Page 50 of Demon Bound

“No, not as such.”

“Too bad. You’d be a lot more useful if you were.”

“I can’t disagree.”

“Perhaps the demon should have come directly to us instead of you.” She smiled unkindly.

Raiya looked down at her work, though she was suddenly having a difficult time concentrating on it. “Yes, you’re probably right.”

After a few hours, she leaned back to stretch her shoulders, and she felt a presence at her side. She looked up, and Azreth was crouched beside her, watching her work. She had no idea how long he’d been there. He raised a hand over her candle, and the flame grew a little bigger and brighter, casting more light over her book.

She smiled and pointed to the book. “Look what I found. It was written by an Ysuran mage who lived in the fourth century. It’s a study of runes found on enchanted artifacts from the hells.”

Azreth looked at the page she’d pointed at, impassive.

She went on, too excited not to share her findings, whether he wanted them explained or not. “Look at these. They’re very similar to the ones on your hand. And here—” She flipped to another page in the book. “This section has theories about reversing bindings. Most of it isn’t relevant to you, but look at this set of runes. The runes on your hand appear to be a combination of several languages and spell types, but I think some of them use an old demonic language. We can use this as a basis for building a spell to reverse your binding. I’ve already made a few prototype enchantments for us to test.”

Azreth studied the runes in the book she’d been reading, then looked over the enchantments she’d sketched out, his luminous eyes carefully passing over every pen stroke. At last, he looked up at her.

“You can read all these runes? These spells?”

“Yes, most of them. I’ve studied runic languages for a long time. Maybe longer than I should have.”

“These languages can be merged?” he asked slowly. He looked at his hand, then back at the book. “What does this one mean?”

Raiya pointed out each rune on his hand as she explained their function in the spell while Azreth listened. When she’d finished, she sat back, waiting for him to react. He frowned. Raiya guessed he was going to point out how unlikely it was that her counter-enchantments would work, and she braced herself.

“You are very clever,” he said.

Raiya raised her eyebrows. “Oh. Thank you.”

“I thought you were a mere craftsman of enchantments, not an inventor of them. You have impressive skill.”

Flutters filled her stomach. “I don’t know about that. But I’m glad I can be of assistance.”

“You offer more than just assistance,” Azreth said. He lowered his voice, glancing up to look her in the eye. “If you were not with me, I would be trapped and without hope.”

Raiya was startled. She swallowed back a lump in her throat. Without thinking, she found herself reaching out to touch his hand. He looked down at where she touched him, quiet and still.

“I’m glad I can help,” she whispered. “No one should be trapped or hopeless.”

His fingers slowly folded around hers.

A sad thought occurred to her—that he might no longer need or want her after this was done. She realized, rather suddenly, that she didn’t want to leave him. Was it just because of the sense of safety that came from having a demon as a bodyguard? Or had she begun to appreciate his company?

“What will you do after you’re free?” she asked. “You said you will not return to the hells.”

“No. I will remain here with you.”

She blinked, surprised. It seemed he’d already been thinking about this, as well. “With me?”

His gaze sliced toward hers. His eyes narrowed. “Yes.”

Raiya watched him, and he watched her back. The warmth had gone from his aura. His expression was cool and unyielding.

Slowly, Raiya’s pleasure drained and was replaced by confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

“You will stay by my side while I remain on your plane. That is all.”

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