Chapter 25

Chapter25

Sol

It takes three days to reach the bargainer demon territory. Normally, it would take five, but fear for Briar has me ignoring my body’s exhaustion as I hurry to reach her. I barely stopped to pack supplies before I went after her, wouldn’t have thought to do so if Aldis hadn’t waylaid me before I reached the front door.

If Azazel sent her back…

What will I do?

What can I possibly do?

No one stops me as I cross the territory line. I can hear the demons just out of sight, can sense their presence as they shadow my path to Azazel’s castle. He’s chosen to allow me to approach, and I can’t begin to say if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I’m not thinking clearly, and I know it.

It’s too late to worry about it now.

I charge up the steps to the castle. Again, no one stops me. This is becoming absurd. I throw open the door to find the grand entrance gone, replaced by a featureless hallway leading to a single door. “Subtle.”

The door opens into a study that isn’t dissimilar to mine. There are shelves of Azazel’s personal book collection, a large desk stacked high with enough paperwork to give me pause, and a demon waiting for me behind it.

“Shut the door.” Azazel’s eyes are a glowing crimson. “If you start roaring, I will kick you out of here so fast, you might not survive the portal out.”

It’s tempting to flip this desk the same way I flipped the one in the keep. My own office is destroyed, and no doubt once I’ve calmed down, I’ll feel a deep shame about that. It feels like I’ve been acting on instinct since meeting Briar, and it’s caused no end of missteps. “Is Briar okay?”

Azazel raises his brows and sits back. “That little hellcat nearly took my face off.”

I stop short. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“I did, but…” But at no point during my acquaintance with Briar would I call her a hellcat. Those beasts haunt Rusalka’s territory, and even I would hesitate to go up against one. Briar can be impulsive at times, and I refuse to think about what we get up to in bedroom games while in the presence of Azazel, but she’s nowhere near the ferocity of a hellcat. “You’ve made a mistake.”

“That’s what she keeps saying.” Azazel presses his claws to his temples. “Sit down.”

I don’t want to. I shouldn’t have energy after making the trip here in such a condensed timeline, but the fact remains that I’m fighting not to pace about the study. I reluctantly sink onto the backless chair sitting in front of the desk. “I understand I signed a particular contract with you, but I didn’t realize you were so interested in expanding the bargainer demon territory.”

Azazel stares at me for a long moment, expression unreadable. “You have something to say. Say it.”

“I had some time to think while traveling.” Without Briar to focus on, several things became rather clear. “Several years ago, you said you wanted peace between the territories. I didn’t believe you. None of us did.”

He doesn’t move. “I fail to see what influence your belief—or lack thereof—has to do with me or our current circumstances.”

I ignore that. “It made sense that you’d set up a spiderweb with four neat little traps that will put you in charge of the entire realm. I didn’t question it.” I lean forward. “But you don’t want my territory, do you? You don’t want any of ours.”

Azazel holds my gaze for a long moment. “You wouldn’t believe the gift without the strings attached. So I made them hefty ones.” He shrugs. “Even if I took all four territories, I wouldn’t hold them indefinitely. Your respective peoples are too powerful and too stubborn. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.”

I’d begun to suspect as much, but the confirmation leaves me a bit rudderless. “Then why take Briar?”

“That, I was not fucking around with.” Just like that, his relative ease is gone, replaced by menace. “I realize the rest of you think we keep the humans here as our playthings and see them as little more than toys to be used and discarded when the deals are up. That’s not how it works. A contract is sacred.”

Something akin to guilt flares. He’s right. I thought the worst of him and his people. Worse in some ways, I utilized their presence for my own pleasure while thinking that. “I owe you an apology.”

“I truly couldn’t care less what you think of me.” He leans forward, matching my posture. “But you harmed one of mine, and that I will not forgive.”

“Briar is not yours. She’s my wife.”

“Your wife by my leave.”

The door swings open behind me, and I leap out of my chair, fully expecting an attack. Except it’s not an assassin slipping through the door. It’s Briar. She’s more put together than the last time I saw her, her hair pulled back into a complicated twist and wearing a deep-gray dress that looks absolutely devastating on her.

