Page 2 of Demonic Division (The Sundering Duet #1)

2

Kaebl

“How long do you think we have before he attacks?”

My fingertips drum the arms of my throne as I cut a glance toward my second-in-command, my lips pressing into a thin line as I take in the grief-stricken look on his face. Lir has been known to harbor anxiety more than the rest of us, and though I don’t understand it, it doesn’t mean I can’t sympathize with the poor demon.

It’s hard to say… My voice travels through the soul bond and into Lir’s mind, though I can tell by his expression that my words have the opposite effect I intended. I sigh, rubbing a clawed hand over my face. What I mean is that we still have time. We can still figure out how to reverse the sundering before he strikes.

Still, Lir looks unsure. His sapphire eyes dart toward the window, worry curving his shoulders inward as if he expects to find Slaine’s army soaring toward us. “What if we can’t find a way in time? What then?”

We’ll find a way.

As soon as I finish speaking, I close my eyes, bringing a hand to my forehead as a throbbing pressure builds behind my eyes. It’s been twenty-one years to the day since I lost my voice, and I miss it more every passing moment. Not only is it frustrating to only converse with those I’m bonded to but it’s incredibly taxing on my body to project my voice into someone’s mind—especially if they’re a high-powered demon like Lir.

We’ll find a way, I reiterate, fighting past the feeling of someone swirling an ice pick around my brain tissue. Because we have to.

Lir’s frown deepens at my words. “I’ve gone through all of Fenryr’s notes. Half of it is just psychotic drivel, and the rest is in some kind of code… I can’t make sense of it.”

At the mention of the green-eyed demon, my chest aches, the sensation of loss palpable in the air swirling around me. Before I spiral down that dark road, I shake my head, clearing it of thoughts of my fallen friend and refocusing on the task at hand.

Does he know how to read any of it?

Lir shakes his head, his mouth setting into a severe line. “He won’t speak to me. Every time I’ve gone down there, he just laughs in my face. That, or has his psycho familiar try to gouge my eyes out.”

A growl builds in my throat, but I don’t let it out. Since he’s refusing to cooperate, we’ll have to ? —

My voice cuts off abruptly, the rest of my sentence forgotten as a lightning bolt strikes the center of my chest. Veins of electricity travel just beneath my skin, spreading to my fingers and pooling in all the corners of my soul. My back stiffens as my claws slice out of my fingertips, digging into the frozen stone of the throne as the beast lying just beneath my skin raises its head, eyes wide in alarm and searching—just as I am. An overwhelming tugging sensation travels down the bond, causing my skin to prickle as a rush of want tethers me to my seat.

Something is wrong. Horribly wrong.

I’m standing in a flash, jumping from the landing down to the main floor below, my wings shooting out at the last second to slow my fall. I call down the bond for Lir, my voice tense. Seconds later, my second-in-command stands in front of me, heaving with the effort it took him to run here.

“What's wrong?” he demands. “Is it Slaine? Are they on the move?”

I shake my head, my jaw tensing. For a moment, I had forgotten about our conversation and impending demise. But with Lir’s harrowed words, it all comes crashing back in startling clarity.

It’s not that—not now. It’s something else. Something I can’t explain, I answer, gazing around the room as my vision flickers with swirling golden spots, obscuring the worried look on Lir’s face.

Where’s Cyprien?

“He took his familiar to the human realm for a hunt. Why?”

I run a clawed hand over my face, fisting it tightly in the short dark hair at the top of my head. I don’t know. I felt something through the bond, but… it’s gone now.

Lir’s dark blue eyes scan my frame, noting the rigid set of my shoulders. “Do you think it was just a coincidence? A product of stress?”

I shake my head, my eyes fixed on the silver sun shining through the open window. Perhaps it's not? I murmur, cutting the blue-eyed demon a knowing glance. I need to speak with him .

Lir’s eyes widen ever so slightly. “You think he knows something?”

He always does. I stalk from the room with a growl, my thick coat billowing out behind me. Wait here.

A prickle of trepidation raises the hair on the back of my neck as I take the stairs to the dungeon, the shadows encasing me on all sides the deeper I travel. The air down here is denser, heavy with the scent of rot and damp, and by the time I make it to the bottom, the back of my throat is coated with the acrid aroma.

