Page 38 of Taken to the Shadow Realm

And it was unlocked.

When I was here the first time, none of us dared to try the door after the one girl who did was immediately attacked by guards. We never saw her again.

But I would be different. I just knew it.

I pulled the door open slowly and slipped out into the dark hallway, making sure to close it behind me.

There was not a soul. No sound of footsteps and no lingering aura.

I can do this.

Keeping calm, I traced the way back to the auction room. If I remembered correctly, it was just down the hall and inside one of the large doors to the right.

Found it.

Maybe I can hide out here until the demons panic and have to look for me.

I opened it and slipped in just as the sound of footsteps hit my ears. I paused, listening to them as they passed, and when they sniffed the air, my heart stopped in my chest.

Can they hear me? Smell me?

Then there was a small laugh, and they were on their way.

Thank god.

Walking toward the curtain that separated the room and the stage, I allowed myself a peek. The auction hadn’t started, but some seats were already filled. Not a single demon that I recognized.

No Yien.

So I decided to hide. I scurried back into the room and made quick work of trying to conceal myself. As I made room in the wood stack in the corner of the room, a hand grabbed my shoulder.

“Naughty, naughty human,” a demon growled. “Just wait until Madam hears about this.”

Fuck. This time, I didn’t hesitate to fight back. I swung my body back. Wailed. Screamed. Hit. Kicked. Punched.

It threw the demon off, but reinforcements weren’t far. And with them, I was carried back, kicking and screaming to my room. All while the white-haired demon smiled down at me.

Yien

“Fake?” I echoed as Madam stood at the center of my property.

Her smug smile ticked me off. Anger was boiling underneath my skin, just begging me to tear her limb from limb.

“We consumed it,” she said with a shrug. “What you said was a soul sphere turned out to be a dud. And burned the insides of one of my favorite little pets.”

My shadows swirled around me, inching closer and closer to her.

The only reason I didn’t attack her was because I needed Iris back. Anything that I did here would only make it harder for Iris. If I couldn’t prove what I had given her had been a true soul sphere, then Iris would?—

“It was a demon ruler. A fire demon at that,” I insisted. “It’s the same as eating human souls—it isn’t guaranteed you get powers. On top of that, demon souls are almost nonexistent, so in order to take advantage of their powers, you would have to make sure someone compatible?—”

“But you see,” she interrupted, twirling her hair around her fingers. “That wouldn’t happen with any other soul sphere. Any other one would almost guarantee getting powers, but yours? We got nothing, and you still claim it’s genuine?”

“It is!” I growled.

I cursed my stupidity. I knew that might happen to the soul sphere if they weren’t careful, but I expected them to have more common sense. To actually test it instead of just randomly ingesting it the first chance they got.

Demon souls were testy. Without the proper care, they would do exactly what she described. A once-in-a-lifetime chance had been ruined because they hadn’t done their due diligence.

---