She catches sight of me and stops short. “Sol?”

I have so much to say, it all gets tangled in my throat. The only thing that emerges is her name. “Briar.”

She starts to move toward me, but Azazel flings out a hand. “I swear to the Goddess, if you throw yourself into his arms right now, I will send you back to the human realm.”

I hiss, but the sound dies in my throat as Briar spins on him. She gives a truly impressive snarl. “You’re so high-handed, it’s no wonder Eve doesn’t want you!”

Azazel, leader of the bargainer demon territory, flinches.

Far from being deterred by landing an obvious hint, Briar strides to the desk and plants her hands on it, sending two mounds of paperwork cascading to the floor. I wince in sympathy before I remember I’m as furious at Azazel as she is.

“You’re out of line,” he rumbles.

“I’m not the only one.” She leans forward, showing not an ounce of fear. “Am I pregnant, Azazel?”

His expression goes flat. “That’s irrelevant.”

“It is not irrelevant, and you know it, or you wouldn’t be dodging the question. Am. I. Pregnant?”

He leans back and crosses his arms over his chest. Not a vast retreat, but a retreat nonetheless. “You know you’re not. I can smell your cycle from here.”

“Do not sniff her,” I hiss.

Briar ignores me. “Your entire argument was that Sol caused potential harm by removing my pendant even though your damned contract didn’t think so and neither did Sol nor I. Since said pendant is now back in place and I am most assuredly not pregnant, by your logic, no harm was done.”

He glares. “I liked it better when you were frothing at the mouth and trying to attack me.”

“I’m glad we’re in agreement.” She straightens. “With that in mind, how does the end of the contract work?”

Now Azazel’s watching her just as closely as I am. “Should I allow you back with the dragon—and that’s a rather large if—then at the end of seven years, I will collect you.” He hesitates, clearly not wanting to continue, but under Briar’s glare, he relents. “And then I would offer you a choice to return to your realm or stay in mine.”

I must make some sound of shock, because he glances at me. “It’s customary, even if we don’t advertise it. The majority of bargainers return to their realm to enjoy whatever it is that they gave seven years for. Only a small percentage stay.”

Briar takes a small step back from the desk. “Thank you for answering. Since we’re in agreement, I’m returning with Sol.”

Azazel shakes his head slowly, a small smile pulling at the edges of his lips. “You’re a terror.”

“Thank you,” she says primly. “In the future, should I need your assistance, I will call.”

He raises his brows and looks at me. “I take it I’m being dismissed.”

Unlike Briar’s new confidence, I’m not certain this will end the way I hope. I nod slowly. “I would like to take my wife home.” A weighted pause. “With your leave.”

For a moment, I think he might deny us simply to do it, but he finally waves at the door. “Take your hellcat and leave.”

I can hardly believe it. I thought for certain I’d be walking into an all-out fight to get Briar back…and not necessarily one I’d win. The cost was more than worth it. Now, Azazel is allowing me to walk out with Briar, an expression on his face that’s somehow both indulgent and exasperated.

For her part, Briar tucks herself against my side. She shoots Azazel a vaguely apologetic look. “I’m sorry for what I said about Eve. I’m sure you two will figure things out.”

I swear smoke actually comes out of his nostrils. “Leave.”

We leave.

Ramanu waits outside the door, that smirking smile firmly entrenched on their face. For once, I don’t want to rip their head right off their body. They motion to a door that wasn’t there when I arrived. “Might as well make the trip home an easier one.”

I don’t argue. The only thing I care about is getting Briar home and then talking through things. I don’t have more clarity about that even if the time apart gave me other angles to look at when it comes to Azazel.

The last thing I want to do is hurt Briar, but she’s also made it clear she won’t allow me to shoulder the full guilt for our misstep. I don’t know where that leaves us. I’m a bit afraid to ask, but we can’t move forward until we work through this.

I truly hope her fury at the demon means she wants to move forward with me.

We step through the door and into the familiar halls of the keep. Briar tilts her head back and inhales deeply. “I missed this. I thought I’d never be able to come back here.”

“Briar—”

She opens her eyes. “We need to talk.”