Page 15 of Demonic Division (The Sundering Duet #1)

15

Dagny

It’s been several hours since Cyprien and Lir left, and I’ve checked the room five times over for secret doors or false stones, hoping to find an escape. When that was unsuccessful, I set out to find something I could use as a weapon, but came up empty once again. Since then, I’ve been curled up in my furs, counting the cracks in the walls and ignoring the vicious rumbling of my stomach.

The light spilling onto the floor is snuffed out like a candle, and I whip my head toward the window, surprised to find the sky bathed in darkness. The sun has flipped to a stunning silver moon, casting the land in an ethereal shimmering light.

It must be nighttime…

I climb out of bed and walk toward the window, standing on my tiptoes to peek over the stone. The land is eerily still, covered in a bright white blanket that consumes any hint of life or color. It’s calming and terrifying all at once, and a shiver runs down my spine to think of the creatures that call this hell a home.

I step back from the window, pulling the blanket tighter around my shoulders as I retreat to my bed. Sitting alone in the dark, I can’t help but compare it to the dungeons. At least there, I had M to talk to. At least there, I wasn’t so woefully lost.

Come find me, he had said. There is so much more we need to talk about. So many more secrets I need to share.

My chest squeezes the longer I think of him, and before long, I’m pulled to my feet by that strange thing living beneath my skin. I blink, and I’m in front of the door, my hand wrapping around the handle and twisting.

When that doesn’t work, I wave my hand in front of the lock like Kaebl had done, willing the lock to unbolt with all my might. Nothing.

I try the doorknob again, this time pulling. Logically, I know trying the door over and over won’t make it any less locked, but for some reason, I just need to try.

Frustration builds in my veins as I twist and jiggle the knob violently, growing more angry with each failed attempt. It’s irrational, but now I’m determined. The thing inside my chest is scraping and clawing, desperate to get the fuck out. Heat builds beneath my skin, flowing through my veins and collecting in my fingertips.

White-hot, blinding light builds behind my eyes, blocking out the world as fire sears my fingertips. I open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out, and a burst of heat strikes the air in front of me.

The door pops open, and I fall forward onto the stone, barely able to catch myself with my palms before my chin smacks the ground. My body trembles, recovering in the aftermath of whatever the hell just happened to me.

I take a few deep breaths, calming my racing heart before pushing to my feet. I don’t have time to think about it, and it’s not like I would have the answers, anyway. My best bet is to get to M and ask him what just happened.

Holding a hand to the wall, I begin creeping down the hallway, blinking against the shadows that conceal the path in front of me. I try my best to follow the twists and turns Kaebl took when he first led me to my room, and eventually, I make it to the spiral staircase. I grip the rail as I take the winding spiral down to the abyss, my breath exhaling in shallow puffs of vapor.

It’s pitch black on the main floor, and I have to use the wall to find the passageway that leads to the dungeons. My fingers tremble as I unhook the bolt and descend into the pit, the hair on my arms raising as an ominous energy thickens the air.

M is standing at the bars of his cell, one menacing red eye glinting in the dark.

“ Wildfire ,” he whispers. “You’re back. I was starting to worry.”

I step toward the bars, that invisible string pulling me toward him. “You were worried?”

“I was not sure what horrors Kaebl had planned when he dragged you from here. I feared I would never see your enchanting face again.” His eyes drag down my body lazily, savoring each dip and curve with hunger in his gaze. “Among other things.”

I stop just shy of the metal bars, my eyes fixed on his taunting smirk. “Other things?”

His lips pull back in a manic smile. “I’m glad to see you unharmed, sweet thing. How are you faring? Did you have a nice day frolicking in the castle?”

I bristle at the insinuation in his tone. “No one was frolicking , first of all.”

“Hmm.” His eye glows molten as he takes a deep inhale. “I smell him on your skin, little one. I smell them both . If I didn’t know better, I’d think you quite enjoyed yourself today.”

I scoff, even as memories swarm my mind. Everything that happened between Cyprien and me. The kiss. The growling, claws, teeth, and blood. The want. The need. The sensation of being alive—of seeing in color after so many years bathed in gray.

“I’m only teasing.” His voice interrupts my thoughts, his tone low and soothing. “You desire to leave this place, right? To go home? I doubt a few muscle-bound demons could change your mind.” He tilts his head with a diabolical smile, eyes fixed on the grim set of my mouth. “Unless… you don’t actually want to go home. Perhaps a piece of you never did.”

“I don’t know what I want anymore,” I answer truthfully. “Nothing makes sense—it hasn’t since Cyprien showed up at the foot of my bed. Since I… bonded with him.”

