Garden of Serpents (The Demon Queen Trials #3)(78)

We’d moved into a new palace—larger than Orion’s cottage, but smaller than the Tower of Baal. A palace of golden stone, filled from top to bottom with libraries, right across from the clock tower in the Asmodean Ward.

While we had several cooks, I liked making breakfast for my two boys, Orion and Nico. Granted, I also liked it when I slept in and Orion woke me with hot coffee and fruit.

I pulled out a loaf of fresh bread and started cutting slices to toast in the oven. I’d be slathering them in butter before piling them with the anzu eggs. We hadn’t had any anzu eggs since before Nico was born, but now our son had developed a taste for scrambled eggs. An anzu was like nothing else, so I was already smiling at the thought of him tasting it for the first time.

There were only about three anzu in the Elysian Wilderness, demonic birds three times the size of condors, each one with the head of a lion. When they were hungry, they thought nothing of taking a horse or a cow for lunch. They loved to eat pigs. Demons weren’t generally on the menu, but if the anzu were hungry enough, mortals would be advised to take cover.

Anzu eggs fetched a premium when they came to market, as harvesting them was a nasty, bloody business. If a group of hunters found a nest with a clutch of eggs inside and managed to spirit them away before the mother tore them all to pieces, they could live for a year or more on the profits.

As I was popping the bread in the oven, warm magic slid over me. I turned to see Orion crossing into the kitchen, shirtless, his silver hair ruffled. Even now, every time I looked at him, my breath caught.

His gaze swept down my body, and I heard his appreciative growl. “You’re wearing my favorite silky green robe. Are you trying to tempt me?”

I rested a hand on my bump and felt the thump thump of little hands as the baby made his presence known. “I can barely move. I’m not trying to tempt anyone.”

He quirked an eyebrow at the bright red eggshells. “Where did you get the anzu egg?”

“A gift from the Duchess of the Luciferian Ward herself, also known as Lydia.”

Orion ran a hand through his hair. “Which means she wants something from us for the next meeting of the Council.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Apart from extra financing for Shalem Square, she’s always wanted you.”

“Of course.” He slipped the green robe off my shoulder and started covering my bared skin in kisses. Heat tingled along every point of contact. “But she can’t have me. Not for all the anzu eggs in the world.”

I cupped my hand around the back of his neck. “Let me make breakfast, love, before Nico wakes up starving.” The little guy didn’t handle hunger well.

Orion checked his watch and frowned. “He’s never slept until nine.”

My heart started to beat faster. Was it nine already? Nico was normally up at seven or earlier. I supposed I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

I heard the distant sound of Orion’s weight creaking on the stairs as I cracked another egg and added a dollop of cream to the mixture.

“Rowan!” Orion’s voice pierced the silence, booming through the palace and echoing off the stone stairwell. “Where is Nico?”

I froze, and my heart slammed into my ribs.

As fast as my pregnant body would take me, I ran up the sweeping stone stairs into Nico’s room. Orion stood in the center, clutching our boy’s crimson blanket.

But Nico wasn’t in the room.

All the air left my lungs. This shouldn’t be a big deal. He was four and probably hiding somewhere. But Orion and I felt the same thing—the terrifying absence of Nico. We couldn’t feel his magic now or hear his little heartbeat.

“Nico?” I shouted, my eyes scanning Nico’s bed, bookshelf, and pile of toys.

Blue-uniformed soldiers began rushing to hall, their bodies tense, awaiting orders.

Orion’s eyes darkened to night. “I can’t sense him anywhere.”

This palace exterior was protected with the most powerful wards and a horde of demon soldiers. We had layers of magical protection as well as the old-fashioned brute force of hellhounds patrolling the thorny gardens around it. If an intruder had come in, the hellhounds would have let us know.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. Orion and I shared a bond with Nicodemus that allowed us to always monitor his whereabouts psychically, no matter where he was.

I gasped for air. Right now, I felt nothing.

Orion raked a hand thorough his hair. “Search the house,” he barked at the soldiers. Then, more quietly, he said, “He’s probably in a closet or something.”

Like all parents, we had been eager for our son to start walking. And like all parents, once he did, we wished he would stop. He wanted to climb everything, to know what was behind every locked door, in every cabinet and drawer. His curiosity and energy were boundless.

And now he was missing.

“I’m going to check the grounds outside,” Orion said.

I went from room to room carrying Nico’s blanket, calling his name, then quietly listening for a reply. Our soldiers were searching now, too, tearing the place apart piece by piece.

Silence met our calls, but I couldn’t believe he was gone—it just wasn’t possible. I was furious at someone, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint who it was. The soldiers who should be patrolling this place? Nico?

Myself, I thought.