Demon Slave (Shadow Quest Book 2) (11 page)

Keep your senses
.

After a short silence, Nadua remembered she had been in the middle of donning her warm skins and finished the process. Finally, she was ready for the rough conditions of Undewla.

They didn’t say a word to each other as they traveled through the passageways, a torch lighting the way. Nadua mused at the difference between the way she’d entered the cave and how she was now leaving it. The demon was almost gentlemanly, offering her his hand over rocky terrain. And, though she refused his help each time, he didn’t stop offering it.

At last, daylight grew near and a moment later they were outside. For the first time in ages, the sky was blue. The beauty of it drew her eyes for a long while. The demon’s too, apparently. He was studying both the sky and the rest of the mountain landscape. He didn’t seem to be paying any attention to her.

Without thinking, her fist closed around a heavy rock, and she used her whole body to swing it hard into the back of his skull.

He gave half a grunt and fell to the ground, limp and unmoving. Nadua waited a few moments to be sure he was out, surprised at how easily he went down. Then she was racing toward camp.

She decided that once she got there, she would have her men come back for him—to attempt a recapture, or to kill on sight, she wasn’t sure.

Camp was a bit farther than expected but she made it without stopping. But the moment the trees began to thin she was unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Or rather, not seeing.

An empty space stood in front of her, no soldiers or tents waiting for her return. A dusting of loose snow skated across the barren land.

Perhaps she had headed in the wrong direction and camp was a little farther to the north. But as soon as she thought it, she knew it was a lie. There was evidence all around. Fire pits and muddied walkways. This is where they had been, and they had left without her, just as the demon said. And if he was right about this...

“
It cannot be,” she murmured.

A noise at her back made her whip around. The demon stood silent at the edge of the forest, leaning against a tree. He didn’t look as though he’d just been knocked unconscious. She expected him to look smug, but he didn’t. He actually looked a little concerned. The sight of it made her want to hit him over the head with another rock.

Nadua forced a strong tone. “This doesn’t mean anything, dem...I’m sure there’s another explanation.”

Tamir couldn’t have plotted against her. He had always been loyal. Always did as she asked without complaint. Why would he turn on her?

The demon shook his head. “How much more proof do you need?”

“
You let me come here, didn’t you? You wanted me to see this so I would believe you!”

He shrugged.

“
Well, you should have done a little more research when you were digging into my background, because you don’t have all your facts right.”

He approached her then. “Oh? And what exactly have I gotten wrong?”

Exasperated, Nadua began stomping in the direction of the palace, determined to make her way home. “You’ve been very thorough, but for one small detail. Whatever made my men leave without me must seem like a lucky break for you. You must think I’ll just follow you to your ship, eager to see my sister
Anya
.”

He followed close behind. “Why are you being so difficult? You’re being irrational, and stupid!”

“
Acta
! You want to know how I know I can’t believe you? Because I don’t have a sister named Anya!”

The sound of his footsteps ceased, and Nadua was ready to laugh at whatever lie he was about to come up with to cover his mistake.

“
Oh, that’s right. You would know her as Analia.”

Nadua halted. A sickening heaviness rolled in her stomach.

Analia
.

She hadn’t heard the name spoken aloud in so long, but it instantly made her think of home. Her mind was bombarded with the striking contrast of this world compared to her own. All around her stood perpetually dead trees, blinding white ground, choking cold air.

Her throat worked hard to hold in the emotion that threatened to overwhelm her as the image of little Analia, playing under the giant trees behind their family’s home filled her mind. Her elder sister, Kyra, standing beside her. It was the last memory of her sisters together.

The demon at her back hadn’t said a word, but she could feel him watching her, waiting for something. A light breeze alerted her to the wetness on her cheeks and she worked fervently to dry them.

It hit her then, that her dream of finally going home, of seeing her family once more could become a reality.

When she was once more composed, Nadua turned around. “Okay dem...um, Marik. Tell me more.”

It took Nadua a while to fully accept the sudden change in her situation. It was a lot to take in. The possibility of going home, leaving this planet, leaving Ava. It was all giving her mixed emotions. Not to mention the alleged betrayal of one or more of her men, which she still wasn’t fully convinced of, but the demon was sounding more credible by the minute.

She sat on a raised patch of snow and listened to what Marik had to say. It was disturbing to hear what had happened to her sister. From what Nadua remembered, Analia and their mother should have been en route to stay with one of the Faieara’s strongest allies, among the dragon clans. But, according to Marik, they were betrayed and sold to a loathsome man, who had abused Analia until the day she escaped onto the ship,
Marada
.

When Nadua asked about her mother, the demon lowered his head and gave a slight shake. Nadua couldn’t speak for a time after that.

Her father’s book sounded fascinating, said to be large and lined in gold. Apparently, once closed, it could only be opened by Nadua or her two sisters—some sort of magical lock, possibly bespelled by the Serakians.

