Demon Slave (Shadow Quest Book 2) (9 page)

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?”

“
Before I knew you were Nadua, I was hoping you would be appreciative enough to help me find her...well, you. Now that I have found you, I just need to keep you alive. And that means keeping you away from any blue tinted would-be murderers.”

Nadua couldn’t help the skeptical sound that escaped her. “And are we just going to sit in this cave, hoping your friends will find us here?”

“
No, when things settle down out there, we’ll go back to the place where you captured me. That’s where Sebastian would start looking.”

“
I can’t travel without my furs! I wouldn’t last an hour.”

“
Don’t worry. I plan to sneak back into camp and get them for you.”

“
How gracious of you, and while you’re there can you pick me up a couple of edisdons and something to snack on, because walking all the way back there is going to take some time.”

The demon looked thoughtful. “I can try, but I can’t guarantee it.”

Nadua felt her mouth drop open. “Demon, I was kidding. This is crazy. We can’t just go wonder off by ourselves. That’s a death wish on this planet. What would we eat, where would we sleep? You may be full of warm fuzzies, but the edisdon fur only goes so far at keeping my temperature up.” She took in a frustrated breath. “I’m sure whatever you heard, regarding the plot against my life, was a misunderstanding. If we go back to camp now, I’ll set everything straight.”

“
Did you not hear anything I just said? I’ve come to take you off this planet. Whether or not someone wants you dead doesn’t change that. Besides, it was not a misunderstanding! I was there when they released the rebel. They spoke of how his dagger would be found in your chest and the one—what was his name?—Tamir, seemed to be in charge.”

Impossible
.

“
How could you possibly understand anything Tamir might have said? He doesn’t even speak your language!”

“
They weren’t speaking Demonish.”

“
Okay, so you’ve learned to speak Cyrellian in a few days.”

The demon just shrugged, and Nadua scoffed.

“
Last night, you were cursing me in Cyrellian right?”

“
Yes.” She repeated a few of those curses for him now.

With a bit of amusement, the demon said. “You called me an edisdon dicksucker.”

Nadua gaped at him. He couldn’t have learned the language in just a few days, her mind rationalized. The deceitful demon must have known the language all along and pretended not to.

Realizing what her trail of thought must be, the demon added, “My kind can learn almost anything in a short amount of time. An advantage of our race that helped many of us survive after the destruction of our planet.”

Nadua stared at him, not sure what to say.

Her disbelief must have been evident, because he made an irritated sound.

Throwing what was left of their pallet on the dying fire, he said, “I don’t know why you’re having such a hard time believing me. I know facts. Stuff that I shouldn’t know. Stuff about your family, your race.” He scrubbed his hand down his face. Shaking his head, he stood silent for a moment. Then he changed the subject. “How is your leg?”

Nadua had been ignoring the dull pain from where she’d been stabbed. When she didn’t answer, he crossed to her.

“
Let me see.”

“
What? It’s fine.”

Her heart rate spiked when he knelt in front of her. Peeling the rock from her grasp, he tossed it over his shoulder. She was contemplating running, but he gave her a look that said she wouldn’t get far.

He placed her calf on his bent knee, gently lifting the hem of her pant leg to reveal her upper thigh. The cloth that had been wrapped around her wound was soaked in blood, but it looked worse than it actually was.

As he began undoing the knot, Nadua marveled at the lightness of his touch, as if he were trying his hardest not to hurt her. He set the ruined cloth aside and began inspecting the gash.

Her breath hitched at the feeling of his palm on her thigh, holding her still for his examination. Luckily, the demon didn’t seem to notice how fast her heart was beating, although to her it seemed like the sound of it should be echoing off the cavern walls.

“
You heal well. I can see it’s almost fully closed.”

“
See. It’s fine.” She tried to remove her leg but he held her firm, still not hurting, but keeping her in place.

As his thumb rubbed her inner thigh, their eyes met. “You really do have lovely legs.”

Jaw dropped, she shuddered at his touch. But as quickly as it appeared, his heated expression morphed into something unreadable and he let her go.

He moved toward a darkened passageway and ordered, “Stay put while I get your furs.”

“
Wait! Take me with you, demon! Don’t leave me in this cave!”

Halting by the chamber’s exit, he glanced over his shoulder. “The fire should last until I return.”

Then he was gone. No sound for her to follow into the dark, not that she didn’t try. With a few new scrapes to show for her effort, she returned to the flames, once again chilled to the bone.

After her teeth stopped chattering, she slumped on the same rock he’d been sitting on and was instantly slammed by a vision.

As with most her visions, it was like being jolted into another realm, then a fuzzy image appeared, coating her sight, and morphing into something more tangible.

Years ago, she was used to her sight suddenly not belonging to her, but since she hadn’t had a vision in quite a while, it startled her at first. She forced herself to calm and allowed the vision to take over.

