He sighs. “Listen, I get where you’re going—”
“Good, then answer me.”
“But there are extenuating circumstances. You see—”
“Just answer the question. What kind of magic do you get from the wine?”
“It’s portal magic.”
“So let me get this straight. You use the wine to open doors, where you hunt down and kidnap wood nymphs. You bring them here?” I point to the floor and he nods. “Then they make nests, have babies, make wine. You open more portal doors…” It’s a cycle. And it doesn’t make much sense… unless… “What are you really looking for, Tarq? When you go through those portals?”
I already know what he’s looking for. There is only one possible answer to this question. So I wait, and make him say it.
“Pie, Pell. I’m looking for Pie. But it’s not what you think. The queen, she’s insane, OK? In. Sane. And she knows who I am. She knows what I can do. Or, rather, what I can produce.” He turns his head away from me. Takes a moment. Then side eyes me. “She wants my child.”
“I don’t get it. You have a kid?”
“No. Not yet.”
I laugh. Loud. “You want my Pie to give you a child?”
“Not me,” he growls. “Her. The fucking queen!”
“You think you’re going to steal my woman and use her to make a baby to hand over to your queen?” I guffaw. There is nothing else to do but laugh.
“Not exactly.” I must look very confused because he puts up a hand. “Yes. The queen wants a baby. But not just any baby. A prince, Pell. A godling. The only way to get a royal beast is to make his parents for this purpose, and this purpose alone. This is my purpose and Pie is my mate. You know this.”
“How the hell would I know this?”
He stands up. Roars at me. “Because you were there!” I open my mouth to respond in kind, but he puts up another hand. Two full-stop hands. “You don’t understand! I don’t want to do this! I haven’t wanted to do any of this. But my woman is one of those twenty-five nymphs, Pell. My true love is one of these few special creatures. And if I—”
“If you give her Pie’s child—”
“My child.”
I scoff at him. “That’s even worse. But beyond that, you are going to take Pie prisoner, rape her—”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Me?” I guffaw again. “Dude!”
“I didn’t ask to be a royal beast any more than Pie did! And I’m not going to go through with it, you freak! Pie is powerful. I was going to talk her into helping me once I knew she could open doors. I want to take her to the palace where my woman and the other nymphs are and ask her to make a door so we can get the fuck out of this place!”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh. For fuck’s sake, Pell. You must really have a low opinion of me.”
“Well excuse me for jumping to the obvious conclusion. But you’re the one who’s been hunting wood nymphs to extinction for two-thousand years!”
“Yeah, well, so what? How was I supposed to stop that? I was fifteen years old. I came here with a magic book that I didn’t know how to use. That book? It’s special. We all know that. But it’s complicated. And it’s got its own magic. It was able to hide itself from the queen until I had enough power to hide it myself. But this queen, she’s relentless. She wants her godling. She will stop at nothing to have that child. He blows out a breath, making his nostrils flare. “I just want Pie to help us leave. That’s all.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.” He throws up his hands. “That’s really it. I just want out. I want to get us all out. Get us somewhere safe.”
Somewhere safe. Like… a sanctuary. Now it’s my turn to blow out a breath. Because maybe this is my purpose? Ostanes sent Tarq into that tomb with the book so Saturn couldn’t get his dirty hands on it. And then she what? Just assumed that I would… save him?
We were best friends. And if I had known that was my job, I would’ve done my best.