“And you’re hoping I will provide you the answers you seek?” M asks, reading my mind. “I can’t promise they will make you happy, little one.”

“I still need to know,” I whisper, stepping forward to clutch the bars of his cell. “Do you think Kaebl plans to harm me? Kill me?”

M shrugs. “I can only guess.”

“Is that a yes?”

His gaze hardens as he steps closer to the bars, bathing the right half of his face in golden light. “I know he will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. I know killing you is not off the table of possibilities.”

My breath catches in my throat. “If he’s so okay with killing me, why hasn’t he already? ”

M shrugs. “My guess is he does not know the effect it would have on Cyprien. Perhaps it would even end his life. The uncertainty is why you’re still alive. I’m sure he’ll do his research. Exhaust every last option. But when it comes down to it, he’d risk Cyprien to be done with it.”

“He’s that desperate to break the bond?”

M nods, his mouth set in a grim line. “The other fractured souls are just a means to an end for him. He’s willing to snuff out all of the pieces—even himself—in his endless quest for power. He will do whatever it takes to become whole again.”

I’m reminded of what M said right before Kaebl dragged me from the dungeon. About how he would try to poison my mind and make me believe M was a monster. But then another line barrels to the forefront of my mind. The part about M killing someone. Someone named Fenryr.

I swallow hard, my chest tightening at the question I have to ask next. “M… was Fenryr one of your pieces?”

His eyes gloss over with a strange emotion as his body goes eerily still. Nothing moves except for his head, dipping his chin to his chest in affirmation.

“And you killed him?”

Another nod. “Though not by my hand, I still hold the weight of his death.”

“I don’t understand…”

M smiles, but there’s no joy in it. “For eighteen years after the sundering, I lived in peace. I built a small cavern on the outer edges of The Far Place, and I was content to roam between this world and yours, feeding from the land and bathing in the shadows. I was alone—but I was my own being. I could think, I could smell, see, feel… ” His voice chokes up on the last word, and M pauses to clear his throat. “I was happy… or as close to happy as I could be as a shell, I suppose. But then, I learned of Fenryr’s discovery—that he found a way to put Abaddon back together again.”

“Abaddon?”

M's eyes gleam bright red. “The name of the demon we all came from. When he was sundered, each of the pieces took up names of their own—but we all retained fractured memories of who we once were.” His jaw clenches. “The pieces I have… they leave me with enough to know that Abaddon was a true monster. For all his power, he was just as cruel and ruled the land with a bloody fist. I could not—would not allow Kaebl and the others to put him back together.” M sighs, reaching up to grip the bars above my hands. “At first, I tried to reason with Fenryr, but he was scared of Kaebl. Either that, or he was brainwashed by envy’s wicked mouth of lies. In the end, I was left with no choice. If I wanted to stop them—if I wanted to live—I would have to commit the atrocity. I would have to?—”

“Kill him,” I finish, my voice full of accusation. “Was it really worth it?”

“To me? Absolutely,” he whispers. He slides his hands down, cupping mine gently and sending a rush of heat through my veins. “Abaddon was pure evil.”

“Worse than other demons?”

He laughs, cold and hard. “You tell me—is it worse if he happened to want to wipe out an entire species?”

I gasp. “He really tried to do that?”

“He did that. He would have done even more if Lord Slaine had not risen up and stopped him. If he had not sundered the demon lord.”

I frown, something about the name seeming oddly familiar. “Slaine? ”

“Abaddon's vassal, and now Kaebl’s rival kingdom,” M explains. “When I originally learned of Fenryr’s discovery, I went to Slaine, hoping he would know a way to stop them.” His eyes harden, and his fists tighten around the bars. “But he betrayed me. He took it upon himself to attack Fenryr while he was out on a hunt—breaking the eighteen-year-long treaty between the kingdoms. Of course, I was blamed for the death, and when Kaebl learned of Fenryr’s demise, he came looking for me.” He gestures to his cell. “Obviously, he found me. And so, here I am. Trapped in this prison, awaiting the inevitable day Slaine’s forces march on the castle. Awaiting my death.”

He sighs, hanging his head. “As much as I regret the outcome, I don’t regret my decision to stop Kaebl. I would do it over if I had the chance—anything to stop them from resurrecting Abaddon.”

I think about Kaebl, then of Cyprien and Lir. I could potentially believe the accusations about Kaebl, but something in my gut is screaming that Cyprien and Lir couldn’t possibly do something so evil. “Do Cyprien and Lir know this? Do they know how evil Abaddon was? What Kaebl was trying to do?”

