Page 42 of Demon Bound

“Not too many,” Raiya said evasively. “Would it please you to know that it was mostly Paladins?”

Madira’s expression was guarded, but his eyebrows went up a little.

Jai spoke for him. “Madira hates Paladins,” she said, grinning mischievously.

“I’m finding that I don’t particularly like them, either,” Raiya said.

It was nearlymorning when Azreth finally awoke. Almost an entire day had passed.

He jerked awake with a sharp intake of breath. He looked up at her, his eyes aglow, and she was surprised by how glad she was to see him again.

“Good morning,” she said.

He looked up at her blankly. As he slowly sat up, he looked down at himself, as if making sure he still had all his parts. His phantom arm reappeared, giving off a soft magenta glow as the magic threaded together.

He looked up at her again, and there was a strange expression on his face. He was surprised.

“Do you feel better?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

He didn’t answer, but looked her up and down. His eyes locked onto her neck, noting the nick the night elves had left there—little more than a paper cut.

“What is that?”

She looked down. “Um. There was a small incident.” She felt his pulse of anger and fear. At this proximity, it drifted off his skin like a perfume.

“What happened?”

She decided it would be best to tell the truth. She was having a hard enough time gaining his trust, and lying to him wouldn’t help. “The night elves from the Roamer camp. I think they were suspicious of you, so they followed us.”

His nostrils flared. “They attacked you?”

“No. It was a misunderstanding. Everything is fine now.”

“But you’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing.”

He leaned in. “It is not nothing. If someone hurts you, you should punish them. If they think you will tolerate being hurt, they will do it again. You must learn to defend yourself.”

She stiffened a little, because she sensed he was thinking of another person who had hurt her.Theperson. “Are you worried about me being hurt, Azreth?” she asked wryly.

“I take no pleasure in your pain.”

He sounded far more earnest than she’d expected. She was taken aback for a moment. “I understand,” she said. “But this is not like when Nirlan hurt me. They’re young. And, frankly, they’re night elves. They were trying to help, in their way.”

He frowned like he still didn’t understand, but he didn’t argue.

She was starting to find that confused frown endearing. He didn’t understand, but he was trying to. Before she met him,she would never have guessed that a demon would want to understand the perspective of mortals.

“I will follow your lead in this,” he said reluctantly.

She smiled. “Thank you.”

Chapter 14

Raiya and Azreth passed through the gate to Ontag-ul without issue, though the watchman on the wall gave them a very curious look.

The town was fortified by a great wall all around its borders. The roads were paved with interlocking stones, the buildings constructed with neatly cut wood and topped with tiered, gabled roofs of dark tile. Night was quickly falling, and dark clouds were moving in to cover the moons, but flickering lanterns hung beside buildings and along bridges over the river that ran through the town.

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