Page 392 of Flirting with Darkness

I grasp the bit of metal around my neck, half expecting it to be hot. For it to know I’m about to forsake my sworn duty and burn at my traitorous touch.

But it’s the same temperature as my skin, just as it always is.

My fingers brush the doorknob. I should have begged Father to stay. Should have told him I wasn’t ready to be alone so long.

But he promised I’d be fine. He had faith in me, and his faith had always been enough before. His faith had shored up my self-doubt.

And now I know it shouldn’t have.

I twist the knob and enter the dark hall on silent toes, passing my mother’s room, Father’s study, and the room for my brother who never was.

Night paints my family’s manor in darkness and shadow. There’s no color, no contrast.

No one can see your sins in the dark.

No one to wonder why I’ve abandoned everything I believed in my whole life.

No one will see when I set this demon free.

Promise me you’re only going to go home.

His scoff echoes in my mind.I don’t make bonds with humans.

I pause in the hall just before the kitchen.You must promise, or I can’t do this, demon.

The beast sighs, and that honeyed voice isn’t so sultry. It’s taxed. Tired.Why do you insist on calling me that, little bird?

I stop moving and since he hasn’t punished me with the flames of Hell yet, I decide to answer his question with honesty.Because that’s what you are and I haven’t yet worked out your name.

Nor will you.

Maybe not. But you still have to swear you’re only going back to your home. That this isn’t a trick to bring about Hell on earth.

If he doesn’t swear it, then I will die on the invisible pyre, content in the knowledge I’ve done my duty.

I have no desire to do anything but get out of this filthy realm with as much haste as possible, Keeper.

Compelling. But still not a promise.

I do not form oaths with humans!

If you want out of that box, then I suggest you reconsider your position on the matter, demon.

His next words come out with a snarl.I promise not to bring about Hell on earth.

And…?

And nothing, petulant human! That’s the only oath you’ll ever pry from my lips. Am I understood?

My body heats and I can’t quite discern whether it’s with passion or flames, but I don’t push the issue further. I enter the kitchen, head to the pantry in the back, and find the hatch in the floor that leads to the root cellar.

Prying up the warped wood isn’t easy, but once it’s done, I stare into the void, frozen in place.

You may put your mind at rest, Keeper. I’m not giving you a choice.Fire licks up my spine, and again, it’s not unpleasant.

But he’s quick to demonstrate how easily it can turn brutal, so I put one foot on the rung of the ladder and make my descent.

I don’t breathe the entire way down the rickety ladder. Twelve rungs, just like the sides of the box, to the packed dirt ground.

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