November Reign (Northarbor Coven #3)

22. Help Arrives

Help Arrives

Thyme

Another day passed, pretending Oak didn’t mean the world to me. I hated the acting, but at least we were being more friendly now. To an outsider it appeared as if Damon was softening towards Oak after helping me the day I “fainted”.

Once the coven was gone each evening, we went over the mansion, checking it, before we tried to figure out a plan for ending this all.

“Why can’t I just shoot him?” Damon asked, petulantly.

“A former hitman with a gun? He’ll expect that,” Oak pointed out.

“I hate it when you’re right.” Damon relaxed back into Mori’s embrace, defeated.

“It might be a good idea to make sure we’re all armed with knives. We can spell them to get through barriers,” I suggested.

“We need to do the unexpected,” Parker mused .

The alarm for the portal sounded. We all sprung into action just in case and headed for the foyer, the only place to portal in and out of the house.

“Mori!” a female voice called.

“Mom!”

I caught a look at the attractive couple standing with Barr. Both of them had a resemblance to Mori, and also Cody. They greeted everyone with hugs. Even me and Oak, who they hadn’t met before.

“These are my parents, Amoredessa and Hanandes.” Mori made the introductions.

“Please, call us Dessi and Hana,” Mori’s father insisted.

“We come with news!” Dessi was beaming. She clapped her hands with glee. “Barr, come here, darling.” The Hellhound went to her side. She wrapped an arm familiarly around him. “It’s official. He’s our newest grandson!”

There was an explosion of noise while we all tried to congratulate Barr, Dessi, and Hana, while also being confused.

Damon took Barr’s hand and pulled him to him and Mori. “What Dessi is trying to say is we’ve officially adopted Barr. Does he have his royal mark?”

“I do!” Barr grinned and displayed a crown on one of his stubby black horns .

“This means he’s safe from a contract,” I said, thinking aloud. “Without the charm.” There was always a risk it could be found or nullified somehow.

“Yes. Part of why we wanted to adopt him,” Mori said, looking so proud. “Barr has made his way into our hearts, so this is one way we can protect him. We want him to be a member of our family because we feel a bond to him, don’t we Damon?”

“We do. It’s more than friendship. I want to protect him. We didn’t plan on having kids. We can have more biological children, but it felt more important to make Barr family. His siblings gave their permission now that their parents are gone.”

Judging by Barr’s face, I didn’t want to ask why. It was none of my business and I didn’t want to open old wounds.

“Congratulations!” I said, folding Barr, then Damon, and of course, Mori, into hugs. “I’m happy for you all.”

“What about the other question, Mama?” Mori asked Dessi. She was taking photos of the occasion.

“They said yes!”

Barr pinned those liquid brown eyes on his new fathers. “Can we go now? All of us?”

Damon looked at Mori before answering. “You’ll have to ask the others, but we’ll come. Wouldn’t miss it. ”

“What’s happening?” Parker demanded. “First Damon is a dad, so I’m now an uncle, and now we’re going somewhere? What’s happening?”

“The kings and queens of our realm have agreed to give not only Barr royal status, but his chosen mate too.”

“Do you want to come with me to ask Jorgoth to be mated? If he says yes—“

“Of course he’ll say yes,” Dessi cut in. “He’s smitten with you! Becoming royal will be a plus of course, but he’ll do it because it’s you asking.”

Barr’s smile was bashful. “Okay, do you want to be witnesses for the first part?”

“Of course! Can’t miss our son getting mated, can we?” Damon grinned. “We’ll just go celebrate while you two… consummate it.”

Damon may have become a father, but he would never be serious.

Making a stop at my room was important. There was no way I was going to a bonding ceremony in training gear !

“Here,” Damon said, waiting for me when I got to my room. Damn he was fast. He handed me a suit bag. “This should fit you.”

“How?”

“I had it made for you. Mori and I have been waiting for this news for a few days now, so we had time to prepare. I knew Barr would want us all there, so took the liberty of arranging proper clothing for us all.”

