Chapter 6
Bouncing with each of the demon’s long strides, Raiya grew dizzy. Her head throbbed. She counted her breaths, trying to keep them even.
She peered up at him surreptitiously, trying to guess his plans, but she quickly looked away when his luminous gaze lowered to meet hers. She hugged herself, having nothing better to do with her body in this awkwardly intimate position.
The demon was scanning as he walked, taking in the miles of waving grass and distant mountains. He studied the land in each direction and then he studied the sky and the stars as if all of it was new to him.
He couldn’t have known where he was going. Nirlan and Eunaios had just recently summoned him from the hells. Did he know anything at all about the mortal plane, let alone Heilune? Had he ever even been here before?
She supposed he would do what all demons did: wander the land searching for mortals to sate his hunger for death and destruction. It wasn’t hard to guess what part she might play in his plans. He had brought her along as a snack, or a toy to absorb emotional energy from. But how long would that last before he grew bored of her, or before he simply lost control of his rage and killed her like he had the others?
It occurred to her that she was still carrying her enchanted baton in her belt. In all the commotion, she’d forgotten about it. Her hand slowly curled around the handle at her waist, and she felt a prickle of magic as it reacted to her touch, ready to be activated.
The demon glanced down at her sharply. Somehow, he’d sensed the magic. Fear rushed through her, and she quickly let go of the baton. It wasn’t powerful enough to keep him down for long, anyway. If she shocked him, he would recover and chase her down again.
The night was deathly quiet. But after a while, Raiya heard the sound of running water. The demon came to a stop beside a creek. He lowered her to the ground, setting her on her feet. Then, ignoring her, he waded into the water and dipped his hands in. He splashed water on his face and over his body, scrubbing away the blood and ink.
Raiya’s heart was pounding again, but something about watching him bathe was reassuring. Bathing was a thing that reasonable, sane creatures did, not monsters, right?
When she spoke, her voice was quiet and shaky. “What is your name?”
He looked up, water dripping from his face, and gave her a rather flat, disinterested stare before continuing his washing.
“Do you have one?” she asked.
This time, she thought his expression was one of annoyance. “All sapient beings have names.”
Not only could he speak, but he had quite the vocabulary for a monster. Was this how all demons spoke?
“I am Raiya,” she said. She had never felt so foolish introducing herself.
The demon brushed the water from his face. Rivulets ran from the sopping ink-spill of hair that clung to his neck. He stared at her for a long time, and she had the feeling she was being judged… or sentenced.
He waded toward her.
She forced herself to stand still as he approached. He seemed to grow larger with every step, and her fear welled up as if drawn by a pump. He put one hand around her throat—not tightly enough to hurt her, but enough to terrify her further—and took her wrist with the other when she started to resist. He pulled her down to the cold ground and knelt above her. His breath was dry and hot as desert wind as he inhaled her.
“Wait,” she gasped, pushing against his chest.
He laid his forearm over her chest to hold her down as his other hand dug into her hair, his fingers coming just short of causing pain as they pulled through the tangled strands. As he moved his face toward hers, she quickly turned hers away. She braced for him to put his mouth on her, to kiss her or bite her or tear her clothes off, but he just breathed her in, over and over, his eyes heavy-lidded. His lips kept coming close to her skin, but they never quite touched. His nose brushed against her occasionally, but it felt like an accident whenever it did. It was as if he longed to taste her, but held back for reasons she couldn’t guess.
Raiya’s panic ebbed. Fear. He wanted her fear. Nothing else. For the moment.
As her fear dissipated, the demon’s movements slowed, and after a moment, he pulled back to look at her. His eyes were blazing like otherworldly suns, but now that she was not brimming with terror, his hunger seemed to wane.
“Are you quite finished?” Raiya asked quietly.
The demon tilted his head a little.
It was foolish to be snide. Nirlan always said her tongue was too sharp for her own good. But if the demon cared about her attitude, he didn’t show it. He studied her for a long moment, as if she was as strange to him as he was to her.
And then he released her. He trudged to a nearby rock, where he sat down, looking oddly tired. Raiya sat up and straightened her hair. The ground had made her back damp, and now that the demon’s unnaturally hot skin wasn’t smothering her, she shivered with cold.
He was still watching her. But he did not seem about to devour her, nor pick her up again. Still trembling slightly with the adrenaline of the encounter, she opened her small pack. The demon’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, but he didn’t move to stop her.
She pulled out a threadbare blanket the color of slate and threw it around her shoulders. It was insufficient for Uulantaava nights, but it was all she’d been able to fit in the small bag. Also inside the satchel was a little money and, most importantly, her enchanting stylus and her old journal filled with rune translations and spells. Touching the soft leather cover of the book and the smooth steel of the stylus made her feel a strange combination of nostalgia and guilt. She closed the satchel without opening the book.
The demon had stopped looking at her. He seemed to be thinking.
“How often do you have to do that—feed?” She didn’t know what else to call it.
The demon’s eyes slowly shifted to her again. “I am always hungry,” he said. “And your smell is enticing.”
A chill went up her spine.
“Do you plan to return to the hells now?” she asked.
“No.”
It was what she’d expected. If she’d been summoned and trapped on another plane, she would want to find a way home, but demons were different. Their desires and motives were inscrutable to mortals.
She took a breath. “Are you… going to kill me?”
