Page 21 of Lich's Mate

“He didn’t look out of place,” the other says. “He’s just an entitled demon, just like the rest of them. Don’t let it rile you.”

I clench my fists.

When this falls apart—and it will—then I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing I’ve drawn Gorran one step closer to his demise.

Maybe the auction house can keep a schedule. But the humans his caravan led in are disorganized and miserable. If I crane my neck, I can see them in the back, being made only a little more presentable. Most are perfect little guests, quick to obey as one of the xaphans wipes grime from their cheek or tells them to stretch.

But not the girl.

I try to catch even a word of the backstage conversation, as she pulls away from the large xaphan man yet again.

“Fine then,” he says. “Just stay dirty. Don’t think it’s going to save you though. We’re getting nodals from you one way or another.”

“Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?”

I’m suddenly startled as I’m face-to-face with a xaphan with a row of golden, curly hair and a large staggered wing. I remember him dangling from the ceiling of the tavern, wrapped in a muffling shadow cocoon.

I wonder who pried him free?

“Don’t think so,” I say, attempting to disguise my voice. “I thought it was demon bidding today?”

He chuckles.

The hypocrite nearly put me at knifepoint because some demon came into his tavern with human slaves, and he’s watching an auction for fun?

“Clearly not. And I’m not here to bid,” he says. “Just to make sure you don't get into too much trouble. I know how demons get around human women.”

I nod indifferently, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a fully formed response.

Luckily, my cloak partially conceals my face. And the moment I recognized him, I pulled the shadows toward me, using them to further obscure my features.

Not wanting to hear another word out of this lunatic’s mouth, I subtly scoot forward a little more. I know that one wrong move could leave somebody dead in this crowd, especially with tourists and xaphans spectating it.

Fuck. This is going to be really hard to disrupt, actually.

I know that none of the demons in the crowd are going to be happy about having their precious auction ruined. Certainly, none of the xaphans running and watching the event are going to let me leave peacefully for causing any interference. And here, I’m even more outnumbered than I was following the caravan.

The spotlight drops onto the stage, a magical device beaming luminescence onto the wood from above.

The crowd breaks into cheering as the event begins. A nauseatingly large and colorful demon appears on stage with a barely clothed human woman.

Even in the bright glare behind the scenes, I can hear a whip cracking from behind the leather curtains as it hits the curly-haired redhead from earlier.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” one of the xaphans behind me chides loudly.

Noticing that everybody has already taken their seats, I join them, bringing myself down onto one of the log benches behind me.

My eyes glaze over as I watch the event, done as tastelessly as possible. The only real reason the human women are paraded onto the stage by demons and not by xaphans is likely that it sells better to demons. Like humans, we’re little more than an accessory to their pointless event.

Otherwise, the demons manhandle and ogle the women, making questionable comments about their bodies. If the event broke out into an orgy, it wouldn’t feel entirely out of place.

However, I have to admit that it is a little enticing despite being incredibly vulgar.

But none of these women are appealing to me. I still don’t understand why demons flock here in droves, drooling over these humans. They haven’t got any fight in them—haven’t even got any meat on their bones.

“Don’t you ever touch me like that again!”

I hear an aggressive shout from behind the stage, as a familiar face is led forward under the spotlight.

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