“It’s time,” I told Owu’s father. “How did she go?”
The other demons could be listening; we had to be careful.
His face firmed. “Not well, but I am determined in this. I see the reason.”
I nodded. “Your parents will not disturb her again. She and your son are under the king’s personal protection.”
The red’s eyes widened. “He did that?”
That was greatly simplifying matters. “In a nutshell.”
Two confused demons looked at me in silence.
“Let’s go,” I said. “To a decoy point first.”
The red paused, then nodded at my meaning. He opened a portal to their old home. Once the portal was closed, I scanned for company.
He opened another portal to a different house.
The yellow stepped through, and I joined him. The portal was closed after the red.
“Home sweet home,” said the yellow.
And it was. Relative to most demon homes. Paintings of him and his mate hung on the walls. The furnishings were quaint and simple.
The yellow touched a painting. “She loved to paint.”
He couldn’t portal, so this would be the last time he looked at the home he’d shared with her. The yellow wandered off through his home, and I followed the red down a hall.
Owu was inside the small lounge, playing a game with his mother. His face fell at my appearance, and his mother’s face hardened.
She shot to her feet. “You’re already here.”
“I am. It’s time to go.” I should win Tiers tomorrow, but there was so much else at play that I didn’t want to waste any of my time with Adeuto.
She pulled Owu up and against her side. “There must be another way.”
I shook my head. “There isn’t. Not unless you wish to die, and for your son to die too. Carmine cannot allow someone of your son’s power to live.”
“You healed him only to condemn him to solitude,” she shouted.
If only I could reassure her. But nothing would drag the truth of Adeuto’s existence from my lips. Owu would very shortly learn that he was about to have a friend.
Owu’s mother would exist in misery until they met again.
I looked at her. “One day, I will be able to tell you more. But he will live in happiness there, I assure you. The worst things you are imagining will never happen, but he will miss you—yes. That is unavoidable because you are his mother who he will never forget. The day you meet again because of your strength in this moment, will be a beautiful and overdue day. And it will happen. You will see your child again. But this is the only way.”
Her chin trembled, and she closed her eyes, dislodging tears.
“I believe her, Mama,” Owu whispered to his mother. “I feel who I am. I must hide for now.”
“Will he be king?” she blurted through her tears.
I shook my head.
“So he will need to hide all his life.”
The yellow joined us, but remained in the doorway.
