Surely, this daemon in front of me is here for a reason. Stuck in this wasteland made of ash. There has to be a good reason someone would place him in this scathing environment. Only one thing survives on this island. Plus, he is the daemon who has played a prominent role in my dreams since before I wound up at the temple.
Letting the hard wall behind me bolster my voice, I say to the daemon, “Icannothelp you.”
His smile does not falter, exposing a set of razor-sharp incisors. “Oh, my sweet pet, you see, I’m purely asking out of a sense of propriety.”He leans in close, his body mere inches from mine as he breathes into my ear. “You are at my mercy, and you will do as I please.”
The urge to thrust him backwards is strong as I clench my hands, pushing against the wall. A gruff growl comes from behind the monster in front of me.
“Mmm, hello old friend. I was wondering when you would have your say, Gideon. Never one to walk silently into the night.” Shifting back on his feet, the daemon goes to sit on the large, iron four-poster bed. Rubbing his hands up and down the soft blankets, he shifts his eyes from me to Gideon. “Have your say, dog.”
Gideon’s stare is etched in concern as he peruses my body. His gaze shifts up and down, and once he finishes his full examination, his shoulders seem to relax visibly. However, my gaze does not travel lower than his torso, knowing I will find nothing but his body on display.
“Give Saff and Dove the egg. Let them leave without harm, and I will do your bidding,” Gideon directs towards the daemon.
Is he actually trying to protect me?Now I feel bad for doubting him. Ever since he threw me over his shoulder, he’s been trying to help in some way. Maybe I was too quick to doubt him before.
Gideon’s eyes hone in on mine, and that’s when I notice the flicker from black to amber and back again—the same darkness I found in one other, someone who has only visited me in my dreams until now. Dark pools of infinity that are hard to escape stare me down. I grew up with them in my nightmares. Eyes that weaselled their way into my soul with promises of a better life until they took everything from me.
Nothing but resolve shows on his face, my gaze trapped within his snare as this new realisation takes hold.Gideon and the daemon are somehow linked by something more than knowledge ofan egg.
Clapping can be heard in my periphery, and I wrench my scrutiny from Gideon to find the daemon with a strange look on his face, like he is turning over the latest yields for the summer harvest.
Placing his arms behind him and crossing his legs, taking a relaxed position on the covers, the daemon oozes confidence. “Oh, Gideon, you forget who your master is, and who the pet is here. You have no room to negotiate. Once you stepped foot on my island, I gained full control of the magic that lingers within your veins.” His voice is smug as he chides the wolf. Gracefully standing, he stalks to stand in front of Gideon, the daemon a few inches shorter than the eight-foot shifter. “But you are right. You will do my bidding with the help of my little pet.”
Turning, the daemon faces me.I wish he would stop calling me his pet.
Gideon looks ready to attack as his form is stiff behind the monster, asking, “Fury, what can a human do that your own creations cannot?”
“Quite a lot, it seems. Can’t you feel it?” Confused, we exchange a quick glance before our eyes go back to the daemon from my dreams—or Fury, as Gideon calls him. A name befitting the two-horned male standing before us. His hand travels to his chest, and he thumbs it twice. “A thread, a bond created by Oona herself. A direct line to her blood. The reason our little pet sings.”
“I…” The cord thrums a bittersweet little trill as it vibrates, letting me know I’m not close enough to my bonded.Rivern.
Just thinking his name hurts my heart. Suddenly, I’m met with his smell, his voice and his face, and I nearly crumble with the need for him.
“There it is.” Fury glides towards me.
“What are you talking about?” Gideon’s voice comes out rough and deep.
“This.” Fury’s hands float inches from my body, stroking the air, but we both know he’s not stroking some innocuous gas surrounding us, but a thin thread. A glimmer that stretches all space and rhythm. For the first time, I finally see it. The reality of my connection with another and with the Goddess.
With this cord now before my eyes, the thought of being without it is not a possibility I can live with.
forty-five
Dove
With his left handfacing the ceiling like he is holding a precious fruit and his right hand stroking the air above his dark eyes, Fury inspects the thin thread weaving out of me. “Hmm, maybe some of her finest work.”
His hands spin, and I’m hypnotised as he performs magic before my very eyes. Between his hands, my thread turns into a rope, thick and bright, shimmering golden in its sparkling beats.
Gasping, my hands go to my heart. I realize the bond Fury is exposing is everything I’ve ever wanted—a connection to someone so infinite and unconditional that it can never be broken.Even death couldnot break us. Yes, this thread is another thing thrust upon me, but maybe this could be something good, not bad.
My hands fly out of their own accord and contact the daemon in front of me. “Stop it,” I say, now feeling protective over this precious thread before me. As the words fly out of me, all my air trails from my lungs, leaving me breathless as Fury grabs my hands and pins me with his hard body against the chilled wall behind us.
“You want to be locked behind another cage, pet?” he harshly whispers in my ear. “I see you. I see your fears. I see your anger. Your fucking rage. And your sadness. I see it all. All I’ve ever offered you is your freedom, Aurora.”
The name buckles me, and without Fury holding me up, I would be sprawled on the floor. Behind the darkness enclosing me, I can hear a growling, but it does not hold my attention as long as that name floats through me, zapping me awake. The name that has not been spoken in fourteen rotations.
“Aurora, my pet.” His clawed fingers come up to trace my cheek, and I clench my jaw tight at his nearness. “Open your eyes.” And I realise I have my eyelids firmly shut.