Inside it had been a letter to Analia, describing their father’s vision of the future. He believed if they all returned home, there may be hope of rescuing their people from the Kayadon, who coveted the many gifts of her people.

Every Faieara used some form of magic, though some were more powerful than others. Her father’s visions, for example, were much stronger than hers, and he could call on them whenever he liked, through quiet meditation. Hers came at the whim of the gods, and were about as helpful as them too.

Marik was eager to get moving. He wanted to get back to where he though his friends would begin their search, but Nadua thought it would be best to go to her palace—not only because it was nice and warm there, but she wanted to face Tamir, and learn the truth from him.

“
I’m not letting you anywhere near that place without proper backup. We don’t know how many are involved.”

“
I can’t just leave without addressing this issue. If it is as you said, and Tamir has plotted against me, then he should be tried for treason. And Ava will be furious! Even if he claims to have done it for her benefit.”

“
Still, I’d have to insist on waiting for my friends. I’m strong alone, but your army still took me down. If we wait for
Marada
, you’d have four demons and Ethanule to safeguard you, among others.”

“
Ethanule?” Nadua’s heart leaped. She and Ethanule used to flirt when he was tasked as her guard. She thought him very handsome. “Ethan is with you?” There was no stopping the little smile that slid over her lips.

The demon sat back, a strange look covering his features. “He’s the one who translated the book and found your location.”

“
If Ethan is with your friends, then I feel much better about waiting till we rendezvous with them. He is a considerable warrior among my people.”

“
My kind isn’t enough?”

Nadua looked up, wondering at the dark tone in his voice. “It’s not that. It’s just, I don’t know your friends. Or you, for that matter.” She recalled her vision of his enraged visage and wondered if she was doing the right thing by going along with him. “I don’t even know my sister,” Nadua continued. “She was very young when we were separated. But Ethan and I...” She could feel heat enter her cheeks. “We used to—”

“
I don’t need to hear it.” Marik interrupted in a tone meant to end the conversation. He stood and brushed his pants clean. “We should get moving before we lose the light.”

The sudden surliness was odd to her, but maybe it was a demon thing. From the stories, they could change moods with the fall of each snowflake.

* * *

It was obvious to Marik what Nadua and Ethan used to do. The chit grew red with embarrassment just remembering. He didn’t know why learning she had been with Ethanule made him suddenly want to murder the man. It was none of his business.

They did need to get moving, though. Nadua figured it would take quite a few days to walk back to the location where Marik had been captured. But as they began their journey she continued to make the argument for going back to the palace, which would take roughly the same amount of time.

“
Once we get there,” she offered, “I can send soldiers out to find your friends.”

“
Like I said, we can’t trust your soldiers.”

Clearly Nadua wasn’t used to not getting her way because her bottom lip stuck out every time he refused to give in. Marik found it sickeningly cute. At least she wasn’t trying to assault him with rocks anymore.

Traveling near the mountains provided a good amount of cover. The area was thick with trees.

Although Marik felt they were adequately hidden from wandering eyes, he couldn’t be sure. There was nothing on the wind, no sound that alerted him to danger, but something was making him uneasy. He kept glancing behind them to be sure no one was following.

According to Nadua, the mountains housed countless caves where they could find shelter, though she was admittedly anxious about going into them. When he asked why, she just said that many souls were lost to them.

As they traveled, neither made the effort to hold a conversation, which was fine by Marik. Staying focused was more important than idle chit chat, though he found the sound of her voice pleasing.

There was an apprehensive truce between them. He worried that she was only pretending to go along with him to force his guard to drop. And, in order to discover any such pretense, he watched her closely—which turned out to be a bad idea. Seeing the way she moved over the uneven terrain made him constantly visualize the body hidden by all that fur, and had him fighting to ignore his swollen shaft. When she bent to adjust the lacing of her boots, he barely kept himself from palming her backside.

Forcing his eyes in another direction, Marik realized what was happening to him, and he needed to get a hold of himself. There must be some residual chemicals flowing through him from when he’d been driven to the Edge twice this last week. It wasn’t enough to make him crave violence...but physical release....

He couldn’t allow it. Not only because it would lead to further awkwardness between them, but blacking out now would leave them both vulnerable to attack.

Cale would tell him that it was because he forced himself to abstain too long that he could never remember a night with a female.

“
Demons are made for sex,” Cale would say.

But that wasn’t the reason Marik’s mind retreated during his sexual encounters. It was the disturbing flashbacks of the arena, from his days as a slave. Too many times he’d been forced to the Edge by his
masters
, only to supply them with an evening’s entertainment by becoming some poor female’s nightmare.

Luckily, the gods had taken pity, and the worst of those memories were deeply suppressed. But bedding a female always ended the same. Marik would wake up next to some random sleeping woman, make sure he hadn’t hurt her—as he always feared—and then sneak back to the
Marada
without waking her. His body would recognize that its lust had been slaked, but he could never recall what they’d done together, or if either of them had even enjoyed it.