Page 38 of Bound By Darkness

“Silvanus,” she answers.

“I don’t know that name.”

“You will come to know it in time,” she affirms. “Silvanus has already latched his claws into her and due to his power, I’ve lost the connection I once had with her. Silvanus acts as a barrier between the girl and me and I haven’t been able to breach that barrier.”

“That’s why you’ve come to me?”

“You’re my only option, Revenant.”

***

EILISH

I find myself standing on a cobblestone road. I’m surprised Raflamir didn’t recognize Baron. True, Baron kept his face down the entire time Cambion and Dragan interacted with Raflamir, but I’m surprised all the same. Of course, I suppose if you know someone is dead, the last thing you expect is to find said dead man suddenly showing up on your doorstep.

I shelve the thoughts and face a town that looks similar to Geldinstock, the town where we first came into contact with Cambion. Only this town looks like a bomb hit it.

There are numerous one-story, thatched-roof huts that appear to be made of some type of clay. Many of the structures have been destroyed, their walls caved in and the furniture within them strewn about. Very few boast intact roofs. And where gardens once welcomed visitors, now there are no flowers—just stumps of dead trees, brown skeletons of bushes and dirt.

I wonder as to why the town’s citizens haven’t cleaned up the wreckage. Then I wonder if Variant wants things this way—a town in ruin to remind the citizens just what he’s capable of?

“My God,” Cambion whispers in surprise. Clearly, the town looks entirely different than it did the last time he visited.

“Looks like Variant left his indelible seal,” Dragan says as he glances around, and frowns.

Dragan and Cambion flank me even though Baron, who walks behind us, still holds the ropes to my wrists.

It’s hard not to feel like anything more than an object, a means to an end. I know Dragan and Cambion want their revenge against Variant. I know they want to restore the balance, and so do I, but the resentment and animosity coiling around us grates on my nerves. And, where once I felt like the champion to their cause, I now feel like a lowly rodent. I can tell Cambion doesn’t believe I’m worth a damn to them anymore. Dragan could feel the same way, too, for all I know.

It’s all so unfair! And I absolutely hate the injustice.

I never chose to be what I am. A Succubus or an angel, or whatever else courses through my veins. The cold glares, the angry comments, and the fleeting sneers are too much. I feel them like physical blows.

Flumph stays near me. He’s the closest thing I have to a friend now, and I’m grateful for his presence. I feel Baron press his hand against my lower back in an attempt to hurry me along because apparently I’ve started lagging.

Images and visions threaten to push past the defenses of my conscous mind, but I won’t allow them. I’m not in the mood. But, I’m also not surprised the visions want to come. When Baron’s touched me in the past, I’ve seen things—thoughts and memories from his mind that invaded mine. Baron and I have a connection that neither of us understands, but it’s there all the same.

“Don’t be afraid,” Baron whispers from behind me.

It’s the first thing he’s said to me since I broke theTransmutation Stoneand it takes me by surprise. His words are soft, and fill me with a sense of calm I was previous lacking. I turn around to look at him and smile my thanks. He holds my gaze and simply nods.

I realize Baron’s hand still rests on my back. I cast a glance over my shoulder at him again. He’s handsome. Undeniably so.

But he’s hard, and his beauty is one that seems untouchable.He’suntouchable. And there’s something about that feral quality to him that pushes me away in the same way it attracts me. I can’t explain it.

I follow his eyes as they trail up and down the length of my legs. When Baron catches me watching him, he turns his head. I wait for him to hurl insults and accusations at me about my being Succubus which is the reason he can’t take his eyes off me, but the insults never come.

My foot catches on a crack in the cobblestone and I gasp as I start to lose my balance. Immediately, Dragan’s arms wind around my waist to steady me. He just as quickly releases me, yanking his hands away as though I’ve burned him. Then he clears his throat and feigns extreme interest in his surroundings.

Cambion glares at me with his striking gaze, and I feel a shiver race down my spine. He quickly turns away again to continue leading our motley crew up the uneven road until he stops in front of a collapsing hovel with a blue door. It’s exactly as Raflamir described it.

Runes cover the wood and Cambion brushes them with his hand. Light flashes across the dark planes of oak, and the door creaks open of its own accord. Once the door opens, I focus on the shape of a woman, where she stands at the center of the room. She motions for us to enter. Dragan and Cambion share an unreadable glance.

I hear Dragan curse under his breath as Cambion mutters something unintelligible.

“Raflamir sent us,” Cambion announces, by way of greeting.

The woman nods without a smile. “I assumed.” Then her attention shifts to me and only me. She appears surprised. She reaches out, as if to touch me, before noticing the enspelledbonds that hold me captive. “I see things are more complicated than the stories would imply,” she says and looks at the men though none of them respond.

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