5. Willow
Willow
“Ugh! Wretched, stubborn, stupidly attractive demon!”
I grit my teeth, trying to hold back the scream trying to claw its way out of my throat. No matter what I try, I can’t get this stupid collar off. All I’ve managed to do is split a nail and get myself more worked up.
To make matters worse, I still don’t have any clothes. The best I could do is wrap one of the furs around my body like a towel, and though it is keeping me nice and warm, I’m longing for a pair of sweatpants and my favorite jacket.
I shoot a glare at the exit as if that will make my captor reappear and take me home, but nothing happens. There’s nothing for me to do but sit here, wait, and stew.
As soon as Rhune left and the reality of my situation became apparent, all of my despair faded away, replaced by red-hot fury. And beneath that anger is desire—simmering, waiting for a spark to set it alight.
I’ve never been so confused or overwhelmed in my life.
I should be nursing my broken heart and eating ice cream in my bed, not chained in a demon’s bedroom—somewhat eagerly—awaiting his return.
When I search for the hate that should be growing within me, all I find is curiosity.
Why did he take me? What is this place? Why does it feel like something fundamental inside me has changed?
I’d love answers to these burning questions, but until Rhune returns, I’m left in the dark. Literally. His room is extremely cozy, but there’s very little light source. No windows either, so I have no way of telling whether it’s day or night.
The only light comes from within the walls.
There are hundreds of luminous blue structures, spreading through the stone like streaks of lightning.
The glow emanating from them casts the room in an eerie blue hue, and they are so vast and many that it’s impossible to tell where the stone ends and they begin. Almost like… roots.
But that’s impossible. As far as I can tell, the walls, floor, and ceiling are made up of a weird mixture between ice and rock. Trees can’t grow in these conditions. Right?
I sigh, lying back in Rhune’s “bed” and closing my eyes, deciding I don’t want to think about it anymore. I can’t. Not unless I have someone here to answer the thousands of questions I have.
My hand unwittingly reaches for the pendant that normally rests on my chest, and my heart clenches as I remember how I lost it in the forest. If I truly never get to go home—if I’m stuck here forever like Rhune says—it will be the one thing I will miss.
Not Nathan, not Kimberly or anyone else.
The two people tying me to that world died the day they betrayed my trust.
In some weird, fucked-up way, I think a part of me is glad that Rhune took me when he did.
I didn’t have to deal with the excuses, the begging, the pleading for second chances that were inevitably coming.
I have all the closure I’ll ever need. I don’t ever want to see, hear, or talk to those two again. This way, I don’t have to.
Then again, maybe that’s just me trying to find the silver lining in my less-than-ideal situation.
Just then, the baby animal Rhune brought in lets out a soft bleat. I sit up, turning to face the strange-looking creature. Antethorpe, he had called it.
If I had to describe it, I’d say it looks like someone tried to draw a cross between a bear and sloth—and that person has seen neither. It has a thick, tailless body covered in fur and two long arms that end in blunt, curved claws, but that’s where the similarities end.
Its hind legs are considerably shorter, and each one has a hoof instead of claws. Its neck is long and thick like a giraffe’s, but the head is rounded, its face completely flat as if the nose and mouth have been squished inward.
There’s so much hair that the only features I can make out from this angle are two hard nubs peeking out of the hair on the top of its head—the beginnings of antlers.
The antethorpe draws its head up, the long neck curving like the body of a snake as it turns toward me. Its eyes are no more than two silver orbs set deep into the fur, unblinking and eerily intelligent. There is no visible mouth, but it made noise earlier, so I have to assume it has one.
“Hey, little guy,” I whisper. “How’s your leg?”
It tilts its head, seemingly interested in my voice. A rattling coo rumbles from its throat, and it rises to an upright position, balancing awkwardly on its front claws as it leans in toward me.
I hold a hand out, and the antethorpe presses its face into my palm, nuzzling gently. My chest bubbles with a laugh as the hair tickles my skin, and I press my lips together to suppress it.
“You know, you’re so funny-looking you’re actually cute. Like a pug.”
As I curl my fingers deeper into its fur, the chittering noise grows louder, seeming to echo off the walls and causing the room to vibrate.
The walls begin pulsing, the blue glow growing brighter with each passing second.
Suddenly, I’m hit with a wave of exhaustion so strong, it makes it hard to keep my eyes open.
“What… what is this?” I whisper, panic gripping my chest as my vision blurs. “What’s happening?”
Did touching the antethorpe do something to me? Is it toxic to humans or something? Surely, Rhune wouldn’t leave me alone with a creature that could harm me, right?
I slump down to the furs, unable to support the weight of my body. I’m just… so… tired.
The antethorpe begins bleating, the sounds turning panicked. I try to move, to pull myself up and see what has it so upset, but all I can manage to do is lift my head slightly.
My eyes snap toward the hide covering Rhune’s door, and I’m shocked to find it moving, as if someone is pulling it to the side. Is Rhune back already?
A large, horned demon steps into the room, turquoise-colored eyes shining brightly behind a pair of impossibly thick, dark lashes. His face is slimmer than Rhune’s, but no less beautiful. In fact, this demon is even more devastatingly handsome than the one who captured me.
His features are sharp and strong, yet there’s a softness to his mouth, the corners of his eyes—as if he smiles frequently.
His horns are beautiful and shiny, sloping back in a gentle curve before winding up and forward like the necks of twin swans.
His wings are large and just as impressive, their blue-green hue catching the light and rivaling the beauty of the ocean.
His body is toned like Rhune’s, but this demon has a sleekness about him—almost catlike. Adding to this is a long, velvety tail swishing at his back, the top third splitting into two thick sections and moving independently of each other.
He’s incredible. He’s monstrous.
“Oh my,” he whispers, voice wrapped in sin and velvet. “They brought me a toy.”