I snorted. “There are pleasures to be had before you find your mate. Why wait?”
“I can’t be bothered with them, Mate-Intended.”
I laughed. “So you’re wise too.”
She smiled. “All who match my status were born here, and I find them rather… limited compared to others I have met.”
A grounded demon? I hadn’t known they existed.
I frowned at the others, who were raking large curves into the dirt. They appeared serene as they scratched soil.Limitedwasn’t the word I would use—perhapsdeluded. “What do they achieve by raking the ground?”
She exhaled. “I’m not so sure.”
I peered at the crimson. “Tell me your name again, demon. I’ll remember it this time.”
“Cyz.”
“Cyz.This wasn’t as boring or displeasing as expected.”
She dipped her head. “You are not at all what I had supposed, Mate-Intended.”
Supposed from what? The way I walked into ballrooms and banquets, and then walked out as soon as I was able? Or perhaps from the way I fought in the Crave Arena.
I left the garden.
Gratia and the others were in their raking fever dream, and I was officially done with speaking to royals while Adeuto was home alone. The other two weren’t worth my time. They’d barely had the courage to string two words together, and those few words had only outlined their bland desire to tell me what I wished instead of anything they really thought.
I picked up my pace once inside the fortress, and my heart hammered.
Grandfather would have left once Adeuto fell asleep last night. He’d been alone all night, and then several hours since waking.
I made it to my room, then leaned against the door. I couldn’t be hasty about this. I still had to take all of the precautions in getting there.
I swiftly opened a portal and stepped through. The waytomy son wasn’t the tricky part, aside from ensuring I wasn’t followed. But each return journey required me to wash and change.
I cast my magic out to check for visitors.Nothing.
I portaled to a second location, then repeated the action.Nothing.
Scanning with my physical senses, I waited a few minutes, then repeated my magical scan. I was alone.
Relief flooded me as I gave in to the urge to see my son. I ran out of my portal. “Adeuto?”
“Mama!” A face appeared in one of the tiny ventilation panels of the shack.
“It’s me,” I called.
The door was flung open as he raced out, and my heart twinged at the relief in his expression.
Carmine be damned, I was a mother first and I could survive his fury. But I couldn’t survive my son’s worry. I wasn’t leaving until my grandfather returned.
“You are so brave,” I whispered into his black hair. “Have you eaten?”
I’d forgotten to steal food from the kitchens.Damn it, Syera.
Adeuto nodded against my chest. “I ate it all.”
I chuckled and brushed his hair from his forehead. “It’s not even midday. We’d better go hunt for more.”
