Page 47 of Demon Bound

She guessed it took a lot of magic to maintain them, otherwise he would have summoned them more often. “For how long?”

“Not long.”

He flew in silence for a minute, his wings beating softly as he scanned the town. Then he tipped downward, speeding up and then slowing as he gracefully descended. They landed gently on the roof of a tall building. He set her on her feet, then studied her. The mark on his neck was already fading, but the runes on his hand were still inflamed.

When he found the cut on her hand, he frowned. Raiya’s eyes widened as he lifted her hand and put his mouth over the wound. He sucked gently, his rough tongue dragging over the cut, stinging and then soothing. It was not exactly like when he’d licked her blood before, when he’d been starved and desperate. This time, it reminded her more of a dog licking a wound. Like an animal instinct. It was a sensual act, but also a caring one. She was surprised to find that it didn’t disgust her.

Azreth seemed to realize what he was doing, and he paused, looking like he’d been caught in an embarrassing act.

Raiya swallowed. “Thank you. Again.”

He covered her cut with his hand, casting a short spell that transformed the raw, red slice into a clean, pink line. Almost at the same time, his wings and right arm both disappeared as he abruptly ran out of magic. His entire body drooped, and his eyes were dim.

She held his massive shoulders, worried he would tilt sideways and fall off the roof. “Are you all right?”

“I am still strong.”

She glanced over the edge of the roof. It was dark, but she could make out shapes on the street below, illuminated in torchlight. Paladins and other townspeople were searching the city for them. It wouldn’t be long before they found them.

“How are we going to get down?” she wondered aloud.

Azreth didn’t have an answer.

Trying to stay out of sight, she leaned close to a pillar beside them. Looking up, she realized it looked a bit like a steeple.

“Hello there!” someone whispered.

Azreth stepped in front of Raiya to put himself between her and the whisperer. Peering around his side, she saw a hooded figure beckoning them from a small window in the roof.

The person grinned, holding a hand above her face to keep the rain off. “The lady of darkness welcomes you,” she said. “You are being pursued by the Paladins, yes? Come inside the temple. Hurry.”

Azreth gave Raiya a questioning glance.

“Moratha cultists,” Raiya whispered. “Like Eunaios.”

Azreth frowned.

She took his hand, pulling him toward the open window. “Come on.”

Chapter 15

Azreth helped lower Raiya through the window, then started to climb through after her. It became clear that he was far too large for the opening, and his legs dangled through while his upper body was trapped outside. After a few seconds of contorting unsuccessfully, he simply punched the sides of the window, breaking out chunks of the frame until he fit.

The cultist just smiled as he stood up inside, unoffended by the casual destruction of the cult’s building. She was human, past middle age, and her face was painted in unnerving black and white makeup that made her look rather corpse-like. “He is utterly magnificent,” she said, her eyes traveling all the way down his body and then back up. “Truly a work of glorious, grotesque art by the dark goddess, praise her.”

“Praise her,”came an echoed chant. Inside the attic they’d dropped into were half a dozen women and men in black robes.

“What may we call you, young acolyte?” the woman said to Raiya.

“I’m Raiya. This is Azreth. I don’t want to frighten you, but you might be in danger. The Paladins were on our tail. They’ll be coming for him.”

“You are both safe here,” the woman said. “The wretched followers of Paladius, curse him—”

“Curse him,”echoed the others.

“—will not enter our temples. They know that to do so would be an act of war. Moreover, they are afraid to come too close because they believe our temples are tainted with evil. They are right.” She smiled again. “The child of darkness and his human escort are welcome here, of course. I am High Priestess Gereg. We are happy to help in any way we can, and I would be pleased to offer you sanctuary from the Paladins.”

Raiya hadn’t expected such a warm welcome from death cultists. “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you,” she said, giving an uncertain nod. “I don’t mean to keep going on about it, but the man leading these Paladins is… quite persistent. I’m not certain they won’t be able to force their way in.”

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