Demon Slave (11 page)

At last, daylight grew near and a moment
later they were outside. For the first time in ages, the sky was
blue. The beauty of it drew her eyes for a long while. The demon’s
too, apparently. He was studying both the sky and the rest of the
mountain landscape. He didn’t seem to be paying any attention to
her.

Without thinking, her fist closed around a
heavy rock, and she used her whole body to swing it hard into the
back of his skull.

He gave half a grunt and fell to the ground,
limp and unmoving. Nadua waited a few moments to be sure he was
out, surprised at how easily he went down. Then she was racing
toward camp.

She decided that once she got there, she
would have her men come back for him—to attempt a recapture, or to
kill on sight, she wasn’t sure.

Camp was a bit farther than expected but she
made it without stopping. But the moment the trees began to thin
she was unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Or rather, not
seeing.

An empty space stood in front of her, no
soldiers or tents waiting for her return. A dusting of loose snow
skated across the barren land.

Perhaps she had headed in the wrong
direction and camp was a little farther to the north. But as soon
as she thought it, she knew it was a lie. There was evidence all
around. Fire pits and muddied walkways. This is where they had
been, and they had left without her, just as the demon said. And if
he was right about this...

“
It cannot be,” she
murmured.

A noise at her back made her whip around.
The demon stood silent at the edge of the forest, leaning against a
tree. He didn’t look as though he’d just been knocked unconscious.
She expected him to look smug, but he didn’t. He actually looked a
little concerned. The sight of it made her want to hit him over the
head with another rock.

Nadua forced a strong tone. “This doesn’t
mean anything, dem...I’m sure there’s another explanation.”

Tamir couldn’t have plotted against her. He
had always been loyal. Always did as she asked without complaint.
Why would he turn on her?

The demon shook his head. “How much more
proof do you need?”

“
You let me come here,
didn’t you? You wanted me to see this so I would believe
you!”

He shrugged.

“
Well, you should have done
a little more research when you were digging into my background,
because you don’t have all your facts right.”

He approached her then. “Oh? And what
exactly have I gotten wrong?”

Exasperated, Nadua began
stomping in the direction of the palace, determined to make her way
home. “You’ve been very thorough, but for one small detail.
Whatever made my men leave without me must seem like a lucky break
for you. You must think I’ll just follow you to your ship, eager to
see my sister
Anya
.”

He followed close behind. “Why are you being
so difficult? You’re being irrational, and stupid!”

“
Acta
! You want to know how I know I can’t believe you? Because I
don’t have a sister named Anya!”

The sound of his footsteps ceased, and Nadua
was ready to laugh at whatever lie he was about to come up with to
cover his mistake.

“
Oh, that’s right. You
would know her as Analia.”

Nadua halted. A sickening heaviness rolled
in her stomach.

Analia
.

She hadn’t heard the name spoken aloud in so
long, but it instantly made her think of home. Her mind was
bombarded with the striking contrast of this world compared to her
own. All around her stood perpetually dead trees, blinding white
ground, choking cold air.

Her throat worked hard to hold in the
emotion that threatened to overwhelm her as the image of little
Analia, playing under the giant trees behind their family’s home
filled her mind. Her elder sister, Kyra, standing beside her. It
was the last memory of her sisters together.

The demon at her back hadn’t said a word,
but she could feel him watching her, waiting for something. A light
breeze alerted her to the wetness on her cheeks and she worked
fervently to dry them.

It hit her then, that her dream of finally
going home, of seeing her family once more could become a
reality.

When she was once more composed, Nadua
turned around. “Okay dem...um, Marik. Tell me more.”

It took Nadua a while to fully accept the
sudden change in her situation. It was a lot to take in. The
possibility of going home, leaving this planet, leaving Ava. It was
all giving her mixed emotions. Not to mention the alleged betrayal
of one or more of her men, which she still wasn’t fully convinced
of, but the demon was sounding more credible by the minute.

She sat on a raised patch
of snow and listened to what Marik had to say. It was disturbing to
hear what had happened to her sister. From what Nadua remembered,
Analia and their mother should have been en route to stay with one
of the Faieara’s strongest allies, among the dragon clans. But,
according to Marik, they were betrayed and sold to a loathsome man,
who had abused Analia until the day she escaped onto the
ship,
Marada
.

When Nadua asked about her mother, the demon
lowered his head and gave a slight shake. Nadua couldn’t speak for
a time after that.

Her father’s book sounded fascinating, said
to be large and lined in gold. Apparently, once closed, it could
only be opened by Nadua or her two sisters—some sort of magical
lock, possibly bespelled by the Serakians.

Inside it had been a letter to Analia,
describing their father’s vision of the future. He believed if they
all returned home, there may be hope of rescuing their people from
the Kayadon, who coveted the many gifts of her people.

Every Faieara used some form of magic,
though some were more powerful than others. Her father’s visions,
for example, were much stronger than hers, and he could call on
them whenever he liked, through quiet meditation. Hers came at the
whim of the gods, and were about as helpful as them too.

Marik was eager to get moving. He wanted to
get back to where he though his friends would begin their search,
but Nadua thought it would be best to go to her palace—not only
because it was nice and warm there, but she wanted to face Tamir,
and learn the truth from him.

