Page 8 of Demon Bound

Raiya glanced toward Nirlan. He was watching with increasing wariness. Already he looked like he regretted what he’d just done. Even Eunaios looked stunned. But it was too late to undo his stupidity. She saw their mouths moving as they spoke to each other, but the barrier muffled whatever they said.

A surge of anger tightened her hands into fists. She would die a painful death in a few moments, just because of his foolishness and uncontrolled jealousy.

The demon’s eyes opened. Immediately it focused on her, its cloudy, pupilless eyes sharpening. Raiya tried to scramble back through the barrier, and the demon lunged.

She screamed as its hand wrapped around her ankle and dragged her backward. She tried to dig her nails into the ground, bloodying her fingers. The demon pulled her back easily,flipping her onto her back like she was a doll. She kicked out wildly and hit it with a closed fist. Her hand connected with its chest, which felt more like stone than flesh, and pain burst through her knuckles.

The demon straddled her thighs and loomed over her. It clamped a massive hand over her throat to pin her to the ground. Its eyes glowed as bright as flames.

“Nirlan!” she screamed. She sobbed, waiting for the demon to destroy her.

But instead of killing her, it bent down, burying its face in her neck, and breathed deeply. It pressed against her with a wild desperation, clutching her like she was its lifeline—and if Nirlan and Eunaios were to be believed, that was exactly what she was. It inhaled the scent of her hair and her breath like it was air and the demon was drowning.

Drinking her fear, Nirlan had said.

It paused, looking down at her hand. Blood from her fingers had smeared over its skin as she fought uselessly. Raiya’s eyes widened as it released her throat only to grab her wrist and bring her fingers to its mouth.

Astra’s mercy, it really was going to eat her. It was going to start by biting off her fingers one by one.

A long, dark tongue came out of its mouth and dragged over her fingers. The texture was surprisingly strong and rough, like a cat’s tongue. It seemed to be in no hurry as it licked blood from her hand, lapping at the pads of her fingers and in between them. The demon closed its eyes as if in pleasure.

Raiya stared at it, torn between fascination and disgust. Her stomach flipped as it took one of her bloodied fingers entirely into its mouth and sucked. There was a spike of stinging pain from the raw wound on the tip of her finger, and a startling arousal that stirred deep in her core as she felt its slick tongue running over the digit. The act was undeniably sensual.

This was not what she’d expected. Did it plan to lick other parts of her, too?

Its pale blue eyes blazed at her as if it could read her mind.

Gods, please, not that.

It wasn’t going to kill her quickly. It was going to do it slowly, torturing her first. It was going to draw out every bit of energy it could take from her. Consume her completely.

But she suspected the demon was intelligent. Could it speak Ardanian?

“Tell me what you want,” she whispered. The demon watched her closely. Did it understand her?

She was very accustomed to bargaining with unreasonable monsters after living with Nirlan, but she had no idea what she could offer a demon that it couldn’t just take from her either way. “Make my death quick and painless, and I’ll give you whatever you want,” she said quietly. An idea came to her. “I will tell you about Nirlan,” she whispered, hoping her husband couldn’t hear from outside the barrier. “You want to kill him, don’t you? I’ll help you escape. I’ll help you kill him.” She had never seriously wanted to kill him before, but now the thought thrilled her. If Nirlan was going to kill her, then by the gods, she would take him down with her.

The demon’s eyes didn’t move from hers. Her finger slipped from between its lips, and it rubbed its nose along her wrist as it breathed her in, still gripping her possessively. Its mouth opened slightly, as if it was considering biting her there, and she caught a glimpse of sharp canines.

“Please,” she breathed.

There was a flash of blinding light and a loud crack of magical energy. Raiya flinched, and the demon roared in pain. There was another flash, and then it released her abruptly.

A pair of slimmer hands grabbed her and dragged her across the floor, and then she was outside the barrier. She lay still onthe floor, trying to regain her composure. Nirlan and Eunaios argued nearby, but the pounding blood in her ears made them sound far away.

“You may have had some trouble explaining your young wife’s disappearance if she had been killed,” Eunaios said. “I doubt people would believe she had suddenly taken ill.”

“I knew it wouldn’t kill her,” Nirlan snapped. “The creature is not a fool. It wouldn’t kill her while she’s providing it with energy, and it wouldn’t risk angering me when I’m the only one feeding it. It knows it is under my control. It knows it must appease me if it wants to survive.”

“If you say so, my lord,” Eunaios grunted.

Nirlan was holding a metal baton carved with runes. Raiya recognized the weapon, because she had made it. It was enchanted with a lightning spell, which could discharge on command. Eunaios must have charged it for him. She’d never seen it in working order, and had forgotten it even existed until now.

Her legs felt wobbly and weak, but she managed to stand. She glanced up at the demon as she touched her throat. She was surprised to find that, aside from her fingers, she was unharmed.

The demon was on its knees, panting as it watched them through a curtain of lank black hair.

“When will it be properly bound to me?” Nirlan asked, crossing his arms. “My patience is thinning.”

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