Page 56 of Demon Bound

“Why worry over me like a mothernyra?Why cry when I am hurt? Why do you never use my weaknesses to your advantage? Do you not know what I am? Don’t you know that I consume your kind for power? Don’t you have any sense of self-preservation? Just yesterday, I angered you. I threatened you. But still, you worry for me. Still, you attempt to serve me. There is no logic here. I cannot understand it. You are the most baffling creature I’ve ever met.”

She couldn’t tell whether he was angry or grateful. “I didn’t—I don’t—”

“You should let me be bound. You should rejoice in my pain. It is a victory for you.”

“I’ve never wanted you to be in pain.”

“But why?”

“There will never be a better explanation, no matter how many times you ask for it. This is just how mortals are.”

“No,” he corrected her sharply. “It is howyouare. Only you.”

When he’d grabbed her, she’d thought he was going to hurt her. She’d braced herself the same way she did when she sensed Nirlan’s temper rising, when she knew a blow was coming. She would not have blamed him for it. Instead, he gave her this softness, this rounded edge to his voice.

He searched her face. He had the look of a man peering over the side of a cliff and deciding whether to jump, and fearing the ground would collapse beneath him no matter his decision.

The door behind them slammed open. A male cultist barged into the room, followed by Priestess Gereg. “Praise Moratha!” Gereg said, which, from what Raiya had observed, passed as a greeting for the cultists, but this exclamation seemed particularly enthusiastic.

“Praise her,”echoed the others who lurked behind her in the doorway.

“Priestess Gereg,” Raiya said, struggling to keep the exhaustion from her voice. She tried to take a step away from Azreth, but he grabbed her arm to keep her in place. He was frowning at the cultists.

“We sensed your dark works from below,” Gereg said, smiling. “You should have made us aware that you were ready to enact the dark goddess’s will. We are eager to observe, and to aid, if we may.” She gave a shallow bow.

Raiya started to reply, but to her surprise, Azreth spoke first. “There is nothing to observe. It was an anomaly, nothing more.”

“Oh?” Gereg raised her eyebrows. The other cultists exchanged disappointed looks. “Then will you deign to give us any more information about your intentions here, demon? Can we expect your plans for the dark goddess’s veneration to come to fruition soon?”

Raiya didn’t know whether to be apprehensive or amused. They were getting bored, gods bless them. Like children on Lightbringer’s eve.

“Yes. Soon,” Azreth said flatly.

Raiya wasawoken from her bunk in the temple’s sleeping quarters that night by the sound of the door opening. It let in a dim shaft of light from the hall, and the cultists in the other beds stirred. Raiya squinted toward the door.

Azreth stood in the doorway, his body a black silhouette with gently flaming eyes.

He walked into the room. It could not be called striding, exactly, because it wasn’t quick enough for that. He had a graceful, self-assured way of moving that she always found beautiful, if a little intimidating.

“Get out,” he said, looking at the cultists.

The cultists blinked at each other, half-asleep. “What?” asked one.

“Get out,” Azreth repeated, jerking his head toward the door. The cultists very quickly evacuated the room without him having to repeat himself a third time. He shut the door and locked it, then sat on the edge of her bed. The mattress sagged so much that she worried the bed would break.

“Azreth?”

“I must speak to you.”

“It’s the middle of the night.”

“I cannot wait.” There was a pause, then he lifted his gaze from the wall ahead of him, looking over at her. “How do your people show remorse?”

That was not at all what she’d expected. It took her a few moments to mentally adjust. “What are you remorseful for?”

“Injuring you when Nirlan fed you to me. Taking you from the castle by force. Frightening you. Threatening you.”

She stared at him. He’d been keeping a tally of all the times he felt he’d wronged her.

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