Iblis, the thought made his mouth salivate as he walked. Maybe he should go back and…
No, fuck. He really shouldn’t go back. There’d be time for all that later—hopefully. He really needed to go talk to Cole—the sooner the better.
Pushing out the dirty thoughts, he entered the stables to find Myka brushing down a large chestnut horse with a black mane. The chamber was spacious, containing a decent-sized training pen and a row of individual stalls for the other five horses they kept here. A specialized aqueduct ran along the perimeter to carry away the horse waste that Myka swept into it, and another ran through their stalls to provide them with fresh water. Ty knew that if he peeked inside the stalls, he would see that each one was also filled with straw that had seen significantly better days.
Ty didn’t blame Myka for that, though. He knew the daemon loved the horses he cared for like they were his own children, but getting a regular supply of straw and horse feed had always been difficult in the Underworld.
“Myka,” Ty greeted, giving the quiet, middle-aged man a broad smile as he approached.
“Ty!” Myka responded gleefully, turning to look at him. “I’d heard you were back.”
“News travels fast,” Ty said as he reached out to shake the man’s dirty hand.
“It always does around here,” Myka said, his gray-blue eyes shining as he smiled. “It’s good to have you back. Did you have a successful mission?”
“Yes,” Ty said, slipping into the lie as easy as breathing. “Iblis will be pleased.”
He felt a twinge of shame for lying to Myka about everything he had planned with the amulet. He was one of the daemons who Ty knew, in all likelihood, would be supportive. The man struggled to care for the horses underground year-round, and being welcomed back into the villages above would appeal to him greatly. But he couldn’t risk word spreading to Cole, so for now, his plans had to remain secret.
“Ahh, I don’t know why I even asked!” Myka said jovially, waving Ty off. “You always do well. Your father would be so proud.”
The mention of his dad left a sinking feeling in Ty’s stomach. It wasn’t every day that someone mentioned him, and the feeling almost took him by surprise.
“Thank you,” he said quickly, trying to brush it off. “How goes everything with the horses?”
“Well enough,” Myka said, though his smile fell a bit. “I do wish we had more hay. You know how tough it gets for the horses to forage aboveground this time of year.”
“I hear that,” Ty said. “I’ll talk to Cole about sending a group out on a mission soon to bring some back, and see what we can do.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Myka replied gratefully. The man was well-suited to caring for horses, due to his Power oflenio,which allowed him to soothe both people and animals, but it was not highly valued by Cole for missions in service of Iblis, hence Myka’s status as a mid-level daemon. He knew that left Myka in a tough position when it came to advocating for himself and the horses under his care, so Ty often tried to step in when he could.
“Unfortunately, I’ve got three new arrivals for you,” Ty explained, feeling a bit bad for dumping the new horses on him so suddenly. “They’re waiting at the entrance. I hope it won’t be too much trouble.”
“No trouble, no trouble,” Myka said, putting down the horse brush and closing the stall he was in. “I’ll go fetch them right away. Spooked, were they?”
“Yes, exactly,” Ty said. “Two of them we acquired while out on the mission.”
“Ah, I see, poor dears. Won’t be a problem,” Myka said, walking back towards the main passageway with Ty. “Glad tohave you home!” he added as he turned right to head towards the main stairwell that led up to the entrance.
Ty smiled at him warmly before heading the opposite direction, preparing himself to speak with his uncle. It was always a process to do so, but it was necessary to arrive calm and focused so the man couldn’t take advantage of any unchecked emotions.
Ty cleared his mind as much as possible of all thoughts of Ena. It wasn’t exactly easy, because pretty much every thirty fucking seconds he was imagining what she was doing by herself in the bath, but he knew it was critical if he was going to convince Cole with his story—especially if his uncle Zak was there too. He’d have to stick as closely to the truth as humanly possible and let nothing show.
Making his way upward, he once again entered the Great Antre.
Ty’s footsteps echoed around the vast cavern as he approached where Cole sat on his throne at the head of his table. The king was alone now, praise Iblis, and reading the divination rune stones scattered in front of him across the tabletop. He didn’t look up at Ty’s approach.
“Uncle,” Ty announced, stopping at the far end of the table. “I wonder if now is a good time to debrief you on the mission.”
Cole looked up reluctantly, his eyes assessing. Ty hated that he insisted on having meetings in the Great Antre and not in his private chambers, the way his dad used to. But Cole loved the spectacle of it all. The Great Antre was the most central chamber in all the Underworld, connecting all the other levels and passageways in some way. Cole’s presence in the center of it all sent a message and kept everyone on their toes.
“Nephew,” he began, a predatory smile on his face. “I’m glad you could finally spare the time to speak with me. I’m sure youhave many things demanding your attention now that you’ve returned. Not to mention all the new…distractions.”
“I came as soon as I was able,” Ty said, squashing his anger at the outright ridiculous insinuation that he’d taken too long to return. It had barely been an hour since they’d last spoke. But this was what Cole did, especially to him, knowing he was prone to rage.
Like Steig said, Cole didn’t just spread disease with his hands, he loved to throw people’s mental state off with his words too—finding those subtle weak spots in someone’s mind that he could make fester.
Cole gave him a knowing smile. “So tell me…how were you able to serve Iblis on this mission?”
