Demon Slave (9 page)

“
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.”

“
I’ll call you whatever I
want.
Demon
.”

He let out a frustrated sigh. “Stubborn
wench.” Releasing her, he went to the scattered pile. He’d gathered
more twigs and sticks to replenish the makeshift pallet, and more
logs for the fire. On top of the pallet, he spread out her
blanket.

Nadua eyed her fur clothing, buried in the
mess. When the demon noticed her line of sight, he grabbed them and
placed them high on a ledge where she could not reach. Then he
turned his attention back to the jumble of items, ignoring her
nasty glare.