“What does she need?” Ryc asks quietly as he peers past me at the stumbling creature.
She weaves around and between legs, but manages to give Ryc a scathing glare.
“Not you, lightborne,” she sneers, baring a mouth filled with pointed teeth. “Isha speak toil-akiv.”
“Ignore her,”I warn through our bond. I dare not speak else myvoice be recognized too.“She wants my attention. I will not give it.”
The imp skitters ahead and I heave a sigh of relief.
It’s short lived.
“She lives! She came! She fights!” The imp’s voice carries through the hall as she shrieks in Malbolge. “The god-killer fights for her kind! Fights for the damned!”
The damn creature isheraldingme.
My grip on Ryc’s arm grows tighter.
Murmurs rise around us—whispered and muttered questions as every demon within earshot turns in my direction and settles their eyes upon Ryc and me. The imp continues to shout, her shrill voice growing farther away, repeating the same lines for all to hear.
Cenviri peers over his shoulder, his eyes meeting mine briefly. The tiniest hint of a smile plays at the corner of his lips as he turns his gaze forward. But he remains silent.
He could stop this. Order her quiet.
But he doesn’t.
And why becomes clear in a matter of seconds.
Cenviriwantsthese demons to know I walk among them. Hewantsthem to see he’s managed to find and bring the very demon whokilledNetharis into his House. He’s usingme to leverage his standing among the demons hiding in Cal Anore.
A mistake.
On both our parts.
The hells is a vast place, filled with millions of demons. But Netharis’ House, Netharis’children, have always been easily recognized.
Netharis’murderer?
I’ve been raised to a level of reverence reserved for the gods themselves. Of fucking course they would recognize me—even here in mortal formwithout my telltale wings.
All it would take for Cenviri to lose his standing among these hellspawn is for me to speak. A few words from me, a simple order… and demons would turn against his House toearn my favor.
Cenviri should count his blessings.
I’ve never wanted dominion over demons.
Thus, I remain silent.
Like him.
My need for him is greater than the want to prove a point. If I speak, if I command these demons now, I’ll be no better than Netharis. It’s that fear which stills my tongue.
“Do these demons know you?”Ryc asks, unafraid to meet lingering stares.
“The Vestaris they know doesn’t exist in this realm,”I reply.
For she is a terror.
She is a cold and heartless creature who would fail to thrive among the living. For her, surviving among demons meant becoming one. I’ve shown Ryc enough of her today. Let her lay in the past where she belongs.
