De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 29

Miller had always enjoyed Mei’s Den; the atmosphere of the place was similar to what he’d expect in a high-end restaurant back in the States, and the food was great. He almost felt like he was back home, apart from the fact that many of the staff had tails and animal ears. Today, though, the atmosphere was very different.

Most of the diners had cleared out, and the few that remained were sitting at the edges of the dining room, watching. Mei stood by the table, a forced smile on her face as she poured a glass of wine, her hands shaking. He had refused a glass, though Mrs. Grayson said it was all right. He wanted his wits sharp during this meeting.

Miller couldn’t blame the rabbitkin for having the shakes, given whose glass she was pouring right now. He had heard the stories from Jek about when the woman had kidnapped Ash.

Lilly’s mother. Agatha.

Agatha sat at the table, staring at the glass as the red liquid filled it. She resembled a slightly taller and more mature Lilly, though her dress made of living plants made her appear more wild, or perhaps feral.

Mrs. Grayson sat across from Agatha, tasting her wine. She smiled at Mei, as if unbothered by the tension that hung in the room.

“You chose a wonderful red, Mei. Thank you,” Mrs. Grayson said, taking another sip. “Would it be possible for you to set aside another bottle of this for the next time Rory and I come for dinner?”

Mei looked like she was ready to bolt when Mrs. Grayson spoke, but quickly returned the smile.

“Of course, Mrs. Grayson. I’ll reserve one as soon as I return to the kitchen,” she said as she set the bottle on the table.

Miller watched as Mrs. Grayson turned her smile from Mei to Agatha.

“Agatha and I will have some business to discuss before our meal. If it’s fine by you, I’ll wave you down when we finish it and are ready to order,” she said.

Mei nodded her head as she quickly backed up.

“Of course, enjoy your wine,” she said before running for the kitchen door.

Agatha frowned.

“I thought you brought me here so we could eat?” she growled. “Lilly has told me much of something she calls ‘Rolls’.”

Mrs. Grayson swirled her wine.

“Old trick of mine. Hungry people are quicker to negotiate with and tend to get to the point without all the bullshit and flattery,” she answered as she reached into her pocket.

Miller’s brows scrunched as she placed a stone with a rune etched on the top of it, then gestured to Agatha.

“Do you mind? I don’t have magic myself,” Mrs. Grayson said.

Miller swore he caught a small smirk on her face for a moment before she lifted her glass again.

Agatha reached across the table and touched the stone, the rune glowing white. He raised an eyebrow when nothing changed. Then he noticed how quiet the restaurant had become.

“Thank you,” Mrs. Grayson said. “First, I want to say how wonderful your daughter Lilly is. A bit shy, but a lovely young woman whom I’m happy to call my daughter-in-law.”

Agatha stared at Mrs. Grayson.

“My daughter warned me you would be angry that I tried to fuse a tree to your son,” she said.

Mrs. Grayson met her gaze.

“Why would I be angry?” she asked, still smiling. “You failed in that endeavor.”

The dryad narrowed her eyes, and Vivian continued.

“Thankfully, you did. I would hate for poor Lilly to suffer through losing someone she loved again. What was her father’s name? Roth Willowson?”

Agatha’s lips curled into a sneer, and Miller set down his glass of water, his hand resting on his gun. Mrs. Grayson just continued the conversation.

“Rory has told me much about him. He was a man known for his mind, though I doubt that survived you turning him into a tree.”

Agatha abruptly stood from her chair, a wooden spike forming on her arm as she glared across the table. Miller was up a second later, gun drawn and trained on the dryad’s head.

“Put away the weapon!” Miller growled.

Agatha didn’t even look his way, her gaze locked with Mrs. Grayson as she seethed in anger.

“Thank you, Agent Miller, but everything is fine. I just went too far pressing a wound, it seems,” Mrs. Grayson said. “A wound I needed to make sure was still there.”

She shifted in her chair to lean forward, like a mob boss about to make an offer only a fool would refuse.

“Whatever issues there are between you and my son are your own. What I am meeting you here for is power. Your power. My son, the man your daughter loves, was taken from us, and I intend to get him back. The only problem is that there are some powerful individuals standing in my way. Lend me your strength and the strength of the District 18 grove. Help me crush those keeping Ash from your daughter.”

Agatha sneered.

“Why would I risk my grove?” she asked.

Mrs. Grayson lifted her wine again.

“Once we have him back, I will help you retrieve Roth Willowson from Vas. I know you can undo what you did to him. Rose and the other girls of the Poison Petals have told me so.”

Agatha stared at Mrs. Grayson before the wooden spike crumbled from her arm, falling to the ground as dust. Then she took her seat again, Miller holstering his gun and following suit.

“I’m listening,” Agatha said.

Piper

Piper stared at the wet splotches of blood. Her blood. She watched as another drop fell from her busted lip to the floor of the warehouse. The chains suspended from the ceiling that held her arms rattled as she swayed.

“Look at me,” Hitomi demanded.

She didn’t. Instead, Piper let out a laugh.

“I hurt her. I hurt her badly,” Piper said, smiling.

