Chapter 499: Hold on

For the first time in awhile, Mason truly slept for several hours straight. He even woke with a feeling of…satisfaction. The fire was reduced to smoke, the morning light peaking through a few clouds, Demi still asleep and in his arms.

For a little while he just stared at her. She was unlike any woman he’d ever been with—partially just how she looked, which was some exotic blend of her Asian father and Native mother—but mostly how she thought. How she felt about things. Which, for the first time with any woman, he was actually able to understand.

He had something similar with other girls, of course, especially Haley. But there was still a distance there he couldn’t cross. A part of herself she kept hidden. He respected it and loved her anyway. But Demi was different. Transparent (willingly or not). And despite hardly knowing her, he felt like he already had a real sense of who she was.

The term ‘old soul’ probably worked. She didn’t have the same sense of dramatic urgency as everyone else. It was like she just looked at things as little blips, as temporary things you couldn’t tell as good or bad and just had to wait to find out. It made her patient in a way Mason could hardly comprehend.

He had a lot he could maybe learn from Demi, and he felt like just having her in his life would make it…better. Make him better. But despite having a magic-scent-based window into her soul, he wasn’t sure if she felt the same. He knew he came with…complications.

The word brought a small storm of thoughts whirling back, and he almost groaned. He had to decide what to do, and how to do it.

He kicked his renewed and unhelpful libido back down where it belonged, and extracted himself from the furs. If he wanted Demi to think her life would be better with him in it, he figured he’d better make sure it was true.

He went out gathering for a few edible plants and shrubs to mix with the meat. He even managed to steal a few stupid-bird eggs (though since he kept finding stupid-birds in every climate, he decided they weren’t so stupid after all).

He was no cook by any stretch, but he did at least have the few things (mostly salt and black pepper) that Haley always put in his bag. He gathered up another batch of kindling and a few pieces of dead tree, then re-started the fire.

Demi slept like the dead, which had Mason occasionally glance at her and grin. She’d had a busy night, that was for sure. He woke her up several times, always very willing but increasingly like the mindless sex zombie his women became. It still filled his mind with images and moments he had to banish to keep working.

Using up maybe an hour of light, Mason had everything he needed—the pail sizzling like a pan with his impromptu breakfast, the camp half packed. It was an absurd pace to have gathered it all and would have made his previous self giddy with amazement. But when you moved three times normal speed and didn’t get tired, it felt pretty doable.

Demi finally groaned and stretched, brown eyes blinking open to the fire, then the sunlight. She met Mason’s gaze and grinned, and he matched it as a little thrill shot up his spine.

“Morning. There’s breakfast, but no coffee. I should really start packing that when I go out.”

“I prefer tea.” Demi groaned as she stretched some more, then gave him a hard to read look.

“You’re too far away to smell,” he said, still stirring. “I don’t know what you’re thinking.”

Demi’s eyes glowed, and a far more intense blast of her power drifted across the small space between them and hit him in a wave. He shivered as naked images flashed through his mind—mostly ending in intense stared as Demi looked into his eyes.

He stood and walked to her, taking her outstretched hand before kneeling down to give her a kiss.

“Last night was…” she sighed.

“World changing? Earth shattering?”

She rolled her eyes but lost the battle against her grin.

“I was going to say…great.”

“That’s not what your magic said.”

Demi rolled over to hide, and Mason pushed up behind her, wrapping her in his arms and the furs. He felt like he’d found a diamond in the rough. With Demi’s looks and body she should have been on some runway somewhere. Or married to some rich man who spoiled her.

Instead she’d hidden from civilization, away from everyone and everything in the ‘outside world’, even before. Until Mason came along. It was like she’d been saved just for him.

“This is intolerable,” she said. “A woman’s supposed to have some secrets from a man.”

“And a man’s supposed to be able to lie to a woman. Let’s call it even.”

Demi grinned and sniffed him, which only made her smile even more.

“You’re thinking very possessive thoughts. I’m not some piece of fresh territory, you know, warlike white man.”

Mason snorted and held her, doing his best not to grope.

“Don’t even think about it,” she said, cuddling into him. “I’m not sure I can walk after last night. You might have to carry me.”

It wouldn’t be the first time, he thought, but managed not to say, wondering if she basically heard it anyway. Then he smelled burning, and jumped up to rush to his pail.

“Stop distracting me. Breakfast is served. I’d invent some fancy French name for it but I don’t know any. Which I really should.” He snapped his mouth shut as he thought about Haley, feeling very awkward in the sudden pause. Demi raised an eyebrow.

“Because your wife is French and a great cook?”

“She’s…Canadian,” he said after a delay and maybe a blush, because he had no idea what to say and this just eventually popped out.

“I know you’re married,” Demi said, standing and letting the fur blanket fall. “It’s OK. So stop worrying.” She was completely naked, and Mason’s eyes roamed before he had the good sense to stop them.

