I stared at the markings as if I could somehow figure out her words from those three lines and theindent.
“Probably lower-level,” I said as I lifted my head to survey the woodsagain.
The wind lashing through the trees caused branches to click together and created a howl that rivaled the hell hounds when they were on the hunt. The air smelled of rotting leaves, but I didn’t scent other demonsonit.
“What makes you say that?” shewhispered.
“Lucifer kept a leash on the upper-level demons following him. Few of them came to Earth until Lucifer himself did. It was the same for many of the lower-level demons, but they’re not always the brightest, and they’re more intent on murder and mayhem than the upper-level demons suchasme.
“Some of the lower-level demons who broke free when the gateway first opened probably chose to remain on Earth rather than return to Hell. I’m sure some upper levels also opted to stay instead of returning to be ruled by Lucifer. However, they probably would have preferred to reside wherever Kobalwasn’t.”
“And Kobal wasn’t in Hell,”shesaid.
“Not often. We stayed mostly on Earth to protect the humans after the gatewayopened.”
“What is the difference between an upper and lower-leveldemon?”
“Upper-level demons are born of two other demons. Lower-level demons are created by those souls who are so malignant they are never allowed to leave Hell to be reborn on Earth again. Lower-level demons feed off the remains of the wraiths when the higher-level demons finish with them. Or at least they used to get our leftovers. On Earth, they’ll be able to feed off whatever wraith they find instead of having to wait for us to finish with them. Lower-level demons are strong, but they have no other abilities beyond their strength. They have animalistic features, and I don’t mean just horns andatail.”
Her eyes went to something beyond me as she replied. “I’ve seen the difference between upper and lower. Those twisted monstrosities came into myhouse.”
I fisted my hands to keep from reaching out to comfort her. She would only turn me away or shut me out again if Itried.
“Yes, they did,” I agreed. “There are more lower-level demons than upper because of how we reproduce, and all of the lowers were onLucifer’sside.”
“And now they’re scattered like the rest of the things from Hell,”shesaid.
“Or they’ve regrouped under new leadership. Most likely under one of the other fallenangels.”
“Whether the threat was upper or lower demons in this area, we’d still better get outofhere.”
Her eyes briefly met mine before darting away again. I resisted grabbing her shoulders andmakingher look at me. I stepped closer to draw her eyes. Instead, she turned away to inspect thetrees.
“In the beginning, the demons would attack a place and move on after destroying everyone they came in contact with,” she said. “After a while, they started settling into areas that we learned to avoid. We could be near one of those areas now, but I don’t know. I haven’t been in this section of the Wilds in years, and whoever left these markings didn’t leave a date. They were probably inarush.”
“With the entrance to the ouro’s den so close, I doubt many demons are around here anymore,” I told her. “The ouro didn’t care who or what it ate, or which side its prey fought on. It only cared that its prey screamed whileitdied.”
“Delightful.”
She pushed back the loose strands of hair that had come free of her braid. Her nose wrinkled when dry ouro blood flaked off her hair and she glanced down at her blood-splatteredclothes.
“If there is anything nearby, it will smell us,” shemurmured.
“There’s no preventing that unless you plan to walk aroundnaked.”
She frowned as if she were considering it. Then, she glanced around the trees again. “It’s too cold for that, and we’ll be slower if we’re freezing. Plus frostbite and hypothermia could become an issue, for me at least.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she contemplated this. “No, we’re better off stayingdressed.”
I now had another reason to hate the colder weather in this area of the world. I’d expected her to flat out refuse my suggestion; I knew how unreasonably attached some humans were to their clothes. Apparently not Wren, but I should have expected her response. She hadn’t survived out here by clinging to misguidedmodesty.
“Do you run around naked often?” I’d meant the question to come out as teasing, but instead, it had been a near growl. The idea of others seeing her exposed in such a way irritated me far more than I’dexpected.
She glanced at me from under her thick fringe of blonde eyelashes. “Only when necessary. Do you?” sheretorted.
“In Hell, some demons wore clothing, but I preferred not to be encumbered by it. Most of us started wearing clothes on Earth so we could fit in better with the humans. Our nudity was odder to many of them than ourlooks.”
“I can see that,” shemurmured.
“Canyou?”
