CHAPTER TWELVE
With magic lessened here, my body wasn’t under constant strain but it also meant I had to ask Magda to conjure simple things like a toothbrush and a change of clothes.
“I don’t mind doing things for you, mistress. It is my job.”
I smiled. “Yeah. But it was easy to let you do so in the Arcana Realm. Here, it feels weird.”
The tall, thin demon shook her head at me, skirts rustling as she tidied the already immaculate bedroom. “Why? This is my profession. I’m paid, quite well, and I take pride in my work. Why it is ‘weird’ for me to do my job?”
“Okay. You’re right. Thank you, Magda, for all you do. Especially today.” I nodded toward her outfit. “Sorin told me what your outfit means. I’m sorry if I was callous. I’m sorry I don’t know your ways yet. And I’m deeply sorry you lost your mate.”
Madga sniffed as she met my gaze, tears welling in her black eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered and excused herself from the room, dabbing at her eyes.
Damn. Even when I tried....
I belly-flopped on the bed, sinking deep into the thick duvet, content to enjoy some cable TV, a luxury I hadn’t splurged on in, well, ever. We’d already gone over the plan, were settled into our rooms, and I was happy to veg before dinner.
Everyone agreed I should have the biggest room with the biggest bed which was logical but just another thing my brain had a hard time accepting while here, in the Earth realm. Why should these demons, beings who’ve lived far longer than I have, give me the best, biggest anything?
And it was that. Cream-colored walls with opalescent stripes painted above broad wainscoting and carpeting so thick my toes left indentations. On each wall hung delicate watercolors depicting life in the city. The marble en-suite included a private sauna and jetted tub I would definitely take advantage of later. The rest of the floor was just as well-appointed, though my suite was the only one with the sauna.
“Hey.” Callum’s smooth baritone called from the doorway.
“Hey,” I said, patting the spot on the bed. “Wanna watch the HGTV with me?”
“What’s that?” Callum plopped on his stomach next to me, eyes fixed on the seventy-inch flat screen as it whirred up from the back of the dresser.
“It’s a channel devoted to home improvement stuff. In this one, a couple fixes up people’s houses.”
Callum leveled a curious glance at me. “And you like this?”
I laughed. “Yeah. It’s fun.”
He shrugged and turned his attention to the bit of exposed skin between the hem of my shirt and my jeans. His touch was magic, as it always was, drawing blissful shivers from me the moment we made contact.
But, delightful as it was, I’d grown tired of our enchanted, prophesied connection. I wanted to know him, beyond what he was like in bed.
I rolled over, locking eyes and blocking access to my skin. “What’s your favorite color, Callum?”
He gave me a puzzled look but obliged. “I like all the colors.”
“Why?”
He paused, deciding whether a trick lay in my question. “They all please me.”
I sighed and tried again. “What’s your favorite food, then?”
This time, Callum’s forehead pulled into a crease. “What’s this about, Zurie?” He stroked my cheek lightly and I almost lost my train of thought.
I rolled off the bed and put enough distance between us so he couldn’t derail me again. “It’s not about anything. I just don’t know how to do this, Callum.”
“What don’t you know how to do?”
“How do I get to know a demon? How do I bond with a being who’s lived far longer than I have and had vastly different life experiences? I was going to ask you what your favorite movie was but have you ever seen a movie? Do you know what a movie is, Callum?”
“I know what a movie is, Zurie, and more to the point, where is this coming from? We are already bonded.”
I sank into the white upholstered chair striped in the same opalescent fabric as the walls. “Our connection is manufactured. Born of a need the demon realm has to be whole again. That’s all. But is there something more? Would I like you, any of you, if there weren’t magic involved?”
I sighed into my hands. “Everything has happened so fast. My house and all my possessions burned down, I find out I’ve got this huge destiny to bring the realms back together, oh hey, here’s a shitload magic, learn how to use that, oh, and by the way, here’s four realm leaders, they’re yours now.
“It’s a lot, Callum. And it’s happened so fast I haven’t had time to process it.” I met the Green King’s wary gaze. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t resent my duties or my new roles. I’m honored by them, truly. But I want a sense of normalcy. Just a little, okay?”
Callum stayed quiet a long time.
“I don’t like movies. All the good stories have already been told. But,” he smirked and patted the bed just as I had before. “But, I like music.”
A small smile teased my lips upward. “Rap, huh?”
“The beats speak to me. They remind me of a time gone by when my parents held days-long parties honoring the change of seasons. They’d play drums and tell stories and they’d let me stay up until my eyes were bleary to watch the fire rites.”
I snuggled next to him on the bed, resting my head in the hollow of his shoulder. “Tell me more.”
Callum stroked my hair as his smooth baritone spun the tale of his childhood. “I was the only child of the king and queen of the Green Realm, raised to rule from the time I could speak. My uncle was part of Lillith’s harem and as such never had children. After his death, the title passed to my father and after his death, to me.
“If my uncle had found someone after Lillith and had children, my life would have been quite different.
“I had tutors and assemblymen instructing me on our laws and the ways of our realm, preparing me to rule before I’d made a friend on my own. They taught me how to network and socialize, of course, but I never had the opportunity to be a child. My realm was always my priority, so, in many ways, I don’t know what I like. Though, spending time in your realm has helped to a small degree.”
I tried hiding the grin pulling at my features.
“Magda?”
“Yes, mistress?”
“Callum and I will be dining alone tonight. No need to prepare anything for us.”
“Of course, mistress.”
“And Magda?”
“Yes?”
“You can call me Zurie.”
“As you wish, Mistress Zurie.”
I didn’t bother clarifying. Instead, I picked up the hotel phone and ordered an insane amount of room service.
“What are you doing?” Callum asked, hearing my order.
“We’re figuring out what you like, starting with food.”
It took the kitchen two hours to deliver the whole of their menu but Callum and I diligently worked through its entire offering.
The Green King sat back in his chair, hand over his stomach, a grimace on his face. “Why did you make me eat so much?”
I hiccuped. “You know very well why. Now, what was your favorite of all the things you tried?”
“The crispy fried things you’re fond of taste delightful but sit like a brick in me.” Callum let out a long burp. “I think I’ll stick with real, fresh food, grown in my realm.”
“But what’s your favorite?”
A sly smile played on his lips. “The cream of ice.”
“Ice cream?”
“Mmm. That one is very nice.”
“Ahem.” Verrill stood in the doorway, looking dapper as fuck in a pair of well-fitting jeans and a tailored white button-down, the sleeves of which he’d rolled to mid-forearm.
“Nice threads, Verrill.”
The Shadow King graced me with a glorious smile, one I’d never seen before, one without reservation or hesitation. “Jadzeera and I had fun researching fashion with her smartphone.”
I kissed Callum’s mop of sandy hair. “I’ve got a date with Verrill. Feel free to pass out from the food coma.”
The Green King burped and gave me a thumbs-up.
And the Shadow King and I left the penthouse arm-in-arm.