“No.”
The answer came surprisingly quick. It stunned her into silence. He could be lying, of course. He probably was. On the other hand, he’d given her no reason to doubt him so far.
“Why?” she asked.
He didn’t answer.
“Should I consider myself your prisoner?” she asked.
He thought before answering. “Yes,” he decided.
Her heart sank. “What will you do now?” She took a slow step toward him. To her surprise, he stood up abruptly. She flinched.
“I know you have a weapon,” he said. “You should not attempt to use it.” Every time he spoke, it was in the same calm, matter-of-fact tone. His words sounded like a threat, but there was little about his voice that was frightening, even if the rest of him evoked terror.
He came toward her again, and she couldn’t help but feel another flash of dread. Darkness and anger still emanated from him, though it was nowhere near as strong now as it had been in the dungeon.
She watched his huge hand close around her wrist, and she forced herself not to cower as he raised her palm to his nose and inhaled deeply. Images of torn corpses and blood-spattered stone flashed through her mind.
He tilted her hand to run his thumb thoughtfully over her palm and then up her index finger, which flexed slightly under his touch. He watched her small, pale fingers curiously. Was it possible she was the first mortal he’d met? Had he ever seen anyone like her before?
As if he couldn’t stop himself any longer, he pressed his mouth to her skin. His lips parted, and she saw the tips of sharp fangs inside his mouth. She imagined those teeth biting through her flesh, severing fingers, draining her of blood.
“What if I stayed with you willingly?” she said in a rush, before she could feel the prick of his teeth.
The demon looked at her, frowning.
Raiya swallowed. He wanted to keep her around so that he could feed whenever he liked, which meant he wouldn’t kill her right away. But the problem with relying on fear for feeding was obvious. Eventually, her fear would fade. And then what tortures would he have to invent in order to inspire new fear in her?
“I’ll let you use my body,” she said, her stomach flipping. “To feed from. I won’t fight you, and I won’t try to escape.”
The demon studied her skeptically. He glanced pointedly at her trembling hand. “You will give yourself willingly?”
“Yes. With some caveats.”
He dropped her hand. “What caveats?”
“I don’t want to be physically hurt. I don’t want to be bruised or bloodied. I don’t want to be forced.” She didn’t know how demon feedings worked, exactly. She hoped he didn’t require any of those things. “But I’ll do my best to… satisfy you, otherwise.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why would you agree to this?”
“Because you can offer me something in exchange. I want you to protect me from my husband.”
“Your husband?”
“Nirlan. The one who summoned you.”
“He is your…” He seemed to struggle for a word. “…Your mate?”
She wished she could deny it. “Yes.”
That seemed to throw him off. He thought about it for a long time.
“No one willingly submits to a demon,” he said eventually. “The only mortals willing to deal with my kind are the ones like your master. Those mortals only summon us when they know they can make us submit.”
Her master. That was what he thought her relationship with Nirlan was. She almost laughed, because he wasn’t wrong.
“I don’t want to control you,” she said carefully. “I don’t want to be controlled, either. Neither of us has to submit to the other as long as we stick to our agreement. We could be equals.”
“Equals?” He said the word like it was foreign. He wasn’t saying no, but he wasn’t saying yes, either. She needed him to say yes. She needed protection from Nirlan, and from the world. She had nowhere else to turn.
Steeling herself, she tentatively reached toward him. Her fingers slid beneath the wrapping at his waist.
A wave of anger pulsed in the air. The demon grabbed her wrist. “You will touch me only when I grant you permission,” he said through bared fangs.
She shrank. “Of course. I’m sorry.”
“Do not touch,” he growled again.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I won’t do it again.”
He released her, and she took a few steps back. The night seemed to be growing colder by the minute. She shivered.
The demon’s anger seemed to cool. “You want an alliance,” he said.
“Yes.”
“You are wise to make this offer.”
“Um… Thank you.”
“I agree to your terms.”
She was flooded with relief, and then dread. What kinds of things would she need to do to please him?
Perhaps she should start with the basics. “Will you tell me your name, then, since we’re allies?”
He gave her a disapproving look. “My name is Azreth.” He eyed her satchel. “Mortals must sleep every night and eat every day.”
She wasn’t sure whether that was a question. “Yes.”
“Then we must allow you time to rest, and then we must find you food to eat. Sleep now.”
“Now?”
“Yes. It is night.” He waved toward the dark sky.
Bewildered, she glanced around at the damp, frosty ground, and wrapped her arms around herself. “I need to find a safe, warm place before I can sleep. It’s too cold out here.”
Azreth took a breath, then let it out. Raiya interpreted it as thoughtful, rather than annoyed.
When he reached for her again, she was stiff but unresisting as he turned her around and pulled her against him. He sat down on the ground, putting his back against a rock and setting her in his lap. His long, dark limbs folded around her, enveloping her in warm skin and a smell like heated wood. Despite his near-nudity, the cold did not seem to affect him.
“You must stay with me. You will be warm enough,” he said.
“Oh.”
He gave her a long, inscrutable look. “Turn on me, and I will destroy you,” he reminded her matter-of-factly.
Raiya just nodded wearily.
“Now go to sleep.”
Easier said than done.
She tried to force herself to relax, reluctantly laying her head against his hot chest. His heart thumped loud and heavy beneath her ear, beating far slower than any human’s.