Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
“The mistress and her comfort are still my purview, even here.” Eddie was significantly shorter than the other demon, but he stood up to him. “You care only for the master and his needs, as you proved when you left my mistress to die in the Under.”
It hadn’t been Tix’s finest moment. He was responsible for ensuring Gray’s survival, and he’d decided that Gray taking part in the fight with the witches wasn’t appropriate. He’d teleported Gray out of there against his wishes.
Tix wasn’t my favorite person at the moment.
“I take my duties seriously, and the mistress is here and well, and the baby is coming along nicely.” Tix stopped as though listening and then frowned and turned my way. “The child needs more meat, mistress. He does not like this… What is granola?”
I was confused, though I had been feeling a bit hungry earlier in the day and downed two of Al’s homemade granola bars he’d been making for the royals to take to Faery with them.
I was taking my own personal everything with me in the form of Eddie.
I put my hand on my belly. “Are you trying to tell me you can talk to my… I don’t know what stage we’re in. Probably still an embryo.”
“The baby can talk telepathically?” Lee asked.
“I assure you I can communicate with the entire line of Sloane when I wish to,” Tix replied. He was in full-on demonic form. When I’d met him he looked like a male model except for the horns and red eyes. Now he wore a suit that fit his slender body perfectly. I was surprised to find his skin was not red like Eddie’s, but a deep midnight blue. “I bound myself to the House of Sloane, to the very land we stand on so yes, I can communicate with the child. He’s happy to be here, by the way, and thinks Liv is mean. Shall I kill her for you?”
Whoa. I did not like the thought of my son sitting in utero thinking about what was going on in the world outside. He was supposed to be…I don’t know…sleeping, growing. He was definitely not supposed to have opinions on what I ate. “Absolutely not. And stop talking to my son.”
“He has a name, you know,” Tix said as though it was perfectly normal.
“No, he doesn’t.” I hadn’t even really thought about names yet. It was so early.
“He does,” Tix assured me.
I turned to Gray. “Why didn’t you tell me Tix could talk to our unborn son?”
Gray winced. “I didn’t know. I’m pretty sure he’s bullshitting us.”
Tix shrugged one elegant shoulder. “And yet it is in the handbook I gave you on your ascension to the throne of this plane.”
“There’s a throne?” I had a lot to learn.
“Of course. It’s made of the bones of our enemies, and when the master is angry it bleeds. It’s lovely,” Tix replied. “His crown is made of the teeth of enemies. I polish it once a week to keep it shiny.”
“I’ve never put that crown on my head,” Gray promised me.
So I wouldn’t be visiting the throne room. Eww. “I think I’d like a look at that guidebook.”
“Why don’t you come into the house and I will give you the grand tour.” Tix swept a hand around, emphasizing the glory of the house. “I assure you everything is in readiness for you and your family. Princess Evangeline, I hope you’ll enjoy the room I prepared for you. I worried you would not fit in here, but I can see I was wrong. You’ve changed, and it’s for the better.”
“I’ve changed?” Evan had perked up. “You can see a change?”
Flame red eyes swept up and down her body. “Of course. There’s a darkness to you now. I heard the story of your survival. A primal shared his blood with you. That almost always brings about some form of physical change. You’re fighting it. Why?”
“Because I don’t want to change,” Evan replied.
“Change is the only thing in all the planes that is inevitable.” Tix turned as though he found the conversation dull. “Please follow me. Don’t mind the smurfs. They’re harmless.”
“I’d like to…what?” I had to stop again. “Smurfs? Like the cartoon characters?”
Tix shrugged. “You will find that the demesne adapts to its ruler, and sometimes that includes the ruler’s oddities. The house can sense dreams, and often those will show up. I do not know why the master likes bright blue faery-like creatures who are overly concerned with a cat, but he does. Or did. I think those are dreams from his childhood and therefore they show up from time to time. The house wants to please the lord of the manor and sometimes goes to odd lengths.”
“One time when I accidentally ate a psychedelic mushroom I had a long talk with Kim Possible,” Lee added.