CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
EMMERY
The tang of old blood hit Emmery first, followed by a foreign scent, something cold and sinister and otherworldly.
She exhaled roughly to rid it from her nostrils.
Somehow the doorway blotted out her other senses—her vision dulled, her hearing extinguished, and a moment of weightlessness suspended her, like when they fell into the cave.
And in the absence of that weightlessness, her chest sank.
Then, all at once, it flooded back, pouring into her mind and body.
When she opened her eyes on the other side, Destonne appeared, his back turned to her, wearing strange black garments that shifted like shadows.
Brennen sauntered over and hid her nudity with his colossal body while he kept his eyes glued to the ground.
Tightening her arms around her chest, Emmery leaned down to whisper in his ear, “Thank you.” Before Brennen could reply, her eyes flicked to Destonne. “Where did you get the clothes?”
“They just appeared,” he said as if it was an everyday occurrence. “Come see this.” He waved her forward.
Though her heart strained, she stepped toward him. Brennen moved with her and shielded her lower half from view, not that Destonne was looking. He didn’t show an inkling of interest in her, which was a relief, but also, for whatever reason, stung.
Black wisps manifested out of the air and engulfed her as they wrapped her limbs to form breeches, a long tunic, and boots. The fabric was surprisingly soft on her skin, and with her body covered, she breathed easy once again.
The ground squelched under Emmery’s feet as she joined Destonne at his side and caught sight of what she’d been too concerned by her own nudity to notice. A vast stretch of crimson—a river composed entirely of blood.
Good gods. Were they supposed to cross that? The thick, flowing expanse of it seemed to continue on forever.
Emmery flinched as an unsettling giggle skittered off her eardrums, foreign and coming from—
Damn it, she couldn't tell.
She clasped her hands over her ears as a chill crept up the curve of her spine and raised the hairs on the back of her neck. A growl rumbled in Brennen’s throat.
“Oh, to play, would be so very nice,” a sing-song voice rang out from behind her. Her heart thundered as she spun but saw no one.
Beside her Destonne’s eyes widened and the hackles on Brennen’s back raised as another unnerving laugh followed.
“Show yourself,” Destonne called out in an even, authoritative tone.
“You wish to enter the Hollow,” it said. “But first you must pay and play.”
A woman, or what Emmery imagined was once a woman, appeared out of a swirl of shadows, completely nude aside from the blood slathered over her body, her figure distinctly feminine, curvy with full breasts.
As the strange female cocked her head to the side, her stringy black hair tangled in her antlers and fell over the pale, thin flesh of her face.
Was it a mask or real? Emmery couldn’t tell.
The woman ran a black tongue along her fangs then clacked her teeth together as she observed the three of them, before she licked coagulated black goo from a spindly-clawed finger.
Between the antlers and mask-like face, she could easily be related to Guardian Kaah.
It was the large wings stretched out behind her, membranous like an insect, that set her apart.
Emmery’s stomach bottomed out. Reize had warned them about the demons, the games they played, and it seemed they’d unwillingly strolled directly into one. Beside her Destonne audibly swallowed, though his face gave nothing away, his composed mask locked firmly in place.
“If you want to enter you must pay or play.” She flashed her black teeth, her gaze sliding to Destonne. “You. I want to play with you.”
Unfazed, he surveyed her, calm, calculated, analyzed her every move. “And if we choose neither? I’m afraid I’m not in the mood for games.”
“Then you will wander forever in the darkness. Until your last breath.”
Destonne gave her a bored look. “And your name? Title? Authority over this—” He sneered at the blood dampened ground. “Place?”
The woman giggled behind her hand, amused by the question.
“You may call me Senka. I am but a simple demon of this place. Outcast, if you will.” Her milky-white eyes flicked between them as if she couldn’t decide who would make better prey, and if she could perhaps have them all.
“You wish to enter the Hollow, yes? It has been some time since we have had guests.”
With a cautious step back, Destonne asked, “And how might we enter?”
They all held their breath as they awaited her reply.
“You must pay first, and then you will play.” She tapped her foot in the clotted blood, her arms crossed over her exposed breasts. A delighted fire lit her eyes. “But if you lose when you play, you cannot stay.” Her wings fluttered as she giggled at her rhyme.
What the fuck did that mean? Emmery opened her mouth to ask, but Destonne spoke first.
“We have no payment,” he said. “Or even the shirts off our backs.”
“You pay with my currency of choice: summon, secrets, or suffering.”
