Damon and Talia walked out of Evanora's office in silence.
Subconsciously, Talia touched the necklace that was under her t-shirt. Would Evanora know something about it?
Everything would be so much easier if they could have an open conversation, but Talia couldn't trust the witch. Was there even any point in talking?
'You can let me force my way into her mind', Liseli barked, irritated that Talia was being friendly with people who didn't return the sentiment.
'Let's not go crazy, Liseli', Talia responded. 'We need to be reasonable. Is there a point in making a move against the high priestess of witches? Every witch here will become our enemy and what about Yasmin, Cornelia, and Amelia? Besides, this was not a total waste.'
'It was not?'
'Of course, not', Talia said with confidence. 'We got information to start working on portals, Yasmin found out about her father, and we know that Evanora is not aware of the Guardians.'
'That's if we assume that she is not a lying hag.'
Talia rolled her eyes. 'I believe that what she said was the truth.'
'But you can't measure how much she omitted.'
Talia had to agree with this.
"Kitten?", Damon called after assuring that there was no one else in the visible range. "How long are we going to stay here?"
Talia understood his discomfort. He was protective of her, just how she was protective of him. "Let's help Yasmin find clues about her father."
Damon grimaced. "Do we need to do it?"
"It's obvious that Yasmin doesn't trust Evanora with this task." And it was normal because Evanora was keeping this information to herself for a long time. "I know there are many other witches here, but they are all loyal to Evanora. We are Yasmin's family now."
"Family?"
"With Axel being my cousin, we are a family.", Talia reminded him. "Besides, family is not defined by blood relationships. The family is people who will have your back when needed, and right now, Yasmin needs us. Can we be her family?"
Damon wanted to say how having her as his family was enough, but he knew that Talia dreamed of a world where everyone will get along. He hated the idea of sharing Talia with anyone, but he consoled himself with the fact that he was her most favorite person. There was the mate bond, and she loved him unconditionally, and that was enough. It had to be.
With this, Damon confirmed that he can't avoid the outing to find what happened to Yasmin's father. He had no intention of letting Talia go without him, so he decided to do his best to find clues so they can leave this realm as soon as possible.
"One condition.", Damon said.
"Anything.", Talia was quick to say.
Damon chuckled. "Why are you rushing into this? What if I want something you won't like?"
Talia smiled at him smugly. "As my mate, you will never want something I won't like."
Damon had to agree with this. His instinct was to keep her safe and happy.
"Well, what is it?", Talia asked.
"When we return to the Midnight Guardians pack, can we spend more time in the cave?"
Talia's eyes flashed in approval. He didn't need to say which cave because there was only one. "Absolutely."
"Can we spend the rest of our vacation there?"
"The whole vacation?" That could be weeks! But... was there anything wrong with being in a cave with Damon? It actually sounded romantic. "Let's talk about it when we get there."
…
Damon waited to reach the room with Talia before asking, "Kitten, why did you use your deal with Evanora for information? Why not for opening the portal?"
Talia smiled slyly. "Evanora was avoiding to talk about it. If she didn't want to talk, I doubted she would create one. It's obvious that creating a portal is not simple, otherwise, they would be everywhere. Also, if Evanora knew how to make one, they wouldn't be stuck in this realm for centuries. That's why I thought that if I used the deal to ask for a portal, at most I could ask her to try and that would leave her with a lot of ways to wiggle out of it."
Damon thought how it made sense, but… "Did you give up on creating a portal?" No, that didn't make sense. If she gave up, she wouldn't use the deal to get information. "How will we create portals now?"
"We won't, but there are witches in the human realm who will."
Damon needed a moment for this to sink in. "You are talking about Cornelia and Amelia."
Talia's eyes flashed in approval. Her mate was smart. "Evanora was not motivated to create portals, but Cornelia and Amelia will be. Now that they are mated to guys from the human realm, they will wish for a quick way to visit their sisters. And let's not forget that Yasmin is there also. We will leave it to Yasmin to get them excited about the idea of creating a portal."
"But Cornelia will go to the Red Moon pack. How will they meet without Alpha Edward noticing?"
Damon's points were valid. However, Talia had a solution. "Cornelia can come to the Dark Howlers pack with one quick spell. Actually, that will be safer for her. We all know that Cornelia won't have it easy if Alpha Edward finds out about her existence. James will need to hide her as his mate and without a wolf, she will be treated worse than an Omega."
Damon understood where this was going. "You think that James will agree to hide Cornelia in the Dark Howlers pack while he does his daily routine to trick his father."
Talia loved that they were continuing on the same wavelength to the point on finishing each other's thoughts. It was fantastic! "James spends his days studying and training." Talia lived there and she was aware of his schedule. "While James is busy, Cornelia can be in the Dark Howlers pack. She can work with Amelia on a portal or discuss rituals with Gideon or anything other than hiding in the Red Moon pack. When James finishes his duties, he can give her a call and she can teleport there."
"You got it all figured out.", Damon said dotingly.
Talia was proud of herself. "The only thing we need to do is to wait for James to ask us for this favor. If he doesn't, we can throw some hints to guide him in that direction. You will pretend that it's difficult so that he appreciates it more when you agree."
Damon pinched the tip of her nose. "I am happy that you learned about subtle ways to maximize your gains."
Talia rubbed her nose with her palm. Why did he pinch her? But she probably deserved it. The last time when Damon delayed agreeing to James' request, Talia pinched his thigh under the table harshly, thinking that he was torturing the boy.
"Of course, I learned.", Talia said smugly. "I am smart."
"And you have the best teacher.", Damon added shamelessly.
She wanted to bicker with him, but she couldn't, because he was right. "I do. You are the best."
Damon grinned cockily. Talia praising him will never get old.
