To save the Valkyrie who broke his heart, the Fae Sea God makes a deal with the Demon Prince of the Aerial Kingdoms, but Pazuzu has a history of stealing the women Manannan loves.
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When Mist visits her parents' home in California, she assumes th...
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"It's okay, Anna. You don't have to come if you don't want to. I'll tell him it's too much."
She looked up from the bathing pool, an unnatural pallor on her usually warm brown skin. Even from here, I saw her throat swallow, then swallow again when the page, a young mottled grey gargoyle, had arrived to request our presence in the throne room.
"Are you sure he won't mind?"
I knelt and grasped her hand. "He noticed you had difficulty with the violence yesterday. You're a mortal, and not from a war-torn country or from the worst your society has to display. It's not surprising you have a gentle heart. Don't feel bad about your reaction, Anna. It's natural. Not everyone can see that kind of thing and maintain their composure."
I'd seen much, much worse, recently in fact, when Loki had exploded those dwarves' heads and sprayed us with chunks. They'd deserved it, but still, Pazuzu was tidy in comparison to Loki's fury. And the atrocities we'd discovered in the last war with the elves... the Unseelie had some disgusting rituals. I'd actually found the way Pazuzu played with his food funny, although I'd never tell Anna that. She was soft in a way I don't think I'd ever been.
And I'd noticed the regret on his face when he saw her reaction. He hadn't meant to scare her. No, his message of brutality was meant for others. It was effective, and if faced with the same choices, I'd likely have done the same.
"If you are sure?"
"Yes." I patted her and stood. "You relax in the hot water. I'll ask the harpy guards to remain and have a couple more stationed outside the door to reassure our lord that you are well protected here in the baths. We'll come get you when he's done doling out today's discipline."
"Okay," Anna murmured, laying her head back on the edge of the steaming pool.
Swiping up my silver thigh-length shift, I tugged it over my head and strode to the door. "You'll stay here and guard our lord's mate?" I asked the two scowling harpies.
"Of course, Valkyrie Mist. We've called for two of our Cauldron to join us," Riina agreed, tossing her black feathered head.
"We will allow no harm to come to Mate Anna," Airi said, crossing muscled purple arms over prodigious black-leather-covered breasts and displaying razor-sharp talons on her yellow three-fingered digits.
With a nod, I left them and padded through the halls, up the stairs, and into the rear entrance of the expansive throne room. Even from here, I sensed Pazuzu's annoyance with the petitioners seeking an audience with him, like a building storm hanging over the occupants. One black leather-clad leg and boot hung over the arm of the opalescence throne and an arm was hooked over the top. It was a careless pose he seemed to take when he was bored.
I bit my lip to restrain my smile as I approached him. Hundreds of thousands of years old, and yet Pazuzu managed to give off the air of a disaffected teen at times.
