Chapter 13
Thirteen
T he demons burst inside. I was surprised at first to see that they weren’t spirits.
No glowing eyes as a sign of possession—these were regular living demons.
But then I became aware of the innkeeper looking at me hungrily.
I peered at the others with him. These weren’t goblins.
They were hobgoblins—bigger, though still lean, with longer horns and wicked claws.
The crossed-bone tattoos on their biceps told me everything I needed to know.
Slavers.
Vaelor spun me around, and we grabbed the sword sitting next to the bed. “Stay back.”
“You notice the glowing eyes, Namar? This one is possessed,” the innkeeper said.
“I see it,” Namar said. “You’ll get your payment.”
“For the human and the spirit,” the innkeeper insisted.
“As long as all goes well.” Namar nodded for the other demons to advance.
“What the fuck? We made a bargain in exchange for safety,” Vaelor snarled in my voice.
The innkeeper smiled wickedly. “The bargain is tricky. You see, only you agree not to do harm. I did not make the same promise.”
When the slavers closed in, Vaelor urged me to move, and I relented. I surrendered each tug and movement to him. Our swords clanged, but the demons were strong, and Vaelor was clearly trying to maneuver them so we had a clear shot at the door.
“I don’t think so.” Namar shifted so he blocked the exit, pulling his own blade, ready to engage.
A low growl escaped my throat. I'll take care of them, Vaelor said in my mind. Stay here with the sword. If they come near, move how I taught you, but only fight defensively.
Wait, you’re leaving me?
Trust me, Denara. And trust yourself.
I only had one lesson. I don’t really know how to fight ? —
But he was gone. His spirit departed from me, and he faded into the first demon approaching me.
The hobgoblin demon gasped and stumbled, releasing a pain-filled groan.
But slowly he turned on the other demon, who raised his sword, ready to engage.
And they went at it. The body Vaelor possessed easily overcame his opponent and stabbed him through the chest. The wounded one cried out and fell to his knees, then landed on his face, crimson spreading across the floor.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” the innkeeper turned and scurried for the exit.
“Send in the hedge witch,” Namar said.
The innkeeper nodded and disappeared out the door. A second later, a woman with long dark hair entered.
Vaelor came toward me, his orange eyes the only familiar thing about the crusty-faced demon he was possessing.
His gaze flicked to the woman moving in the direction of the dead body, and his entire form stiffened.
He gripped my arm and tugged me close to him.
“Let’s go, now,” he said in the raspy voice of the hobgoblin.
Namar threw up his hands. “Of course, be on your way.” He gave a sly smile and retreated from the exit, creating plenty of space between us and him.
Vaelor’s grip was like a vice, and he steered me to the door. I glanced at the hedge witch, unable to tear my eyes away from her even as I was leaving.
She had a large knife out and began chanting as she bent and carved off a finger from the dead demon. Picking it up, she drew out a long glowing thread from her side bag and commenced weaving it into the flesh.
“Denara, go, just go.” Vaelor jerked me out of the room and rushed me toward the stairs. I glimpsed something close to fear on his face.
My stomach churned at the strange power flowing from the woman’s spell, and I moved quicker. If whatever they were planning was enough to make Vaelor worried, I didn’t want to stick around to find out. We were halfway down the stairs when the slaver’s voice sounded from the hall. “Wait.”
Vaelor’s body paused on the steps, his grip still tight on my arm.
“Remain in that body until I tell you to leave but drop your sword.”
The blade Vaelor’s body held clanked against the staircase. Anger sparked in his eyes, along with a bit of panic. “What is this?” Vaelor hissed in the possessed demon’s voice.
“Now disarm the human.”
Before I could respond. Vaelor grabbed my arm and twisted it. I gasped and dropped the sword, letting it fall.
He released me. “Forgive me. I—I couldn’t stop.”
What was happening? I looked at the slave trader. He lingered at the top of the stairs, the finger from the dead body bound to a string encircling his neck. It gave off a black power. The hedge witch stood behind him with a clever smile on her face. A sickness gripped me.
Namar stroked the bloody finger as if it hadn’t just come from his comrade. “It is handy having a hedge witch around. A simple spell and the dead become controlled by the dead—those they’ve killed, that is.”
“Spirits are easy to manipulate before they bond with their body,” the hedge witch added.
Shit. Vaelor was being controlled by the power cast on that finger.
“It's not so fun to be forced to do another’s bidding, is it?” Namar sneered. He walked down the steps. “You will not touch me or anyone except for the girl. Pick her up and take her outside.”
Vaelor, inside his possessed vessel, spun and picked me up in his arms. I stiffened.
