Page 6 of Taken to the Shadow Realm

“You’ll do perfectly,” she said with a purr.

“I think you’re mistaken,” I squeaked out.

Why isn’t she disappearing? Better question is, why am I talking to a hallucination?

“Oh no,” she said with a chuckle. “I can smell the power from you. You’ll fetch a pretty large sum. I just know it.”

I swallowed thickly and attempted to jerk my ankle from her.

I should scream. If I scream, Father will rush in and… save me, right?

Or he would realize just how insane I truly was.

“I have money,” I said quickly. “I can give it to you?—”

“Aw, you’re pleading?” she asked, her tongue coming out to dart across her lips. The action gave me a perfect view of the rows of sharp teeth in her mouth.

“Yes,” I said quickly. “I don’t get why you’re here, but if this is about money, I have more than enough?—”

“Human money is useless to me,” she replied, cocking her head. “Unless you’re offering your body—then I might be willing to bargain with you. It’s been a while since I enjoyed a human.”

Fear clawed at me, and I used my hands to try and push her away.

Fuck this.

“Let go of me?—”

“Pity,” she said, a smile spreading across her face.

Light burst forward from her chest, and I was pushed backward into a darkening void, the now playful yellow of her emotions following me into a dreamless sleep.

Yien

For the first time in my existence, I felt relief—or at least I guessed that was what this was—when I saw Aris sitting tall in a chair toward the back of the auction, her long black hair flowing around her. Her eyes were sharp as she took in the crowd, her distaste for them obvious.

She was a demon that liked to keep to herself, much like me, but unlike me, she had been known to purchase many a human at these auctions.

I had come across her many times before, enough to know that out of all the demons in the various realms, she was the most trustworthy. It was… comforting seeing her here.

I had let myself melt into the shadows, not wanting to be seen until the very last minute, but made sure to keep an eye on her.

Two twin royals had seen her within seconds of arriving and stalked toward her.

I didn’t much care for their playfulness, and I wasn’t too sure why Aris would allow them near her. But as much as she obviously didn’t like them, she still turned to them when they came up to her.

She even stood and bowed her head.

It was necessary. All demons were supposed to give them respect, but I wasn’t like most demons. I didn’t need anything from the royals, nor could they rule over me—not when my task of protecting the souls was so important.

“Eros, Oros.” Her voice was curt but lacked any heaviness to it.

Maybe Aris is lonely. Maybe she also comes here because the curiosity of what the humans could offer overtakes everything else. Maybe that’s why she keeps trying, time after time.

“Oh, knock it off, Aris,” Eros said. The instigator. The outspoken one. Eros spoke her mind while the other twin stayed silent, but no demon underestimated the second. Everyone knew she was just as dangerous as her counterpart.

Aris gave them a forced smile.

“I, too, am bound by the rules, Eros,” she said. “No matter how long we’ve known each other.”

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