Demon Slave (8 page)

“
D-Dem-m-mon?” she called
again. No response. Gods, it could be any manner of creature that
the demon had left her with. There was a reason why the Cyrellians
avoided these caves.

The spike of fear had her stumbling toward
what she thought was the exit. Blindly, she inched forward, placing
her arms in front of her. Her legs ran into something and she used
her hands to identify it. A large boulder.

Feeling her way around it, she attempted to
walk again but came to what must be a cavern wall, or possibly an
even larger bolder.

Weakness filled her bones along with the
frigid air. Her fingers burned and prickled. She shoved them
against her mouth, blowing as much warm air on them as she could.
When her shivers overtook her, Nadua curled into a ball, hoping
someone would find her in time.

So
tired
.

Somewhere in her dreary mind she realized
her exhaustion was a bad sign.

The sound of falling pebbles roused her. Too
cold to be afraid, she waited for some cave dwelling creature to
attack.

“
Are you
alright?”

She let out a relieved sigh, though she
didn’t know why. It was the demon. Probably had come back to kill
her. The sound of sticks hitting the floor echoed around her. It
seemed as if the demon was methodically breaking them up and moving
them around in a pile.

“
This will keep us off the
cold floor.”

Us?

“
It’s the best I can do for
now.”

She heard him stand and move toward her.
Obviously, the demon didn’t have a problem seeing in this darkness,
because there was no running into boulders for him.

In one easy swoop, he pulled her off the
ground. Nadua didn’t even have the strength to protest. As it was,
her traitorous body instinctively curled into him for the heat he
was giving off.

After he laid them on what turned out to be
some sort of pallet, he slipped his arms around her. She weakly
tried to push away, but at the moment she couldn’t have pushed a
snowflake off of her.

“
Put your arm around me,”
he said.

“
Fuck you!” she managed,
though she did move closer. The heat of his body was already
starting to sooth the chill in her.

And he smells
good
.

She was losing it.

“
Use my body for the warmth
you need. I tried to get back to your tent to find those skins you
wear, but there are too many guards. I’ll try again in the morning.
This is what I can offer till then.”

With her mind reluctant, but her body
screaming for warmth, she placed her arms on his chest, burrowing
into him as close as possible. Thick biceps cradled her.

Eventually, the worst of her shaking abated,
while her mind began its exhausted descent. Her last thought—which
later she blamed on her delusional state—was how wonderful it felt
to be within his arms.

Rising from a heavy sleep,
Nadua adjusted her position on the bed, which, for some reason, was
less comfortable this morning, and snuggled deeper against the
warm...
muscular chest?
Stiffening, she opened her eyes to a wall of black.

Her heart jerked as the events from last
night played back in her mind. The side of her face was pressed
intimately against the demon’s bare chest, his musky scent and heat
enveloping her.

Afraid she’d wake him, Nadua tried to remain
still.

Unexpectedly, his grip tightened around her.
Panic nearly engulfed her, making her pulse burn through her veins.
She had to get away, get back to camp, signal her soldiers. But how
was she going to do any of that? She wasn’t sure exactly how long
she’d slept, but she assumed there should be some light outside by
now—or perhaps it was already midday—yet the cave was still pitch
black. He must have taken her farther inside than she thought.

Somehow, Nadua would need to get the demon
to lead her out. Without him, she might never find her way. The
Caves of Kayata were said to be a complex labyrinth of passages,
mostly unexplored due to the many dangers. Pitfalls, cave-ins, and
toxic air. And those were the non-superstitious obstacles.

“
How are you feeling?” His
deep voice rumbled in his chest.

Nadua tensed in surprise. She hadn’t
realized the demon was awake. His voice was soft and drowsy, which
probably made it easier for him to fake the concern she heard in
it.

“
Take me back, demon, and I
promise not to have you killed.”

He touched his chin to the top of her head,
pulled her closer, and breathed deep. “You’re not going back there,
ever.”

“
Is that a threat?”
Preparing to push away from him, Nadua placed one palm against his
skin, but as she felt the ridges of his muscles—the first warm
flesh she felt in a long time—a completely inappropriate surge of
desire came over her.

Am I so deprived of another’s touch? And
where is his shirt!

Then she realized there was some kind of
fabric wrapped around her legs. He must have given her his shirt at
some point during the night.

“
Completely the opposite. I
plan on keeping you safe and alive until
Marada
comes for us.”

“
Marada
? Is that one of your gods?”

His body shook with amusement, which brought
back the awareness that she was still pressed tightly against him.
His hand was on her back, lightly rubbing.

It felt odd arguing with someone, fearing
him, while holding on to him for dear life. The air around them was
still as cold as it was the night before.

“
Marada
is my home. It’s a ship.” He sounded so
reasonable, but what he was saying was that he planned to abduct
her and take her away.

“
So you want to take me
there, and what? Have tea? Introduce me to the family?”

“
Aye. Mine
and
yours.”

That got her attention. “What?”

“
Your sister Anya
is...well, was aboard the
Marada
.” His tone went serious with
heavy sorrow. “Hopefully, Sebastian got to her in time. We found
her—or rather, she found us a few months ago.”

