“No seat belts?” I gave him a shaky smile. “Design flaw.”

“It’s okay,” Conah said. “I’ll make sure you don’t fall out of your seat.”

His tone was warm and suggestive. I frowned at him, but his attention was on Mal. Was he goading him? But Mal kept his attention on the view outside the carriage. If not for the fact that his hands were curled into white-knuckled fists, I’d have thought he didn’t give a shit.

I needed to stop focusing on him. “So, no drivers? How do the drakes know where to go?”

“They’re highly intelligent creatures,” Conah said. “The drake master who trained them gives them directions, and they make the journey. They’re trained from birth to carry cargo and messages.”

Mal had closed his eyes, feigning sleep, obviously done with interacting with me.

Conah took my hand and squeezed. Oh fuck, he knew. He had to know. I tucked my chin in, wanting the carriage floor to vanish so the clouds would swallow me.

“Look out the window,” Conah said. “I think we’re flying over Persephone now. It’s the largest region of green land we have in Underealm. Our timber and most of our vegetables come from this region. Cattle are reared here for export to the cooler climates.” I scooted across to the window and peered out at the world below. The plains below were visible through breaks in the cloud cover—lush green grass, fields of brightly colored flowers, the tops of wide branched trees, and neatly eked out farmland. It was beautiful, but nothing I couldn’t see in rural parts of the human world.

“Wait for it,” Conah said.

And then the terrain shifted to rolling plains of gold and orange, and the farmhouses were replaced by glass towers and domed buildings that gleamed in the sunlight.

“Solar power,” Conah said. “The region is powered by sunlight. All the factories and farms and harvest machines are solar-powered. It’s why the air in the Underealm is so clean.”

“What about chaol? I thought that was your main fuel.”

“Chaol burns clean, and we use it to run our power plants and produce clean electricity and gas.”

“I’m surprised the human government hasn’t demanded a trade.”

He sat back with a dry smile. “Oh, they have. But there’s nothing they have to offer in return but destructive elements.”

I couldn’t help but bristle at that. “It’s hardly humanity’s fault that the fossil fuels available on earth damage the environment.”

“Trust me, there are plenty of non-fossil fuel alternatives available to humans, not to mention the option to stop cutting down trees.”

Valid point. I don’t know why I was defending humans. We constantly did shit to fuck up the planet, not to mention the endless wars over wealth, religion, and land. I sat back, suddenly exhausted by it all. I’d barely gotten any sleep the night before, nervous about this trip, about being a guy for a whole week. Nervous about seeing Azazel again. I studied my manly piano-player hands with their neatly buffed cuticles. I had to admit, this was a fine glamour. The witch who’d created it had outdone herself.

A yawn threatened to unhinge my jaw in a pretty good impression of a snake preparing to swallow its prey whole. Cyril would be proud.

“Get some sleep,” Conah said. “It’s a long journey. We have to stop in a couple of hours for the drake to rest.”

“How long is it to Infernum?”

“Around twelve hours. We’ll need to take two rest stops on the way. One just before the River Enmity and then one more, probably somewhere in the Circle.”

“Circle?”

“The Circle is the heart of the Underealm. It’s a crater in our world, a bowl split into nine regions. It was built eons ago to house the souls of the dead—malignant, sinners, anyone the Beyond deemed unworthy of a place in celestial bliss. The Circle was their home.”

“Wait…you mean like the nine circles of hell?”

He smiled. “A simplified version, yes. Back then, Asmodeus, Mammon, Leviathan, Belphegor, and Samael managed the Circle along with various other demons. But then things changed. The Beyond decided it wanted all the souls back, all except the malignant. Those souls were placed in purgatory, and the souls who roamed limbo were left here. Our contract was altered, and the Circle was no longer needed. It became a regular part of the Underealm, and the demons who’d run it were given ambassadorships over regions within it.”

“And Lilith?”

“Resides in the center of the Circle. Imperium makes up what were once four circles and are now split into three levels of the Keep. Inner, central, and outer. The wedding will take place in the outer Keep.”

“Are we done with the history lesson yet?” Mal drawled. “The sound of your voice droning on and on is starting to give me a headache.”

Yep, definitely not asleep.