M shrugs. “How could I know? I can only guess.” In my silence, a frown tugs at his mouth. “I can tell by your expression it’s not what you wanted to hear,” he murmurs. “You wish things were more black and white—that I am really some horrible creature locked away for my misdeeds. That good prevails over evil. That Cyprien really is just some fluffy bunny who wants to hold and mount you. But reality is rarely so kind.”

“Maybe Kaebl is keeping them in the dark… maybe they don’t really know…” Something in my chest aches at the possibility that Cyprien and Lir could be just as ill-intended as K aebl. If Abaddon really tried to do all those horrible things M said, then Kaebl must be just as hateful.

M doesn’t respond, but his smile widens. “It’s interesting you think of him in such a way. Are you starting to put the pieces together?”

I exhale shakily. “I think so. All I know is I can’t trust him. I don’t know if I can trust any of them.”

“And me? Do you trust in my word, sweet Dagny?”

Without pause, I shake my head. Instead of the hurt I expect, M throws his head back in a hearty laugh. And when he looks at me, his eyes shine with pride.

“That's good,” he says. “It’s best to think for yourself in this place. To trust in your own mind and no one else’s.”

I’m struck by the way my body reacts to his voice. It’s terrifying and exhilarating, but it’s wrong. So, so very wrong. I lean in close—close enough that if he wanted, he could reach out and grab me. Touch me.

“And if I can’t trust my mind, who should I turn to?” I whisper.

An invisible string tugs the corner of his lip upward. “Who, indeed?”

We stand in silence for several moments until I’m brave enough to ask the real question that’s been festering in my mind.

“M… do you feel the effect of the bond? Mine and Cyprien’s?”

He doesn’t react the way I expect—he doesn’t react at all. Instead, he just drops his hands to his sides, expression set in that mocking smirk. “What a silly question.”

“That’s not an answer.”

A low vibration echoes in M's throat. “Would it give you pleasure if I told you it did? That you occupied my every waking thought, then followed me to my dreams? That I had forgotten what light was until they locked you in this pit?” He reaches through the bars, running a single claw over the pulse point of my wrist. “Is that what you want to hear, Dagny? That I need you?”

I swallow thickly, wanting to pull away but unable to. “Only if it’s true.”

“Mm-hmm. So few words are, when spoken in the dark.”

“What if I want to believe them anyway?” I lean into his touch, even as the tip of his claw slices a pale red line into my skin. “What if… what if we bonded?”

The words are out before I can stop them, before the thought has even formed. My cheeks flame as I search for the origin of the desire but come up empty. “I… don’t know why I said that. I’m sorry.”

I expect M to laugh—maybe even call me stupid for suggesting such a thing—but he just stands there, his smirk nowhere to be seen. “You shouldn’t apologize, little one. Not for that. Never for that.” He retracts his claws, enveloping my wrist with his rough palm. “If things were different, then so would my answer. As much as I want my freedom, I’m not willing to bring you into this mess any more than you have been.”

“Freedom? The bond would let you out of there?”

“It would grant me increased power, which would allow me to escape, yes. But I can’t, Dagny. We can’t. I refuse to risk your life that way. Kaebl would surely kill you if he knew we were even speaking of it.”

“He’s really that scared of you?” I ask, my voice a gentle tremble.

M pushes his face through the bars, stopping when our noses barely brush. He looks past my eyes, deep into the center of my soul, peeling back layer after layer of each perfectly constructed wall.

“Yes,” he whispers, voice rolling over my skin in a gentle caress. “Just as you should be, sweet little thing.”

He slowly steps back from the bars as the shadows engulf his smirking face. “It’s time to go back to bed, Dagny. We wouldn’t want you to get caught in any… unseemly situations.”

His low laugh echoes off the stone walls, sending a chill down my spine that has nothing to do with the damp of the dungeon.

Quick as I can, I retrace my steps back to my room, closing the door tight behind me before diving deep into my bed of furs. The walls of the castle loom on all sides of me, pulsing with dark energy. Everything seems a little colder—a little less secure—now that I’m aware of the skeletons buried within the weathered foundation.

I pull the blanket up to my chin, staring at the ceiling, running over and over the words M spoke in the dungeon. No matter how many times I ask, no matter how many ways, the demons in the main castle refuse to answer the important questions. M is the only one supplying me with information—the only one who seems to truly care what happens to me. If I wasn’t bonded to Cyprien, I’m sure none of them would care.

Even if Kaebl finds a way to break the bond, I worry about what he’ll do with me.

Will they cast me out to die in the wilderness? Will they end me with a single blow? Will they let me go home?

Sighing, I close my eyes tight, hoping sleep will find me yet knowing it won’t.