“Your eyes flashed blue again.” Caution rang through her voice as she tensed.
“It’s none of your concern.” Chaos mingled at the surface.
“Asshole,” Nyx muttered under her breath.
He took a moment to collect himself before gathering the next sequence of questions he would need to ask. “I asked you to tell me about this world. I have more questions.”
“Shoot.”
“Portals.”
“Is there a question in there?”
“I need every detail. I told you to assume I know absolutely nothing about your world.”
“Alright.” Nyx sighed deeply as she pushed away from the counter and sat in one of the unmatching chairs at the lone table. “Sit.”
Brooks pulled out the one across from her, sat, and leaned forward to place his clasped hands on the table.
“Before we get started, can you at least manifest some food? Or a drink? Ambrosia or alcohol preferably.”
He didn’t have time for her games, and doubted there was enough chaos in his well for her demand. He wanted information quickly so he could regain the power taken from him. But, if he’d learned anything, it was that Nyx was obstinate. It suited his needs to give a little before he took a lot.
The presence of chaos is heavy here, and it trickles into us. We can manage.
He pulled a few strands of swirling darkness and willed it to become two glasses of the amber liquid he’d seen all over Club Hel and a loaf of warm bread with fresh cheese and dried meat. The same thing she’d fed him, but in better condition. He didn’t need to be a part of their society to know that what she’d given him was past due expiration by a long shot.
Her eyes widened and he could practically see the saliva pooling in her mouth, but she hesitated. Did she think it was a test?
Brooks tore a small piece of bread from the loaf and popped it in his mouth. The sugar fueled yeast hit his tongue and he had to stop the appreciation manifesting as a groan.
“It’s not poison.”
Nyx closed her mouth and swallowed, her mask of indifference slipping back into place. “I didn’t think it was. I’m just not impressed by your fanfare.” She took the glass of ambrosia and sat back in her chair, sipping it slowly as she watched him contemplatively.
“Portals,” he reminded her.
Nyx took another drink before placing the glass back on the table and kicking her feet up on the surface. “Portals are places where Olympians have pooled some of their chaos to create rips in space for quick travel. Unlike you, we can’t turn into shadows to go wherever we please.”
“I don’t have to turn to shadows. I can just go.” He didn’t need to tell her that shadows were his only option for now.
“Semantics. Anyway, portals aren’t open to daemon of lesser magic. Only those with pure lines of chaos can make or identify them. They’re everywhere, but most can’t use them. Think of them like a golden chariot for the rich. The rest of us have to find our own way.”
“What indicates that there is a portal nearby?”
Her eyes narrowed as she quirked a brow, her mouth falling open in the smallest form of a gape. “Did you not just hear me dumbass?”
I want to feel her bones shatter beneath my hands.
“Stop being so dramatic. Likable, remember?”
I hate ‘likable.’
Brooks cleared his throat before answering. “I did. But you’ve already told me that you’re a daemon of lesser magic, and I’m not as dumb as you think I am, Nyx. Anthemoessa was an island hidden at the edge of the water circling the world, RiverOceanus. It’s not like you happened upon it, and I’m assuming it wasn’t your first time there. How did you get there if not through a portal?”
Her eyes narrowed, but not incredulously this time. She was calculative, and their game of chess had only just begun. “Fine. I do what I can to make sure the people here have enough to survive.” Her back straightened as she held her head high. “I will not be ashamed of keeping them alive. Being seen as small and weak sucks, but it usually works in my favor. Daemon underestimated me. It wasn’t hard to follow the whispers and find someone going through a portal.”
“And how many do you know of?”
