Asa could have had dozens of siblings, but he would never know them. They were gone, forgotten, replaced.
As he would be, if he ever stopped fighting for his right to survive.
“It’s a busy time of year for retail,” I prompted her. “How can I help you?”
The tortoise stopped on cue, which all but confirmed it as fae, and Delma spread one palm above the still marsh, over the exact spot where I dove for the daemon the night before.
A column of water rose, twisting in the moonlight, glittering and entrancing, and a woman’s reflection appeared within it.
She was ageless, beautiful, and something about the blade of her nose struck me as familiar.
“How I have longed to meet you.” Her broad smile was radiant. “I regret the means through which I orchestrated our introduction, but I have so few options for travel these days. I’m afraid I must entertain guests at my home.”
“Home?” I studied the trick, fascinated by Delma’s control over her element. “And here I thought it was a prison.”
“There’s no cause for rudeness.” Her lips thinned to nothing. “In that, you take after your grandfather.”
“No,” I was happy to tell her. “I don’t.”
Not anymore.
A coy smile flirted with her lips. “Aren’t you curious how I know your grandfather?”
“If you went through all the trouble of bringing me here, I’m sure you’ll tell me.”
“Show some respect.” Delma fisted her free hand. “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?”
“We weren’t properly introduced, so no.” I slanted my gaze back to the water column. “I’ve just been thinking of her as the woman who almost killed my…” mate nearly slipped past my lips, but I choked on it, “…boyfriend.”
“That sounded painful,” the woman tsked. “Are you so uncertain of him?”
“I’m certain I have better things to do than cough up bugs that fly down my throat.”
“That’s the excuse you’re going with,” Clay muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
After patching the wrinkles in her mask, the woman announced, “I am Calixta Damaras.”
“Impossible.” Asa’s heat brushed against my back as he moved closer. “Calixta Damaras is dead.”
“You must be Stavros’s heir.” She swept her gaze over him. “The latest in a long line of failures.”
Poor thing thought she could wound him by taking aim at his daddy issues, well, she overshot the mark.
“I’m not up to snuff on the daemon hierarchy,” I said, “so you’ll have to spell it out for me.”
With all the restrictions placed on royalty, I had my hands full learning the ins and outs of my fascination with Asa. I hadn’t dug into daemon lore. I hadn’t viewed it as a part of my world, even if it was a part of me, which was silly when you considered who I was making out with these days.
Between returning to Black Hat, the shop’s destruction and its subsequent repairs, overseeing the girls’ recoveries from their trauma, the familiar bond clicking into place, the grimoire toying with me, and learning I was part daemon, I had no time. Even if I wanted another burden to carry, I had to put one down first.
“I am High Queen of the Haelian Seas, Mistress of Aquatae.”
“Former high queen,” Asa cut in. “Calixta has been missing for decades, nearly a century.”
“You’re a member of her court?” I aimed the question at Delma. “What’s your stake in this?”
“Cali is my grandmother.” Delma jerked up her chin. “I am her heir, born of her direct line.”
“Now that you’ve killed everyone related to you,” Clay mumbled. “She must be so proud.”