“I’m not a demon. If you did that to me, I’d be dead.” She gestured to the cell. “This is about as much as a human can take without dying. I need more than a bag of carrots once a week to survive, especially if you want to keep taking my blood.”
He frowned, and her heart picked up. She might actually be getting through to him.
If she was going to figure out a way to escape, she needed to get out of this dungeon. There was no other way. In her starvation stupor, she’d come to a realization:
He was the reason she was in here, and he was also going to be the reason she escaped.
She wasn’t deluding herself into thinking she could make him feel bad for her, but he had to have a weakness. All she had to do was find it and use it against him.
And she was pretty sure she already knew where to start.
“Look,” she said, “I may not know enough about Sheolic magic to be of any help to you, but I do know a thing or two about blood sacrifices. And I know that a blood sacrifice willingly given is twice as powerful as one taken by force.”
He stilled. For a moment, he didn’t move a muscle. He didn’t so much as twitch an eyelid.
She stared at him, heart pounding, willing him to take the bait.
“You want your spell to work,” she continued. “I want to go home. Which meansIwant your spell to work, since you already told me you’re going to keep me here until it does.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Let me out of this cell. Give me free access to food and water and a proper bed. And a shower. Let me wander around your lair and get some exercise. Vow you’ll let me go safely back to Earth after this is over. And in return, I’ll give you as much of my blood as I safely can, whenever you want. Willingly.”
There was no missing the look of intent in those creepy bloodshot eyes. He was actually considering her proposal.
That’s his weakness.His need to complete his spell, whatever it was for, was his priority above all else. If she wanted something, she just had to convince him it was integral to his plan, and he could be persuaded.
“My lair is swarming with demons,” Murmur said. “Many can’t even shift into human forms, but even the ones that can are some of the ugliest creatures ever to grace the three realms. What do you think they would do if they found a living human woman wandering the halls, defenseless and alone?”
Okay, maybe she didn’t want free reign of his lair after all. “They’re your servants. Control them.”
“I don’t have time for babysitting. Keeping them contained here is enough of a job already.”
“Let me stay with you then,” she blurted.
His head reared back slightly, and his lip curled. With revulsion.
But that was why she’d suggested it. He spoke of his minions’ intentions were they to find her wandering alone, but he obviously didn’t share those urges. He had no desire to touch her, or he would have done so already, and he certainly wouldn’t be looking at her like she was dog shit he’d accidentally stepped in.
Which suited her just fucking fine. To her, he was dog shit too. And she wanted nothing to do with him either, except perhaps to take a sword, separate his head from his body, and watch him bleed out.
But she had to keep such thoughts to herself. For now.
Murmur smiled suddenly. “You’re hoping to convince me to let you out of your cell so you can find a way to catch me unaware. Perhaps you plan to take one of my weapons and incapacitate me. Then you’ll wait until the potion I gave you wears off and take a hellgate back to Earth.”
She didn’t reply. Because yeah, that was exactly her plan.
She supposed it was pretty obvious. Bastard or not, he was obviously smart, and it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination that she’d be planning an escape. There was no point denying it, and in fact, she got the sense he’d be more likely to give her what she wanted if she stuck with honesty.
“So what if I am?” she said. “You can’t expect me to just sit back and accept my fate.”
“Then tell me why you think I should grant your request if your escape plans are so obvious?”
“Because if I denied it, you’d never believe me anyway. And because you know I’m right. A willing blood sacrifice is twice as powerful as one taken by force. What if that’s why your spell failed? What if that’s all that’s needed to make it work? Are you willing to take that chance, just to prove your point by keeping me locked up in this cell?”
His gaze was piercing, his eyes so unnerving, they made her skin crawl. Around him, the dancing shadows of his souls seemed increasingly restless.
Suddenly, he smiled. “All right. I’ll bite. Let’s bargain, witch.”