Menacing red eyes, fangs seeking blood, a face twisted in a snarl. An army of her men held the demon back as he tried with all his might to get to her. The depth of his gaze was hollow, both unseeing and focused through their unwavering panic and rage. Nadua’s heart lurched as his body sliced through the line.

A blinding white light broke the vision, leaving her stunned and gasping. Her nails were digging into the rock beneath her.

Slowly, the disorientation that came with every vision dissipated. It had been decades since she’d had a vision so intense. She could almost feel the need for bloodshed rolling off the demon.

Though the vision had been short, the message was clear. Sometime in the future, the demon was going to try to kill her.

The tail end of twilight kissed the sky. Darkening shadows were encouraged by heavy cloud cover.

On the way to the Cyrellian camp, Marik had mused about the stubbornness of women. Well, one woman in particular.

Nadua had her mind set on not believing him. Why? He’d been a bit rough when spiriting her away, but that was only because she had been fighting him so fiercely.

He’d feared all her thrashing had reopened her wound but it looked to be healing as it should.

Unfortunately, being that close to her, touching her, had caused his desire to make its vicious return. He would have loved to take things further, but was sure she wouldn’t appreciate his reaction to her. Not when she resisted the truth of his words so persistently.

He supposed being informed by a stranger that someone she trusted was scheming against her could be hard to accept. Marik wondered how close Nadua was with Tamir. A spike of irritation sprang to life inside him. He hoped she had better taste than that, but she’d already proven her judge of character to be a bit skewed.

With far too much ease, Marik slipped into camp. Nadua’s tent was as he had left it, minus the crackling fire. The furs he came for were draped over a line that ran the length of the enclosure. It looked as if she had attempted to wash them. Their scent was not as bad as before, but was still strong enough to mask her natural fragrance, a fragrance that had kept him up all night fighting the need to roll her to her back and warm her body in other ways.

A frustrated sigh escaped him. It would be a shame to cover up that physique, but necessary. Not only because she needed protection from the cold, but because his desire for her was already at a dangerous point. He’d been hiding it well, and for good reason. She didn’t trust him.

Though demons were mostly civilized, and could usually control their more primitive impulses, they were still slaves to their baser instincts, as Marik was well aware. And his baser instincts were telling him to go back to that cave and explore every inch of the woman he’d left inside, before taking her up against the wall.

Once he got back to
Marada
, he’d need to find a willing female fast, to relieve the building pressure.

Marik snatched the furs and gathered a few more items before making his way to his next target. The scent of cooked meat guided him to a fire pit, manned by a solitary soldier who was twirling a carcass on a spit. Procuring an edisdon would be far too conspicuous, but this meal would be easy to pilfer, and might be their last for a while.

Using a nearby tent as cover, Marik stalked closer. But voices from inside had him halting in his tracks.

“—
and I both witnessed her final moments. Continuing the search is pointless. I have no doubt that the queen has left this world. We will resume our journey home at first light.”

“
But to return without a body? We will be unable to perform an honorable burial.”

“
The demon is long gone. Who knows if we will ever find a body? No, we must return home quickly and look to our new queen for guidance.”

So, they’re claiming Marik killed Nadua, anyway. That would enforce the heavily ingrained prejudice against his kind. Of course, it didn’t really matter. Both he and Nadua would be off this planet soon. He hoped.

A small prick of fear tingled his nerves. What if the
Marada
never came?

* * *

Crouching behind a large boulder, Nadua waited. The rock in her hand was growing heavy, but soon it would be the instrument of her survival. The sound of his footsteps echoed through the passageways, warning of his approach. She would need to be fast.

He stepped through the threshold, arms filled with a heaping pile of logs and twigs. By the looks of it, her fur blanket was being used as an oversized satchel, heaped full of stuff. Adrenalin coursed through her as her arm swung out.

“
Ow!” The demon dropped his bundle, and reached for his head.

Damn!

She was counting on him going down with the first hit, but she’d planned for this, just in case. Reaching down to her pile of rocks, Nadua readied to strike again.

Before she could release her second throw, he was ripping it from her grip and positioning his body firmly behind hers. Her arms, easily restrained with one of his hands, were drawn above her head as he effortlessly twirled her body, pushing her back against the cavern wall.

In a low but threatening voice, he said, “I’m losing my patience with you, luv.”

She struggled as best she could but it was no use. He used his body like a steel cage.

His lips came to her ear and his voice went even lower. “You are not going to get away from me. Our journey will be long, and I will drag you kicking and screaming the entire way if I have to.” He seemed to take a moment to gather her scent. The act made her shudder. “I was hoping to give you your furs, but now I know you’ll try to escape while I sleep. But if you promise to be good, I’ll give you your other present.”

“
Fuck you, demon!”

“
That’s another thing. I have a name, and you will use it. It’s Marik, since you’ve never bothered to ask.”