Nadua nearly balked, but managed to keep it
to herself. She didn’t have a sister named Anya. The liar must have
gotten his facts wrong and confused the name with Ava, Fineas’
daughter and future queen of the Cyrellians.

However, keeping him talking might be in her
best interest. Perhaps she could discover his true agenda, as well
as keep herself alive.

“
What do you mean you hope
he got to her in time?”

“
Just as your soldiers were
playing pin cushion with my leg, Anya was being taken by someone
very bad, someone who would want to hurt her. Sebastian went after
her, and if all went well, Anya is safe, and they’re on their way
to find us right now.”

Nadua didn’t think it was wise to mention
that it was she who played pin cushion with his leg. Her soldiers
had just reeled him in. Better to let that drop.

“
What if they’re not on
their way to find you?”

He was silent for a moment. “Then a very
dear friend is dead, and possibly so is your sister.”

Not my sister, psycho!

“
Your friend, I assume he’s
a demon?”

“
Aye.”

“
And Anya is like
me?”

He raised a brow. “Uh...yes.”

“
Tell me, then, why would a
demon risk his life for someone like me?”

“
Because she is his mate,”
he said simply. As if that explained anything. “Look, I can tell
you’re skeptical. Let me start a fire and we can talk
face-to-face.”

Nadua let go of him with a combination of
eagerness and regret. The latter was only for the warmth he
provided. As soon as they parted, the cold air assaulted her.

“
How is it you’re so warm?”
she found herself asking.

“
It’s evolutionary,” he
replied, while gathering part of their bed into a pile. “Our home
planet had very extreme winters, not unlike here, from what I’ve
seen so far. We also experienced very hot summers. For survival,
our bodies adapted to adjust to both temperatures.”

A spark flashed in the dark as he struck two
rocks together, and then again. After a short time there was a
decent fire going, warming the space around them.

Finally seeing the demon felt awkward. He
didn’t know it, but he was the first male to touch her, without
causing pain, in nearly four hundred years. She could still smell
him on her, and she hated herself for savoring it. He was still
shirtless, and it didn’t help that his chest was sculpted to
perfection, even under all those scars. He was unnervingly
attractive.

“
There, that’s better,” the
demon said, when he was satisfied with the fire’s size. The chamber
was larger than she initially assumed. The ceiling curved into an
uneven dome, and sporadic columns of rock formations cast ominous
shadows every which way.

No ice or snow was present. It had been a
long time since she’d seen sand and dirt, or bare stone. Outside,
the temperature never grew warm enough for the snow to melt down.
It just grew in layers, the landscape ever changing.

The demon took a seat on a boulder, watching
her as she studied her surroundings. She should be looking for a
weapon, not marveling at the walls, but they were strangely
fascinating as the firelight bounced off them, creating shimmering
pockets of light and dark.

“
The reason we came here,”
the demon began, “was to find you, Nadua.”

She stilled at the use of
her name. She hadn’t told it to him, but it was possible he heard
it from one of her guards. “Is that so? What a coincidence
that
I
be the one
you’re searching for. And that I was there just when you
landed.”

“
Where your father is
concerned, I don’t think I can believe in coincidences. And it was
Anya who sensed where you might be.”

Nadua claimed a seat across
from him, keeping the fire between them. “Ah, you know my father,
as well as my sister...
Anya
.”

“
No, I’ve never met your
father, and why do you say her name like that?”

She hadn’t meant to sound so dubious, but
his story was so poorly strewn together. “Why did you not tell me
any of this when I asked?”

“
I had no idea who you
were. I figured you were one of them.” His eyes unabashedly skimmed
her body. “I should have known when you gave me that peek
show.”

Nadua’s teeth gnashed together. “That
wasn’t...That was just...”

“
You left me aching bad
that night. Left me wondering how the rest of you would look.” He
gave a sexy grin. “I must say, I’m not disappointed.”

Cheeks flaming, she scrambled for the
closest fist-sized rock. “I will fight you if you try
anything.”

His features hardened. “I’m not going to
hurt you. Just like what I see, is all.”

She relaxed a bit, but held onto her
primitive weapon. “Please, just continue.”

The demon proceeded to tell
her how this Anya person had found her way onto
Marada
after being enslaved on a ship
called
Extarga
.
Which was absurd. Not only would her father never allow that to
happen, but Nadua—master of eavesdropping on her father—had learned
the intended locations of all her sisters, and a ship named
Extarga
had not been one
of them.

He continued with details
of their lengthy journey through space—expedited by
Anya’s
ability to provide
energy to the ship, nearly dying in the process—to find a book,
written by their father, King Alestar. The book provided them with
her location on Undewla.

Then he went into a tale even less
believable. “I overheard your men conspiring against you. The two
that were with you, the first night we spoke, were plotting to kill
you last night and blame the rebel, who they had also set free.
That’s why I took...extreme...measures to get you out of there. I
don’t believe all your men are in on it, but I can’t be sure.”

Nadua took it all in, and
tried not to laugh. “But according to you, you didn’t even know who
I was before you rushed to my
rescue
. Why bother risking your life
to save a stranger who threatened to torture you?”