She knew Hitomi would kill her now, but it was worth it. Worth it to see the look of fear and pain on Blackthorn’s face as she drove the ice dagger into her chest. Her only regret was her failure to finish the job. Still, the blade had cut deep, and she knew the chances of even Blackthorn surviving something like that were slim.

“The boss said for you to look at her,” Bella growled.

Piper felt the edge of cold steel pressed against her chin as Bella forced her to look up with the tip of her sword.

She saw Bella’s face first, the psychopath’s eyes alight with depraved excitement at how far Piper had fallen. Past her, Hitomi leaned against a wall of stacked crates, her nine red tails flicking with agitation. Her one eye glared at Piper.

“You really thought I was going to offer your head on a platter to Bella?” Hitomi scoffed. “I was negotiating with her to try to stop this blood feud between the two of you. Though, now after this?”

Hitomi shook her head.

“We are in a delicate time, Piper. This Vivian Grayson has exposed several of our operations to Firebeard and other councilmembers. Both Scarlet and Victor are being watched closely by them, and our allies on the council are becoming skittish,” she said. “Now they will be even more so since you blatantly tried to murder Councilwoman Blackthorn.”

Piper grinned.

Hopefully she will stay dead this time.

“I’d be happy to still take her head,” Bella cooed.

The steel blade shifted to slide along the side of Piper’s neck, as if Bella was a wrist flick away from decapitating her.

“No,” Hitomi said firmly.

Bella removed the blade from Piper’s neck. The elf stepped back, resting the blade on her shoulder as she looked at the kitsune.

“She’s staying alive at least until we unfuck this situation,” Hitomi answered, meeting Bella’s gaze.

The sound of a door closing echoed in the warehouse along with heavy footsteps. Piper knew who the person was just from those footsteps.

“Victor wants to talk with you, boss,” Kaito said as he stepped around a wall of crates.

Hitomi stood from the crates she was leaning against and started for the door.

“See you soon, Piper,” Bella said as she slid her sword back into its scabbard.

Kaito watched the two women exit through the door of the warehouse. When it closed, the oni pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He tapped the bottom to get one out, lit it, and drew a deep breath before exhaling smoke.

He then turned and walked toward her, taking the cigarette from his mouth and holding it out to her. Piper inhaled the smoke.

“Humanity and its vices,” Kaito said as he used the cigarette to light another one.

Piper coughed.

“I thought you were trying to quit,” she said.

Kaito shrugged and looked back at the door of the warehouse.

“I tried the damn gum and patches, they don’t do shit,” he said, watching the door. “Just can’t seem to stop.”

After a long moment, he turned back to face her.

“Kaito, the oni once called the Raging Devil, was defeated by a rolled-up paper with leaves in it,” Piper teased.

He held the smoke out for her again.

“I haven’t been the Raging Devil since I rifted here,” he said solemnly. “Now I’m Councilman Kaito. I sit in on endless and usually pointless meetings during the day and spend my nights at The Siren Lounge, paying for booze and company. Sometimes, I pay a siren to use her Charm Magic to tell me everything we’re doing will work out. All because I can no longer believe the lie any other way.”

Piper exhaled the smoke.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Kaito drew on his smoke, burning through half of it before dropping the remains on the ground and stomping the embers.

“Hitomi promised us a way home, and she delivered, only for it to be poison. I still remember all of us standing outside the dead zone of magic, the proof Vas was dying. Brock wept, you raged and even clashed with Scarlet, and I saw Victor look afraid for the first time in my life. Hitomi, though, was emotionless as if she was disinterested in the fact our world was dying. That look she wore never sat right with me.

“Now she’s making deals with powerful factions back on Vas and gathering reagents for weapons. All so we can carve a place for those from Vas in this world that isn’t a cage. A cause worth fighting for, but in the back of my mind, I’ve wondered what the poison will be.”

Piper looked up at Kaito to see him staring at the door again, a deep frown on his face. When he turned from it, he stepped toward her, his hands reaching up. The chains that held Piper in place rattled twice before she heard a snap, and her numb arms dropped to her side.

“She will kill you,” Piper warned, feeling the blood returning to her arms.

Kaito pulled out a small package from his back pocket, tearing it open. Piper realized a second later that it was an emergency raincoat, the color a hideous yellow. He quickly draped it over her.

“Maybe,” he said. “But I have no idea what Hitomi is doing anymore. She seems to be obsessed with Blackthorn’s pet human. Hell, Victor even told me that’s one of the reasons why you were still alive. A potential peace offering to Blackthorn, if she survived, or to her pet.”

Piper’s eyes widened.

“What?” she exclaimed.

Kaito huffed.

“The fox is twisted,” he said. “She wants the human for some bullshit reason, and she’s risking everything we’ve been working toward.”

When they arrived at the door of the warehouse, Kaito stuck his head out, looking around. Piper could hear the rain pouring outside.

“Keep your hood up and move for the portal,” he said. “Should go without saying, but stay away from your vassal districts. Find some independent one to lie low in for a while, at least until this blows over.”

Piper looked outside and back to Kaito.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

Kaito cracked his knuckles.

“Kill the human. Hopefully Hitomi will come to her senses with him dead.”

Piper nodded to the oni.

“Thank you, Kaito,” she said before racing off into the rain.