It didn’t surprise me the gateway shutting hadn’t put the temperature back to what it was supposed to be. The closing of the gateway had done little to repair the damage its opening had wrought on Earth. That’s why demons could now retain their immortality on this plane, when before we would have been forced to returntoHell.
Earth was far different from Hell, mostly in a good way, and I had adapted to it during the fourteen years I’d lived here. The only thing I missed about Hell was the constant heat. I found snow worse than a barta demon on a rampage, and I despised the bear-like barta demons now roaming Earth as well as Hell, but I enjoyed the changing seasons and the sunrises and sunsets that markedthedays.
All my days in Hell had blended one into another with no way to mark their passing. I found myself stopping to watch every sunrise and sunset with an awe that hadn’t dissipated over myyearshere.
Unlike humans, I felt no dread over a sense of time slipping away from me when each of those days ended. While in Hell, I’d watched some people complain about their gray hairs and aching joints. Since coming to Earth, I hadn’t heard anyone complain about aging. Probably because many of them knew they might never get the chance to grow old and those who did were fortunate to have made itsolong.
I was aware my time on Earth had changed me. It had changed most demons in some way and it had also changed the humans. Every species adapted or died. Many demons had become a little more caring, like humans, while many people had become more vicious with their need to survive and more able to endure adversity, likedemons.
Wren was one of those who had adapted exceptionally well, I decided as I watched her walk away. Knowing that it was time for me to return to camp, I startedafterher.
ChapterFour
Wren
The weight of the deer dragged on my shoulders and compressed my spine, but I refused to let Corson help me with it. I wouldn’t have let anyone help me with it, except for maybe Randy, and there was a very distinct possibility Randywasdead.
The deer could crush my spine before I ever allowed that highly annoying, if not somewhat attractive, demon who insisted on flirting withmetocarryit.
I despised demons. Okay, well, not despised, at least not anymore. For many years, I hadn’t known the truth of what happened with the gateway opening, and I’d blamed demons foreverything.
Living in the Wilds, I’d known more than the civvies about what had happened to this land, but I still hadn’t known everything. I knew the truth ofitnow.
The demons didn’t somehow find a way to break free of Hell on their own and invade Earth with the sole intention of striking down everything in their way. No, imbecilic human governments had been messing with things they shouldn’t have. In doing so, they accidentally opened a gateway into Hell and allowed its hideous occupants tospillfree.
Before encountering Kobal a few months ago, I’d only ever seen demons as monsters, and I’d gleefully slaughtered any I came across before they could kill me. I hadn’t known Kobal was the king of Hell when I tried to ambush him or I would have stayedfaraway.
I still shuddered when I thought about what could have happened to my fellow Wilders if Kobal hadn’t spared us that day. Losing my life was one thing, but losing theirs was something else entirely. Randy had appointed me in charge when he left; the lives of the Wilders following me rested on my shoulders, and I felt the weight of that more than the weight of the deer drapedaroundme.
At the time, it had seemed like such a simple attack against Kobal. Disable them, kill the demons, get the stuff, and get out fast. We’d done it countless times before, but Kobal had somehow known we were there and come up behind us with some of his friends while we’d been waiting for them. We could have been killed that day and all because I’d made a baddecision.
Now, I could only hope that I’d made the right decision in approaching the demons to keep theWilderssafe.
But after Kobal let us live, it was a risk I was willing to take. Granted, Kobal left us tied up in the woods and vulnerable to anything lurking nearby, but he’d still given us a chance to survive. It was more than any other demon had given us before. Intrigued by the fact he hadn’t torn our heads off, my curiosity got the best of me, and I’d followed him to thegateway.
After witnessing numerous monsters pouring out of Hell when the seals fell, I decided to put aside my hatred of demons and work with those following the king and queen. It was the only way humans and demons would survive what had fled the gateway. I’d seen everything from a drakón —massive, skeletal, dragon-looking things—to tiny gobalinus—hideous, two-foot-tall goblins—escape the gateway, along with countless other things that should belong only innightmares.
Corson’s steps sounded behind me, but I didn’t look back. I didn’t know what it was about him that unnerved me far more than any of the other demons. Maybe it was because his eyes, the startling color of citrine, were more than a little intriguing. Or maybe it was because he had this way of flirting with me that made me actually feel like awoman.
Not many men had done that. Not many men were brave enough to flirt with me in the first place. But Corson did, and he seemed toenjoyit. He also looked at me inaway…
I broke the thought off and gave myself a mental shake.I will not be attracted to a demon! Abso-fucking-lutelynot. It would never happen. My hands tightened on the legs of the deer as I kept repeating this to myself, but I couldn’t stop my gaze from goingtohim.
He sauntered through the woods as if he belonged in this world—which, no matter how they’d arrived here, demons were notmeantto be here. However, the opening of the gateway had caused Hell and Earth to become intertwined so completely that there would never be anyundoingit.
This was our joinedworldnow.
Being around Corson had been easier when we’d all been at the wall. I’d mostly stayed in the houses by the wall and with people, while he’d resided in one of the tents on the hill with the other demons. He’d also left for a couple of weeks to travel through Hell and over to the other side of the world with Kobal. I hadn’t thought of Corson at all while he’d been gone. Nope, not once had it crossed my mind to wonder if he stilllived.
With a sigh, I had to admit that even I wasn’t buying the shit I was trying to shovel to myself. He had crossed my mind a time or two, but only because I’d been curious to know if the king still lived or if he’d died when he’d returned to Hell with the others. That was the only reason Corson had entered my mind onceheleft.
Liar.Ugh, sometimes I hated my stupid little inner voice. It never let me lie tomyself.
But most of my thoughts of Corson had consisted of eviscerating his earring-wearing, smug ass. There had beenzerodreams of skin touching skin, lips brushing against lips, of my fingers sliding through the thick black hair falling in curls around his pointed ears—hair that was so black it appeared blue in somelights.
Corson smiled when he met my gaze, and his eyes sparkled. With him standing about nine inches taller than my five-seven height, I found my chin lifting to hold his stare. My hands twitched on the deer’s legs as I was hit with the impulse to trace the tip of one of hispointedears.
And the first time I’d seen those ears, they’d been decorated with three different kinds of earrings fromthreedifferentwomen.
