“And what’s that?”
“This.” The fingers tightened until Wynn could barely breathe as Pheral rubbed his stiff cock against her hip. “You like that?” He pretended her shudder of disgust was pleasure. “Yeah, you do. I’m going to...”
His rough words faded as the dungeon was filled with a weird, greenish glow. Visibly confused, the fairy released his hold on Wynn and started to turn toward the entrance.
He was still moving when a dart of green magic appeared from the darkness, arrowing straight at Pheral’s head. Wynn thought she heard him gasp in pain, but there was no other sound as the fairy crumpled to the floor, his dead eyes staring up at Wynn with grim resignation.
Wynn parted her lips and screamed.
Chapter 14
Seemingly impervious to her shrieks that echoed with a piercing intensity through the dungeon, the intruder strolled forward wearing a floor-length robe. He was tall, but painfully thin for a goblin and oddly hairless. Like a weird, elongated maggot. Worse, his eyes burned with that malignant green fire.
“At last,” he hissed, forcing Wynn to reconsider her first impression. He was more like a snake than a maggot. “You have eluded me for far too long.”
Struggling not to puke as a rancid stench of rotting flesh swept through the dungeon, Wynn eyed the demon with a raw sense of horror. There was something so very wrong about him.
“Malis, I presume?” she managed to rasp.
Halting in front of her, the creature offered an old-fashioned bow. He moved with a strange, boneless grace. At the same time, something shimmered on his skin. Not scales, but something hard and brittle with hints of green.
Yup. Definitely snakelike.
“At your service,” he murmured.
“You can be of service by releasing me,” Wynn said. She’d be damned if she let the creature sense the fear churning inside her.
“As you wish.” The glowing gaze moved to study the manacles that pinned her to the stone wall. A second later, they clicked open and Wynn cautiously lowered her arms. “Better?”
“Marginally.” She rubbed her chafed wrists, remaining pressed against the wall. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt she would only have one shot to escape. Which meant she had to have a clear plan in mind before she made the attempt. “I’d be better if I was out of this dungeon.”
The male shrugged. “In good time. First we have some overdue business to complete.”
“Doubtful. I don’t do business with strangers.”
“Strangers?” Malis clicked his tongue. “You wound me.”
“Have we met?” Wynn pretended to study the male standing in front of her.
She was already certain that she didn’t recognize him. He wasn’t the sort of demon anyone could forget. His stench alone would have lingered in her mind for years. But it gave her an opportunity to study the dungeon behind him, memorizing the quickest path to the open doorway. She could use her spell that could create complete darkness. That might give her an advantage when she was ready to make a run for it.
“It’s more than that. We are intwined in the most intimate way possible,” the creature drawled, the fetid green glow deepening, as if savoring some distant memory.
Wynn shuddered. Was that why she lost her memory? To black out whatever had happened between her and this demon? It seemed a legit explanation. But it didn’t tell her if she’d encountered him before he’d been infected with the corruption that made him glow with that awful green or after.
“Sorry, I don’t remember. But maybe we can catch up later.” She forced a smile to her lips. “Let’s do coffee next week.”
The demon’s expression never changed. She wasn’t sure if he was capable of moving his pale features. They looked frozen in place.
“I must insist we do it now. I’ve wasted too much time chasing you.”
Wynn’s heart missed a beat. The mere thought this...maggoty, glowing demon had been lurking behind her made her flesh crawl.
“Why are you chasing me?”
“You have something I need.”
Wynn flinched. This had to have something to do with the dragon statue. The fact he was infected proved that much, but why couldn’t he sense she didn’t possess the actual artifact? And what was his connection to the corruption? Was he just another creature under the sway of the evil magic? Or was he something more?