“Damon… that’s so sweet!” my brother/son, yeah, I hadn’t decided on a title for him, flushed with pleasure at the compliment.

“Oak has one too. Try not to pass out at the sight of him in a suit, we have a bonding to get to.” There was the Damon I knew and loved.

“Right. Won’t be long.”

To keep up appearances, Oak’s clothes were in his room, so he’d headed there to change.

The suit Damon had picked out for me was navy blue with a subtle silver pinstripe. The shirt was a pale blue so light it was almost white and there was a silver silk tie. As I expected with Damon’s love of suits, it was impeccably made, cut to flatter every line of my body. Somehow it made me look taller.

My black boots, the ones I escaped the last coven house in, looked great with the suit, which was just as well since I didn’t have anything else. Either Damon had forgotten about shoes, or he intended for me to wear the boots.

Nerves hit me as I walked towards the foyer. I’d only been to the demon realm once, and we’d only stayed at Toth’s castle for a little while before returning to Northarbor, so I wasn’t sure how I’d be received there. Cody was half demon and Damon had been human at first. Now he was mated to a demon, so demonkin were more inclined to treat him well. Me and Oak? We were witches through and through. Our kind enslaved demons in contracts. Would we be welcome there?

Seeing Oak in a suit made my brain go offline temporarily. Instead of his usual half up style, he’d gathered all of his hair into a messy bun. I wanted to touch it. His suit was charcoal in color with the same pinstripe as mine. Like with my suit, his shirt was so light gray it was nearly white. He also wore a silver tie. Damon had gone to efforts to match us but also make us individual enough to match our personalities. In Oak’s colors, I would have looked like I was going to a funeral. The navy brought out the blue of my eyes and made me look less pale. Charcoal would have washed me out.

Oak’s suit emphasized the width of his shoulders and his slender waist. His golden skin looked luminous. His dark gray eyes met mine. They filled with heat as he took me in .

“You look—“

“Alright, keep it in your pants! We’ve got a bonding to get to.” Damon waltzed into the foyer in a very snazzy jacquard suit in a lovely blue color, a mid blue with a light pattern overlay. He and Mori matched. Barr’s suit was the opposite of Damon’s with the pattern in the darker color that dominated their suits, with the lighter base.

“Photos!” Dessi demanded. “You all look so wonderful!”

It took a few minutes to gather us all and get the poses Dessi wanted before we could leave. Barr made the portal, taking us directly into the capital, not far from the prison.

“That’s the capitol building there, where the kings and queens live.” Mori pointed in the direction of a sprawling castle, each turret was heavily guarded by demons of all kinds. “We had permission to portal so close.”

The only demons who could portal from place to place within the demon realm were the Hellhounds, which made their services well sought after. Most demons could fly, but it was time and energy consuming. Why fly when you could pay a handsome sum to a Hellhound and be there immediately? Most cities had guilds where you could employ a Hellhound much in the same way you would pick up a cab. Just with a higher cost.

Mori was a wealthy demon with property in the human and demon realms. He owned hotels, and had hired Barr to work for him personally. Now that he was family, their relationship would change.

I found myself standing next to Cody. “How do you feel about having a new brother?” Cody already had siblings from his mother’s side of the family, though he wasn’t in touch with them. He’d tried reconnecting, but most of them had already been poisoned against him by his mom and step father.

“It’s a relief that everyone knows now. I had such a hard time keeping it secret from y’all. Barr’s great. I’m really happy Dad did that for him.”

Cody’s relationship with Mori was really growing. Instead of feeling pushed aside with a new sibling, it seemed like Cody was ready to accept sharing his dad with someone else.

“Besides, how fun is it to see Damon as a dad?”

The man in question was fussing over his new son’s outfit, brushing invisible lint off the shoulders and adjusting the jacket so it sat just so.

“We need to go before I change my mind.” Barr looked incredibly nervous. He set his jaw and marched towards the prison .

