Page 62 of Demon Bound

“Yes, I suppose I do.”

“Good.” Putting out her pipe, she picked up her cane and held out her other hand. Raiya helped pull her to her feet. “If there’s anything our people excel at, it’s adapting. So, adapt. Move on.”

Raiya frowned. “Move on?”

“Your alliance with a demon didn’t work out. You can’t pretend to be surprised. A partnership with a demonic entity isbound to end in tears one way or another. I suggest you pick yourself up and start anew. The caravan will be around if you need us, and your bastard of an ex-husband won’t be able to touch you here if you wish to stay. My own husband was a bit of a bastard himself, before he died. I can sympathize.”

Raiya pulled away from her. She couldn’t just move on. Perhaps a week ago, she might have taken the shepherd’s advice. But now?

She already felt Azreth’s absence like a shadow over her heart. She missed having someone who understood everything she’d been through. She missed his tentative way of asking her questions or looking to her for guidance, the way he studied the world so curiously, and the hungry, oddly gentle way he touched her.

And gods, these were not things a mortal should feel about a demon. Of that, she was certain. The matron was right. A partnership with a demon was doomed to fail.

Tongue-tied, Raiya just shook her head. She bade the woman goodbye and stepped out of the tent into the bright midday sun. Madira and Jai awaited her, both squinting in the daylight.

“What’d she say?” Jai asked.

“She said no,” Madira informed her. “Why do you think she looks so upset?”

Raiya was too frustrated to speak. She turned and started toward the road out of the camp. She heard Jai’s quick footsteps behind her, and after a moment, Madira’s softer ones followed.

“What are you going to do?” Jai asked.

“I honestly don’t know.”

Jai ran around to stand in front of her. “We’ll help you.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” Raiya said. “I appreciate the thought.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Madira asked. “You don’t think we can do it?”

“I can’t ask you to come with me to fight through the cult of Moratha. Even if you weren’t children—”

Madira’s jaw dropped. “I’m not a child! The irony of a human callinguschildren. Everyone knows humans are the children of Heilune. I’m probably older than you.”

“You look like a child to me.”

“I’m twenty-five!”

Raiya thought he looked—and behaved, for that matter—about sixteen. She narrowed her eyes. “Isn’t that still quite young for an elf?”

“That’s irrelevant!”

Raiya considered them both.

“You’ll never succeed without us. Those cultists would have killed you if I hadn’t been there to save you,” Madira reminded her.

“I didn’t think you would be so eager to help,” Raiya said.

Jai smirked. “Madira thinks he’s a warrior, and he wants everyone to know it. He loves having a quest.”

He gave her an irritated shove, which only made her grin wider.

Jai took Raiya’s arm. “Let’s go get something to eat, okay? You look like you need to catch your breath and consider your options. Your demon won’t be going anywhere.”

Within the hour,they were plotting Azreth’s rescue. Once they had formulated a plan, they agreed to carry it out that very evening. Despite Jai’s assumption otherwise, there was no guarantee that Azreth would be safe for even that long. Raiya was adamant that they needed to act as soon as possible.

She spent the hours before nightfall frantically flipping through pages in her notebook and carving runes as fast as she could, until her fingers went numb from gripping her stylus and her back got sore from hunching over her work. She’d carved the runes into a round, smooth stone she’d found in camp. The object chosen for the enchantment wasn’t important in this case—it was just a canvas for the spell.