Page 28 of A Daemon’s Alliance (Daemons & Lumens)

Gremory

I leaned against the wall, watching the cameras for any sign of Seraphina and the others.

Being in my mortal form made my skin crawl.

My spine itched where my wings usually unfurled, and I was desperate to fly.

I couldn’t remember the last time I took to the skies for pleasure.

Well, that’s not entirely true. It was with her, my pretty witch.

The thought of her had my blood rushing to my dick.

But it wasn’t her beauty that enthralled me so.

After all she has been through, my witch remained one of the most compassionate creatures I’d ever met.

Her heart was pure, and I would protect it at all costs.

“Hey, you. Greg.” The captain called out to me, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Greg was such a dull name, but I needed to be unmemorable around the cult members.

I shoved off the wall and stood before him. He was nothing, a small man with a god complex. It was laughable, considering he had no power and I could crush his skull with my smallest finger.

“King Blackbyrn’s slave has returned,” he barked at me, sounding very much like the lap dog he was. “Take her to her room and make sure she chains herself up.”

I nodded, hiding my revulsion. Morax told me about the girl Laszlo Blackbyrn was enthralling.

He was using power to mold her mind and force her to betray Seraphina.

He also told me the girl was still in there somehow.

It should be impossible for a human to withstand such control.

I hadn’t met her yet, so I was curious to see the little thing fighting so valiantly against daemonic power.

I imagine if Laszlo had full daemonic power, her spark would’ve been snuffed completely.

That only about a third of our power was available to him after that first ritual was likely saving her soul.

I made my way through the mansion, waiting just inside the small foyer by the servants’ entrance.

Two guards entered first, and when they walked past me, I caught sight of her for the first time.

It took a full thirty seconds for me to recover.

When her dark eyes met mine, my lungs seized and my mouth went dry.

Her delicate face was filled with such infinite sadness, it nearly broke my heart.

How could someone so young, so breakable, be so strong?

Tabitha dropped my gaze too soon and stared at the floor, waiting.

She wore black leggings and a soft, blue sweater that dwarfed her petite frame.

Her hair was cut short and choppy, and the blonde color was so light it was almost silver.

I walked beside her, pressing a hand to her back to guide her gently through the manor.

The other guards dispersed, not finding her a threat.

We walked in silence. What could you say to someone in her position?

She had her own room on the floor below the Kings.

As soon as we entered, I realized even her room was not a sanctuary.

There was a small bed in the corner with a single threadbare blanket and flat pillow.

The remaining space was filled with enough torture devices to mutilate a dozen people at once.

It was horrifying. Even when she wasn’t actively being tortured, she was surrounded by the memory of it.

I reached out with my mind, attempting to sooth her, and she gasped, jumping away from me.

Her body shook, and I stepped back, holding up my hands in surrender.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, love.”

She looked up at me with those devastating eyes.

“Usually humans can’t feel it.”

“I can always feel it.” She whispered the words, and I frowned. The human could sense when her mind was being invaded? So every time that shitbag Blackbyrn assaulted her mind, she could feel him. But she couldn’t stop him.

I took a slow step toward her, keeping my hands up in acquiescence. “I can help you.”

Tabitha stepped back, shaking her head, her eyes darting to the side like a frightened rabbit. “No.”

Did she know Morax was also attempting to enter her mind? Could she tell the difference between him and Blackbyrn. “Alright, love. I won’t do it again. May I help you, though? I can sense you’re in pain. I can heal it.”

Tabitha raised her head once more. Her heart-shaped mouth was pressed into a thin line, and her eyes darted between me and the door. “I need to undress and get in my place.”

The girl stepped around me and went to a closet.

She stripped out of her clothes, her back to me.

She wore simple white lace lingerie, barely covering her slim frame.

I tried not to look, to give her some kind of privacy, but it was a struggle.

Something in my blood was screaming for me to go to her.

To help her. She reminded me of someone from many years ago, someone I couldn’t save.

I growled. That was not going to happen again.

Tabitha slipped into a short dress designed to look like a doll’s. She tucked her bright-blonde pixie cut under a wig of long, dark-brown hair then walked over to a cage in the corner of the room and opened the door.

“Wait, please.” I stepped toward her, unable to watch this. “Please let me help you. I promise I won’t hurt you, love.”

She looked up at me again, and those eyes carried more weight than they ever should. Her gaze nearly brought me to my knees. “How? I can’t escape.”

I nodded. “I know. Not yet, but I can make the pain go away. Just a little. I can give you a place to retreat when things get bad.”

Tabitha stared at me, her nearly lifeless eyes narrowing, assessing. I loved her instantly for her courage in this terrible situation.

She shrugged. “He will come later. Can you make me feel numb? It’s all my fault, and I don’t want to feel anymore. He makes me feel it.”

My daemon form raged at the implications of her words. These fucking cult leaders needed to die the most excruciating deaths. I nodded and walked toward her with slow, measured steps. She was easily more than a foot shorter than me. So small, so breakable, and so fucking strong.

“Will you close your eyes?” I asked, hoping she would trust me enough to do so.

She sighed, probably thinking something awful would happen, but then closed her eyes anyway.

Such a brave little human. I let one of my claws extend and used it to cut into my pointer finger.

I wrapped my fingers gently around her wrist and extended her arm then traced a symbol on her wrist, whispering a few words.

The bloody mark seeped into her milky white skin and disappeared.

I continued to hold her gently and brought my bloody finger to her forehead.

She flinched as I traced another symbol there.

“All done.”

She opened her eyes and stared at her arm where I still held her. “What happened?”

I brushed my thumb over the pulse point on her wrist. “Just a little something to help you when the pain comes. And somewhere for you to send your mind when you need a safe place. It’s not enough, but it’s all I can do right now.”

Tabitha turned her slim face up to mine. “Thank you. You should go now.”

Everything in my body screamed at me to stay and protect her, but I couldn’t. Not yet. “I will come back for you, love. That’s a promise.”

I turned away from her before I did something horribly stupid like kidnap the girl and run away. There was too much at stake for such spontaneous heroic acts. My daemon snarled and raged for the girl. I would be back for her. It wasn’t just a promise. That was a fucking oath.