Following, we entered the vast building a few paces behind. Though it was technically a prison, the area where Jorgoth was staying was more like a fancy apartment, if said apartment had sigils all over every surface.

“They are to bind the space, blocking a summoning. You cannot portal in or out of this place,” Hana explained to us while Barr rushed to Jorgoth’s side to have a hushed conversation.

I witnessed the look of stunned delight on Jorgoth’s face as I caught Barr telling him about the adoption. Then there was love, mixed with sorrow, as Barr got to one knee and asked Jorgoth to bond with him.

“I’m sorry, Barr. I can’t.” The water elemental began to cry.

Barr got off his knees to hug Jorgoth. “Why, Jory? Don’t you want to be mated to me?”

“It’s not that. I do. Just not to get me out of here. To be royal. I want to be the one you choose. You’ve stuck by me for months, shown me true love. I just want it to be real.” Now the demon really was crying.

“But it is real! Having this, a way of getting you out, gave me the courage to finally ask.”

“You swear it? This is what you want?”

“I do! You and me forever. Jorgoth, I claim you as my mate, for now and always. You and I are one soul. ”

“Oh, you aren’t even waiting! Conchobar, I claim you as my mate, for now and always. You and I are one soul.”

They gasped as they each received their mating marks over their hearts. Damon had explained the process to me once. Since he didn’t have horns, he had his crown mark above his mating mark, a fairly new addition. Damon and Mori had formally bonded after the events at Halloween. They already had a fledgling bond, this just marked them as taken to everyone else.

Soon, Jorgoth wore a matching crown mark to the one on Barr’s horn.

“Now, get out of here, you two. Daddy Mori has booked the honeymoon suite at the Djalling Grande for you,” Damon said with a proud look. To the rest of us he added, “it’s time for us to celebrate!”

We all had to walk into the main part of the city where there were numerous clubs, bars, and restaurants. Along the way, demons of all kinds stopped to greet Mori and his parents.

“Count me in!” they said, after saying their hellos.

Oak and I shared a look, confused .

At the restaurant, Mori announced his new son’s mating to cheers among the other patrons. The owner brought us out a large pitcher of an amazing tasting cocktail and winked at Damon.

“I’m in! Send out the call and we will follow you.”

“Okay, you’re going to have to explain that,” I said once the demon had left the table.

Damon poured me a drink, then one for Oak. “You’re going to need this. Take a sip and I’ll explain.”

The drink had an indescribable flavor. There was the kick of rum, then the taste of apples, but there was something else to it. All I knew was, I liked it.

Our companions all waited until we’d taken the edge off the tension with our drinks.

“You know?” I asked Parker.

“He’s my brother, of course I know all his schemes. I happen to approve of this one and so will you once he cuts the crap and explains.”

Damon gave a dramatic sigh. “When we came to petition the royal court to adopt Barr with the privilege of him becoming a royal, we explained why we wanted the protection that would bring. We also asked for Barr’s chosen mate to be given the same thing. The kings and queens love chosen mates. Fated are, of course, special. They are given by fate after all. They just like when their demonkin are so in love they choose to have that bond. It’s so hard to break it.”

“Tangent, Damon. Get off it.” Parker rolled his eyes.

“The court became stuck on the idea of protection and what Basil plans to do to demons should he win back control of the coven. He won’t just stop at Northarbor. It’s clear he wants more power than this corner of the world can give him, yet our grimoire is one of, if not the most, powerful in the US.”

“So the royals are worried.”

“No,” Mori said, “they’re angry. For centuries we have been subjected to the curse of the contract. Owned by masters who use and abuse us.” Mori looked at Toth. Both of them had suffered under a witch contract.

“Yet,” he continued, “they understand the majority of witches hate the power they hold over us. We would like to find a way to break the curse, something we can only do if we work together in harmony.”

“Which Basil doesn’t want. He wants to use you.” Oak stirred his drink. “So we have a common enemy.”

“Yes, which is why every willing royal demon will be there for the final confrontation with Basil and his ilk. When you call for it, help will come.”