. The queen has an aptitude of her own, I've heard, helping her connect dots that normal plant workers can't. Aurelia, though?" I shook my head. "She is doing things with plants that no one has ever thought of. Ingenious things. It's not magic, either—it's brainpower. She's more than just someone who can emote. More than a powerful shifter and true mate. She's a genius, and given half the chance, she's going to change the shape of the market."

Calia slowly stopped chewing, studying my expression. "What's your angle?"

"Aurelia has had it rough, and she doesn't have a support system like we do. No one has been in the trenches with her. No one knows what her trials have been like. She's been on her own for most of her life. I want her to have the best chance possible at a bright future, and whether she goes or if she stays—whatever she does—I will be there, guarding her asshole."

It was a figure of speech, one I'd used for my little buddy. Well... for him, it was also literal. He'd been in some precarious situations. Hadriel was doing just fine now, though. He had his community, he had support, and he had powerful people to protect him. He didn't need me, and neither did the royals, not anymore. Everything had settled down. My position with them was redundant.

Aurelia had nobody that would drop everything and see where this journey led—besides the beta, of course. But the beta was a rule follower. He believed in his superiors. It was what made him damn great at his job.

I, however, didn't give two shits about authority. Aurelia needed someone at her side who was happy to blow shit up just to see what made it tick. I hadn't figured out all her bells and whistles just yet, but I was learning. In the brief time I'd known her, I was positive she was someone I wanted to stand beside, and I knew Hadriel would be happy I took the job. At the end of all this, whatever the outcome, Aurelia would know she was wanted, and she'd know she was in charge of her future. I couldn't wait to see her sparkle.

Calia studied me for a long moment, grabbing more food. I'd always thought she wasn't a big eater; apparently, she just didn't like the castle's cooking. She was certainly cleaning my plate in a hurry.

She opened her mouth to speak, but then her eyes widened. Ooohs and aaahs came from the gathered eaters looking all around. Little light bugs were drifting in slowly as the night settled over us. Not just a few, like I'd seen in the woods, but hundreds. They filtered through the trees and spread out over the grounds, drifting in the air like dust motes. They moved and swayed almost as one, lazy and tranquil, utterly magical.

I lowered my plate, entranced.

"This always happens around her," Dante was telling someone close by. "When we were traveling, a day or so after abducting her, these bugs were always around like this. They are her warning system. If danger comes, don't worry, these fuckers take off. Aurelia knew a damn bit sooner than the sentries that we were going to be attacked. No shit."

Calia turned, paused in her eating, to look Dante's direction. She stared thoughtfully for a moment, and then chewed in a hurry.

"Excuse me, I need to go." She hurried by me, brushing my shoulder before starting to jog back to the castle. The bugs swirled in her wake.

I'd never seen her frazzled. Something about a bunch of pretty bugs hanging around was apparently the proof she needed, and I knew it could only signify one thing:

Power.