Page 14 of Unbinding the Demon
“Sicko...”I sneered and looked away from his smugly perverted grin. My gaze drifted down to the front door as we passed the area that overlooked the foyer. There was nodogin sight, which unsettled me. “Where did your dog go?”
“He’s probably still eating his supper. He got quite a delicious treat tonight.” With a joyous smile, he turned into his bedroom.
The room was large and looked like it had been quite sumptuous at one point. The only source of light was a dim beam shining in from the hallway, but I could still see well enough. Every piece of the once-opulent furniture was dusty and antique, matching the rest of the house. Shadows were cast across the room, giving it a bit of a creepy vibe.
The wide floorboards creaked as he carried me over to the king-sized, four-poster canopy bed. Silky black material was wrapped around the thick wooden beams and elegantly draped down the sides of the intricately carved posts, reaching to the floor like the wispy cloaks of malicious specters. He gently laid me down and tucked me under a dark crimson coverlet. His large body crouched down next to the bed; then he stuffed the velvety material underneath me, all up along my body to my neck, until I looked like I was wrapped in a cozy cocoon.
“If you dare try anything sneaky while I’m asleep, I will literally rip your eyeballs out and use them to fertilize my garden.” I glared daggers at him from my comically wrapped-up state.
“Oh? Is that all you’ll do to me?” he asked with crooked delight.
“No, I’ll also cut your fingers off one by one until you scream out in agony,” I seethed.
“Well now, that would be a real shame considering that you haven’t felt what these fingers can do to you...yet.“ He nonchalantly looked at his fingers and wiggled them in front of his face.
Once again, my face turned bright red, and my scowl only darkened. “And don’t even think about slithering up next to me tonight, you creep!”
“That’s too bad. I was hoping we’d get to do some quality snuggling,” he stated, his voice filled with feigned distress.
I sputtered in disbelief, shaking my head as I did so. “There will most certainly not be any snuggling going on between us! I’ll carve out your liver, chop off your limbs, slice open your throat, stab your stomach with a pencil. The things I’ll do to you would put any gruesome death metal lyricist to shame!” Amusement twinkled in his eyes, and a goofy grin stretched across his lips. He stayed crouched down beside me, listening to all the ways I planned to maim him if he tried anything.
“It’s time to go to sleep now, my sweet little Buttercup,” he whispered, cutting off my violent rambling.
“I’m not your sweet little Butterc—”
“Sleep,” he commanded darkly.
As soon as the word was spoken, my body became limp and my eyes were too heavy to keep open. My consciousness fell into darkness as a deep sleep overtook my senses.
6. Shrouded in Shadows
The mournful clouds resigned their showering tears and parted to allow silvery luminescent light to shine down across the land, filling the room with a pale lunar glow. I stayed crouched in the darkness beside the bed for quite some time, allowing my eyes to burn incandescently with lust as I gazed upon the beauty before me.
The soft moonlight gleamed over her delicate features, illuminating her alabastrine skin and serene countenance. I couldn’t resist the urge to caress her smooth, bare throat with the back of one of my claws, longing to sink my fangs into the delicate flesh. She was so soft, like a little dove. The sound of a slight sigh escaped from between her plump, lipstick-smudged lips, causing me to stiffen. I didn’t wish to awaken her, considering how feisty she had been, so I removed my hand from her throat and began twirling a lock of her lustrous hair instead.
Here, lying before me, could be my one and only chance for deliverance.
As a victim of abyssal binding magic, my powers had been rendered nearly nonexistent, leaving me in a pathetically weakened state. I was unable to journey back to my home dimension of Hell, nor could I wander far from the location where I was released upon the earth. And to make matters worse, the poisoned dagger that had been driven into my shoulder had infected me with an agonizing and deadly affliction. Over the past five years, I had watched as the blackened venom slowly spread like a pernicious web beneath my flesh. I knew full well it was only a matter of time before it reached my heart and killed me.
My attempts to heal it had proven futile, since my power was far too weakened. It was only if I were unbound that I would be strong enough to rid myself of its toxic and taunting presence. Yet that was only possible if someone from the same bloodline as the mage who had begun to unbind me years ago finished the spell. Consequently, I had given up on all hope, accepting my fate of slowly and painfully resigning my soul to the icy winds of death; forever alone, forgotten, and bereft of necrologies in this strange and distant dimension.
“So, this is the woman who can break the curse?”Belzar’s raspy voice telepathically echoed within my mind. His massive abyss wolf paws stepped out from a whirling cloud of shadow, revealing his true undead form as he stalked toward me.
“I hope she can.” A wicked grin stretched across my face, and my wings twitched as I glanced over at him. “But I’m uncertain.”
I thought I had been mistaken when I noticed her presence as she browsed the books yesterday. The faint yet familiar melody of her blood had reached my ears and piqued my interest. The tune reminded me of the woman who’d released me. I followed the sound of her sanguine cadence and observed her from the shadows. She had enraptured me with those all-too-familiar emerald eyes, so I decided to take a closer look and manifested in the physical realm.
My curiosity had not disappointed me. Even though the first paper of hers gave no surname, the second one had. Much to my delight, it was the same as the one written in the late woman’s journal. It was only when that sad excuse of a priest had spoken with her that I learned she was the sorceress’s niece and not a direct descendant, as I’d originally hoped. However, she was indeed from the same bloodline and thus potentially had the power to break my curse. It was still better than nothing.
Belzar placed his front paws on the bed and began sniffing her bundled-up legs.“Her blood smells sweet.”His massive jaws split open to reveal sharp, dagger-like teeth with strings of drool stretching between them, ready to sink into her tender human flesh.
“Just what the fuck do you think you’re doing!?” I whispered sharply at him. “She’ll never unbind me if you go gnawing one of her legs off!”
With a reluctant whimper, he backed down and sat beside me.“Sorry, Azathoth,”he bowed his head and flattened his ears back in remorse.“I just wanted a taste.”
I sighed through my nose and scratched the back of his neck with affection. “I understand. But we must not harm her in any way. In fact, we should be protecting her at all costs, lest we forfeit our own lives.”
Belzar’s life was tied to mine, and although he never allowed it to dampen his spirits, he understood the gravity of our situation. If I were to die, so would he. My gaze shifted back to Gwendolyn, watching the gentle rise and fall of her breath. This world was far different from the ancient lands I remembered. I had observed these modern humans for half a decade now. They were frail and banal compared to their ancestors. Yet, I had still considered it wise to learn their language and culture using all the readily available books in the library, all while staying invisible in the shadow realm. It was something I was now immensely grateful for.
