Page 71 of Demon Bound

Chapter 22

“Idon’t like this,” Azreth said. They were walking down the road toward the Roamer camp, which had just come into view beyond the hill ahead of them. Raiya had decided it was safer than Ontag-ul, and she wanted to check on Jai and Madira, too.

She smirked up at Azreth. He wore his glamour, and his face was a familiar shape wrapped in unfamiliar beige skin. “You know, I wasn’t alone when I rescued you from the temple. The night elves and a Paladin were with me, too.”

He looked down at her sharply, his lip curling. “APaladin?”

“Yes. I wouldn’t have gotten you out without their help.”

“That does not mean you can trust them. If they helped you, they had their own motivations for doing so. They would not have done it if they did not see a benefit for themselves.”

“For some people, doing what you feel is right is a benefit in itself.”

He looked down at her, his brow knitted. “Do not assume others feel the same as you. Keep your baton within reach.”

Raiya brushed her fingers over the handle of the baton tucked into her belt—not because she was worried, but because she liked the feel of it. She had begun adding runes to the shaftand more in the handle, as many as she could fit. It was the most self-indulgent thing she’d ever made, ridiculous and impractical by most standards, but not when you had a demon to power all those runes. It was not finished, but already the baton positively glowed with latent power, and she was intoxicated by it.

Soon after they entered the camp, Fu-lon greeted them—though that may have been overstating things.

“So you got your creature back,” she said to Raiya. Raiya was tense, waiting for her to tell them that he wasn’t welcome in the camp. Azreth glowered at the woman. Fu-lon puffed on her pipe as she thoughtfully looked Azreth up and down. “I didn’t expect that. Well done.”

“Thank you,” Raiya said.

“You’ll be looking for those troublemaker elves, I suppose?”

“I was, actually.”

“Jai won’t stop talking about you.” She heaved a sigh, breathing out a cloud of smoke. “You can stay, but if an army of Paladins come to get him, I’m not going to get in their way. I’ve got nothing against you, but I’m not going to defend one of his kind. You’re on your own. Understand?”

Raiya was stunned. It was more of a welcome than she’d expected. “I understand. Thank you, Matron.”

Fu-lon nodded. “Go talk to Jai.”

Predictably, Jai found them before they found her. She grabbed Raiya’s arm and dragged her toward her tent, practically bouncing with excitement.

“You could have told us you were alive. We thought the cultists might have gotten you,” the girl said as soon as the tent flap closed behind them. Madira was sitting on the floor inside. Startled, he looked up from the bowl of salad he was eating and the book he’d been reading, and his entire body flickered into shadow for a moment—apparently a fear reflex.

“Ash and blood, Jai, you can’t just barge in here with whomever,” he said. “What if I was naked?”

“You’re not,” she said, giving him a withering look.

“I could have been.”

“Shush! Raiya and her you-know-what are here.”

Madira set down his bowl, looking up at them both warily. “So you’re alive, demon?”

“Not so loud!” Jai hissed.

“My name is Azreth.”

Raiya looked up at him. It was the first time she could recall him introducing himself without being prompted.

Madira seemed to hold his breath for a moment, nervous. But then he shrugged. “I did not want to upset Raiya by saying this, but I was certain you would already be dead by the time she got to you.”

“The cultists did not want to kill me,” Azreth said. Everyone went still. His presence commanded attention, but more than that, he had the benefit of being one who rarely spoke. It made people want to listen on the rare occasions when he did. “They coveted my strength. They wanted to make me their servant, force me to be a weapon. They thought they could coerce me with torture. They were wrong.”

“Gods,” Jai murmured.

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