I continued the poem, letting myself sink into him one last time. “The gods know it’s true…”
“But naught is not nothing…”
“When I have loved you.”He leaned in to kiss me gently on the nose, then stepped away, giving one more baleful smile before turning back to Helena. She and Devil both shot burning glares in his direction, but he ignored them and spoke directly to Jon.
“I do hope you’ve had your breakfast already, hunter.”
Jon, who wore only a short leather kilt today, strode over and stood toe-to-toe with him. “Aye, but it left me…less than satisfied,” he growled with a hungry smirk. “Best pray you don’t start looking too tempting in the midst of the woods, little man, because I have no appetite for delicate lady-folk.”
Will just rolled his eyes and looked at Helena. “Ready?”
With Jon standing so close, she appeared on the verge of fainting, but clung to Will’s arm as Jon led them away, following the creek. Aliena and Devil exchanged a knowing look.
“Don’t worry,” she said wearily, “I’ll make sure he behaves himself.” With a long-suffering sigh, she picked up a cloak draped over a fallen log nearby and followed after Will and Helena.
Chapter twenty-one
Thyme & Truth
Once they were outof earshot, Devil’s eyes shifted to me, once more filled with their usual mischief. He sauntered over, wings tucked tight, but stopped just short of standing too close. He had changed his clothes since the revelry and now wore brown trousers below a fitted, burgundy shirt with a high collar and barely any sleeves to speak of.
“What orders for your ‘pet demon’ this morning, Highness?” he asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
I fought back the rather depraved urge to leer at his exposed arms and answered dryly. “The first is to never call me that again. The second: you will now also answer to ‘pet demon’, as a sanction for continuing to refuse me your real name.”
He stayed still as I began to circle around him, letting my eyes glide over his back. Unlike the shirts I’d seen him wear before, which were slitted to accommodate his wings, the back of this garment had been left wide open, with buttons on the collar and waist. The opening framed his wing joints, as well as the deep cuts and ripples of every solitary muscle from his shoulders to his belt. The image of him stripping in the hot spring cave the day before flashed before my eyes, and I had to shake it away before he noticed.
“Hmmm,” he mused, watching me carefully as I came around to face him again, “if I am to followthatorder, you ought to at least make it worth my while.”
“I am not obliged to soften my orders, but…what exactly might make it worth your while?” I asked warily.
“Allow me to make you breakfast.” He grinned, and I was so taken aback, my presence of mind fluttered away on a breeze, replaced by burning, crawling heat in my neck and cheeks.
“Surely, we should take this news to Oberon right away?”
“Surely, he will give me a far harsher punishment for allowing you to starve than he did for disobeying him last night,” Devil replied, raising an eyebrow.
“So, hedidpunish you for that?”
He walked past me, heading back up the hill toward his tree. “Wouldn’t you?”
“No…”
“Well, then it seems you’ve inherited your mother’s benevolent and fair nature.”
“Wait,” I called as I jogged to catch up with his long strides. “Devil, I’m sorry for asking you to bring me back here. I…I panicked, but I did not want you to suffer for my sake.”
“I am not a fragile creature,” he said, then tapped the spot on his chest where he’d branded himself with my medallion. “Besides, I showed what I am willing to endure for you, May. I was not just being dramatic.”
We walked in silence until we reached his home tree, which I now saw was an enormous oak, growing straight as an arrow. Back in the underground den, I stood at one end of the table and watched him take a covered clay bowl from a shelf above the sluice.
“What?” he asked, noting the skepticism on my face. “Did you think I only ate bark and berries and raw fish, like Jon?”
“Well, no, but I certainly did not imagine you…cooking.”
“I am a creature with many hidden talents,” he said with a wink, taking a jar of flour down next and sprinkling a handful on the end of the table opposite me. “But don’t worry, you will not be required to compliment my skills, since I only know the one recipe, and it took meweeksto learn. Aliena declared me a lost cause after nine days, but thankfully, Larch’s patience is infinite.” He lifted a large ball of dough from the bowl and dropped it into the pile of flour. I refilled my tea mug, then came to stand beside him.
“And what, pray tell, will I be eating this morning, cook?” I asked, if only to distract myself from watching the muscles in his forearms working as he kneaded the dough.
