Page 82 of Demon Bound

She watched from a distance as he approached the behelgi. He hadn’t attempted to get close to them since that first time he’d seen them, when they’d encountered the Paladin riders.

The behelgi watched him closely, their heads raised, eyes angled toward him. As soon as he came near, they darted away.

Raiya sighed quietly. Azreth didn’t try to approach again, but contented himself with observing them quietly. Animals were sensitive to magic. Behelgi were sturdy, even-tempered creatures, but even they shied away when approached by a demon.

This was the way it would always be. Azreth was not of their world. He couldn’t change what he was, but she wouldn’t have asked him to even if he could.

“The caravan is moving again,” she said softly. “Are you hungry? I haven’t seen you eat anything in a long time.”

“The Roamers don’t like the way I eat.”

She thought about how she’d seen him eat, ripping into raw meat like a wild, ravenous carnivore, and she couldn’t help but be amused. The Roamers who had witnessed it must have been as unnerved as she had been.

“So I eat in private,” he added.

“You don’t have to do that. Eat with me next time you’re hungry.”

“You were sleeping last time.”

“Wait until I wake up, then.”

“Why?”

“Eating is a social activity for mortals. We like to gather and talk and enjoy our meals together. It’s important.”

He tilted his head in that curious, interested way he often did when she explained the intricacies of mortal life to him. “All right,” he agreed.

They kept away from the other Roamers, for the most part. Some of the people in the clan were surprisingly accepting of his presence, but many still had mixed feelings about him. It probably helped that he had shown he was willing to protect the clan from threats. Even if people didn’t like him, they liked having the extra muscle around.

Raiya had no desire to cause tension between any of them, and it appeared Azreth didn’t, either. They walked at the very back of the group, almost out of sight of the others, where their presence was less obtrusive. She was content there. Azreth was the person in the group she most wanted to spend time with, anyway. Sometimes, Madira and Jai dropped back to walk with them. Other members of the clan also approached occasionally to ask if Azreth was healing well, or just to say hello. Raiya gotthe impression they mostly just wanted to get a closer look at him, but they were polite enough.

“What are you thinking about?” Raiya asked after they’d been silent for half an hour or so.

“Your husband.”

The mood instantly soured. “I would rather think about anything else,” she said.

“I think of him often. I imagine tearing off his limbs or burning him until he is blackened and crisp. I dream of his screams.”

Raiya gave him a sidelong glance. “I am not sure even Nirlan deserves those things,” she said carefully.

“Does he not? Even after what he’s done to you? What he’s done to me?”

She didn’t know what she wanted anymore.

She had once thought she wanted Nirlan dead, but the more she was confronted with the reality of killing him, the more she feared it. She imagined his body broken the way Azreth had described, and it made her sick. She wanted him dead, and she didn’t.

“I’m not sure I can go through with it,” she admitted quietly. “I’m not sure I can just… kill him.”

Azreth studied her, his eyes sharp. This must have felt like a betrayal to him. Itwasa betrayal. Her palms began to sweat, and she balled her fists into the fabric of her cloak.

“I spent every day with him for the better part of two years,” she explained. “We were a part of each other’s lives for so long. I thought I would spend the rest of my life with him, for better or worse.”

“Do you still care for him?” Azreth asked, his tone even.

Gods, no.

Did she?

---