He was at least eight feet tall, lean, and draped in a cloak that seemed woven from the darkness. His face remained hidden beneath a deep hood, nothing visible except the sharp line of a pointed chin.
Then he reached up and lowered the hood.
Long white hair spilled over his shoulders. His face was almost human.Almost.Like something had tried to mimic humanity and gotten it terribly wrong.
Skin stretched too tightly over the bones, his mouth curved with malice. But it was his eyes that made my blood run cold.
They were red. Red like blood.
He stepped closer.
"Allow me to introduce myself." The voice matched his form now. Smooth and dripping with false courtesy. "I am Erethis. I’m a spatial demon.”
A demon.
Blessed Mother. I’d never encountered one of those before. From what I’d read, they were all dangerous.
And spatial?
What did that mean? I had no idea. And I wasn’t going to ask.
Erethis tilted his head, studying me like I was something curious. And amusing.
"I answered your call and saved you.”
My lips parted. I didn’t know what he was talking about. “What…call? I never called anybody.”
He narrowed those haughty red eyes and looked me up and down. “Well, I heard you. Heard your thoughts of terror. I pulled you away from those Fae males. It would turn your insides out if you knew what they were going to do to you." He smiled, an incongruent reaction to what he’d just said. "Which means, little mage, you owe me."
Shit.Now I understood the smile. “Owe you?”
“Yes, owe me.”
I could be snarky and tell him I didn’t ask to be saved, but I knew he was right. I knew those assholes set out to ruin me, and I never had the energy to do more damage than I’d done. I wouldn’t have been able to save myself.
But damn it, that didn’t mean I wanted to owe a demon. And what did I owehim? “Can’t you just accept my deepest gratitude? I am thankful for the rescue. Had you not come along, I don’t know what would have happened to me.”
His laugh revealed sharp, needle-like teeth. "No, no, my dear. Gratitude is not sufficient for me. Especially when I find you so intriguing. And I do believe you are sorely mistaken. You make me sound like a hero when my intentions for you are perhaps worse.”
My stomach bottomed out. “What?” I could barely get the word out.
“I’m going to keep you,” he said, as if he were simply talking about the weather. “That is how you’ll repay the debt.”
Cold dread clogged my throat, and I could barely swallow. “No. Why would you want to keep me?”
His smile widened. “Time magic. Yours attracted me to you.” His gaze flicked up and down my body. “I was drawn to you the moment you cast the spell on that ingrate. Then I realized you’re the one I’ve heard so much about. Those who whisper with no lips and watch with no eyes would be keen to know I have the red-haired half-human, half-mage they want so badly.”
No.This couldn't be happening. I'd run straight into a trap I didn't even know existed, trading Wolfe's cage for something infinitely worse.
Those who whisper with no lips and watch with no eyes.
The dark forces. Apart from the manifestation of Zyrra, that was all we knew about them.
When I read about them in my journal, I was almost grateful I couldn’t remember.
But now I was here. Caught in the heart of the thing everyone was trying to protect me from.
"Please. I just want to go home. I don't—I don't want any of this." My voice came out strangled and desperate, the sound of a person who’d had enough
