The First Book of Demons (The Book of Demons Saga) (4 page)

Chapter Eight

Heavy footsteps
roused Alex from her unconscious state.  Her eyes cracked open to see the landscape slowly passing by.  Her mind was cloudy, and she struggled to move.  It took her a moment to realize that she was tied down.  The men carrying her noticed she was awake and stopped their marching.  A man approached her, the pointed tips of his ears showing through his chin length silken locks of hair.  His eyes were a peculiar golden hue, with a black slit for a pupil that was trained on her.  He looked young, with a quirky, dashing look and broad shoulders that tapered to a narrow waist.  Alex felt her face heating up.  He bent down to look Alex in the face.

“
What are you?” Tavi demanded.

T
he tone of his voice clearly told her that he expected an answer.   Alex stared dumbfounded back at him, unsure of how to answer. 

“Answer
,” he barked.

“I…I
’m Alexandra,” she sputtered.

“From what land do you come
?” He asked, his eyes examining her carefully. 

“Where am I?” Alex asked, her voice cracking.  “Who are you?”

Tavi narrowed his golden eyes at the young girl before him.

Without another word
he straightened and turned away from her, speaking over his shoulder at the others in a strange language.

The small group
marched most of the day and partly into the night.  Aside from the few words that were exchanged earlier, she was pretty much ignored the whole time.  She tried to speak with some of the men that were marching in close proximity to her, but they did not speak back.  They continued to march on, acting like she wasn’t even there.  When they stopped for the night, the men went to work putting up tents and building fires.  Alex was left alone, still tied to the makeshift litter she was being carried on.  She shivered, the chill in the air biting through her thin pajamas.  Her stomach churned with a mixture of hunger and anxiety.  She wasn’t aware of it, but all the men in the camp could smell the fear in her aura.

Once the camp
settled down, pots of food cooking over the open campfires, Tavi made his way once more over to Alex, a bowl of stewed meat chunks and a crude gravy paste.  He stood over her, studying her for a few moments before untying her and handing her the bowl.  Alex gazed helplessly back up at him, wondering what his intentions were for her.  He abruptly sat cross legged on the hard ground in front of her.  Alex blinked and rubbed her eyes.  His movements were so fast that she hadn’t even registered him moving until he was already sitting. 

“I will ask you again, girl.  What are you?” he said. 
The girl’s scent was strange, nothing he had ever encountered before. She had an even stranger aura.  He inhaled deeply.  Her scent was almost intoxicating.  Tavi found himself growing slightly uncomfortable at the intensity of it.

“I don’t understand,” she said, shaking her head helplessly, her eyes misting over.

T
he man leaned forward narrowing his eyes at her.

“
You will answer me, or you will find your tongue removed from your mouth,” he said coldly.

The girl’s aura
betrayed her rising fear, the heady stench hanging in the air.

“
I’m…human,” she said with a heavy gulp. 

The
man stared calmly back at her, but internally his mind raced.  Humans were a myth.  At least he had thought they were.  Tavi studied the girl’s features.  He noticed she had rounded ears, and short, blunt nails.  Intense green irises surrounded a rounded black pupil. 

“Where am I?” Alex asked
, breaking into Tavi’s thoughts.  “What do you want with me?”

“You are in Devas,” he said, his voice losing some of its edge, “My people have tales of humans, but I have never seen one.  I did not believe they truly existed.”

“How come y
ou speak English?” Alex asked.

“We are speaking the
common language,” Tavi said, “Although you seem to use a much more crude, uncivilized dialect.”

Alex flinched at the unexpected insult, her mouth flopping open and closed as she searched for an appropriate comeback.
Her eyes narrowed as her brow furrowed. 

“What are you
?” She asked.

“Demon,” he said, a twinkle in his eye
that unnerved Alex and sent a shiver down her spine.  “You are in the land of demons, girl, and I intend to bring you to Lord Balthazar.”