“
I’m not letting you
anywhere near that place without proper backup. We don’t know how
many are involved.”

“
I can’t just leave without
addressing this issue. If it is as you said, and Tamir has plotted
against me, then he should be tried for treason. And Ava will be
furious! Even if he claims to have done it for her
benefit.”

“
Still, I’d have to insist
on waiting for my friends. I’m strong alone, but your army still
took me down. If we wait for
Marada
, you’d have four demons and
Ethanule to safeguard you, among others.”

“
Ethanule?” Nadua’s heart
leaped. She and Ethanule used to flirt when he was tasked as her
guard. She thought him very handsome. “Ethan is with you?” There
was no stopping the little smile that slid over her
lips.

The demon sat back, a strange look covering
his features. “He’s the one who translated the book and found your
location.”

“
If Ethan is with your
friends, then I feel much better about waiting till we rendezvous
with them. He is a considerable warrior among my
people.”

“
My kind isn’t
enough?”

Nadua looked up, wondering at the dark tone
in his voice. “It’s not that. It’s just, I don’t know your friends.
Or you, for that matter.” She recalled her vision of his enraged
visage and wondered if she was doing the right thing by going along
with him. “I don’t even know my sister,” Nadua continued. “She was
very young when we were separated. But Ethan and I...” She could
feel heat enter her cheeks. “We used to—”

“
I don’t need to hear it.”
Marik interrupted in a tone meant to end the conversation. He stood
and brushed his pants clean. “We should get moving before we lose
the light.”

The sudden surliness was odd to her, but
maybe it was a demon thing. From the stories, they could change
moods with the fall of each snowflake.

* * *

It was obvious to Marik what Nadua and Ethan
used to do. The chit grew red with embarrassment just remembering.
He didn’t know why learning she had been with Ethanule made him
suddenly want to murder the man. It was none of his business.

They did need to get moving, though. Nadua
figured it would take quite a few days to walk back to the location
where Marik had been captured. But as they began their journey she
continued to make the argument for going back to the palace, which
would take roughly the same amount of time.

“
Once we get there,” she
offered, “I can send soldiers out to find your friends.”

“
Like I said, we can’t
trust your soldiers.”

Clearly Nadua wasn’t used to not getting her
way because her bottom lip stuck out every time he refused to give
in. Marik found it sickeningly cute. At least she wasn’t trying to
assault him with rocks anymore.

Traveling near the mountains provided a good
amount of cover. The area was thick with trees.

Although Marik felt they were adequately
hidden from wandering eyes, he couldn’t be sure. There was nothing
on the wind, no sound that alerted him to danger, but something was
making him uneasy. He kept glancing behind them to be sure no one
was following.

According to Nadua, the mountains housed
countless caves where they could find shelter, though she was
admittedly anxious about going into them. When he asked why, she
just said that many souls were lost to them.

As they traveled, neither made the effort to
hold a conversation, which was fine by Marik. Staying focused was
more important than idle chit chat, though he found the sound of
her voice pleasing.

There was an apprehensive truce between
them. He worried that she was only pretending to go along with him
to force his guard to drop. And, in order to discover any such
pretense, he watched her closely—which turned out to be a bad idea.
Seeing the way she moved over the uneven terrain made him
constantly visualize the body hidden by all that fur, and had him
fighting to ignore his swollen shaft. When she bent to adjust the
lacing of her boots, he barely kept himself from palming her
backside.

Forcing his eyes in another direction, Marik
realized what was happening to him, and he needed to get a hold of
himself. There must be some residual chemicals flowing through him
from when he’d been driven to the Edge twice this last week. It
wasn’t enough to make him crave violence...but physical
release....

He couldn’t allow it. Not only because it
would lead to further awkwardness between them, but blacking out
now would leave them both vulnerable to attack.

Cale would tell him that it was because he
forced himself to abstain too long that he could never remember a
night with a female.

“
Demons are made for sex,”
Cale would say.

But that wasn’t the reason
Marik’s mind retreated during his sexual encounters. It was the
disturbing flashbacks of the arena, from his days as a slave. Too
many times he’d been forced to the Edge by his
masters
, only to supply them with an
evening’s entertainment by becoming some poor female’s
nightmare.

Luckily, the gods had taken
pity, and the worst of those memories were deeply suppressed. But
bedding a female always ended the same. Marik would wake up next to
some random sleeping woman, make sure he hadn’t hurt her—as he
always feared—and then sneak back to the
Marada
without waking her. His body
would recognize that its lust had been slaked, but he could never
recall what they’d done together, or if either of them had even
enjoyed it.

“
Are you alright?” Nadua
asked.

Marik schooled his expression. “Yeah, I’m
fine. Just thinking of the past.”

“
What is in the past that
has you looking like that?”

“
Nothing of importance.” He
looked to the dimming sky. “It’s getting dark. Keep an eye out for
shelter.”

Nadua actually giggled at him then.
“Whatever it is, it has you pretty distracted.” She pointed to her
right.

A large-mouthed cave stared bluntly back at
him. At his dumfounded expression, Nadua laughed again, a beautiful
sound that soothed something inside him, and he couldn’t help but
smile too.