Demon Slave (3 page)

He’s quite possibly
evil
.

Her body didn’t seem to care. But it had an
excuse as to why it was being defiant. Seeing this male, fighting
and winning against her greatest warriors, was one hell of a turn
on. She supposed it didn’t help that she hadn’t been touched in
centuries.

The last man she’d kissed had been a
Cyrellian named Cyrus, Fineas’ brother. It was the silly act of two
drunken friends. And though it had been painful, it was her most
tender memory. A few days later, Cyrus had died, at the hands of
the rebels no less. Nadua had been devastated. A few of his
paintings still hung on a wall in her room.

Nadua wasn’t quite a virgin, but four
hundred years out of practice, she might as well be.

Perhaps one of her maids from the castle
could entice him, but by the looks of those burns on his skin,
where the guards had handled him, he too couldn’t touch Cyrellian
skin without pain. The guard that had removed his torn clothing and
tied him up had complained that the beast was boiling to the
touch.

What would his skin feel like to her?

She scolded herself. Not going to
happen.

“
So, you claim you are
seeking someone on my planet, but won’t tell me who, and expect me
to earn your trust in order to find out.” Nadua couldn’t help the
twitch in her lip. The demon matched her smirk, and her amusement
was lost. She couldn’t imagine what business this demon had on
Undewla that didn’t involve deception.

Perhaps he seeks a fallen
brother
.

Unlikely, but plausible. Just after the
war’s end, demon sightings had been frequent, even though what was
left of the demon invaders had reportedly been chased off this
planet. Sightings were rare these days, but every now and again a
farmer from the outskirts would run to the nearest pub, shouting
about a giant beast with fire red horns that had pilfered one of
his animals. Most people just laughed it off.

Was it possible that a demon or two had been
left behind when his comrades took flight so long ago? And if so,
had this demon and his small group been attempting a rescue? It
would explain why he didn’t want to reveal his target. And if that
were the case, then he lied about not knowing demons had been here,
and therefore he most definitely could not be trusted.

“
Rest up, demon, we have a
long journey in the morning.”

“
Oh?”

“
I’m bringing you to my
home, where you’ll have free room and board, maybe a meal or two,
and your choice of the many cells in our prison. There you can
think about the whole trust issue and who needs to be the one
earning it.”

“
What a generous offer,”
Marik replied with a roll of his eyes.

Actually, it sounded like a pretty good
deal. A free ride into town. He wouldn’t need to wander around this
wasteland trying to find life. Instead, she was going to lead him
straight to it. Marik supposed he could stick around for a little
while.

With an air of superiority, the bundle of
fur left, speaking briefly with the two white-haired men in that
strange language. In turn, they gave a small bow and then swung
their angry faces toward him the moment she stepped out of
sight.

Marik smiled and winked, causing their
sneers to deepen.

That woman had mentioned demons coming here.
Amazing that they would choose this place. Most likely, the group
of demons who allegedly stumbled upon this frozen planet, and
thought, “what a nice home that would make,” were desperate for
some reason. The conditions on this planet weren’t suitable for
anyone but perhaps these cold blue people. Any demon would have a
hard time keeping oneself alive here, let alone thrive in a
group.

He found himself wondering how Nadua was
fairing on her own. She must have survived. Anya had sensed her
just as they landed, right before the wave of blue attackers had
interrupted their search. And from what Marik could tell, Anya was
pretty accurate in her assumptions. It gave him much relief to know
that once Anya was safely back with Sebastian, she would be able to
help find him.

He had faith that Sebastian
would succeed in rescuing her.
Sebastian
must succeed
. If he didn’t—

Marik frowned, dismissing the twinge of
panic that laced through him.

His thoughts were interrupted by an argument
that had started between the two guards. They spoke in hurried
whispers while pointing at him every so often. When one of them
bent to inspect his bindings, Marik grew curious. The other opened
the tent flap wide, as if to exit, giving him a perfect view of the
bundle of fur just as she entered her own tent across the way. Then
they were gone, leaving the crackle of the fire as Marik’s only
companion.

Their strange behavior left him with brows
drawn, staring into the flames. Their leader’s position was
revealed. Did they intend for him to see where she slept? Though
the one had fiddled with Marik’s ropes, the bindings didn’t feel
any tighter or more secure. He could still break them with a twist
of his wrist.

If these people had known demons in battle,
they must know how strong his kind could be. They couldn’t be so
ignorant as to think this meager rope could hold him.

Unless they wanted him to break free.

Now that he thought of it, those guards had
been standing farther away from the woman than Marik had been. If
he’d wanted her throat, he could have had it before they would have
had a chance to react. Any guard worth his weight wouldn’t have
allowed a situation like that, even if the incredibly dangerous
demon was properly secured.

Marik didn’t really care if her guards
wanted her dead or not. She was of no use to him anyway, if all she
wanted to do was lock him up. But he wasn’t going to be the one to
end her life. Pockets of his past flashed in his mind, images of
the arena. He fought the memories back.

No, he wouldn’t kill her. Not unless she
gave him a pretty damn good reason. And because she was unwittingly
doing him a favor by bringing him to civilization, where he could
begin the search for Nadua, he needed her alive for the time
being.

He also suspected that he was still alive
because of her. She only wanted answers, but he figured he owed
her, at least a little.

