Page 26 of Grabbed By the Guard

I dash away. Without the chains, I could keep running, but I stop when I’ve put a good distance between me and the rogue demon. Glaine, meanwhile, has gotten up. Limping for a few steps before shaking it off and striding the rest of the way toward the fallen demon, he crouches down at his side. He murmurs something in SOmbra, then, with a yank, pulls his sword out.

He does something else to the demon with the blade. A little late to be squeamish, but I cover my eyes with my fingers for a moment. He grunts, and when he’s done, he’s hovering there in his shadows while that other demon is… gone.

No. He’s not gone. Unless I’m imagining it, there’s a massive mound of ash laying in just the right size and shape as the fallen demon. As I watch, it disintegrates further and joins the piles of ash beneath it.

My head shoots up to Glaine. He’s brushing his hands together as he moves away from the ash.

“There,” he says. “I’ve returned my sword to my shadows until we have need of it again.”

Holy crap. I don’t know what he did or where he pulled that sword from, but if it’s an immortal demon killer, we should keep it out. Not because I have any intention to use it on Glaine next—I’m pissed at him, but that was pure self-defense that had me stabbing the demon, not revenge—but because I like the idea of being able to protect myself without relying on him.

“What? No. I think?—”

It doesn’t matter what I think because, before I can say another word, something else happens.

CHAPTER 10

ESSENCE EXCHANGE

BILLIE

Glaine shudders and, suddenly, he’s gone from being a good twenty feet away from me to right there. The chains heat up enough to be noticeable, though it barely stings as the metal goes from dark gold to vivid red, then to the constant gold glimmer I’ve gotten used to.

Just like the big demon attached to the other end of it, a thick manacle around his just as thick wrist, is the Glaine from before.

He reaches up into his hairline, fingers landing lightly on the nearest horn.

“You didn’t lose a horn,” I blurt out, as though guessing why he reached up the moment he was solid again. “It was his.”

Glaine drops his hand. “Another reason it was a mercy to send him back to the shadows.”

My frown makes it obvious that I don’t understand, but instead of reminding me that I wouldn’t be just as lost myself if I let him give me his essence, he answers my unasked question.

“He was fully demonic so he might not have noticed, but a challenge that ends with a broken horn makes it clear which demon lost the battle. It would’ve taken centuries for his to grow back, and if he survived as long, it would’ve been with the stigma of a male who was too weak to protect that which he cared for.”

Like a mate, I bet.

I wait for Glaine to point out the obvious. That he still has both his horns, the other demon is ash, and I don’t have a single scratch on me. When he doesn’t, I do.

“What the hell was that sword?”

“A gift from Duke Haures to his favored guard. Thankfully, he didn’t think to ask for its return before he put us both in the dungeon. I kept it for safe-keeping in my shadows, but once the chains were gone, I grabbed it.”

Yeah. Thankfully.

And about those chains…

“Did you know you could escape from them?” To me, that’s more important than the stupid sword. “Can you take the chains off anytime you want?”

Can you take them off now?

So maybe I’m stuck with this manacle on my wrist until we can find a mage we can bring to take it off. But if Glaine can go shadowy after all and slip out of it like he did, he might as well. Why stay chained to me if he doesn’t have to?

And, okay. I know the answer to that one. He’s convinced I’m his mate. As long as I’m stuck to him like this, he has the chance to find a way to get me to agree. Not likely, but it’s a lot easier to use Stockholm syndrome to his advantage when he not only tries to save me by coming between me and another demon, then trusts me enough to stab the rogue instead of taking the chance to plunge the sword in his back instead.

I would never. I don’t hate Glaine. This is just a shitty circumstance. He lives in a world where he’s spent centuries—centuries—believing that, if he did his duty, his gods would reward him with one female to be his forever mate. He believes that me, and according to his traditions and his customs, he’s just acting like any other demon male would.

It’s me that’s not acting the way I’m supposed to—at least, to Glaine, I’m not. I get the idea that, in this world, when a demon recognizes his fated mate, it’s expected that she does the same. And if you know that you’re looking at the one guy meant for you, what’s the point in waiting? That I haven’t already tried to sleep with him just makes Glaine think that he’s done something wrong, and that nothing will stop him from fixing it.

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