Sebastian (Bowen Boys, #5)(39)

“We will find you one.” Nodding, the men helped him to stand and then walk down the hallway to his room. Bill helped him try to get onto his bed, but Wanera hurt so badly that he ended up in a chair to rest.

“I can’t do this,” he told Bill after the others left. “I don’t want to be here anymore. And I don’t want a bride that I don’t know. She’ll hate it here. She’ll die.”

“What will you do, my lord? There is very little left that you can do but to do as she wishes.” Wanera nodded. “If I can find you a suitable being, would that help?”

“No. I need a faerie. She would be the only being that could survive me. I need someone strong so that our coupling doesn’t kill her.” He closed his eyes, depressed. “I wish I could go and live with the humans. I know now that they aren’t nearly as bad as we are taught they are.”

Wanera sat there for several minutes before he heard Bill and some others return. They helped him get to his bed, saying he’d be more comfortable. Some of the others had his television from the sitting room with them. With him lying against the headboard of his bed, they turned it on and then settled around the room to watch it with him. Soon someone shouted “popcorn” and they began putting cupfuls of it in a bowl and heating it with their breath. There was enough popcorn in his carpet alone to feed a great army.

By the time they were all asleep, Wanera had made a decision. He was going to save as many of them as he could, starting with Bill. He closed his eyes again as the television went black, and tried to think how one got beings like his to a safe place.

~~~

The knock at the door startled Ama. Sebastian had left an hour ago and she was getting dressed to go and have a day with Monica and the other women of the household. When she bid the cook to come in, she was worried at once something had happened.

“Oh no, miss, I’m fine. Right as rain, but there’s a…well, miss I’m not sure what he is. He said to tell you he comes in peace. I don’t rightly know what he means by that, but he held up his four fingers in a sign that I don’t understand.”

After making sure the cook was all right, she went to the kitchen where…well, she wasn’t sure what he was either.

“Hello.” The little man jumped down off the chair and lay on the floor. She wasn’t sure what to do, so she asked him to stand. He was making her nervous. She heard a car pull into the drive just as she got him to stand.

“I’m Bill.” He grinned at her. “You’re much prettier than a white blip on the computer. And a whole lot bigger, too.”

“Thank you, I think. Why don’t you have a seat and tell me what you need from me?” He nodded and climbed up onto the seat. She wanted to just pick him up and put him there like she’d seen Khan do with his children, but felt that it would more than likely hurt his feelings. She realized then that he was in a suit. A tiny little three-piece suit.

“My master is in grave trouble.” She nodded and sat down. “I have come to ask you for your help in this matter before he’s killed.”

The door to the kitchen opened and Corrine and Monica walked in. They must have been forewarned about the little man, because neither of them seemed too surprised to see him. She introduced him to them.

“He was just telling me that his master needs my help. Do you mind?” Corrine started to say something, but she only closed her mouth and shook her head. Monica smiled and sat down across from her.

“The Lady Darkness has said that he needs a bride within the month, and if he does not have one, she will peel his skin from him an inch at a time. I do believe she will do this. She was most upset with him when she left.” The little man looked around the room. “Would it be possible to have a cup of something hot? It is very chilly in here.”

A shiver of something akin to fear rolled over her. “Chilly? I think it’s about seventy in here. Just how hot do you like it?” He didn’t answer but nodded when she asked him if he wanted hot tea.

“You’re a demon servant, aren’t you? A minion?” Ama nearly dropped the cup she’d just taken from the cabinet when Corrine asked him. “I’ve seen your kind in books. You serve a demon or a lesser demon.”

“I do, mistress. I am servant to Lord Wanera.” He took the tea bag from her as she stood with it, nearly to the table. “But I believe he is becoming my friend as well.”

“Does he know that you’re here?” Monica looked at her, then took the tea kettle away from her and sat in the chair. Ama was still trying to absorb the fact that the man who wanted to breed with her had sent one of his minions.

“No, he does not.” The little man stared at her, then looked away. “He does not want you to come to the underworld, my lady. He has had a change of heart.”

“Why?” He looked at her strangely. “What’s changed his heart? A few days ago he came to my mate’s place of business and offered to buy me from him. What would have made him not want me now?”

“The Lady Darkness. She came to visit him yesterday and beat him badly. And when she gave him that order to find a bride, he said that he would rather live with the humans than to subject one to live as he does. She has given him one month. If he has no one, she will kill him.” He took the cup from Monica and smiled at her. “I have never had hot tea before. Is it good?”