Page 95 of Demon Bound

As Raiya’s eyes followed the circling birds through the air, her gaze caught on a pair of eyes peering down at them from the shadows in the corner of the balcony.

Nirlan. He was…hiding.

Instead of fear, her heart filled with fury at the sight of him. “Nirlan!” she snarled.

His eyes widened. He spun and disappeared down the hallway. The coward. Theworm.

“Go,”Azreth shouted to her.“Go after him.”He and the other demon had separated for a moment, but he hardly had time to take a breath before the other one struck out with those terrible claws, catching Azreth across the chest. Four deep lines appeared on his pectorals, dripping black. Raiya’s breath caught, but then Azreth conjured a sparkling beam of light that struck the other demon, knocking him back. Azreth was holding his own. For now.

Adamus nodded to her, drawing the iron sword from the sheath at his waist. “Go with the elves. I’ll stay with him.”

Jai took Raiya’s hand, pulling her toward the stairs. Raiya’s chest felt like it was tearing in half, but she forced herself to turn away from Azreth and run toward the curving stairs that led to the balcony.

Jai’s magic flowed through her as they took the stairs two steps at a time, and when she looked down, her body had faded to shadow. Madira’s feet were silent behind them, but she knewhe was following a step behind. As a bird flew down at them, talons extended, Raiya fired another shot and kept running.

At the top of the stairs, she slowed, following the elves’ lead in staying low and quiet. They came to the intersection of corridors leading to the bedrooms and the servants’ chambers. Raiya turned down the hall to the bedroom. Nirlan would have wanted to run to a place that felt safe, where he probably had weapons hidden away.

She slipped through the door to the bedroom in time to see him squeezing into the gap between the wardrobe and the wall. Raising the baton, she shot at him, but he disappeared behind the wardrobe at the last moment, and the blast hit the wall. Blackened stone rained down on the floor. Another wasted shot.

Raiya circled closer to the wardrobe, her baton raised, and then she saw the opening. There was a hidden door behind the wardrobe, half obscured by the rubble. A dark tunnel lay beyond.

Cursing, she ran to the wardrobe and shoved at it ineffectually until Madira came to help her. With their combined efforts, they shifted it a few inches, then climbed over the rubble and into the tunnel. Far down the passageway, she could see a faint light disappearing around the corner.

“Nirlan!” she shouted again, breaking into a run. They rounded the curve of the tunnel, and then came to a fork. She stopped, listening, but she heard nothing. Tiny mage lights lined the walls in both directions. He could have gone either way.

Without having to discuss it, Madira went one direction, and Raiya and Jai went the other, running hand in hand. The tunnel turned into rough stairs cut from the rock, and Raiya sensed they were below ground. The tunnel had exited into the dungeon beneath the castle.

Ahead, a light flashed briefly. She sprinted toward it, her lungs burning. This time, when they rounded the corner, she was fast enough to see Nirlan still running down the corridorahead of them. She lifted her baton and fired again. In her rush, her aim was off, hitting the wall ahead of him. Nirlan ducked, flinching as rock shattered around him, but he kept running. Raiya nearly screamed with frustration.

But just as he started to round another corner, he stopped short, grunting as his head abruptly jerked back. Madira flickered into view in front of him, wincing and shaking out his fist. Before Nirlan could recover, Madira had grabbed him by the hair and raised his sword to his throat. Nirlan’s eyes widened.

“You bastard,” Raiya hissed, stalking toward him. He was responsible for this. He had killed all those people in town. He had summoned that demon who was trying to kill Azreth as they spoke. “What were you thinking? How could you do this?”

Nirlan held up his hands, grimacing as Madira gripped his hair tighter. “Wait! We’re on the same side.”

“Like hells,” Raiya scoffed.

“That red beast downstairs—he’s wild. He needs to be put down. That’s what you want, right?”

Raiya was dumbfounded. “Are you telling me you’ve lost control of your demon? Again?”

Nirlan sneered. “No great works ever came to fruition without risk, Raiya. Ambition has its costs. Next time, I will succeed, and when I do, everyone will say I was lucky. But it’s not luck. Success takes work and time and sacrifice, and yes, sometimes failure.”

She rolled her eyes, wanting to strangle him. How had she ever tolerated him? “For the gods’ sake, be quiet.”

Madira’s blade nicked Nirlan’s throat. He seemed eager to bleed him out.

Nirlan glanced nervously between Jai and Raiya. “So… Is this it? Are you going to kill me, wife? After two years?”

Raiya clenched her teeth. “How do we get rid of the binding you put on Azreth?”

“Azreth?”

“The demon.”

“Which one?”

“The blue one,” she said through her teeth. They were losing time. Every second they spent with him was one that they could have been spending helping Azreth. If she hadn’t still been hearing distant thuds and crashes vibrating through the walls, she might have thought the fight was over already.

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