Chapter Nine

Alex ran as fast as her
legs would carry her.  Droplets of sweat began to bead on her brow as she fled through the trees.  Her heart beat heavily against her ribcage, her legs aching with the exertion, but she refused to stop.  She had to get away.  She had to find a way back. Back to her friends. 

In
the distance behind her, she heard a feral howl cut through the night.  She pushed herself harder than her quickly numbing legs were already working, trying to put as much distance between her and the demons as she could.   Her foot caught on a root and she fell to the ground, a whimper escaping her lips as her knees and hands were scraped trying to catch herself.  She struggled to pick herself up.

“Well, look what we have here,” a
voice said behind her.

Alex
whipped her head around to see a bedraggled demon standing over her.  He lifted his nose, his nostrils flaring as he scented the air.

“You smell good
little girl,” he said, a smirk playing across his face. “We are going to have fun with you.”

Alex g
lanced around her, seeing two other figures stepping out of the darkness.

“
What do you want?” She demanded, trying to pick herself up off the ground.  They ignored her, stepping closer and closing in on her.

“Hold her down,” the demon
spoke again, “I found her. I’ll have her first.” 

The other two
grabbed Alex so fast she didn’t have time to comprehend their movements.  She struggled against her assailants, but it was no use.  They were inhumanly strong.  She was forced to the ground and held firmly in place.  The demon came closer, untying his cloth belt, with a sickening grin on his face.  His teeth had the same pointed canines, but they were yellowed and decaying, not white and elegant like the others she had seen.  

“Leave me alone!” Alex shrieked, struggling with everything she had to get away. 
The pointy tips of their dirty claws dug into the skin of her arms.  She winced as droplets of blood leaked out.

The
demon climbed on top of Alex, his rank breath filling her nostrils as he settled himself between her knees.  He lifted clawed hand and shredded her pajama pants, his claws tearing into her flesh.  She screamed out at the pain. The filthy demon’s chest rumbled in pleasure, a purr showing his clear enjoyment at the girl’s distress.  Alex turned her face away, closing her eyes as she readied herself for what was to come.

Hot wet droplets fell onto
her cheek and trailed down her neck.  She opened her eyes to see the demon frozen above her, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.  The demon was flung away from her person, blood gushing from his neck.  Alex looked up to see Tavi, blood dripping from the claws of his right hand as it held a chunk of bloody flesh.  He looked down at her.

“You
stupid little girl,” he spat, before turning his attention to the other demons.

They stoo
d ready for a fight, and Tavi answered their looks with a growl.  Faster than Alexandra’s eyes could follow, he was before one of the men.  His hand wrapped around the throat of his victim, crushing his windpipe. The last demon turned to run, but Tavi was already beside him.  Placing one hand on his shoulder, the other was sent through his turned back.  Blood poured from his shredded torso as Tavi released him to fall to the ground.  

Tavi stood a small distance from Alexandra,
panting slightly, his clothes and hands bloodstained.  He turned to look at her, his eyes narrowing angrily.

“I…
I’m sorry,” Alex said, visibly shaking.

Tavi snorted, appearing before her
and yanking her off the ground.  She was bloody with numerous wounds on her delicate frame, which was barely hidden by the remnants of her pajamas. 

Tavi tossed
her over his shoulder.  Bloody and exhausted, Alex felt utterly helpless.  She was a prisoner to this demon, even if he did just save her life. 

Chapter Ten

Tavi tossed Alex onto the bed in the center of
his tent.  Pain wracked every limb of her body.   Alex stilled on the bed as the demon towered over her.  His hands worked to untie the blood spattered silk shirt that covered his absurdly toned torso.  Alex watched as the garment slid off his shoulders and fell noiselessly to the ground.  Her eyes instinctively roamed his hard curves.  She felt her cheeks growing hot and she looked away from him, running a hand through her dirtied hair. 

Tavi
’s nose twitched as it caught the tangy sweet smell of the girl’s faint, but unmistakable arousal.  He turned away from her and made his way to the other side of his tent where a small table held a pitcher filled with water and washed the blood from his hands. 

