Page 96 of Soul Forge

“Then how?”

“Where do you think all the scars came from?” Her mouth dropped open, a breath catching in her throat. His face didn’t change. “Cynthia broke me, and her reward was my name.”

Even with the thrall clouding her thoughts, she felt something inside her twist painfully, her heart aching for him. Monster or not, the scars were his just as much as they were Sypher’s. He’d been through more than she could ever imagine, and a part of her warped, forever changed by the demon in front of her. Tearswelled up in her eyes, blurring her vision until she was forced to swipe a numb hand across her face, catching them before they could fall down her cheeks.

“Doesn’t it bother you that she broke you?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t hurt like Sypher does.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

His head tipped back, black eyes cast up to the ceiling. “If she ever crosses my path again, I’ll tear her apart. Is that a good enough answer?”

“It is.” She paused. “Everyone is so afraid of you.”

“They should be.”

“Why?”

“Because I wouldn’t think twice about gutting them.”

She frowned. “Then why haven’t you killed me yet? Sypher keeps warning me about how dangerous you are.”

The demon scowled. “I owe you a debt because of the oath. I know what you saw that day. I’ll repay you by keeping you from harm.”

She wanted to answer, but the questions escaped her, whipped away by the thrall. She sighed heavily. “How long will this feeling last? I can’t keep my thoughts straight.”

He shrugged. “Depends on the vampire.”

“And how long will you be sticking around for?”

“You can have Sypher back when the thrall is gone.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Until then, you’re not leaving my sight.”

Elda struggled with the thrall for hours. The whole time, Vel watched her with eyes as black as night. The strange heat in her chest subsided, but the fog didn’t lift, and neither did the nausea. She wanted to sleep, but with the demon soul studying her every move, it was impossible.

“You’ll never kick the thrall if you don’t sleep,” Vel pointed out. He’d spent the night leaning against the wall by a small window, not moving, not looking away from her.

“If you weren’t so damn creepy, I might be able to sleep.” Her tongue felt heavier than lead.

“If you didn’t get your idiot ass bitten, I wouldn’tbehere.”

“It wasn’t my ass that was bitten, dummy,” she mumbled. “It was my neck. Shows who the real idiot is.”

“Still you.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“Oh sure, Princess Moron of I-have-no-fucking-sense-land. You were asked to doonething. All you had to do was not let anyone touch you. It took you less than five minutes to do theopposite.”

“You try dodging a flying bar stool.”

“How does dodging a bar stool end with you becoming a vampire’s midnight snack?” Vel asked, finally pushing away from the wall and running a hand through his pale hair.

“If I annoy you so much, why are you even here?” Elda asked, sitting up slowly to stop the room from spinning. She tried to scowl, but her facial muscles refused to obey. Her thoughts moved like they were swimming through thick mud, taking a long time to form and even longer to come out of her mouth.

“Somebody has to babysit you.”

“Sypher could have helped me.”

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