Page 32 of Demonic Division

“And me? Do you trust in my word, sweet Dagny?”

Without pause, I shake my head. Instead of the hurt I expect, M throws his head back in a hearty laugh. And when he looks at me, his eyes shine with pride.

“That's good,” he says. “It’s best to think for yourself in this place. To trust in your own mind and no one else’s.”

I’m struck by the way my body reacts to his voice. It’s terrifying and exhilarating, but it’s wrong. So, so very wrong. I lean in close—close enough that if he wanted, he could reach out and grab me. Touch me.

“And if I can’t trust my mind, who should I turn to?” I whisper.

An invisible string tugs the corner of his lip upward. “Who, indeed?”

We stand in silence for several moments until I’m brave enough to ask the real question that’s been festering in my mind.

“M… do youfeel the effect of the bond? Mine and Cyprien’s?”

He doesn’t react the way I expect—he doesn’t react at all. Instead, he just drops his hands to his sides, expression set in that mocking smirk. “What a silly question.”

“That’s not an answer.”

A low vibration echoes in M's throat. “Would it give you pleasure if I told you it did? That you occupied my every waking thought, then followed me to my dreams? That Ihad forgotten what light was until they locked you in this pit?” He reaches through the bars, running a single claw over the pulse point of my wrist. “Is that what you want to hear, Dagny? That I need you?”

I swallow thickly, wanting to pull away but unable to. “Only if it’s true.”

“Mm-hmm. So few words are, when spoken in the dark.”

“What if I want to believe them anyway?” I lean into his touch, even as the tip of his claw slices a pale red line into my skin. “What if… what ifwebonded?”

The words are out before I can stop them, before the thought has even formed. My cheeks flame as I search for the origin of the desire but come up empty. “I… don’t know why I said that. I’m sorry.”

I expect M to laugh—maybe even call me stupid for suggesting such a thing—but he just stands there, his smirk nowhere to be seen. “You shouldn’t apologize, little one. Not for that. Never for that.” He retracts his claws, enveloping my wrist with his rough palm. “If things were different, then so would my answer. As much as I want my freedom, I’m not willing to bring you into this mess any more than you have been.”

“Freedom? The bond would let you out of there?”

“It would grant me increased power, which would allow me to escape, yes. But I can’t, Dagny.Wecan’t. I refuse to risk your life that way. Kaebl would surely kill you if he knew we were evenspeakingof it.”

“He’s really that scared of you?” I ask, my voice a gentle tremble.

M pushes his face through the bars, stopping when our noses barely brush. He looks past my eyes, deep into thecenter of my soul, peeling back layer after layer of each perfectly constructed wall.

“Yes,” he whispers, voice rolling over my skin in a gentle caress. “Just as you should be, sweet little thing.”

He slowly steps back from the bars as the shadows engulf his smirking face. “It’s time to go back to bed, Dagny. We wouldn’t want you to get caught in any… unseemly situations.”

His low laugh echoes off the stone walls, sending a chill down my spine that has nothing to do with the damp of the dungeon.

Quick as I can, I retrace my steps back to my room, closing the door tight behind me before diving deep into my bed of furs. The walls of the castle loom on all sides of me, pulsing with dark energy. Everything seems a little colder—a little less secure—now that I’m aware of the skeletons buried within the weathered foundation.

I pull the blanket up to my chin, staring at the ceiling, running over and over the words M spoke in the dungeon. No matter how many times I ask, no matter how many ways, the demons in the main castle refuse to answer the important questions. M is the only one supplying me with information—the only one who seems to truly care what happens to me. If I wasn’t bonded to Cyprien, I’m sure none of them would care.

EvenifKaeblfinds a way to break the bond, I worry about what he’ll do with me.

Will they cast me out to die in the wilderness? Will they end me with a single blow? Will they let me go home?

Sighing, I close my eyes tight, hoping sleep will find me yet knowing it won’t.

16

M

---