Demon Slave (Shadow Quest Book 2) (8 page)

“
Stay here,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

As if she had a fucking choice! She couldn’t see two inches in front of her face. They were deep in the Caves of Kayata, where no light was allowed.

“
D-Demon?”

Apparently he was already gone. The only sound left was her own shallow breath and the chatter of her teeth. Who knows if he would even return for her?

Suddenly, there was another noise. Footsteps? Was she imagining it?

“
D-Dem-m-mon?” she called again. No response. Gods, it could be any manner of creature that the demon had left her with. There was a reason why the Cyrellians avoided these caves.

The spike of fear had her stumbling toward what she thought was the exit. Blindly, she inched forward, placing her arms in front of her. Her legs ran into something and she used her hands to identify it. A large boulder.

Feeling her way around it, she attempted to walk again but came to what must be a cavern wall, or possibly an even larger bolder.

Weakness filled her bones along with the frigid air. Her fingers burned and prickled. She shoved them against her mouth, blowing as much warm air on them as she could. When her shivers overtook her, Nadua curled into a ball, hoping someone would find her in time.

So tired
.

Somewhere in her dreary mind she realized her exhaustion was a bad sign.

The sound of falling pebbles roused her. Too cold to be afraid, she waited for some cave dwelling creature to attack.

“
Are you alright?”

She let out a relieved sigh, though she didn’t know why. It was the demon. Probably had come back to kill her. The sound of sticks hitting the floor echoed around her. It seemed as if the demon was methodically breaking them up and moving them around in a pile.

“
This will keep us off the cold floor.”

Us?

“
It’s the best I can do for now.”

She heard him stand and move toward her. Obviously, the demon didn’t have a problem seeing in this darkness, because there was no running into boulders for him.

In one easy swoop, he pulled her off the ground. Nadua didn’t even have the strength to protest. As it was, her traitorous body instinctively curled into him for the heat he was giving off.

After he laid them on what turned out to be some sort of pallet, he slipped his arms around her. She weakly tried to push away, but at the moment she couldn’t have pushed a snowflake off of her.

“
Put your arm around me,” he said.

“
Fuck you!” she managed, though she did move closer. The heat of his body was already starting to sooth the chill in her.

And he smells good
.

She was losing it.

“
Use my body for the warmth you need. I tried to get back to your tent to find those skins you wear, but there are too many guards. I’ll try again in the morning. This is what I can offer till then.”

With her mind reluctant, but her body screaming for warmth, she placed her arms on his chest, burrowing into him as close as possible. Thick biceps cradled her.

Eventually, the worst of her shaking abated, while her mind began its exhausted descent. Her last thought—which later she blamed on her delusional state—was how wonderful it felt to be within his arms.

Rising from a heavy sleep, Nadua adjusted her position on the bed, which, for some reason, was less comfortable this morning, and snuggled deeper against the warm...
muscular chest?
Stiffening, she opened her eyes to a wall of black.

Her heart jerked as the events from last night played back in her mind. The side of her face was pressed intimately against the demon’s bare chest, his musky scent and heat enveloping her.

Afraid she’d wake him, Nadua tried to remain still.

Unexpectedly, his grip tightened around her. Panic nearly engulfed her, making her pulse burn through her veins. She had to get away, get back to camp, signal her soldiers. But how was she going to do any of that? She wasn’t sure exactly how long she’d slept, but she assumed there should be some light outside by now—or perhaps it was already midday—yet the cave was still pitch black. He must have taken her farther inside than she thought.

Somehow, Nadua would need to get the demon to lead her out. Without him, she might never find her way. The Caves of Kayata were said to be a complex labyrinth of passages, mostly unexplored due to the many dangers. Pitfalls, cave-ins, and toxic air. And those were the non-superstitious obstacles.

“
How are you feeling?” His deep voice rumbled in his chest.

Nadua tensed in surprise. She hadn’t realized the demon was awake. His voice was soft and drowsy, which probably made it easier for him to fake the concern she heard in it.

“
Take me back, demon, and I promise not to have you killed.”

He touched his chin to the top of her head, pulled her closer, and breathed deep. “You’re not going back there, ever.”

“
Is that a threat?” Preparing to push away from him, Nadua placed one palm against his skin, but as she felt the ridges of his muscles—the first warm flesh she felt in a long time—a completely inappropriate surge of desire came over her.

Am I so deprived of another’s touch? And where is his shirt!

Then she realized there was some kind of fabric wrapped around her legs. He must have given her his shirt at some point during the night.

“
Completely the opposite. I plan on keeping you safe and alive until
Marada
comes for us.”

“
Marada
? Is that one of your gods?”

His body shook with amusement, which brought back the awareness that she was still pressed tightly against him. His hand was on her back, lightly rubbing.

It felt odd arguing with someone, fearing him, while holding on to him for dear life. The air around them was still as cold as it was the night before.

