Page 10 of Demon Bound

She was mostly unfazed by the accusation. “Why do you think I’d like it if you were killed?”

“Because I know exactly the sort of person you are.” As they reached the landing, he stopped, turning around to look down at her. “You think you’re so complicated. You think you have such deep thoughts and emotions that no one else could understand. But you’re a simple creature. You want to feel special, like every other woman. You want to be doted on. You want to be prized. And you’re angry because I won’t give you that. Because I refuse to coddle you. Isn’t that right?” He put his hand on her waist, nudging his leg suggestively between her thighs. “You’re angry now, but we’ll make love tonight and I’ll make you squeal with pleasure like I always do, and by tomorrow you’ll have grown bored of trying to be angry, like you always do.”

“I’m not in the mood for lovemaking.”

“We’ll see.” He pulled her through the door to their bedchamber and pushed her toward the bathing room.

She quickly closed the door behind her and tapped the small, rune-covered crystal mage torch on the wall, which lit the room with cold, blue light. She stripped out of her torn, dirty dress. There were bleeding scratches on her knees that she hadn’t noticed before then, and a growing bruise on her ankle where the demon had grabbed her. She peeled off all her clothes and hurriedly cleaned the wounds. Nirlan would be annoyed if she lingered there too long, which would make him an impatient lover.

When she came out, he was lounging on the bed. He looked her up and down, frowning a little. He almost looked a touch regretful. She often got the feeling that he felt sorry about thingshe said and did to her, but that never stopped him from doing them again, over and over.

“Come on, then,” he said, jerking his head toward the space beside him on the bed. She sat down next to him.

“What if I had died?” she asked.

He sighed again. “Don’t start.”

“What would you do if I left you?” she asked, arching an eyebrow. It was either brave or careless, she wasn’t sure which. Perhaps she was past caring what he did to her. “What if I decided, ‘enough is enough,’ and walked out?”

He looked surprised, then he laughed. “And then where would you go? I’m everything you have. I’m your entire life.”

“What would you do?” she pressed.

He sighed, slowly pushing her backward onto the mattress. “Raiya, you’ll never escape me. We’ll be together until the end, whether you like it or not.”

It was lessthan a week later when Eunaios announced that he was prepared to cast the final piece of the binding spell.

There was to be another gathering so that Nirlan’s friends and peers could witness the event. After all, what was the point of having power if no one knew you had it?

Nirlan supervised Raiya’s preparation for the event with a critical eye. She was wearing a deep blue Uulantaavan-style robe secured with a wide belt at her waist. Its sides were split to the hip to the hem, revealing her trousers beneath. Nirlan preferred Ardanian-style dresses, which was exactly why she hadn’t worn one.

“Put more makeup on,” he said.

Raiya didn’t bother to reply, but returned to her dressing table. She looked in her mirror, staring hard into her own dark eyes. Her fingers clenched on the handle of her brush as she dipped it into a pot of pigmented cream. In careful, controlled strokes, she dabbed delicately over the bruise beneath her eye. She was surprised the brush didn’t crack in her hand.

She was furious.She had been for days now. Her patience had snapped, and she felt so much hate and bitterness toward her husband that she could hardly stand to look at him, and kept turning away from him instead. She feared that she would do something drastic if she looked too long. Something she’d regret.

When had things gotten so bad? When had her life spun so far out of control?

It had been slow. Like boiling a frog. She hadn’t thought she was the sort of person who would end up married to a man she hated, but here she was, standing like a decoration at his side, wondering how long it would be before he killed her, or she killed him.

To match the thick application of cream and powder on her face, she added blush to her cheeks and shadowed her eyes and brows. When she finished, she turned around to face Nirlan, waiting for his stamp of approval.

He frowned. “I prefer you without makeup,” he said.

“So do I.”

He took her arm to lead her to the great hall anyway. “I’m not in the mood for your nonsense today. This is an important night. Don’t embarrass me.”

The great hall was already filled with Nirlan’s friends by the time they arrived. It was just like Nirlan to be fashionably late to his own event. Eunaios was also waiting there, separate from the others. The man who’d accosted her during the last party had not returned, but she didn’t like any of the other visitors much more. She recognized many of them from previous encounters.They were all like Nirlan, more or less, just with different faces—similarly darkly inclined, interested in strange magics and occult practices, and usually unconcerned with things like legal technicalities and traditional definitions of morality.

Nirlan led the group toward the dungeons, flanked by guards. “Prepare yourselves. I promise you, you’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“We’ve seen your dungeon before, my lord,” said one of the men sarcastically, looking around the gloomy tunnels with distaste.

“Your wit is as sharp as ever,” said Nirlan flatly.

“He’s only joking, of course,” said a sun elf woman. “It’s not as if you’ve ever led us astray before, Lord Han-gal. We’re all waiting with bated breath to see what you’ve got this time.”

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