He returned
to the bed, his eyes locked on the battered girl.  His face betrayed no emotion, but he was utterly perplexed.  This human was a paradox to him.  Terrified and running from him one moment, and aroused by him the next. 

Without a word, Tavi be
nt down and grabbed at Alexandra’s bloody feet.  She immediately pulled away, attempting to scoot further back on the bed.  A sharp growl made her freeze.

“
Continue to fight me and you will find yourself in much more pain little girl,” he said.

“
I’m not fighting you,” she argued, “I don’t know what you want from me.”  

He reached for her ankle
again, this time taking it more gently in his grasp.  He brought his lips to her thigh, above a large gash that was steadily oozing blood.  His tongue darted and began to sweep across her wound.  Pain shot up her leg as the sandpaper appendage drug across the raw flesh. 

“What are you doing?” she snapped,
recoiling once again.

“Be still girl,
” Tavi commanded, giving a small tug on her leg.

He continued
to drag the thick pink muscle across her wounds, ignoring the girls small squeals of pain.

“But why are you lick…,” Alexandra began
but promptly stopped when she saw the torn skin close over and heal right before her eyes. 

“
Did you honestly think that you would get away?” Tavi asked as he worked on her wounds.

“What would you do if someone was holding you against your will?” she
said, avoiding the half-naked demon’s gaze.

The girl had a point; he too would try to escape
if he was in her position.  Tavi said nothing more, his hands moving further up her leg to treat the remaining wounds. Alex jerked away as Tavi’s hand moved further up her leg.  The pointed tips of his claws just barely pinched into her skin at the unexpected movement. 

“G
irl,” Tavi chastised.

“I
don’t need you to touch me there!” She snapped.

“
If you wish to let your wound fester and bleed, you will die.  I care not what you choose and I have little time for your incessant defiance.”

Alex grunted
, but relaxed into his touch.  Her brows furrowed together and she struggled to keep her leg still through the sting that accompanied his tongue hitting her open wound.  After a few moments he leaned back from the girl’s thigh to inspect his work. 

Alex noticed t
he man looking at her and blushed deeply.  She pulled her leg away from Tavi, and he allowed her to push back onto the cushions of the bed.  He stood and walked to the other side of the tent, where Alex could see her belongings scattered on a low table.

Tavi
picked up the small silver box.

“Hey, leave my stuff alone!
” she shrieked.

“Where did you obtain this
?” he asked.

“That’s none of your business,” Alex fired back.

Tavi narrowed his eyes at the girl.  How ungrateful she was.  He had rescued her from rape and death, treated her wounds, and now she would not even answer a simple question.  Tavi had never met a woman so disrespectful.  Before Alex could blink he was before her, inches from her face.  His body pushed hers back down onto the bed.

“You will answer my question,” Tavi said straining to hold back a growl.

“No, I will not,” Alex said, sticking her chin out in defiance.

He let out a deep growl that
shook the cloth walls of the tent.  Alex flinched, but still said nothing. 

“If you continue to defy me, your fate will be lamentable,
” he warned.

Alex just stared back at
the angered demon, defiance still plastered on her face.  In an instant Tavi had picked her up off the bed and was standing behind her.  He wrapped an arm around the girl’s midsection and pulled her into his naked torso. He grasped her narrow chin with his other hand, and pulled her ear close to his mouth.  His hot breath tickled her ear, his voice a velvety whisper.

“You will submit to me, girl.  Or I wi
ll make the intentions of your previous attackers look tame.”

The
scruff of his unshaven face scratched against the soft skin of her neck.  A low rumble echoed his words, and vibrated through Alex. She felt the heat in her stomach begin to stir, as her back was pressed firmly into the muscular chest of the powerful demon behind her.  The heat of his body warmed Alex through her badly torn pajama remnants.  She let out a heavy sigh to release the tension that had built in her stomach.  Tavi felt the change in her aura, and his nostrils flared as he scented the girl’s arousal once more in the air.  He released his grip on her and stepped away.  The loss of his warmth making her shiver.

“You will sleep,” he said, “
I expect you to be more forthcoming in the morning.”