Page 63 of Hunted By Her Demon Wolves

She looked back at him. “Who?” The name had a familiar ring. Hadn’t that been the name of the spider demon who’d possessed Tatiana? What if this was the same one?

“Gorgo’s spider slave, a jorogumo. She went looking for you and never returned.” Damon grimaced. “Gorgo saw her sweeping the area where you’d fallen.”

Her stomach churned as she clutched her throat. She was too numb to speak as she recalled Tatiana’s gray pallor and bloodshot eyes when the jorogumo Morana had possessed her. Then there were the quills that sprouted along her arms and back and that grotesque red thing on her abdomen. A shiver stole up her spine. She’d thought they were through with jorogumos. Could this level of hell get any worse?

“Once we get the other piece to that crystal, we can get my mother to help us.”

Her gaze shot to his, her brain still too numb to form a coherent thought. “But...”

“Phoenix, don’t fight me on this, please.” Damon grabbed her shoulders, searching her face with a desperation in his eyes. “I’ll lose my mind if Gorgo gets his hands on you.”

She swallowed a knot of unease at the fear in his voice.

“Do you know where Morana is?” Though, she wasn’t sure she wanted to find her.

“I remember seeing her in Gorgo’s flames.” He held a hand out to her. “I think I can find her.”

She swallowed back her apprehension, thinking they’d clearly both lost their minds. She felt as if someone else was speaking for her when she cleared her throat. “Then let’s go.”

Chapter Ten

Eilea clung to Tan’yi’nug’sthick scales as she surveyed the city below. Her sister had rebuilt it to resemble the city they once ruled together, but this place still felt foreign, even though the winding cobblestone streets and rows of attached brick homes looked the same as before. Maybe because of the many new demons. Maybe because of her sister’s betrayal. The temple looked to be the same as she remembered, built in the form of a pyramid, the monolith standing so tall, it was like the city had been built around a mountain. She wondered how many of her witches had escaped the Vindictus, and how many were languishing in the bowels of hell along with her sons. She’d make it a point to find the others, but first her sons had to be found.

Just as she remembered, there had been an aerie carved into one side of the pyramid for Tan’yi’nug, a big, flat balcony that led to a deep, wide portico where the dragon could fit most of his body while squeezing his head through the doorway that led to the pyramid.

They landed there, and her dragon inspected his nest built of straw and moss with a freshly killed billy goat laid out on the slate floor, blood pooling beneath its slit throat.

Pinning his wings behind him, Tan’yi’nug cautiously walked up to the goat and sniffed. He looked up at her after his inspection.Is this supposed to make up for their betrayal?

“No.” She shrugged then slanted a smile. “Shall I tell them to take it back?” She remembered how much her drake loved goat.

His top lip curled back as steam shot out his nostrils.You may do no such thing.He devoured the goat in one swallow, then licked the slate clean of blood.

She walked away from him and leaned on the stone rail to take in the view below. Most other witches hadn’t liked standing so high above the city, the biggest buildings, even the castle, appearing like doll houses beneath the pyramid’s shadow while the wind blew their hair into their mouths.

Eilea had never felt freer up here, far removed from the rest of the demons below. The air seemed fresher, her head clearer. Most of the activity in the hundred story structure occurred on the first ten levels, but Eilea’s suite had been up here, directly beside Tan’yi’nug’s nest. Back before the Vindictus had destroyed everything, she would either use her wind magic or Tan’yi’nug to ascend the pyramid. She wasn’t bothered up here, and if her sons needed her, they could use Cadmus’s wind magic or take an enchanted elevator platform accessible only to her family.

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