Sticks and Stones

Chapter Nine

Somewhere in the Derbyshire dales, Caspian and Luis stood side by side to inspect their environment.

Jobs in the mortal realm were the absolute worst. Caspian's horns felt funny, stuffed beneath the baseball cap he wore. His collar rested too high up his chest in attempt to cover his fire glyphs. Worse, if the sky were anything to go by, there'd be a downpour of rain soon to come.

Just what I need right now.

Pathetic fallacy. And Cas already felt pathetic.

"Did I ever tell you how much I bloody well hate nature?" Luis huffed, stabbing his boot through another dip of mud.

"You're a demon," Cas answered. "You'll be fine."

"I like the birds and the bees, don't get me wrong—just not this fucking sludge on my shoes."

It was cold, chilly, with a soft frost covering some of the grass. A great deal of the trees were bare, a sign of oncoming winter.

Again, jobs in the mortal realm were the worst.

"Thought you like sludge on your shoes."

"Can it princess." Apparently, Luis was not in the mood. "Unless you want me to throw knives at your soft spots."

"Don't have any. This is all rock-hard iron muscle."

"Still not enough to impress your mate."

"Bastard."

Definitely a soft spot for Caspian. Too much too soon.

"Don't play dirty with a dirty person. It's common sense. Saying that, have you seen the she-devil yet?"

Caspian eyed all around himself. Immortals walked a few paces ahead and a few paces behind, all minding their own business as they made towards the inn. No sightings of his venomous mate just yet.

"No, but I'm still holding onto hope."

"Oh yeah?" Luis raised his eyebrows—but not that kind of hope. Caspian had given up on salvaging some sort of relationship with his mate. Sure, it was early days—but the boat was already sinking. There were too many holes in the wood. Cas would only be wasting his time throwing it out with buckets.

"Hope her brother won't let her come."

"I don't think there's much taming of that mate of yours."

That sounded about right. Cas felt his mate hadn't encountered the word 'no' many times throughout her life. "Either Emilio makes her stay home or he lets her walk to her own death."

"Or you intervene."

He'd thought about it. Damn it, there was no lying—he'd thought about it. "I can't do that. Like I said, I don't have the authority."

"Then tell Claudio." And he'd thought about that too. And maybe he would if Claudio weren't such a hopeless romantic. This whole thing with Sofia would be out of Caspian's hands before he could think to stop it. "He'd announce her as an enemy of the Inferno demons in a heartbeat, giving you all the jurisdiction needed to bring her in and make her safe and smart."

"I'm not going to do that."

"Suit yourself."

Subject change—subject change!

"Any signs of mortals?" He asked.

"I can't sense any. You?"

"No. This seems too far out. Even for hikers."

"Let's pray. I can't be bothered to deal with humans today."

You and me both.

Three steps more and he felt it.