Page 7 of Demonic Division (The Sundering Duet #1)

7

Dagny

Time really does cease to exist in the dungeon. With no light, I’m unable to tell how many hours it’s been since Lir locked the door and left me in the dark. Something in my gut tells me it’s been days—not hours—and though I don’t want to believe it, the stiffness in my bones and joints tells another story. The pinching hunger in my stomach has turned to a hollow burn, one that rivals the fire in the tips of my fingers and toes, and I know they’ll succumb to frostbite before long.

I tug Cyprien’s coat tighter around my shoulders, the chattering of my teeth rattling my skull and causing a headache to blossom in my temples. I want so badly to close my eyes and drift into nothing, but there’s no Cyprien around this time to save me. No one to pull me back from the brink. And so I sit, hour by hour, staring at the cracks in the bleak stone walls.

I’m in the middle of counting to one thousand for the umpteenth time when a slamming door echoes into the air. I sit upright, my eyes squinting through the dark.

Cyprien’s smiling face materializes in the doorway, his broad shoulders brushing the archway on either side. He has a blanket strewn across one arm and a bucket of chipped ice in the other.

He brings a finger to his lips in a shushing motion. “Don’t tell, but I brought you stuff,” he says, his tone chipper. He bounds over to my cell, pushing the blanket through the bars.

“How am I supposed to know it’s not another trap?”

A pitiful whine echoes in the air. “None of this was a trap. I’m only trying to make the best out of the situation?—”

“You mean the one where you dragged me here against my will and let your buddy lock me in a cell? Excuse me if I fail to see the silver lining.”

Cyprien whimpers, hanging his head. “I don’t like when you’re mad at me.”

“Well, I don’t like being locked in a dark hole in the ground. Looks like we’re both in a bit of a pickle.”

“Dagny…”

I pick my head up, finding Cyprien’s eyes glittering with unshed tears. “What? Am I supposed to be happy about this?”

He shakes his head in desperation. “I don’t… I’m just trying to help…”

A twinge of pity squeezes my heart as I stare at the pitiful creature, dangling a blankie in the air. I want to remain angry with him—to scream and rage at the fact he lied to me—but for some reason, I can’t. That thing living beneath my skin demands I go to him. It orders me to ease the pain shining in his eyes.

“Fuck it,” I grumble, standing on shaking legs and hobbling toward him. I stop at the bars, eyeing the gift warily .

Immediately, his expression morphs into one of ecstasy, his teeth pulling back in a blinding grin. “Go on. Take it.”

I oblige, and his eyes flash. “Wrap it around your shoulders. You’ll feel better.”

Shrugging, I do as he says. A moan falls from my mouth as I’m immediately encased in warmth—like the blanket is a living, breathing thing—but I’m too grateful to ask about it.

“Thank you, Cyprien. This is wonderful.” I pull the blanket up to my nose, wrapping it in the soft material, and another breathy moan fills the air.

When I open my eyes, I find Cyprien standing there, a peculiar kind of smile tugging at his mouth.

“What?” I ask, pulling the blanket tighter around my shoulders as I’m overcome with self-consciousness.

He shakes his head, that smile widening. “I was thinking how beautiful you look wrapped in my things.”

My cheeks flame, though thankfully they’re hidden by the shadows. I clear my throat, unable to meet his eyes. I gaze down, frowning at what looks to be a plastic grocery bag in his hand. “What’s that?”

He shakes the bag, a small chuckle falling from his lips. “This? Just another little something for you.”

He reaches in slowly, dragging out the suspense. Cyprien passes a large glass jar through the bars, and my mouth waters at the prospect of food for the first time in days. I clutch the offering greedily, bringing it up to my face so I can read the label.

Pickles. He brought me pickles.

I look back up, finding Cyprien clutching a jar of peanut butter and crackers, his smile practically splitting his face. He shoves those through next, and I carefully add them to the arm holding the pickles .

“I…thank you, Cyprien. This is sweet.”

If possible, his grin grows wider. “There’s plenty more. They were the only food items in your apartment, so I knew you would like these.” He takes a step closer to the cell, reaching up and dragging a hand down the bars. “I never knew humans were so picky.”

That explains the eclectic assortment. My blush travels to the back of my neck as shame threatens to boil me alive. I don’t have the energy to explain to Cyprien that they were the only things I could afford to eat at the time, and I doubt he would comprehend it anyway.

I place the offerings onto the floor, my stomach rumbling at the possibility. Throwing dignity to the wind, I plop onto the ground, ripping open the package of crackers with a savage ferocity. I use my fingers like a spoon for the peanut butter, placing heaping gobfuls of the sticky topping onto my tongue between mouthfuls of crackers.

