Page 1 of Bargain with the Demon King
Chapter 1
Azzaron
Crossroads. Mortals loved a good superstition.
This one kneels in the dirt where two paths meet, blood dripping from his palm onto packed earth. The ritual words tumble out wrong—backwards in places, slurred in others. Drunk, then. They usually are.
I let the shadows knit themselves together, bone and horn and flesh stitching from the darkness. The air chills, smelling of ozone and cold stone. Theatrical? Yes. But mortals expect a show, and I'm nothing if not accommodating.
"Please," he gasps before I've fully formed. "Please, I need—"
"Your wife." I circle him, noting the cheap wedding band, the merchant's clothes, the soft hands that have never held anything heavier than a ledger. "She's fucking your brother."
His sob confirms it. They always sob.
"Actually fucking him right now, if you're curious about specifics." I crouch in front of him, studying his wet face with the same interest I'd give a mildly unusual insect. "In your bed. The one with the carved headboard you commissioned for your anniversary."
"How did you—"
"I'm a demon. We know things." The details connect themselves. Merchant. Cheap ring. A desperate summoning instead of a hired blade. The story is an old, simple one. I let the silence hang before stating the fact. "You want her to love you again."
"Yes." He reaches for me, a grubby hand grasping at air as I shift back, just out of reach. "Make her love me. Make her choose me."
A faint curl of my lip, a distaste I don't bother to hide. The stench of his desperation is a physical thing. I could explain that forced love isn't love, that the bargain would leave him with a hollow puppet wearing her face. But why bother? He wouldn't listen. They never do when they're this far gone.
"Your soul for her love." I extend a hand, claws scraping the air. "A simple bargain. She will adore you. She will never look at another man again. All you have to do is say yes."
He doesn't hesitate. They never do.
"Yes."
The word seals his fate. I feel the tug as his soul anchors itself to my power, a faint glimmer in the vast collection I command. He looks up, expecting a flash of light, a puff of smoke.
I just smile. "Done."
He stumbles to his feet, a frantic hope in his eyes. "That's it? She'll... she'll love me now?"
"Implicitly."
He runs, tripping over his own feet in his haste to get back to his new, adoring wife. He doesn't see the fine print. She will love him, yes. But she will love nothing else. The food he buys will taste like ash in her mouth. The sun will feel like a burden. Her laughter will be a hollow echo. She will be a beautiful, empty doll who lives only for him, and in his bliss, he will be trapped with a ghost.
Mortals. So beautifully predictable. I let the shadows take me, already forgetting his name. He is just another contract, another soul in the ledger.
And I have a kingdom to run.
Chapter 2
Adraya
The first scream cuts through market day wrong—too high, too raw, too real. Then the raiders pour through the square. Overturned carts. Scattered vegetables. Blood spreading across cobblestones. Mrs. Hendrick drops her basket of eggs and runs, yellow yolk mixing with red.
"Chad!" I grab his arm as another scream splits the air. "We need to help—"
He yanks me sideways, pulling me off balance. Heat rushes up my neck—his grip, his immediacy.He's protecting me.Even now, he's thinking ahead.
"This way," he gasps, eyes darting everywhere at once.
A raider rounds the corner—massive, blood-drunk, sword already wet. Chad's grip on my wrist goes white-knuckled. Then he shoves. Hard. I stumble forward, directly into the raider's path. But wait—Chad must see an opening I don't. Some angle, some— The raider grins at me. Raises his blade.
