His body covered in cold sweat, Murmur stared at the vaulted ceiling of his bedchamber. Just like his library, cobwebs crisscrossed the beams and coated the chandelier. He’d had this dream a thousand times, but it never failed to inspire the same bone-chilling terror. And that was because it wasn’t simply a dream, but a vision of the future.
Hisfuture.
In the beginning, the vision had come sporadically. But now, it came every time he closed his eyes. He interpreted its increased frequency as an indication that the time for its realization was near.
Time was running out, and if he didn’t find a way to make his spell work, he was going to find himself caught in the veryprison he was trying to destroy. There would be no one coming to his rescue.
Speaking of no one coming to your rescue …
Unbidden, his thoughts returned to the witch he’d left crumpled on the cell floor. No one knew where she was, save for him. The dungeons of his lair were so vast, Murmur didn’t even use half the space. That had made it easy for him to find a secluded wing to keep Suyin hidden from his other prisoners and even his own subjects. He trusted no one with his ingredient.
Murmur’s lair had formerly belonged to Paimon, a powerful Queen of Hell and supporter of Lucifer. It was an impenetrable fortress, surrounded by high stone walls and full of hidden passages.
In the end, however, Paimon’s defeat had come from within, at the hands of her prized servant, Mishetsumephtai the Hunter. Mist had been bound to Paimon by an unbreakable magical bond, and he hadstillfound a way to betray and defeat her.
Yet another reason Murmur never trusted anyone with anything. Betrayal could come at any moment.
Paimon’s old favorite spot, the Pit, was where she’d gathered spectators to watch her monstrous goraths consume whatever wretched prisoner she tossed to them. It was now empty.
Murmur did not feed the goraths, and he definitely did not host social events to watch them being fed. He despised social occasions. He despised other people, humans and demons alike. More than anything, he wanted to be left alone.
You’re never alone.
“As alone as I can be,” he amended, for the obnoxious voice in his head was right. He was never fully alone. His mind had splintered over the years. In his head, his souls screamedfor mercy, and indecipherable visions played on loops. And he argued with himself, to top it off.
With a sigh, he tried to remember the many things he had to do. Instead he just felt tired. Tired but afraid of sleep.
And his thoughts kept returning to the witch in his dungeon.
STARVEDOUT
SUYIN WOKE TO COOL LIQUID FILLING HER DRY MOUTH. It was bliss, and she swallowed hungrily. The liquid kept pouring, and she kept swallowing. But suddenly, she couldn’t swallow fast enough to keep up with the flow, and it spilled everywhere. She choked, fighting for air.
“Swallow, witch.”
She recognized that rough voice. Her eyes snapped open, and her heart skipped a beat as she found herself staring into those eerie bloodshot eyes. How could he be attractive when he looked like he’d just clawed himself out of the grave?
He capped the plastic water bottle he’d been pouring into her mouth, set it on the ground, and shot her an impatient look.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
She wasn’t looking at him in any way. She was just trying to figure out what was going on.
She was lying on the ground. Right where he’d left her when he stole her blood. Not long after, she’d drifted into some woozy altered state that was halfway between sleep andstraight unconsciousness, and she hadn’t seen a point in pulling herself out of it, so there she’d stayed.
Until now. Because Murmur had come back.
“Yes, you win this round.” His eyes narrowed. “Feel free to gloat.”
She blinked. She was so exhausted it was hard to think, and every part of her body hurt. After what she’d been through in the last … however many days, the sight of the demon before her sent her pulse racing with fear and hatred. Mostly hatred.
She loathed him with a burning passion. Her dreams were going to be full of visions of his gruesome death for a long time to come.
But she was still afraid of him. And that made her hate him more.
“I will cater to your human needs, but don’t think you’ve won my sympathy. I assure you, I have none to give.”
Oh, they had no misunderstandings about that. He’d left her to rot and starve to death in a dungeon underground. She was under no illusions that he was sympathetic or caring in any way.