My lip curls in disgust as I step up to the first cell on the right, careful to stand just out of reach of the bars. The demon within is a malicious animal, and if given half a chance, he’ll rip my throat from my body before I have time to blink. Keeping this in mind, I peer through the iron bars of his cell, scanning the thick shadows covering the back portion of the room from sight. If I didn't know better, I would think this cell is empty. But I’m the one who put him here. The one who made sure he could never escape.

I know you’re awake. We need to talk.

As soon as I finish speaking, a glowing red eye emerges in the darkness, narrowed to conceal that eerie feline pupil. The demon’s lips part, revealing a set of razor-sharp, pointed teeth bared in a snarl—or perhaps it's a smile—with him, it’s impossible to tell.

“So… you felt it, too.” The demon’s taunting voice slinks through the air, caressing my throat with shadowy fingers and attempting to squeeze the air from my windpipe.

My fist clenches at my side as my vision flashes red. I’m not sure what it was…

Instead of an answer, the red-eyed demon tips his head back as laughter explodes from his open mouth. The noise echoes off the walls, varying in volume and pitch until the dungeon is filled with the discordant sounds of the demon's joy.

Would you stop that? I say, my mouth setting in a deep frown as a chill runs the length of my spine. I don’t see anything funny about this.

The demon’s laughter cuts off abruptly. He lowers his head, his smile threatening to split his face in two. “Wrong. This whole thing is deeply humorous.” He tilts his head, his eye flashing with amusement. “Well, at least to me, it is. But that’s all that matters at the end of the day, isn’t it?”

A silent growl vibrates my chest, and I resist the urge to reach through the bars and take his other eye. Since you seem to know everything about it—what did I feel down the bond in the throne room? Why did it affect me and you, but not Lir?

The demon blinks lazily, the smile never wavering from his face. “Answers come at a price, dear Kaebl. You should know this by now.”

I swallow hard, my skin shuddering with the effort to hold the beast at bay. You will tell me what you know, and you will tell me now? —

“I know a lot of things, dear Kaebl ,” he sneers. “Yet I have no reason to impart such valuable information. Perhaps if you released me from this frozen pit…”

I will do no such thing. A cloud of vapor billows into the air as I exhale a furious breath. You are exactly where you belong, filthy, murdering scum.

Another cackle breaks the silence, though this one is far more strained. “Such sweet words, Kaebl. You’ll make me blush.”

My lip pulls back in a snarl, and it takes everything in me not to smash my fist against the bars—it’s what he wants, after all. Instead, I turn from the demon and take several deep breaths in through my nose, turning back only when the red fades from the corners of my vision.

I’m tired of playing these games with you, M. Tell me what you know, or ? —

“Or what? You’ll send in one of your henchmen to snap my wings again? Maybe take another claw or two—though, I’m afraid I’m beginning to run out, so you’ll have to come up with another form of torture soon,” he adds, a taunting glint in his eye. “Or we can just skip all the unnecessary effort. You give me my freedom, and I give you the answers to your questions. Simple. Efficient.”

You talk too much, I grumble, fighting against the rage coursing through my veins, causing the golden fissures spreading across my skin to pulse with a blinding golden light. This is useless. I don’t know why I came down here.

With one last glare, I turn on my heel and stalk toward the stairwell leading me out of the dungeon. But before my foot touches the first step, the demon’s voice calls out, halting me in my tracks.

“Wait! There is something I want to tell you…”

Trepidation prickling my spine, I turn my head over my shoulder, surprised to find the red-eyed demon standing at the bars of his cell, his bloodied hands clutching the iron rods and his eye shining with malice.

What is it?

His smile widens as another demented chuckle echoes off the stone walls. “There’s nothing you can do to stop it. You’re doomed. Doomed, doomed, doomed… ”

I shake my head with a frustrated snort, pulling my gaze away from the crazed demon and taking the stairs back to the main floor. And all the way, that voice follows, echoing along the hollow walls of my mind and frying my nerve endings with that single word.

Doomed.

Perhaps I am.