Page 34 of The Demon Mark

She hadn’t expected that. But she was supposed to have someone with her. At least, that’s what her master had always said. She didn’t have much knowledge of why that was, or if people would try to kidnap her, or...

This man had taken her. She had a feeling other people would want to do the same.

Turning on her heel, she started down the stairs again. Down and down they went, silently walking until they reached the bottom level. She glanced up the way they had come, still breathing hard and feeling a drop of sweat traveling down her spine. The stairs seemed to go up forever, obscured as they were by the clouds above them.

“How do you climb these every day?” she muttered.

“I don’t.” He gestured with his hand, blue sparks flying at the tips. “I create portals.”

“Then why have so many stairs? Why have stairs at all?”

“People still come to meet with me. They ask for an audience, and then I make them climb.” He grinned, that expression all too feral.

“That’s cruel.”

“Perhaps. But asking for help from someone else shouldn’t necessarily be easy. Should it? Especially if you’re asking a demon king for his help.”

She supposed that might make sense, but she didn’t have to like it. Frowning, she stared out of his castle and allowed her senses to guide her. There was a particular need inside her. A person who needed their future told because they were about to step off the path that they were supposed to travel on. The tug yanked at her belly, jerking her this way and that until she knew the exact direction to go.

They walked through the quiet streets, everyone seemingly in their homes. The houses here were prettier than she had seen before. Stately stone homes with warm glowing windows from the fires within. But even that semblance of wealth disappeared rather quickly. Soon enough, they were back in a city where she was much more comfortable.

These homes were smaller. Squat and heavy, they were the kind of buildings that survived any storm, earthquake, or worse. They were stalwart in their position and nothing would change that. Not even the demon king who strode beside her with a frown on his face and a glare for anyone as they walked by. Not that they crossed more than two living souls who skittered to the other side of the street.

“Do you have to look so cross?” she asked, keeping her voice a little quiet. “You’re scaring everyone.”

“Good. They should be afraid.”

“That is not how oracles work.”

“Oh, your old master told me all about that,” he grumbled. “You’re supposed to have a trained carer and a hundred other minutiae specific to your treatment. You don’t get to tell me what to do, sweetheart. I’m in control here.”

She smiled at him, amused by the sudden posturing. “Is that so?”

“It is,” he growled.

“Ah.” The tug pulled her toward a house. Perhaps a little dirtier than the other homes in this area, it was still quite well made. There wasn’t any glass in the windows, just tight fabric drawn across it. But there was a warm light underneath the door that was pretty enough.

She could feel the person who needed to see her was inside that room. She’d finally made it. After all this walking and wandering, she was in the right place.

“Lilith,” Envy grumbled as she strode up the front door and placed her hand on the knob. “What are you doing now?”

She wasn’t sure. So she just shrugged and said, “What feels right.”

Into the house she walked, drawing her hood back to look around the interior. It was really bare bones. Just a wall of cots on one side, singular and only big enough to fit a small person at best. The warm light came from what still looked like a working wood stove, with a small kettle of tea on it. But the strange thing about the rest of the home was that it was filled with children.

Not a single adult was in the room. Just hollow cheeked little ones who looked at her with a healthy dose of fear and worry as she strode through the door.

“Who are you?” A voice called out. A crumpled form on a cot rose, taller than the others, but still not entirely tall enough to be considered a woman. The girl was dirty from head to toe, her greasy dark hair hanging in hanks around her face. She wasn’t taking care of herself, clearly. But considering the way the other children looked at her, Lilith had a sneaking suspicion that this young woman was the one who ran the place.

“My name is Lilith.” She looked around the room, hoping to see some hint of food. There was none. Just the kettle on the stove that hadn’t quite started hissing yet.

“What are you doing here?”

“Looking for someone.”

She had just narrowed her eyes, trying to feel the desire in her chest as it pushed a little harder, only for all the children to freeze. And she knew the shadow darkening their door was the one they feared. Not her.

Sighing, she let the power seek what it wanted, and she realized it was the young woman who had stood. She was the one who needed to know her future. The one who needed to hear what an oracle had to say.

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