I close my eyes in bliss, and when they reopen, I’m met with Cyprien’s heated gaze. All too aware of the crumbs coating my lips and chin, I swallow the last of the meal and give him a sheepish smile. “Do you happen to have any water?”

He tilts his head, yellow eyes shining with amusement. “I have something better,” he whispers, lifting the bucket of ice and jostling it.

“Oh…” I blink several times, trying to devise a way to get the bucket through the bars. I push to a stand, wiping the crumbs away with the back of my hand as I step closer. “Maybe if we?—”

My voice is cut off as Cyprien’s arm shoots through the bars, fisting in the blanket and yanking me forward. Holding me in place, he sets the bucket onto the ground, pulling out a single piece of chipped ice. Liquid drips down his fingers as he pushes his hand through the bars, placing the ice on the flat of my bottom lip.

“ Open ,” he commands, his voice holding an eerie distorted quality. My heart races as I look into his eyes—out of fear or desire, I do not know. And then there’s that other part that wants to obey either way.

My lips part, and Cyprien pushes the frozen liquid onto my tongue. His finger rests on my tongue, holding my jaw open as he swirls the ice around my mouth, forcing it to melt.

“Swallow,” he orders, his eyes flickering between yellow and black.

I wrap my lips around his finger, keeping eye contact as I gulp down the small bit of water. Cyprien’s eyes turn fully black at the sight, and he pulls his hand from my mouth.

In a flash, he grips my chin, yanking me forward until my forehead nearly collides with the iron bars. Instead, there’s a gentle pressure where cold hard metal should be, the strange barrier enveloping me, cushioning me while keeping me from touching the bars.

Cyprien’s yellow eyes flame, a low grow rumbling in his chest. “ Fucking magic. ”

He releases me, pulling his arm back to his side. His broad jaw ticks, a vein in his forehead throbs, and when I look down…

My cheeks flame at the sight of his hard length, and I quickly avert my gaze. “What do you mean?”

Cyprien lets out another animalistic growl, clenching his fist at his side when it looks like he wants nothing more than to slam it through the bars. “The bars . They won’t let me touch you. Not like I want to.”

He shakes his head, a smile tugging at his mouth despite his outburst just a second ago. “That’s okay. I think I like you better this way. My little bunny rabbit in her cage. This way I know where you are, what you’re doing…” His eyes glint with something akin to hunger. “Because now you’re mine . My little human. My bunny rabbit.” He reaches through the bars, brushing my bottom lip roughly with the pad of his thumb. “You like the sound of that, don’t you? When he lets you out of your cage, you’ll be so grateful, you’ll?—”

“ Shut the fuck up, Cotton Tail.”

I jump, all thoughts of Cyprien’s plans fading as my eyes search the dark for the origin of the unfamiliar voice. It’s deep—raw and cracking in a way that makes me think he hasn’t used it in years. But above all else, it’s… sexy. Even with the malice dripping from his words, I can’t help but love the way it cuts me like a knife. It’s wrong, and dark, and downright sinful, but it’s everything I never knew I craved and more.

“Cyprien, who was that?”

Before he can answer, that jagged voice fills the dungeon once more. “You shouldn’t ask questions you’re not prepared for, little bunny. ”

The way he spits Cyprien’s nickname for me sends a chill down my spine, and I take an unwitting step back from the bars. “I’m not a fucking bunny. I’m a human being, and I don’t appreciate being referred to as anything but. ” I draw my shoulders back despite the shake in my voice, hoping it’s not as obvious as it seems.

"Oooh." The sound slinks into the air with fiendish delight as a single red eye blinks through the shadows of the darkened cell. "Did the sweet little bunny just roar like a lion?"

My spine stiffens as Cyprien’s vicious snarl pierces the air .

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” he demands, turning his glare onto the prisoner.

Instead of responding to Cyprien, the red-eyed demon shuffles closer to the bars, just out of reach of the light. And though I can’t see his face, something tells me he’s smiling at me.

“It seems we’ll have plenty of time to get acquainted. I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something more appropriate than bunny .” There’s a scuffle, then a sound like claws scraping stone. I’m about to ask what it was when that voice interrupts. “I think I’m actually looking forward to it.”

I wait for him to say more but am met with stifling silence. I look toward Cyprien, hoping to find one of his signature grins, but that’s not the case. His face is pale, eyes darting about the room like he’s waiting for a monster to spring from the shadows. And when I open my mouth to ask what his problem is, he just shakes his head.

“I need to go. I need to talk to Kaebl…” He turns on his heel, stopping halfway to the doorway to look back at me. “You should keep to yourself down here. Real monsters lurk in the shadows.”

And with that, he’s gone. Leaving me with what is definitely a dangerous, psychotic, antagonistic demon.