Page 21 of Devil's Doom

I don’t even look at him, crossing the alley in big strides. I come out on another street, this one quieter than the one we came from. Tall residential buildings tower over the dark cobbles. I look in every direction, but there is no sight of the girl or the dragon.

“You’re a hot-headed idiot, you know that?” Lech grumbles, coming out behind me.

I whirl to him. “Help me find her and I’ll buy you all the lamb blood you can drink.”

He raises a sardonic eyebrow, folding his arms. “What do you want to bother her for? Let the girl cry and lick her wounds.”

I turn away with an angry huff. “Fine. I’ll find her myself.”

I set out up the street, scanning it for passages or hiding places. After a minute, Lech calls me back with a long-suffering sigh.

“Come back. You’re going in the wrong direction.”

He points out a decrepit building with a gaping hole in place of a door, its façade crumbling. It doesn’t look safe, but I’m beyond caring at this point. I helped women who were raped or beaten into miscarriage, and I physically cannot leave the wila alone. I couldn’t live with myself if I did.

Rotten planks and other rubble litter the dark space beyond the missing door. It smells of mildew and waste, and I clench my jaw, stepping carefully in the gloom. The hall splits into two short corridors, one leading left, the other right. Up ahead is a broken staircase, riddled with jagged holes and scorch marks.

“This way,” Lech mutters reluctantly, pointing left. “I sense three people, and your wila is most likely one of them.”

I give him a sharp look. “How can you tell?”

His mouth twists in a caricature of his usual smirk, this one bitter and angry. “I’m always aware of all the hearts beating in my vicinity. Perks of the bloodsucking curse. Are we going, savior girl? I’m fucking starving.”

His new name for me is clearly ironic and also very undeserved.

“I would have saved her if you hadn’t stopped me,” I growl. “Now it’s only about easing her pain.”

“Oh, my innocent darling. That girl has been raped dozens of times. She knows what to do with her pain, and your pushy intervention will only make it worse.”

I grit my teeth, doing my best to stay calm. Lech has annoyed me from the moment we met, and that irritation reaches its peak. My voice low and hard, I say, “Where I come from, people aren’t indifferent to the pain of others. I was raised to always help my neighbors. Selfish people die alone.”

Lech snickers as if I just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. “Darling, this city houses over seventy thousand people. Are you going to help them all?”

The number startles me, and I don’t know what to say to that. I only glare, my fists clenched. Lech sighs, raising his eyes to the cobwebbed ceiling, as if praying for patience to deal with me.

“Maybe I will,” I hiss, unable to let him have the last word.

I go left, carefully feeling my way along the walls in the dark. As I round a corner, I see a flicker of candlelight. Someone sobs, and another voice hushes the weeper in a comforting cadence.

“I’m a friend,” I call out as gently as I can. “Please don’t be afraid.”

All sounds cease, as if the girls all freeze at once. I come over to a broken door and slowly peek inside, my heart wrenching at the sight.

Three beautiful wilas sit huddled on a straw bed, their bare though clean room lit with a single tallow candle. I see the raped girl at once, her eyes red, cheeks wet from tears. The other wilas are both dark-haired, their thin arms embracing their friend.

“Can I come in?” I ask, hovering in the threshold.

They stare at me with huge eyes until one of the brunettes gives me a curt nod. Her eyes are big and brown, lashes long. She watches me warily while her blonde friend sniffs and wipes her tears with jerky motions.

“I saw what happened out there.” I crouch in front of them so we’re on the same level. “And I’m sorry that happened. I came here to offer my help. Whatever you need to make things better, even just a little, I’ll give you—as long as it’s in my power.”

The brunette who invited me in scoffs with a disdainful look. “And why would you help? Is it some kind of new trick? Leave us alone. There is nothing to take here. Go swindle someone else.”

Lech chuckles from where he stands, leaning insouciantly in the doorway. His pose is artful and elegant, as if this place is not a hovel but a palace. What a peacock.

“She’s new here and an idiot to boot. Please, let her do something for you so we can finally go and eat. The do-gooding moron owes me a few pints of blood,” he drawls.

The wilas stare at the upir for a moment, and then their eyes return to me. The blonde clears her throat.

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