Conah sighed. “It’ll be close to midnight by the time we arrive. You really should get some sleep, Fee.”

He scooted over to the other side of the seat and patted his thigh. “You can rest your head in my lap.”

He looked over at Mal when he made the offer, but Mal kept his eyes closed. I gave Conah a flat look, and he sighed and nodded wearily.

Fuck it, I was tired. I lay down, tucked my legs up onto the seat, and closed my eyes.

The gentle sway of the carriage soon lulled me under, and just as I drifted off, I felt Conah’s fingers in my hair.

“You’re loving this, aren’t you?” Mal said.

“Touching her?” Conah asked, stroking my hair. “Yes. Although it’s kind of disconcerting how she’s a he with short hair, and yet when I touch it, the strands are long and silken as they slip through my fingers.”

I surfaced from sleep, but kept my eyes closed and my breathing even.

“You’re about to be married,” Mal sneered. “You really are an unfaithful bastard, aren’t you?”

“This coming from a demon who fucks anything that moves.”

“I’m not the one in a committed relationship.”

Conah stopped stroking my hair. “Fuck you, Mal. You think this is easy for me? You think I want to be in love with a woman I can’t have? You know why I have to go through with this wedding. You know what’s at stake.” He sighed.

“And if there was no need for a wedding?” Mal asked. “What then? You know Kiara’s in love with you.”

“I don’t know.” Conah sounded torn. “I don’t know if I could allow myself to love Fee if it meant hurting my soulmate.”

My chest ached at his words.

“Join the fucking club,” Mal snapped. “None of us can have her. None of us get to love her.”

“That might be true for Az and me, but not you, Mal, you sadistic fuck. You’re doing this to yourself. You’re punishing yourself.”

Mal made a sound of exasperation. “For the hundredth time, it’s a fucking curse.”

“That you’re keeping activated by your guilt. What happened to Gailan wasn’t your fault. When will you allow yourself to believe that?”

“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” Mal’s words were an angry hiss.

Time to wake up. I groaned and opened my eyes. “Are we there yet?”

The carriage dropped, taking my stomach with it.

“We’re about to make our first stop,” Conah said calmly.

I looked at Mal, and this time, he didn’t tear his gaze away. This time he met my eyes with all the hunger and longing that I’d seen the night he’d made love to me.

He let me see it, and then he snapped it off and sat back. “Once we get there, I need to fuck and recharge.”

A soft whimper escaped my lips before I could bite it back. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked out the window at the snowy terrain that was getting closer by the second as we descended.

“You’re a bastard, you know that, Mal,” Conah said softly.

“Yeah, I know,” Mal said. “Best not forget it.”

His attention was on me. I could feel it hot on the side of my face, and anger heated my neck because I didn’t deserve to be treated like this.

I didn’t deserve to be deliberately hurt. “Trust me, I won’t. But it’s not me you need to worry about. Worry about being memorable to your conquests.”

His reply was cut off as we landed with a thud that jolted my bones. Thank God. Because I needed to get away from him. As far away as possible.

The sooner this week was over, the fucking better.

Chapter Fourteen

The tavern was old-school, made from wood and slate with a working chimney that was gushing smoke into the clean, crisp winter air. The streets of the village were empty of demons, all probably indoors to get away from the chill, or maybe there was more activity farther into the village.

The tavern was on the outskirts, a watering and feeding hole for the weary traveler. A trough of fresh water awaited the drakes, who broke the layer of ice settled on it to drink their fill. There was hay and a strange pungent mulch on offer too, which the drakes seemed to like.

No other carriages were parked in the rest area, though.

“Is it always this quiet?”

Mal snorted. “This place is the arse end of nowhere. I have no idea why Earnest would plot this route.”

Conah pressed his lips together. “Earnest’s job is to plot the safest route. If he wants us to stop here, it’s for a reason. Why don’t you confess the real reason for being pissed off, huh?”

“I’m not pissed off,” Mal said. “I’m bored of this conversation. Enjoy your meal, and I’ll enjoy mine. I’ll meet you back here in an hour.” He strode off, leaving me and Conah standing in the snow outside the tavern.

There was no need to ask where he was going. He’d made his intentions clear in the carriage.

“Come on,” Conah said. “Forget him. Let’s get some food.”