Mated (The Queen's War #1)

Chapter 30

Perci woke up the next day with deliciously sore muscles and her heart too full for words. After spending the afternoon in each other's arms, Cerberus had joined them along with Abaddon and the Commanders. They'd whiled away the hours late into the evening first with strategizing then with potent demonbrew. Of which, she of course abstained. It was then that she'd seen more of the unbreakable bond between them all and with Cerberus. They'd laughed, teased and once Perci couldn't keep her eyes open for a moment more, Lucan had taken her to bed where Cerberus curled up at the foot and drifted off.

She opened her eyes to the morning light streaming through the window, and frowned when she saw the absence of both her soulmate and familiar. It wasn't unusual for Lucan to wake before her and go off to do whatever it is he did, but she expected Cerberus to be there at least.

Not one to linger in bed, Perci jumped out and got ready for the day. Once showered and dressed, she opened the suite door to find Iknaya standing outside, clearly waiting for her.

"Morning." She chirped.

"Good morning, do you know where Lucan is?" She asked as they began walking.

"Yeah, they're all in the strategy offices." Perci had always called it the 'war room' in her mind, since that was all that was ever discussed there.

"I should have figured." She laughed, and they set off through the main residence towards it. After a while of talking in silence, Iknaya blurted a question.

"Are you really going to go to Ascension?"

"Iknaya." Perci sighed. "We've talked about this."

And they had. She hadn't wanted her bodyguard and friend to be in the dark and Lucan had agreed that it would be good to have someone to talk to about it. Lucan's opinions were important to her, but he was too close to the problem. She needed someone who would listen, but what she didn't bank on was her bodyguard to be just as bad as Lucan.

"I know, I know." Iknaya squeezed the sides of her afro in aggravation. "I just can't wrap my head around it. demons aren't supposed to go to Ascension, I don't care that you have seraph blood."

"Iknaya, I have to-"

"I know! I just have a bad feeling, that's all."

"You don't have any Seer gifts you've been hiding, do you?" Perci arched a brow at her.

"No, thankfully. Jeez, can you imagine how much that would suck?"

"Since Orion is still practically killing himself trying to force another vision of my time in Ascension, I think it would suck a lot."

"Damn. Poor Orion." She sighed. "Think he needs someone to improve his mood?" She wiggled her eyebrows and Perci laughed at her ridiculous expression.

"You're terrible."

"What I am is a sexy, single demon on the prowl for her mate and I haven't met Orion yet. It's been ages since he rotated here."

"Tell you what, if I survive my trip to the seraph world, I'll personally introduce you."

"First off, don't joke about your probable demise and second, I'll hold you to that."

For the remainder of the journey, Iknaya regaled her with stories of Harpy's Reach, her species' territory in Gehenna. The more she heard of Lucan's home the more she was ready to leave behind the world of humans. But as always she stopped herself from getting too excited about the move. Whilst she was certain her presence was going to escalate hostilities to some sort of climax, she knew that it would be too good to be true to defeat Michael any time soon. Perhaps they never would.