Page 20 of Devil's Doom

Beyond the bridge, the city bustles with life. It’s like he said—people came out and started trading as soon as the toll happened. I look around with a curious eye, wishing for the other one to be uncovered so I can take in every detail.

Some creatures I recognize easily—beautiful wilas, sharp-fanged upirs, and bare-chested mamunas haggle for better prices, buy flowers from street stands, or hurry down the street with pinched expressions, carrying large wicker baskets in their arms.

And others I have trouble with. A thin, tall woman with skin as gray as ashes glides up the street, towering over most. A tattered black dress sways around her bony knees, the black fabric worn where her protruding hipbones rub against it. Behind her is a man who brings to mind a hog, tusks jutting from under his lower lip, his skin scrubbed pink, bare stomach jiggling with each heavy step.

“If you keep turning your head this way and that, your neck will hurt,” Lech says with a mocking laugh.

I stop by a stone wall of a bakery, forcing myself to keep my eye from straying. “Say, is it guaranteed that the toll only happens once a day? Did it sometimes happen more than once?”

He grimaces, leaning his back against the wall next to me until we’re side by side, both watching the motley crowd milling over the cobbles.

“It happened a few times, asjustpunishment for a revolt,” he says carefully in a neutral tone. “Some heretics took it upon themselves to destroy the fence Perun so generously raised around Slawa, and after they lost… The land paid the price.”

“How many people died?” I murmur, looking around furtively to check for spying birds.

“Let’s not dwell on the past,” Lech says with false cheer. “Come on, I’m starving. There’s a nice place down the street that carries almost everything. We’ll both eat like the gods.”

We navigate the bustling, laughing, haggling crowd. I glance into a narrow passage that most likely leads to a parallel street, and freeze, catching Lech’s sleeve on reflex. He turns to me with an impatient huff, but I ignore him, too busy staring at a sign painted in a rusty shade of red on the alley wall.

It’s Woland’s sign, the same one he branded me with. Two crescents interlock, joined in the middle by a thin line. The symbol runs a bit in places, and the color makes me think it was painted with blood.

Someone jostles me, and I jerk toward the empty alley. Lech puts his hand on my arm. His voice is strained.

“Alina. Let’s go eat.”

I am about to turn away when someone enters the alley from the other side. It’s a man with a trail of ruddy scales running down his cheeks, his body tall and robust, eyes red and cruel. I instantly recognize him as a dragon—maybe even the same one I saw flying over the bridge.

He pulls behind him a slim, blonde girl, her face pale from terror, eyes wide. Even in her terrified state, I can tell she’s gorgeous, most likely a wila. She has that evanescent sort of beauty, like she’s a delightful trick of the light that will disappear when I blink.

“Alina, come. Please.”

I don’t pay attention to Lech, too shocked by what’s happening. It’s broad daylight. Anyone can see it, and yet…

The girl cries out feebly, trying to tug her hand free, and the dragon growls with anger.

“Stay still, you dirty whore.”

He pushes her face into the wall and stands behind her, yanking her dress up. I gasp softly as I understand with full clarity that he’s about to rape her. The girl presses her cheek to the cold stone, her face turned in my direction. Her eyes are squeezed shut, tears streaming down her cheeks as she bites her lip in anguish.

The dragon tugs at his belt, his forearm pressed firmly to her nape. I take a step forward, fury ringing in my ears. Someone grabs my braid and yanks me back with force, until I’m out of the alley and pressed to a wall myself, a cold palm clamped over my mouth.

Chapter nine

Price

“Leave it,” Lech says, his eyes as cold with calculation. “There is nothing you can do.”

I fight him in silence, but he’s shockingly strong. Behind him, people pass, some of them shooting us curious glances, but nobody stops to intervene. Lech keeps me pinned until I stop struggling, glaring at him with all the power of my fury.

“He’s a guard and she likely lives on the streets,” he says quietly, his mouth right by my ear. “It’s allowed, Alina. If you try to stop him, he’ll kill you. If you want to help, there are other ways, but this isn’t it. Do you understand?”

I grit my teeth. Letting a man rape a woman goes against every grain of my nature, and Lech’s explanation reeks of weakness. I was never one to shy away from a challenge, and I can bet there are ways to slaughter a dragon and get away with it.

Woland assured me it was impossible for me to evade him, and yet look at me now. Everything’s possible if you fight hard enough.

And still, I nod, hoping Lech will let me go. He watches me dubiously, then peeks around the corner into the alley. When he lets go, I run into the narrow passage, but it’s empty. Both the rapist and his victim are gone.

“Nothing you can do. Leave it,” Lech says, his voice losing its natural polish and charm. He’s pissed.

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