It was a gut reaction to go for the exit closest to her but farthest from Attie, especially with her crutches slowing her down. At least if she made it to the front, she could call for help. She wouldn’t be of any use if she didn’tget out first.
The shelf collapsed behind her, the cacophony of shattering glass and splintering wood ringing in her ears as she hurried toward the door.
Steps from the exit, a weight slammed into her back and sent her sprawling. One crutch twisted away from her as she landed on the other, her body knocking into the shelf closest to the door. It shook, but while it didn’t tip, items rained down on her and the demon pinning her.
Then, to her horror, Tim crashed to the floor less than a foot from her face.
Aofe ducked to avoid the shards of his pot, the pieces ricocheting off her forearms as soil scattered across the floor. She peeked, devastated to find that Tim was limp, roots clinging to a chunk of soil but vines unmoving without his owner nearby and the rune keeping them connected.
“No!” she screamed, but her body wouldn’t move. She couldn’t get closer no matter how loudly she cried out or tried to crawl to him.
Hot breath warmed her ear, and Aofe remembered the more pressing struggle. “You’re only making this harder on yourself,” Tholvich growled. “This destruction is all I need to prove he’s not fit to sponsor you.”
She tried to reach for a shard of Tim’s pot, but there was no way she could swing it back with Tholvich’s body on hers. The fear that had been fueling her fight before faded into a numb acceptance, even as her heart was desperate for her to do more than this.
To her left, the tall windows of the shop remained dark,and her mind slipped back to that alley. To the slavers on either side of her, pinning her limbs. To the humans hurrying past, pretending she didn’t exist and that she wasn’t being kidnapped in favor of themselves.
No demons would come to save her. Attie was locked outside, and Tim was dying on the floor in front of her. Kizros was too far away, and with luck never on her side, he wouldn’t step through the door when she needed him most.
No, it was only her and her human hands, unable to function without sunlight. Too incompetent to make even the simplest of runes.
But Aofe was not numb. Not after years of being belittled and forced to make herself smaller. Not after finding a place where she wanted to stay.
With a demon she loved.
Her hand reached out, palm spreading in the soil before her fingers curled.
This was her home, and she was not going to lose it.
21
TIM!
Kizros
Kizros threw the door open, a few demons startling but otherwise paying him no mind. It wasn’t until he was halfway down the aisle of desks that someone called out.
“Kizros?”
He recognized his little sister Hyxe’s voice, but he didn’t slow.
“Wait, you can’t?—”
Kizros shoved open his father’s door, letting it slam against the wall as he stormed to the desk. “You want that chance to repair our relationship?”
Karroth’s eyes widened before he hastily gestured for Hyxe to close the door. “What is the meaningof this, Kizros?”
“Who’s responsible?” Kizros demanded, slapping the papers down on his father’s desk.
The demon frowned, taking up the papers with a cautious hand. He made a dramatic show of smoothing out the wrinkles in the parchment, but as he started reading, his face contorted in disgust. Then horror as he looked up to Kizros. “I would never?—”
“I know, but I’m worried about Aofe’s safety. Find out who agreed to sign off on this, fix the flaw that takes humans out of the reassignment process, and I’ll consider it an apology you’ve yet to attempt after family dinner.”
Karroth set the papers down and leaned back in his seat. “Rosalind warned Argeth about this clause. That’s why they vetted the sponsors so thoroughly.” He let out a sigh, twisting his lips to the side. “I will look into it. Immediately.”
While Kizros wasn’t surprised his father had agreed, the speed in which he’d accepted felt like a shock. “Thank you.”
Kizros turned to leave.
