Page 15 of Taken to the Deadlands (Stolen Demon Brides #1)

Chapter 15

Mia

C lawed hands gripped my hips and pushed me against the cold counter.

There was a sharp burst of pain that shot through my body, but it was nothing in comparison to the heat that Aris started inside me.

Her hands alone could send shivers up my spine, but the brush of her lips on the back of my neck caused my entire body to melt into her.

Over the last few weeks, she had been careful not to let her unmuzzled mouth anywhere near my skin, but it looked like tonight she was making an exception to that rule.

And after everything that had been happening with the sightings, I welcomed the distraction.

“My bed was cold when I woke up,” she murmured against my skin.

The heat that rose to my face was embarrassing. I should have been trying to find a way to get out of this situation. I thought about faking finding her ex-companion, but I couldn’t do that to her.

And the longer I stayed entangled with her, the harder it became.

“You sleep too much,” I said and turned around to face her.

Ever since our night together, she had given up trying to prim herself in the morning for me and instead just let herself literally roll out of bed.

Her long hair was tangled around her head. Her eyes still heavy with sleep. And the robe she had haphazardly thrown on was falling off her shoulders and gave me a perfect view of the grayish skin of her chest.

I gave into the urge to push my cheek against it, reveling in the warmth.

“Can I tell you something?” she murmured, her lips coming to brush the top of my head.

I leaned back to look at her and caught a small smile that took my breath away.

“Anything,” I breathed.

She ran a clawed hand through my hair.

“I can’t remember the last time I slept so well.”

Her confession caused my throat to close up and tears to prick my eyes.

Damn it.

“Even through the many rude awakenings?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light.

She let out a huff of a laugh.

“Well, the night before was a bit much,” she said. “I expected maybe one or two wraiths here or there, not three in one night.”

I cringed, remembering the way their moans had pulled me from my sleep. It hadn’t taken Aris long to figure out what they were. Especially with the help of some of the people at the auction house. All it took were a few summons for us to realize that I was seeing wraiths, not ghosts.

I felt a bit of relief when I heard that. Meaning that, even though I was lying about something , there was still a surprise power inside me. The only issue was that Aris was sure her old companion would never have become a wraith.

Apparently, you needed to harbor some very powerful, angry emotions to become a wraith, and per Aris’s word, she had been far too depressed to become anything but a ghost.

“Well, at least your friend is coming to get rid of them, right?” I asked, hope burning my chest.

If we could get someone to get rid of these wraiths, I would have an excuse for Aris. I planned to tell her that her companion had to have been taken out with the others.

But even that excuse brought a sour taste to my mouth.

“Not a friend. But yes, she’ll be here any min?—“

Black smoke burst into the kitchen, shrouding the entire place in a glittery darkness.

Aris turned around to shield me. Her arms wrapped around me and pulled me behind her. I peeked over her shoulder to catch sight of the same demon who had been at the auction house.

A creature that melted into the shadows seemed out of pace in the well-lit kitchen.

The first time I had seen her, I had been far too scared to even take a good look at her. She looked as though she was literally born from the shadows. Her black hair disappeared into the ones that surrounded her. Her eyes were all black, save for small white pupils that were now narrowed in on me.

Her horns were a deep purple with jewels embedded in them. She wore a robe similar to Aris’s, but I couldn’t help but let my gaze wander to her bare, clawed feet.

“Iris asked me to greet you, human,” Yien said, her tone almost hollow.

The news of Iris still being alive and remembering that I even existed caused something to unclench in my chest. I was too focused on my own survival to see where ethe other two went, but I was happy it was with this demon.

“I hope you’ve been treating her well,” I said with a raised brow. I might have gotten lucky with my demon, but not everyone would. Even though, from what Aris had told me, she had gone through a lot of trouble to win Iris.

Yien gave me a stiff nod.

“Food, water, a bed, and daily walks in the light,” she replied. “Everything a human needs.”

I bristled at her words.

“She’s not a pet,” I hissed.

Yien tilted her head. “She is like one, no?”

I tried to go around Aris, ready to hit Yien with a word vomit explanation of why it was demeaning, but my demon held me back.

“Later,” she whispered to me before looking at Yien. “I need your help banishing wraiths. Apparently, this manor is filled with them.”

Yien tilted her head to the side.

