Page 93 of The Book Reader
“Light in darkness.”
The voices in my head echo around me, like they’re trying to comfort me somehow. Those daemons used my own magic against me. They were going to take me to Macy; I would have been dead. She would have gotten her way again.
I lower my head and continue to cry, my body shivering with fear. A fear that I’m not strong enough for this—that no matter what I do, I’m going to lose. For someone who is meant to be all-powerful, I feel helpless.
I hear a light tap on the door, but I don’t want to see whoever is out there. He resembles Gaelan but is different. His face shape is the same, but much bigger. They have the same eye color, shape, and dimpled grin. Trelor’s neck is made of pure muscle, just like the rest of his body. His skin is blue.
“Ari?” Gaelan’s voice is soft as he walks in. I look up, tears streaming down my cheeks. His eyes soften as soon as he sees me. He doesn’t say anything as he steps into the shower, moving to sit next to me and pulling me into his arms, cradling me against his chest.
“I’ve got you,” he says as he rocks me, his touch bringing me the comfort and safety I desperately crave—the only touch I want.
“Where did he go?” I whisper, wondering if Trelor is still here somewhere. Gaelan reaches for one of my hands and places it on his heart.
“He’s here, inside of me.” He kisses the top of my head and holds me when I start to cry again.
I don’t knowhow long we stayed on the shower floor. I remember Gaelan lifting me at some point; he dried my body, his touch careful of the cuts and bruises that mar my skin, he dressed me in some sort of nightgown, and now we’re lying on a pile of leaves, feathers, and sticks. I have to shift a few times to stop them from digging into my skin. If I didn’t know any better, I would say it feels like we’re in some kind of nest.
Gaelan couldn’t remove the cuffs; they looked like they required a key or for me to find my book. I’m going to have to wear them for now, which also means that my guides will not be able to help me. I can still feel them, hear their light whispers, but it’s like they are far away, sitting at the back of the room, and it’s challenging to listen to what they’re saying. The symbol on the cuffs and the way they feel tell me that they have some kind of binding magic on them.
The worry and fear that I had before is now bigger; being put in the cage and having those daemons try and take me has hit me with a reality stick. Before, it was just about finding the book; now Ineedto see it.
I look up at Gaelan; he hasn't said anything since the shower. But he hasn’t stopped touching me, like I’m going to fade away any second now. Like if he isn’t touching me, then I’ll slip through his hands. His eyes burn into me; I don’t want to talk about it, but I can see him wanting to know what happened.
“Who is Trelor?” I ask him, hoping this will turn the conversation away from my ordeal. Gaelan reaches up and brushes his fingers down my cheeks, lightly tracing the cut. It stings, yet it gives me comfort at the same time.
“He’s me, well, a part of me.”
I frown at him. “What do you mean?”
“Lords of Hell are born a little different,” he explains. “We have daemons inside of us to help us balance out everything down here.”
“Balance out?” I ask him, What kind of balance can Hell have.
“Just like topside, we have an order of things—how the underworld should be. If the Lords in their true form ran it, there would be no balance. The evil down here would leak topside, and it would be Hell on earth, so we are paired with a daemon lord at birth to rule with, to make sure heaven and Hell have the right balance. You can never have good without evil.”
I pull in a breath and close my eyes. Everything in the world is about balance; the yin and yang, so that makes more sense now.
“And yours is blue?” I question.
Gaelan chuckles. “Yes, Trelor is blue. He’s a part of me, but also different. We share thoughts and feelings, but we also have our own thoughts; he’s the bad to my not-so-bad. He fights, he kills, he protects.”
“Is that why he came for me?”
Gaelan nods. “He came for you because you’re also his mate, his soul is bound to yours just like I am. But I also let himbecause I didn’t know what we were walking into. If it were more than a couple of daemons, it would be better for him to deal with it since he’s stronger than I am.”
“He ripped the heart out of a daemons chest,” I say, horrified.
Gaelan grins, and I can see a hint of Trelor now when he smiles. “Trelor was gentle with him; he could have done so much worse.”
I rest my head on his chest. “Why didn’t you tell me about him before?”
“You were going through so much… Trelor and I knew you needed time, plus, we didn’t want to scare you. Trelor isn’t human; he’s a pure daemon, made in Hell, I was only born into it.”
I frown at his words. “What do you mean ‘pure daemon’?”
Gaelan moves us slightly so he can look down at me. “His first thought will always be to protect you, after that… he’s something else. He will kill without a second thought; he does not have a conscience and knows no other feeling but destruction, pain, and death.”
“Is he dangerous?” I ask, causing Gaelan’s eyes to search mine as he searches for the right words to say. “The truth,” I say, wanting to know everything. Ineedto know everything.
