Page 54 of The Demon's Delight
“Is that so?”
“Yes, my brother and his friends had business in Olinbourg. She was part of a residence there.”
“Oh? An employee?” I baited, interested how far this idiot would go thinking he had me on the hook.
“Of sorts, yes!” The man grew excited, thinking he’d won me over with such an argument. He was a fool.
“Moonflower?” Her head finally rose, and I could see the rage burning behind her beautiful eyes. “Do you recognize this man?”
“Yes.”
“See! She knows me. There was a little book, maybe more?—”
I didn’t move so much as a muscle before Hailon stabbed him in the ribs with her dagger. Because of the way the weapon was held, it looked like she’d punched him just before he started bleeding. It was spectacular.
“Oh, dear. Looks like she doesn’t want to go with you. Have you done something she didn’t care for? Seems as though youhave, she’s not one to just skewer people like that on a whim.” My blood rushed under my skin, lust chasing the adrenaline of the fight. All the facets of her beauty had manifested before my eyes in one evening, and I wasn’t sure I was going to recover from such a gift.
He stuttered and babbled, making pointless excuses and lying through his teeth about what had happened back at that house. Hailon was having none of it, and didn’t appear to need my help.
“You in particular liked to hold me down while they poked and prodded,” she snarled, twisting the blade. “You think I don’t remember you?” The man begged for his life while drowning in his own blood, but she wasn’t yet finished exacting her wrath over every vile bit of experimentation she’d suffered at his hands. “Your brother’s pathetic life came to an end on the tip of his sword,” she hissed, gesturing at me. “Meaningless. With no fanfare. They all died in that terrible house, you know. Then we set it on fire. I gutted three of your friendsmyself.”
“You? How?” He somehow managed to scoff, and it was by far one of the most brazenly foolish acts I’d ever had the pleasure of seeing someone perform.
Hailon was incensed, and honestly, I understood. To doubt this goddess when she’d already escorted you to death’s door? Sheer madness.
“If I had it to do again, you’d all dieslower.” Rage flared in her gaze as she twisted the blade buried in his flesh, then pulled it out. The tall man gasped, clutching at the wound, trying to figure out how to breathe over the blood he was coughing up. “I’d take the same kind of care with you that you took with me. I’d snatch you up from your peaceful life and leave you chained in a cold room with no comforts. Hungry. Tired. Always waiting for the next torture session. I’d poke and prod at your flesh with pointy objects, take little pieces of you away until there wasnothing left.” Her shoulders sagged and she stepped away from him. “But really… you aren’t worth the time it would take to do all that. None of you. And soon? You’ll all be dead anyway, so it won’t even matter. I’ll go on to live my life, and you’ll all be long gone. Where’s the other one? I know there’s one more, is he following us too?”
“Too important. You’ll never find him.”
“That’s not what I asked you!” she yelled. “Is he following us too?”
He was no longer capable of speech, but he shook his head aggressively. I wasn’t sure I believed him.
Now that I’d had a second taste of it, I’d firmly decided that vengeful Hailon was my favorite to watch, though happy Hailon was a very close second.
The life drained from him faster than I’d hoped, honestly. All too soon, the gurgling stopped, and there was nothing left but a wide-eyed corpse on the grass.
Hailon glared down at the body, her rage having left her panting. “There should be a furnace in that warehouse, right?”
I smiled. She was still her brilliant self. “Almost certainly. Come on, Moonflower,” I said, slinging the man over my shoulder. “Let’s make sure he’s not carrying anything important and clean this mess up.”
Chapter 25
Hailon
Istalked angrily up the stairs to our room at the Rooster.
“Unbelievable. I’ve had these clothes all of a day, and they’re ruined.” Over the last couple of hours, I’d gone from genuinely carefree and happy to afraid. Then I’d embraced my darker side and hurt one of the men who had hurt me.
But blood on my new clothes? That was the thing that pushed my fragile mental state a step too far. I worried about myself sometimes.
Seir shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. If I can’t get them clean, I’ll buy you more. Just leave them by the sink.”
I grumbled to myself as I gathered up another tunic to change. Seir lingered by the bathroom door, stance wide and arms crossed.
“Everything alright?”
“No, it’s not.”