“Of course,” she said, unsurprised. “But why banish them? If they don’t bother you?—“

“I see them,” I said quickly. “And they can touch me.”

Yien’s brows pulled together.

“And you can actually feel them?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said with a small frown. I said they touched me. Wasn’t that clear enough?

“Does it hurt?” she prodded further. “Burning pain or anything like that?”

I shook my head. I wasn’t ready to tell Aris about what I saw in case she pulled away from me. I could see how much it affected her when she thought I was scared of her. If she knew that I saw what she had done to them in their last moments, how would she react?

Aris’s hand ghosted my back.

“It’s been getting bad recently,” she said. “Like she’s calling to them somehow.”

Yien’s eyes were still locked on me, causing a light sheen of sweat to coat my skin. Her scrutiny was hard to bear.

“I see,” she mused, her gaze calculating. “That is worrisome.”

She stayed silent, as if waiting for me to jump in. The constant pressure from her gaze combined with the swirling smoke around us caused my heart rate to spike, and I knew both of them could hear just how much she was affecting me.

“You’re scaring her,” Aris snapped.

Yien’s head tilted to the side, her almost all black eyes shooting toward her.

“She’s doing that herself,” Yien said, though there was no anger in her tone. She seemed… amused. “Get annoyed with her, not me.”

My gaze moved to Aris just as hers met mine.

“Is something wrong?” she asked. “The smell of your fear is very?—”

“Overwhelming,” Yien finished for her. “Though I am surprised how well Aris is handling it.”

Aris sent her a look but chose not to respond.

I swallowed thickly and sent Aris a forced smile. “Nothing. The faster we get rid of the wraiths, the better.”

With an open mouth I watched as Yien banished wraith after wraith.

All of them had been hovering around my previous room. Maybe Aris had been right, and all this time I had acted like a beacon for them. Maybe if I had just ignored the pounding on the walls that night, they might not have noticed me. But since then, their presence has only grown stronger.

Plus, if I had, the rest of the night wouldn’t have happened either. And I didn’t regret that.

Even though the rooms were close, the wraiths never entered Aris’s room. At night, their moans and pounding would wake me up, but they wouldn’t get close enough to touch me with Aris by my side.

Maybe the memories of what Aris did to them were still too fresh for them to dare get near her.

There were about eleven in the hallway alone and a few more in the bedroom. Yien wasted no time using her shadows to wrap them in cocoons of darkness, squeezing until they disappeared entirely.

Even as Yien was destroying them, the hallway was thick with the dark aura that surrounded them. It was enough to make my stomach twist.

“Does it hurt?” I asked.

“No,” Yien responded, not even bothering to turn to look back at me. “The only pain they feel is emotional. Once they’re banished to the Shadow Realm, their soul will wander there until it too perishes.”

I swallowed thickly. This would be hell for Iris as someone who saw emotional auras. I wondered if she could feel them as well.

I moved to follow Yien as she entered the room, but Aris’s firm hand on my elbow held me back.

“Let her deal with it,” she said, her voice low enough so the demon would hear her. “I know seeing them distresses you.”

I grimaced.

“Is it that obvious?” I asked with a nervous laugh.

“Very,” she answered. “Fear is particularly easy to smell. It excites the frenzy.”

I bit my bottom lip hard enough to clear my mind of the fear she so accurately pegged, but that wasn’t the only thing bothering me.

“It’s hard not to feel bad for them,” I admitted. “It’s not just fear but also?—”

“You feel for them,” she finished for me. “Your fellow species. And you know I am the one to blame. You see how I tore apart their flesh. How I consumed them.”

Her words caused my entire body to stiffen. Even without their memories, I would still have been able to see it. The claw marks left on their skin. The way some of their heads were holding on by thin scraps of flesh.

It was horrific.

How could I not feel for them?

“Do you resent me?” she asked. “For what I did to them? For what I could do to you?”

No, was what I wanted to say, but no words came out. There was something deeper in her question. Something that I needed to answer for myself as well.

If I don’t resent her, what do I feel for her?

We didn’t just fuck—we slept together, had our meals together, spent time together. She told me things she had never told anyone before… So where did that leave us?

“Alright,” Yien said, breaking the awkward silence. “Now let’s take a look at the rest of the house.”

Aris didn’t seem pleased, but she let me go. And I was thankful for it.