Page 5 of Demonic Division

My fist clenches at my side as my vision flashes red.I’m not sure whatitwas…

Instead of an answer, the red-eyed demon tips his head back as laughter explodes from his open mouth. The noiseechoes off the walls, varying in volume and pitch until the dungeon is filled with the discordant sounds of the demon's joy.

Would you stop that?I say, my mouth setting in a deep frown as a chill runs the length of my spine.I don’t see anything funny about this.

The demon’s laughter cuts off abruptly. He lowers his head, his smile threatening to split his face in two. “Wrong. This whole thing isdeeplyhumorous.” He tilts his head, his eye flashing with amusement. “Well, at least to me, it is. But that’s all that matters at the end of the day, isn’t it?”

A silent growl vibrates my chest, and I resist the urge to reach through the bars and take hisothereye.Since you seem to know everything about it—what did I feel down the bond in the throne room? Why did it affect me and you, but not Lir?

The demon blinks lazily, the smile never wavering from his face. “Answers come at a price, dear Kaebl. You should know this by now.”

I swallow hard, my skin shuddering with the effort to hold the beast at bay.You will tell me what you know, and you will tell menow?—

“Iknowa lot of things, dear Kaebl,”he sneers. “Yet I have no reason to impart such valuable information. Perhaps if you released me from this frozen pit…”

I will do no such thing.A cloud of vapor billows into the air as I exhale a furious breath.You are exactly where you belong, filthy, murdering scum.

Another cackle breaks the silence, though this one is far more strained. “Such sweet words, Kaebl. You’ll make me blush.”

My lip pulls back in a snarl, and it takes everything in me not to smash my fist against the bars—it’s what hewants, after all.Instead, I turn from the demon and take several deep breaths in through my nose, turning back only when the red fades from the corners of my vision.

I’m tired of playing these games with you, M. Tell me what you know, or?—

“Or what? You’ll send in one of your henchmen to snap my wings again? Maybe take another claw or two—though, I’m afraid I’m beginning to run out, so you’ll have to come up with another form of torture soon,” he adds, a taunting glint in his eye. “Or we can just skip all the unnecessary effort. You give me my freedom, and I give you the answers to your questions. Simple. Efficient.”

You talk too much,I grumble, fighting against the rage coursing through my veins, causing the golden fissures spreading across my skin to pulse with a blinding golden light.This is useless. I don’t know why I came down here.

With one last glare, I turn on my heel and stalk toward the stairwell leading me out of the dungeon. But before my foot touches the first step, the demon’s voice calls out, halting me in my tracks.

“Wait! Thereissomething I want to tell you…”

Trepidation prickling my spine, I turn my head over my shoulder, surprised to find the red-eyed demon standing at the bars of his cell, his bloodied hands clutching the iron rods and his eye shining with malice.

What is it?

His smile widens as another demented chuckle echoes off the stone walls. “There’s nothing you can do to stop it. You’re doomed.Doomed, doomed, doomed…”

I shake my head with a frustrated snort, pulling my gaze away from the crazed demon and taking the stairs back to the main floor. And all the way,that voice follows, echoing along the hollow walls of my mind and frying my nerve endings with that single word.

Doomed.

Perhaps I am.

3

Dagny

Sittingat the foot of my bed is a demon. Arealdemon. Not a story told at bedtime, but teeth and flesh and blood and bone and…

Why does it look so happy to see me?

“Are you going to eat me?” My voice is barely above a whisper, and for a moment, I wonder if it can even hear me.

Boisterous laughter is my answer.

“You’re adorable,” it says, voice low and gravelly. “I forgot how fun humans are when frightened.” Suddenly, its laughter ceases, and its open expression is replaced with a serious one. It leans forward, surveying me with heated yellow eyes, and I watch in horror as its nostrils flare, scenting my fear. “I haven’t eaten your kind in eons. But I could make an exception for one so lovely…”

My eyes widen in horror, only for them to narrow when the demon breaks into another round of laughter. “I’m glad to know my fear amuses you,” I grumble.

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