* * *

A kick to his still-tender leg had Marik
growling into consciousness. He bared his fangs at the offender,
who scurried back. Behind the man, seven fully loaded guards stood
ready. One of them came forward to cut Marik free from the
stake.

Marik stretched his arms and their bodies
went tense as they strained their weapons toward him.

“
Look, I don’t need any
more holes in me. It’ll just piss me off.”

The men exchanged sideways glances, clearly
not understanding.

Marik rested one arm on his knee and leaned
back against the wooden stake. “Is something happening here? Or are
we posing for a picture?” His shirt was tossed to him, and he
caught it in mid-flight. “What? No seamstress?” He fingered one of
the many tears. “I have a mind to lodge a complaint.”

One of the men yelled something, urging him
with a flick of his bow to put it on. When he did, the same man
continued barking out orders. Though he didn’t know what was being
said, it didn’t take a genius to figure out they wanted him up and
out of the tent.

As he exited, five more guards were ready
for him outside. “I’m flattered boys, but you’re still a little
understaffed.” Marik glanced around. Everyone was packing up. Most
of the tents were already disassembled.

Across camp, the walking rug caught his
attention. She was kneeling next to an obscenely large brown animal
with an angular leather face, filling a sack with supplies. The
animal was twice her size in height, thick legs held up its massive
body. On further study, he noted the beast sported fur like the
woman’s cloak.

For some reason, Marik grew alarmed when the
giant’s long neck twisted and its head came toward her, but it only
pushed at her with its snout, as if being playful. She laughed as
she went tumbling, and gently swatted its nose.

Marik wanted to watch her more, but a sharp
point pressed into his back, while the guards in front of him
parted. Ahead sat a small caged wagon, attached to another one of
those large fuzzy beasts, this one with coarse gray fur.

“
Great, I get the nearly
dead oversized varmint.”

A flare of unease rippled through Marik.
Being caged was one of the many horrors from his past. He’d sworn
never to let it happen again. But with more than a dozen armed
warriors ready to pounce if he showed any resistance, Marik forced
his feet forward.

He flicked the metal with his nail and noted
the sound of low-quality workmanship. Gods, these people were
making it too easy.

Lifting himself with the help of one of the
top metal bars, he slipped inside the tiny entrance feet first and
the door was closed behind him. “Don’t I get a pillow or something?
These accommodations are a little bare for my taste. And if you
were wise, you’d get the hungry demon some breakfast.”

Ignoring him, the guards went about their
business, secure in the thought that Marik wasn’t going anywhere.
He slumped against the bars, and quietly observed his captors.

What was left of the camp was torn down and
stored within various wagons. Whenever an order was shouted, Marik
paid attention to how it was carried out. Already he was beginning
to learn certain words, associating them with the actions.

Marik craned his neck to see what that woman
was up to, but she was gone, and so was her creature. A bit later,
close to the edge of the gnarled woods, Marik caught sight of the
two guards from the night before, speaking far away from the rest
of the group. He didn’t like that.

Before long, they were on the move. His ride
was bumpy and he made the inconvenience known, but of course no one
understood him. They wouldn’t have paid any attention if they
could.

Around midday, pellets of snow began to
drift in the air.

At the same time, a familiar ragged beast
trotted up beside him, with an equally ragged body riding atop it.
“Morning, demon. How fare you?”

“
I’m dandy, how polite of
you to ask. Could use a fresh set of clothes, and hot meal
though.”

“
Oh, absolutely, I’m here
to serve. Would you like to look at a menu?”

“
If you’ve got
one.”

“
I’ll get right on that,
right after you give me the truth of your intentions
here.”

She rocked slightly as the beast kept pace,
and Marik could almost make out the shape of her body under all
that mess. His shaft took note as well. He’d obviously been far too
long without a woman if that mere hint of a female form was turning
him on.

“
If you don’t believe what
I’ve said already, then I don’t know what to tell you. Anything
else I say would be a lie just to get what I want.” He paused,
waiting for a response. When he didn’t receive one, he continued in
a sarcastic tone. “Fine, here goes. My friends and I hail from a
galactic-fun-ship, and we came to this planet in order to fill it
with candy and cheese.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Cute. I don’t even
know why I tried. The deception of your kind is legendary.”

“
Have you actually met one
of my kind?”

“
Aside from you? No. But
you’ve already proven the stories to be true.”

Marik couldn’t help but roll his eyes at
that.

They rode in stony silence for a moment. The
only sound was from the crunch of snow, and heavy snort-breathing
from the weird, furry monster. Its wrinkled gray face was the only
part that wasn’t covered in tangled brown fur.

“
What’s that thing you
ride?”

“
This is an
edisdon.

“
It smells.”

“
It’s not that bad.
Edisdons are a traveler’s companion of choice. They’re strong, and
can endure long trips in the harshest weather. They don’t eat much
and their fur keeps them as warm as they need to be.” The woman
scratched the edisdon’s neck. “And she’s loyal. Aren’t you,
Sweetie?”

“
She? It looks too ugly to
be a girl.”

She covered what must be its ears. “Shh,
you’ll hurt her feelings.”

“
Oh, forgive me. Let me
amend. She’s dazzling in her dreadlock do, her step, so light and
dainty.”

The edisdon let out a grunt as if protesting
his sarcasm.