“Seriously? I swear I could write an entire series of journals about you. That sounds even worse than dying to me. I’m not certain I’ve done you a favor by making you love me if I’m only going to die on you in a few years.”
“Why would you die?”
“Because I’m human. Or fae.” Clayton’s face did a cute little squint as he tried to articulate a concept he hadn’t fully grasped yet. “Fine, some of both. But even if I get lucky and figure outhow to stop aging like a human, I’m pretty sure fae still have finite lifespans. Eventually, I will age and die. There’s no getting around it.”
“Oh, is that all? Don’t worry about that.” Mal tried to make light of the conversation, but inside, he was internally combusting. How dare the universe give Clayton to him and then think it could take him away?
Clayton made an affronted gasp that church ladies would be proud of. “Well, excuse me for assuming you’ll be sad after I’m dead. Maybe I should just go die right now and save us all some trouble.” Clayton tried to storm off, but Mal stopped him by grabbing the back of his shirt and yanking him until he was in Mal’s arms.
“I meant that you don’t need to worry about dying, Red. I always get what I want. I want you with me forever, so you will be. End of story.” If it hadn’t been true before, it definitely was now. Mal had taken in enough energy to be a god. He would make it happen no matter what.
“I’m not sure reality works that way, Mal.”
“It does for me.”
“If you say so.”
Naerith jogged up to them, interrupting the gloomy conversation. “Mal, can I borrow you for a minute? My wife is currently indisposed, and she usually does the heavy lifting, magically speaking. She likes to play her abilities down, but if we need something done, she can find a way to do it, given enough time. I don’t want to disturb her right now, though.”
Delighted for the subject change, Mal jumped on the request. “What do you need?”
“We need to contact the royal army. They’ll want to round up the survivors and question them to make sure we’ve found everyone and see if there are any children left that haven’t…” Naerith’s eyes hardened, and he put an arm around Clayton’sshoulders and pulled him close. “We need to learn about the fate of the rest of the children,” he finished flatly.
“I can do that,” Mal said. “I call dibs on any demons you find.”
Clayton groaned. “Haven't you had enough demons? Your head is going to brush the ceiling of the boat as it is.”
“Get a bigger boat, then,” Mal teased.
“Get a less fat head.” Clayton went on tiptoe, reached up, and rubbed Mal’s head to mess up his hair.
“So, about the royal guard,” Naerith reminded them.
“Right.” Mal didn’t want to take time away from Clayton, but if Mal wanted more demons in the near future, he would need to do his part. He could, however, have both if he got creative.
He held out a hand and frowned at it, focusing his will and thinking,Give Naerith what he wants so he’ll leave me and Clayton alone for a while.
The air above his hand glowed as his will was made manifest, and after a minute, a glistening crystal the size of a golf ball appeared.
“Here,” Mal said and chucked it at Naerith.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” Naerith said, catching the crystal easily and examining it.
Mal shrugged. “Figure it out.” He couldn’t do everything for the man. Mal had important things to do.
Naerith poked the crystal. “Am I supposed to eat it?”
“Please don’t eat random things that monsters give you, Dad,” Clayton said with an eyeroll.
“You should definitely eat it. I want to see what happens.” Mal would stick around for a few minutes more if Naerith was going to do something interesting.
“Mal, don’t experiment on my father, please. I’d like to get to know him before he dies tragically.”
“He won’t die. I would never do that to you," Mal grumbled. He stroked his chin, tilted his head, and added, “There is a small possibility that he could become a part of me, though.”
Naerith paused, hand almost to his mouth with the crystal present and ready to be consumed. He snapped his mouth shut and held the crystal gingerly between two fingers as far from his body as he could get. “No. Just …no.”
Clayton shuddered as he fought away the mental image of his father merging with his lover. “Take it to Mum and let her figure it out. She’s not playing with Kendric anymore, so I think she’ll come out of it soon. Just be patient.”
