The priests arrived with the antidote to the Veritas poison an hour afterward. They handed the bottle to Freckles and told him to carry it with him for as long as he carried his throwing daggers. Freckles had gotten rid of his daggers, but Veritas antidote wasn’t something one could happen about in any medicinal shop. He took the vial more than happy. Another scare like this one wasn’t on his to-do list.

The young blond priest who had been tending to Baal was the one that told me they had been expecting me. They dreaded the day I’d come but knew well that it had to happen. The young man’s name was Themis and he told me where in the temple they kept my sword. I wasn’t going anywhere near it yet, not until Baal woke up and I knew he was better. Freckles had decided not to leave either. I didn’t see it as a problem as long as he didn’t try to force Baal to go with him. The kid, despite having made the dumbest mistake by choosing Baal’s sister, remained loyal and really cared for Baal’s well-being. He and I spent the next set of hours by Baal’s bedside, we didn’t speak much mostly because Freckles fell asleep after a while. To catch up to us he must’ve ridden nonstop in the middle of a snowstorm. He might be Silver Clansmen but that didn’t mean he ran on an infinite charge, much less after that amount of strain.

The night passed by quietly, the storm that had made so much racket outside had subsided. Our freckled friend remained asleep with his back against the bed while I sat taking care of my weapon.

“Are you dealing with stress by sharpening your sword?” Baal spoke up and I turned to see him.

He was laying on his side, wrapped up in a blanket as he stared at me with bright purple eyes. He was smiling, his plump lips seeming very inviting.

“I can think of better ways to relieve stress.”

“Thank the Goddess you’re alright and as horny as ever…” I grimaced and placed my hand over his pink hair.

Petting his head earned me a cute purr of his part. He was so cute, so damn adorable…

“Your best friend is here, if you haven’t noticed. If you want to get frisky with me we should let him wake up first.”

“…so you’re not angry at him anymore?”

“Are you? You seemed very comfortable with the idea of killing him the other day in your mini rage attack.”

“Even if I wanted to I could never stay mad at him. Naomi bewitched him so she could get to me. I was dumb enough to think Sasha would be immune to her charms.” Baal laughed sarcastically, his purple eyes seeming sad. “She doesn’t like me very much. My parents said I am to inherit the throne, despite not being the first born. Naomi just… wouldn’t hear about it.”

“Your sister sounds like a crazy bitch… she shouldn’t have chased you out of your birthplace.”

“I know, but she threatened to kill Sasha and I didn’t want the crown. Renouncing to everything I was sounded like the best way to keep my family safe.” Baal sighed and sat up on the bed. How strong was his sister that someone like him was forced to run away?

My partner looked at Freckles with a sweet gaze, an odd sensation coiling up in the pit of my stomach. It shook off all other thoughts going on in my head.

“I felt that, there’s no need to be jealous. I like you and only you, Luke.”

His purple eyes glistened as he looked at me, I caught myself biting my lower lip and feeling my cheeks grow hot. Baal tried to choke down some giggles but failed, he was amused by the fact that I was clearly embarrassed. When was the last time anyone made me jealous?

“Hey, five-thousand-year-old Ancient men can have dark mortal feelings too, you know?”

Baal got off the bed, took my sword away and sat on my lap. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pressed his forehead against mine.

“Thank you… I really gave you both a scare didn’t I?”

“Just a little, you made me cry. Do you realize you made an Ancient cry?”

“It’s not something I want to do again, so… didn’t you say you were really turned on right before we rode here?” His lips lingered close to mine, his warm breath against them. “I almost died… don’t you want to play ‘get well’ charades with me?”

“Oh trust me I do, but not with Freckles around.”

Baal pecked me on the lips and put up a sad puppy face.

“I’ll wake him up then?”

“Don’t be silly, he’s sleeping like a log.”

Baal got off my lap with a cocky smile before he went over to Sasha and pushed him sideways with his foot. Freckles hit the ground and grunted a little before he remained still. Baal was actually estranged his evil plan hadn’t worked out and proceeded to crouch down beside his friend to poke him on the cheek. The redhead was fast asleep and nothing would wake him up.

“Are you kidding me? It’s not like we’re going to fuck or anything. Goddesses!”

“Well, I don’t know… having you almost die did stir some regrets about my decision to hold off on sex. Might be a good idea to consummate our partnership now, you know?”

Baal looked at me with huge eyes and red cheeks. He was excited, he was all jittery through our Bond.

“In that case, I think the universe doesn’t want me to have hot steamy sex with you.”

“Hey, I’ll make it up to you.” I stood up from the chair and helped Baal put Freckles in bed. “Hmmm, now that I think about it, your race explains why you decided to be a courtesan.”

My mother used to tell me stories about The Silver Clan when I was little, about how they were siblings to Incubi and Succubi. Life energy circled in them naturally but got pent up to unbearable levels. There were many ways to counteract this, the easiest most efficient way was via intercourse. She didn’t exactly say it like that, but it was heavily implied. I also found out about it later, when I actually dated a few Silver girls.

One curious tale mom would talk about was how Silver Clansmen were born to be our mates as we became more powerful. Old tales from my people stated Silver Clansmen had the power to render a pure Ancient mortal, if and only if, love blossomed between them. I wasn’t sure how it worked, but I grew up to believe it was a silly myth. I’d never seen it happen before I believed them extinct anyhow.

“…It’s painful when I don’t release frequently.” Baal mumbled embarrassed before he crossed his arms. “Meditation isn’t my kind of thing… did you fetch that thing we came here for?”

“Not yet. I’ll show you where it is, not that we can just grab it and leave.” I took hold of one of our bags, which one of the priests had brought us, and gave Baal his top. “I made it so the only way to reach it is to prove myself worthy of having it again.”

“You’re one paranoid Ancient,” Baal replied having gotten his pretty, milky-skinned chest covered.

He took my hand and pulled me out of the room. Surprised to see the mountain valley now that the snowstorm had cleared up, he stuck his head out the gap. Laughing merrily, he turned to me with red cheeks. It was cold outside and the invisible mana shield kept it that way. I cupped his face in my hands and he made a cute duck face. I squished his cheeks a little before I took his hand again to walk him down the corridor in the direction Themis had pointed out to me. Baal looked around the blue stone passages of the temple with curiosity like a kid in a candy store. I sensed it through our Bond, how happy he was to be alive. What would my Princess do in a situation like this to tease her angel? Oh, right!

I reached for our Bond, it was still a little strange to have it be there. I pictured myself holding a string tied to Baal before I softly pulled on it. I tapped our Bond this way, Baal freezing on his spot before moaning really loudly. I saw him shiver from head to toe before he put a hand over his mouth.

“That works.” I laughed out merrily before Baal nudged me on the shoulder a little more than pissed off. “That’s cute…”

“Yeah, well, I’ll get you back.” He replied embarrassed.

“I sure hope so.” I sing sang while Baal held onto my arm attempting to cover his face.

The place my sword was cleverly stored wasn’t easy to reach. I had made sure of that myself. Before I even dreamed of seeing Lucifer, there was a series of trials I had to endure. None of them promised my safe return, not that I should come out at all were I unworthy of holding my weapon again. The time I set off for the trials drew itself near and I wasn’t quite sure how Baal would take it. In the end, no matter how impossible the trials made themselves be for me, I had to come back to him.