“You’re gonna want to get dressed quickly,” he said, feeling his body already start to react. Demi took the tone seriously. She dropped and scrambled for clothes, getting herself covered before tip toeing towards the fire.

“Is it safe now?” She grinned. “I’m starving, actually.”

“Safe enough.”

She sat beside him, and he went to get her something, but realized his plan to actually extract the food from the pail was maybe not that thought out. He’d found a decent spoon-stick but it’s not like he had plates. He could have handed it to her, but saying ‘ok go wild’ and having her eat out of a bucket by herself wasn’t really with the spirit of improving her life.

He reached in and scooped a few things, the heat painful but not enough to matter anymore.

“Maybe not that hygienic,” he said, holding his hand out like a plate. “But it’ll have to do.”

Demi grinned and picked off a bit to try it. Her eyes popped open and she took a sizable chunk, blowing and waving at her face as soon as it touched her mouth. Mason spun and found his water, letting her take a big sip.

“It’s really good,” she said around a mouthful. “But it’s hot. How are you holding that?” She rolled her eyes and gestured as if to say ‘right, it’s you’. He grinned and waited, and she took a few more bites before lowering down and taking it right off his hand with her mouth, sucking a finger on the way out.

She grinned as he stared, lust waking back up with a hopeful surge.

“Sorry,” she said, giggling like she knew what she was doing. “I’m not usually like this. You make me want to tease you. I think because it’s so easy.”

“It won’t be easy if it works,” he said, leaning towards her and putting his other hand on her thigh.

“OK OK, I’m sorry.” Demi chewed and turned as he moved in for a kiss, lips brushing her neck instead. He could feel her attraction, her desire to say ‘to hell with it’ and start back up again. “I was serious before,” she said. “I think my insides are bruised. In like…the best possible way. But I need a day. Maybe two days.”

Mason grinned and pulled back, not unhappy with the excuse. Apparently she didn’t have as much player stamina as he’d hoped, but he supposed she was a ‘caster’ type. They sat in comfortable silence for a bit as they both ate, finishing every scrap.

Demi gave him a peck on the cheek and a beautiful smile, and he decided he’d make her breakfast many more times. Or so he hoped.

But the sun was an hour higher and they needed to move. He took a deep breath and put the beautiful break from all his problems away. It was time to get back to work.

“We have a decision to make,” he said. Demi frowned.

“I told you I don’t care about the women. I mean I don’t know what I’m saying, exactly, because I don’t know what it’s like where you live, or…”

“Not that.” Mason smiled. “Either I take you to Nassau. Or I take you to the fey. Or try, at least. There’s a…” he shrugged, still feeling stupid saying some of these things out loud, “a satyr king I need to talk to. He knows about the seed.”

Or so says my talking, immortal Stag, he kept to himself.

“Is it risky?”

Mason shrugged, thinking yes, but everything in this world was risky.

“I’ll do it,” she said, “I mean…I’d like to try. To come with you. To help you. I’ve never been to the fey, but I…know about it? I’ve heard about it. Dickhead is a surprisingly well traveled mushroom. Or he’s got some kind of species-wide knowledge. It’s hard to explain.”

Mason laughed, not at all sure this was wise. But he also didn’t want to stop being around Demi, and he definitely needed to find out about this seed. He felt the chances of the civilians in Nassau being able to identify it were…low. Extremely low. This was some kind of ancient artifact made by gods. It wasn’t just some random item.

On the other hand, bringing the seed into the fey had seemed to gather a lot of attention. On the…third hand? Mason wasn’t exactly easy to fuck with anymore. He had his Stag and his knowledge of the fey. He also had Cerebus—his now at least partly free patron fey-murderer, who hacked an arm off the last satyr who fucked with him.

It seemed possible this seed could change the game in some fundamental way—to be used either against Jeong and the east, or the demonic invaders. Mason hoped for the latter. But first he needed to learn what it could do, and how to use it. And he wasn’t afraid of the fey.

“Alright,” he said, standing and holding out a hand for Demi. She took it and looked into his eyes, and he was definitely feeling/smelling more interest in just crawling back into the furs…

“Stop that,” he said, “we have things to do.”

“Sorry.” Demi grinned, not looking at all sorry. “I just haven’t been…lusted after before, you know? It’s kind of…intoxicating.”

Mason could empathize with that. He held onto to Demi’s hand and walked her through the camp, back down towards the sea. He stepped a bare foot into the water and lifted her, mostly just to give her a thrill.

“I don’t know if this is gonna work,” he said. “But if it does, once we’re in the fey, don’t let go of me, and don’t go anywhere without me. If we get separated, I’ll find you. Ready to try?”

“Um, yes? Do I need to do anything?”

“No,” Mason said, activating Wyrdwalk and feeling what he now knew as planar energy swirling around him. “Just hold on.”