Page 78 of Their Demon

The demon looked stunned, almost like he was trying to decide whether to be scared. I stood up, arms spread to my sides, and yelled, “Come on!” at my opponent.

He just stood there, head tilted. “You’re human…” his voice rasped, as though it hadn’t been used in a hundred years. “But… You’re not human…”

I sucked in a breath of shock at his words. Now, I was confused.

He stood tall. “Who sent you?” He took a step toward me. “Who sent you?” he said more aggressively when I didn’t answer.

“Satan.”

“Impossible.”

He took another step, and I put my hands out in front of me. “Look. I’m just a human. I came here with the princes. Their father, Satan, found me and said I could complete these trials of his, and if I completed them, then I would become a demon. I wouldn’t have to die.” I choked back a sob. “But he wants me todie, right? So, this was my first trial. I had to come up here and bring backexactly666 ounces of jewels and coins back to him.” I threw my arms up defeatedly as I sighed. “I just wanted to beat him.”

I looked away, not wanting my adversary to see my useless tears falling down my bloody cheeks. I sniffled, using the back of my hand to wipe the mixture of moisture from my face.

“You’re her,” he stated plainly.

“Excuse me?” I looked back at him, sure I’d heard him wrong.

“You’re her. The one we’ve been waiting for.”

What the fuck?His explanation gave me nothing. I was still just as confused.

“I’m sorry? I don’t understand.”

He tossed his sword to the side. “You’re going to save us all.” He grabbed my bag from the floor. “That fucking bastard put me down here and hasn’t opened the door since. I can’t wait to see the look on his fucking face when he finds out I survived and helped you with his stupid trial.” He crouched to the floor and started filling my bag with jewels and coins. “666, right?” I nodded, still dazed at the turn of events. “Here.” He handed me my bag.

I bounced it in my hands, feeling its weight. It felt like it could have been right, not that I’d know for sure until it was weighed.

“It’s 666 exactly.”

“How do I know that? Why would you help me?”

“You ask too many questions, human. I’ve been down here a long time. I’ve had nothing but these trinkets to keep me company. If you don’t believe me, I can try and find the scale,but I have no idea how long it’ll take me to locate it, and we don’t have time to waste.”

I considered my options for a moment and shook the bag in my hands again. Itfeltright, plus there was no telling how much longer we had until Aridam woke up and caught us in his cave. I didn’t haveoptions.

“Fine, but I have more questions.” I swung the backpack over my arms, and the weight hit my back, making me grunt.

Fuck, it was heavy.

“No time. Let’s get you out of here before Aridam wakes up.” He grabbed my arm, his hand firm and cold on my skin.

I stayed planted firmly in place. “What do you mean I’m not human? And the part about me saving you?”

He considered me for a moment before saying, “You are a human vessel with demon essence within you. I’ve only seen it once before.You have no idea how to control it, do you?” I shook my head. “That was clear. When you lost it there, one eye was ice blue, the other fire red.” He bent down and picked up his sword. “You’ve bonded with a couple of demons, haven’t you? One who wields ice and one who wields fire?”

I inhaled sharply. He knew so much, and everything that came out of his mouth created more questions.

“It fits you, girl, the power, but you’ve got to get a hold of it. If the king found out…” He trailed off and shook his head. “Look, we don’t have time now, but I can explain everything once we are out of this. You have to make it out of here alive. The fate of Hell depends on it.”

I let him pull me to the door, despite having a bazillion more questions, where he peeked out. He put his other hand up to hismouth, laying a finger against his lips, telling me to be quiet as I followed him out the door. Aridam was still asleep.

We walked silently, backs to the wall, as we made our way to the tunnel that would lead us outside.

I kept my eyes trained on our way out, my heart lifting as we got closer and closer, but I should have been looking at Aridam. The demon was leading us out; I should have been watching out for us. By the time I heard thewhooshof the dragon’s head lifting, it was too fucking late.

Aridam blinked, and I saw the orange of his iris. The daze of whatever had been in that grenade was wearing off.

---