Page 14 of Demon Bound

She burst through the front doors of the castle, then skidded to a halt. In the middle of the bailey, visible in the bright light of the moons, stood the demon. The bodies of several more guards were scattered around him. He had stopped to stare at the iron portcullis that blocked the exit. Sensing Raiya’s presence, he looked up. She took a step back, drawing a quick breath and turning to run.

He was at her side in a few long strides, grabbing her arm. She struggled, but she may as well have tried to uproot a tree.The demon turned her toward him, meeting her eyes, and she went still, unable to look away. Her heart pounded so loudly that she was certain he could hear it.

There could be no doubt that he was not of this world. He was a good two feet taller than she was, and the horns curving up from the top of his forehead were bestial, but his face could have been carved from marble by the most skilled Auren-Li artists. His cheekbones were sharp, his nose elegantly aquiline. His skin was perfectly smooth, not with youth, but with magic—a kind of agelessness that was inhuman and unnatural. And there was something hypnotic about his eyes. Their swirling, pupilless glow was inexpressive, obscuring his feelings, if he had any. She stared at them, attempting to find a soul within, but she saw nothing.

There was a part of her that felt humbled to witness him, even if he would be her demise. He was like a volcanic eruption, or an eclipse, or a typhoon: a force of nature. Destructive but awe-inspiring.

Instead of ripping into her with his teeth, he merely looked at her, his eyes growing brighter by the second. And then, a spark glowed to life near his shoulder. She realized with alarm that he was casting a spell, channeling her fear into magic.

Traces of bright magenta-violet light ran along his skin, covering the scarred shoulder of his severed arm, and then burst out from his skin in long tendrils, weaving an elongated shape. It coalesced into a new arm, a ghostly apparition of a limb, made of transparent magenta light and nothing else.

Raiya tensed as he shifted his grip on her to his new hand. It felt just as solid as flesh and blood. He raised his other arm and pointed at the portcullis that blocked the exit.

“What will unlock this cage?” he asked.

She blinked, taken aback. She had not expected him to speak, even though she’d had a suspicion that he could. His voice wascalmer and softer than she’d expected. It was as earthy and unyielding as one would expect from a creature of his size, but it held none of the rage and volume she’d anticipated.

A small crease formed between his eyebrows. His grip on her tightened ever so slightly, but the threat was hardly necessary. His hand was large enough that it could have encircled her calf; her forearm felt like a fragile twig beneath it. She was well aware of the danger she was in.

“Speak,” he said.

“I—I don’t know. I’ve never seen it down,” she stammered. “You could lift it. I’m sure you’re strong enough.”

“I cannot.”

Raiya looked at the portcullis, scanning for a mechanism to open it. “On the wall. There’s a lever.”

“Raiya!”

She jumped. Nirlan had appeared in the doorway to the castle, but stopped short when he saw the demon. His eyes darted between them both. He wanted her, but not badly enough to fight the demon.

The demon was the first to act. He picked up Raiya, and she cried out in surprise. He carried her against his chest, high off the ground.

“Be still,” he growled, his chest rumbling against her as he pulled the lever. She was startled into silence. She didn’t have much choice.

She watched Nirlan over the demon’s shoulder as the portcullis began to lift. As the iron bars clanked up into place above them and the demon carried her out into the wilderness, Raiya wasn’t sure which demon she’d rather be with.

Chapter 6

Bouncing with each of the demon’s long strides, Raiya grew dizzy. Her head throbbed. She counted her breaths, trying to keep them even.

She peered up at him surreptitiously, trying to guess his plans, but she quickly looked away when his luminous gaze lowered to meet hers. She hugged herself, having nothing better to do with her body in this awkwardly intimate position.

The demon was scanning as he walked, taking in the miles of waving grass and distant mountains. He studied the land in each direction and then he studied the sky and the stars as if all of it was new to him.

He couldn’t have known where he was going. Nirlan and Eunaios had just recently summoned him from the hells. Did he know anything at all about the mortal plane, let alone Heilune? Had he ever even been here before?

She supposed he would do what all demons did: wander the land searching for mortals to sate his hunger for death and destruction. It wasn’t hard to guess what part she might play in his plans. He had brought her along as a snack, or a toy to absorb emotional energy from. But how long would that last before hegrew bored of her, or before he simply lost control of his rage and killed her like he had the others?

It occurred to her that she was still carrying her enchanted baton in her belt. In all the commotion, she’d forgotten about it. Her hand slowly curled around the handle at her waist, and she felt a prickle of magic as it reacted to her touch, ready to be activated.

The demon glanced down at her sharply. Somehow, he’d sensed the magic. Fear rushed through her, and she quickly let go of the baton. It wasn’t powerful enough to keep him down for long, anyway. If she shocked him, he would recover and chase her down again.

The night was deathly quiet. But after a while, Raiya heard the sound of running water. The demon came to a stop beside a creek. He lowered her to the ground, setting her on her feet. Then, ignoring her, he waded into the water and dipped his hands in. He splashed water on his face and over his body, scrubbing away the blood and ink.

Raiya’s heart was pounding again, but something about watching him bathe was reassuring. Bathing was a thing that reasonable, sane creatures did, not monsters, right?

When she spoke, her voice was quiet and shaky. “What is your name?”

---