Page 96 of Demon and the Raven

He glanced at me, uncertainty on his face. He had no idea if she thought that was a good thing or not. But he went with his go-to. “Thank you, my lady.”

She nodded.

“My lady Elen,” I began, glancing at him, then back to her—I didn’t want her to think I wasn’t giving her all my attention, “sent the deer to us, and the stag in the road.”

“You had concern for he who is mine, and that well pleased me.”

She meant the stag.

“We were worried about all the deer, my lady,” Lorne told her. “Not just the one.”

“Oh, I know,” she said with a hint of a smile before looking at me and pointing over her shoulder. “Why must that shrub not be burned?”

She meant the elder she’d been standing near.

“Because it’s sacred to you.”

“Yes. And why would we place one near our home?”

“To ward evil?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Evil?”

I was playing with fire. It was always necessary to convey exactly what one knew when questioned by a deity. “The devil,” I said. “That’s why people planted them.”

“Yes.”

I trembled slightly. “But we did not. My people did not. It was planted to strengthen the wards in the land.”

“Regardless, it will also keep one less than the fallen away. Those that are made.”

Made? I felt so stupid.

“Not the devil,” Lorne clarified, “but, as we suspected, a demon. One who is here conjuring evil to try and hurt you.”

“Your mate is wise,” Elen told me, smiling at Lorne. “You chose well.”

I had to set aside her compliment regarding my fiancé-picking skills and think about that later, about the fact that a goddess was fond of my intended. “We believe we understand where the demon came from, and why it killed the nymph when it came through the rift, but we’re having trouble grasping what it wants now.”

“It seeks to spread hate and disease, as do they all. But this is more, as it is a creature of torment, a defiler of dreams, who wrests sleep from the weary.”

“What would it want with Xander?” Lorne asked her, though we’d already surmised a bit. It wanted to make sure I couldn’t end its life.

“What would a demon fear?” she asked, at the same time turning, walking slowly away.

Couldn’t she just tell us? Unless of course the point was to make our brains work.

“Someone who can kill it?” Lorne replied.

“Yes.”

Lorne took a breath, and I understood. One did not speak to a goddess every day. “My lady, our understanding is that a demon can only be exorcised and sent back to hell, not actually killed and ended.”

“Your mate knows differently, as he himself is branded by he who does such.”

“Arawn?” Lorne whispered.

I had meant to explain all about Arawn to Lorne when we were alone, but we hadn’t been, and new things kept coming our way.