I hear him smile and he removes his hand, grabbing my wrist and guiding my own hand along the same sensitive lines of my body he traced moments before.
“Practice,” he says softly, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
He snuffs out the lantern before leaving me to it. After what feels like an eternity, my hand starts cramping between my thighs. I tear it from within the sheets, grumbling under my breath as I slam my head back against the pillow in frustration.
I give up and my eyes wander toward the jug of ale that I’m sure is still sitting on the small table in the pitch black of my room, beckoning. I reject the idea before really considering it and settle in for a night of terror and a morning of bloodlust.
The woman falls to the floor reaching for me. She’s so pretty, even when the light leaves her eyes.
A tall man with broad shoulders and strong arms bellows. His face is a mask of rage as a blade pierces his neck. The gurgling spurt of his agony makes my eyes burn, but I can’t make myself look away as his blood runs like a river down his chest and onto the floor. He falls to his knees and my eyes take in the demon towering behind him. Black flames lick off the dark scales that adorn it. It steps toward me, reaching, a bloody blade marring the wooden floor as it drags it behind.
Its fist closes around my throat. I can’t scream. I can’t even breathe.
CHAPTER 8
OUT AT SEA
Present Day
Itear the hand from my throat. No. My shoulder. I deliver a blow to the arm that swings around to pin me.Demon, my mind screams,Murderer.I push myself off the ground. No. Off my cot. Whisps of shadow curl off the dark form attacking me, obscuring its features. The demon is a full head taller than I am, broad at the shoulders and well muscled.
I search the ground for the bloody sword, but there is no blade to be found. It raises a hand, stepping toward me, mumbling something I can’t discern. I strike quickly, grabbing the demon’s arm and throwing a knee to its side. It leans into the blow, cushioning the impact, and holds my leg against its side, moving forward to tip my balance.
I push off the ground with my free leg, letting it bear my weight on the leg secured at its side, throwing the force into a spinning kick that it barely dodges. My leg glances off its head. It is faster than I am, stronger too. I am going to die in a bloody heap on the floor just like them. I know it.
The demon growls, an unintelligible, guttural sound, shifting its weight until I am truly off balance. I begin to fall, and it hooks an armaround my waist before I collapse onto the floor. It throws me against the wall, pinning my hips with its own, before catching my wrists in one hand and securing them above my head.
Breathe,I demand of myself,Breathe.
But it isn’t my voice I hear.
“Breathe. Vari, wake up. You’re all right. It isn’t real.” The voice turns gentle.
Safe. You’re safe. It isn’t real.
A familiar scent fills my lungs, calming the demon that roils inside me. I lean into him, taking a deep breath, resting my head in the crook of his neck. His grip on my wrists slackens.
“I’m here,” he murmurs.
“Kesh?” My voice breaks.
“Yes,” he says.
He wraps his arms around me and pulls me close as my body begins to shake. This is about the time I would normally be letting Bront land a blow or two in the sparring ring, to refocus my mind.
“What do you need?”
What do I need? I need to start wearing a night dress to bed.
With that thought, I peel myself out of his arms and take a step away from the man, pressing my back against the wall as I will the world to come back into focus. Vakesh keeps his eyes on my face as I stand before him baring more than my naked body. The man just witnessed a sliver of the demon that torments me.
A dim candle sits on a small shelf by the door, its warm glow highlighting the sheen of sweat on his bare torso. I wonder when he came, how much he’d seen, and how it is that he always seems to know when I need him.
“I heard you screaming,” he says, as if he can read my every thought.
“I’m sorry.”
“No,” he says, sternly, “Iam sorry. I shouldn’t have left you the way I did. I should have stayed. Made sure you…” His jaw feathers as his lips draw a thin line.