The three looked between one another, but it seemed they had no choice.
“We will pay,” Emmery whispered in agreement. The demon appeared more than delighted by this prospect from the nefarious grin on her face.
Senka stepped toward Brennen first and rested a hand on his head, nestled between his horns. He flinched, but allowed her to touch him.
“You are a strange creature,” she hummed as if feasting from where their bodies joined. “Trapped by your magic, unable to love like a man.” She cocked her head to the side, and with a predatory smile said, “I require two secrets.”
Emmery glanced between them, sure Brennen spoke into Senka’s mind since the demon’s eyes shone with a new taunting glow.
“First question,” she stated. “What is your name? Your true name—”
“Don’t tell her,” Destonne hissed, but Senka’s answering glare stiffened his spine.
The wolf didn’t acknowledge the King, his head lowered in submission. Emmery didn’t know what demons did with names, what power they held, but judging from Destonne’s reaction, it couldn't be good.
Brennen lifted his head, his teeth bared in a snarl, but Senka only clapped her hands overexuberantly. “I do so enjoy secrets. The next I ask is, what is the name of your love? The one you cannot have.”
A beat passed then Senka grinned and patted his head mockingly before she shifted her attention to Emmery. Brennen’s growled warning only sparked a joyful smile on the demon’s face.
Senka stalked with feline stealth to Emmery.
She stopped before her and her dark hair spilled over half of her face as she cocked her head, reading her.
Then the demon grabbed her hand. Emmery narrowed on the touch, like Senka’s fingers pressed into her skull, reached into her brain, chipped away at her thoughts, chiselled her secrets away, reducing her to pieces. Is this what happened to Brennen?
“I see lust in your eyes. But also guilt. You fear you are hurting the one you love.” Senka’s tone bled amusement. “Who are you betraying, little one? Is there another who loves you so?”
Emmery kept her mouth clamped shut, even as Senka’s claws rifled through her brain. But no matter how hard she pushed, she couldn’t dispel the demon from her mind.
“You are a wicked thing. Full of pretty words and contradictions. Much more like our Goddess of the Eternal Sky than you know.” Senka ran a clawed finger over her lips. “Desperate for love. Yearning for it. Such longing lives in your heart. It’s a pity.”
Emmery gritted her teeth as the demon extracted the dark loneliness in her heart and spilled her weaknesses for all to see.
Senka’s eyes roamed down Emmery’s body, traced every line and curve, and only after she sufficiently picked her apart, did Senka glance over at Destonne.
Emmery glared, ready to torch the demon bitch.
Something devious flickered in those milky eyes as Senka gazed at Destonne. Something downright terrifying.
“I choose a summon.” A wicked smile claimed Senka’s mouth. “You shall have a taste of him for my amusement.”
Emmery’s gaze darted to Destonne. His face remained unreadable, but his usual bored expression flickered with something else she couldn’t decipher.
Was he thinking of that moment they shared at the pond?
That sweep of insanity when they almost kissed?
Or maybe she’d imagined the whole thing and read the situation wrong.
Would he consent to this? And did they have a choice?
He stood unnervingly still, as if holding his breath, a lost look on his face, like he couldn’t decipher how to sway this interaction in his favour.
Emmery was the first to tear away.
Her own words to Brennen rang through her head, the choices we have in life are everything.
So, she would make hers count.
“Name another price,” she said. She held her head high, though her heart hammered against her ribcage.
“That is it,” the demon hissed.
“Name another,” Emmery snarled. She would not be exploited for some disgusting game or allow this choice to be made for her.
Senka’s face lit up as she released Emmery and circled her in that same eerie measured pace. “If you do not comply, you must pay with pain.”
A chill snaked down Emmery’s spine, but she stood her ground. If this was the cost, so be it. She proved she could handle pain when she’d taken Callias’, Vesper’s, and even endured Destonne’s. Surely this couldn’t be worse. “Fine, I—”
“No.” Destonne’s voice rang out.
Emmery caught his gaze, but only for a flicker of a moment. What was he doing? Why was he intervening?
“You dare interrupt me?” Senka's spine unfurled, and her toes squelched in the clotted blood as she stalked toward Destonne. She stopped a hair’s breadth from him and stared at him with both intrigue and dark delight. “This is my game.”
“You heard me,” he challenged, his words unwavering. “I’ll pay her price. Double mine.”
“What if the cost is too high?”
“I sincerely doubt that,” he shot back.