I was horrified at the idea that Vaelor could be ordered to kill me in an instant and he’d have to do it—even if I knew in my bones he didn’t want to.
I thought about struggling, about fleeing, but a worry in my gut kept me in place.
Besides, we were being caught by a slaver.
It wasn’t worthwhile for him to hurt the goods, at least not until we were sold.
Not to mention there were still spirits out in the woods—the only place to escape to.
They wanted me dead all the same. For now, sticking with Vaelor and the slave trader was my safest choice.
Vaelor carried me outside, a storm of dark fury raging behind his eyes at being compelled to serve another’s will, yet his grip on me was surprisingly gentle. The slave trader walked up to a caged wagon and unlocked it. “Put her here.”
He deposited me at the slaver’s feet, and I stood there, nowhere to run. Namar gripped my face and pried open my lips.
“Get your fucking hands off her,” Vaelor seethed.
Namar ignored him and continued to peer into my mouth. Then his gaze slid over my body. “Oh yes, you will fetch a nice price. Now get in.”
I had no other choice with Vaelor at my back and him in front, so I got into the cage.
Namar slammed the enclosure shut and locked it. An evil grin spread across his face as he turned to Vaelor, who still lingered outside the cage. “Come out of him,” he said to Vaelor.
Vaelor faded from the hobgoblin’s body, and it slumped onto the ground, the hobgoblin gasping and whimpering. Gods, he looked exactly as I did right after Raxus possessed me.
A savage fire showed in Namar’s expression. This demon must mean something to him. “Are you well, brother?”
The demon rose to his feet, anger in his eyes. “I—I will be once I’ve taught this bastard a lesson.”
Namar handed his sword to the demon, who spun to face Vaelor. I watched from my cage, an odd fear pulsing in my veins.
“Grab the bars,” Namar commanded.
Vaelor’s expression tightened, and he looked as if he were trying to resist, but then he reached out and his right hand closed around one of the bars, forcing him to interact with the physical world.
My anxiety twisted. “What are you doing to him?”
The hobgoblin whom Vaelor had possessed came up and slammed the blade through Vaelor’s back. My entire frame shook at the savagery of it. Vaelor gasped, his second hand coming to the bars as his legs collapsed from under him.
“Stop it!” I was at the bars looking at the agony etched on Vaelor’s face, my heart twisting painfully.
The demon pulled the sword out. Vaelor flinched, and he cried out. The rage in the demon’s expression wasn’t gone, and he slammed the blade through Vaelor’s body a second time.
Vaelor sagged, and he released a low whine.
I fell to my knees, gripping the bars next to him. “You monsters! You fucking monsters! Leave him alone!”
Namar frowned at me. “You look as though you need some breaking. Then again, I know a few buyers who enjoy them feisty at the beginning.”
The hobgoblin standing over Vaelor watched me with pleasure as he twisted the sword inside Vaelor with a loud squelching sound. Vaelor’s grip on the bars tightened, and he groaned.
Shit. What could I do? I was helpless to stop it. “Please, I beg you.”
The demon extracted his weapon and didn’t move.
I wrapped my hands around Vaelor’s. “Are you… are you all right?”
The demon plunged the sword into him again, and this time I cried out.
The blade was yanked out of him. There was no blood, just three horrible gashes in Vaelor’s body that must feel excruciating. Vaelor lost his grip on the bars and crumpled to the ground.
“Get inside the cage and do not leave,” Namar commanded.
Vaelor remained still, and I held my breath. Get up. Please get up, I willed him. With slow movements, he got to his feet. He faded through the bars and collapsed onto the cage floor.
I spun to grab him, but then hesitated. It was odd that we could touch each other. Perhaps I shouldn’t give it away to the slavers. So I knelt beside him and stared at his injured form.
“Let’s get moving,” the slaver said. Namar and the hedge witch climbed onto the driver's bench of the horse-drawn wagon.
A large wooden partition separated us from the front of the wagon, blocking the drivers from view.
The other demon mounted a rhinoceros-like steed.
Moments later, the beast lumbered into motion, taking the lead as the wagon rolled after it.
I touched Vaelor’s shoulder, and his hand reached up and squeezed mine. “I’m… glad you are unhurt,” he managed to say.
I sat back on my heels. After what he barely went through, those were his first words?
He wasn’t treating me like a tool to be used or something disposable. And when I saw the slavers hurting him, I’d wanted to wipe them from existence. I would have, if only I’d had the power.
Gods, what the hell was happening to us?
Already two days out of ten had passed. Last time it had taken nine months for me to enact an escape plan. If Vaelor didn’t find a body in time, he’d cease to exist. How were we going to get out of this before Vaelor’s time limit was up?