“
Marada
is my home. It’s a ship.” He sounded so reasonable, but what he was saying was that he planned to abduct her and take her away.

“
So you want to take me there, and what? Have tea? Introduce me to the family?”

“
Aye. Mine
and
yours.”

That got her attention. “What?”

“
Your sister Anya is...well, was aboard the
Marada
.” His tone went serious with heavy sorrow. “Hopefully, Sebastian got to her in time. We found her—or rather, she found us a few months ago.”

Nadua nearly balked, but managed to keep it to herself. She didn’t have a sister named Anya. The liar must have gotten his facts wrong and confused the name with Ava, Fineas’ daughter and future queen of the Cyrellians.

However, keeping him talking might be in her best interest. Perhaps she could discover his true agenda, as well as keep herself alive.

“
What do you mean you hope he got to her in time?”

“
Just as your soldiers were playing pin cushion with my leg, Anya was being taken by someone very bad, someone who would want to hurt her. Sebastian went after her, and if all went well, Anya is safe, and they’re on their way to find us right now.”

Nadua didn’t think it was wise to mention that it was she who played pin cushion with his leg. Her soldiers had just reeled him in. Better to let that drop.

“
What if they’re not on their way to find you?”

He was silent for a moment. “Then a very dear friend is dead, and possibly so is your sister.”

Not my sister, psycho!

“
Your friend, I assume he’s a demon?”

“
Aye.”

“
And Anya is like me?”

He raised a brow. “Uh...yes.”

“
Tell me, then, why would a demon risk his life for someone like me?”

“
Because she is his mate,” he said simply. As if that explained anything. “Look, I can tell you’re skeptical. Let me start a fire and we can talk face-to-face.”

Nadua let go of him with a combination of eagerness and regret. The latter was only for the warmth he provided. As soon as they parted, the cold air assaulted her.

“
How is it you’re so warm?” she found herself asking.

“
It’s evolutionary,” he replied, while gathering part of their bed into a pile. “Our home planet had very extreme winters, not unlike here, from what I’ve seen so far. We also experienced very hot summers. For survival, our bodies adapted to adjust to both temperatures.”

A spark flashed in the dark as he struck two rocks together, and then again. After a short time there was a decent fire going, warming the space around them.

Finally seeing the demon felt awkward. He didn’t know it, but he was the first male to touch her, without causing pain, in nearly four hundred years. She could still smell him on her, and she hated herself for savoring it. He was still shirtless, and it didn’t help that his chest was sculpted to perfection, even under all those scars. He was unnervingly attractive.

“
There, that’s better,” the demon said, when he was satisfied with the fire’s size. The chamber was larger than she initially assumed. The ceiling curved into an uneven dome, and sporadic columns of rock formations cast ominous shadows every which way.

No ice or snow was present. It had been a long time since she’d seen sand and dirt, or bare stone. Outside, the temperature never grew warm enough for the snow to melt down. It just grew in layers, the landscape ever changing.

The demon took a seat on a boulder, watching her as she studied her surroundings. She should be looking for a weapon, not marveling at the walls, but they were strangely fascinating as the firelight bounced off them, creating shimmering pockets of light and dark.

“
The reason we came here,” the demon began, “was to find you, Nadua.”

She stilled at the use of her name. She hadn’t told it to him, but it was possible he heard it from one of her guards. “Is that so? What a coincidence that
I
be the one you’re searching for. And that I was there just when you landed.”

“
Where your father is concerned, I don’t think I can believe in coincidences. And it was Anya who sensed where you might be.”

Nadua claimed a seat across from him, keeping the fire between them. “Ah, you know my father, as well as my sister...
Anya
.”

“
No, I’ve never met your father, and why do you say her name like that?”

She hadn’t meant to sound so dubious, but his story was so poorly strewn together. “Why did you not tell me any of this when I asked?”

“
I had no idea who you were. I figured you were one of them.” His eyes unabashedly skimmed her body. “I should have known when you gave me that peek show.”

Nadua’s teeth gnashed together. “That wasn’t...That was just...”

“
You left me aching bad that night. Left me wondering how the rest of you would look.” He gave a sexy grin. “I must say, I’m not disappointed.”

Cheeks flaming, she scrambled for the closest fist-sized rock. “I will fight you if you try anything.”

His features hardened. “I’m not going to hurt you. Just like what I see, is all.”

She relaxed a bit, but held onto her primitive weapon. “Please, just continue.”

The demon proceeded to tell her how this Anya person had found her way onto
Marada
after being enslaved on a ship called
Extarga
. Which was absurd. Not only would her father never allow that to happen, but Nadua—master of eavesdropping on her father—had learned the intended locations of all her sisters, and a ship named
Extarga
had not been one of them.

He continued with details of their lengthy journey through space—expedited by
Anya’s
ability to provide energy to the ship, nearly dying in the process—to find a book, written by their father, King Alestar. The book provided them with her location on Undewla.