Page 5

Yien

F or the first time in my existence, I felt relief—or at least I guessed that was what this was—when I saw Aris sitting tall in a chair toward the back of the auction, her long black hair flowing around her. Her eyes were sharp as she took in the crowd, her distaste for them obvious.

She was a demon that liked to keep to herself, much like me, but unlike me, she had been known to purchase many a human at these auctions.

I had come across her many times before, enough to know that out of all the demons in the various realms, she was the most trustworthy. It was… comforting seeing her here.

I had let myself melt into the shadows, not wanting to be seen until the very last minute, but made sure to keep an eye on her.

Two twin royals had seen her within seconds of arriving and stalked toward her.

I didn’t much care for their playfulness, and I wasn’t too sure why Aris would allow them near her. But as much as she obviously didn’t like them, she still turned to them when they came up to her.

She even stood and bowed her head.

It was necessary. All demons were supposed to give them respect, but I wasn’t like most demons. I didn’t need anything from the royals, nor could they rule over me—not when my task of protecting the souls was so important.

“Eros, Oros.” Her voice was curt but lacked any heaviness to it.

Maybe Aris is lonely. Maybe she also comes here because the curiosity of what the humans could offer overtakes everything else. Maybe that’s why she keeps trying, time after time.

“Oh, knock it off, Aris,” Eros said. The instigator. The outspoken one. Eros spoke her mind while the other twin stayed silent, but no demon underestimated the second. Everyone knew she was just as dangerous as her counterpart.

Aris gave them a forced smile.

“I, too, am bound by the rules, Eros,” she said. “No matter how long we’ve known each other.”

Oros turned around and motioned for the human worker to get a chair. He quickly went to work, the scent of his fear lingering in the air, causing some eyes to linger on him. When he noticed it, the human made quick work of concealing it.

Smart.

I allowed my eyes to linger on him. If the humans didn’t have powers or turned out to be unusable by their owners, they could be brought here for work. But it was a dangerous game for a human to be surrounded by all those bloodthirsty demons just waiting for them to slip up so they could sink their teeth into their flesh.

Still, no one cared about what was good for a human. If they were useless to the demon who purchased them, why not put them to work? Or at least, that’s what the majority thought.

Something I didn’t have a need for. Such a waste.

Aris finally sat down, her eyes still lingering on the twins.

“Answer the question,” Oros demanded as soon as she sat down. There she is. The enforcer.

“I heard there was a spirit seer here,” Aris said after a minute, having no choice but to answer the royal’s probe.

A spirit seer?

If I could feel pity for the demon, I would. She had purchased multiple humans long ago, but none of their souls made it to my realm. That means they must be stuck inside her realm, forever to wander the ground.

To bring a spirit seer there would certainly give them their own little dose of hell.

It hadn’t crossed my mind until that very moment that it might be in my realm’s best interest to ask what she was doing with all those souls.

Oros threw her head back and let out a laugh that was so loud it caused others to turn to look.

“And what would you need with a spirit seer, hm?” she asked.

Aris looked uncomfortable with the question.

“To eat them, of course,” she said quickly. “Maybe steal their power if I am able to.”

A lie. I could see it in her face. Why would she need to lie?

“Didn’t you stop eating humans?” Eros asked, their eyes never leaving Aris’s face. It wasn’t surprising that the more cunning of the twins would catch her in her lie.

My eyes scanned the rest of the group as their conversation was quickly boring me.

There were many powerful demons packed in here, all their barely viable souls touching my shadows.

I could feel them brushing across the tendrils, and as soon as they did, I was able to latch on to every small detail there was to know about them. What they wore, how much money they had in their pockets—I had no problem stealing a few gems and some royal coins as I searched. The issue was how much I would be able to. It was minuscule to what I potentially needed. I didn’t have enough, not with this crowd. Not with the rumored powers of the humans.

There was only one way I would be able to win. Something that could cost me.

Eros let out a hum.

I inched closer to the group, letting my shadows conceal me. They were still going on about the humans.

“Aris,” I called, letting myself step out of the darkness only enough so she could see my face and half my body. I needed an escape plan after all if things went to shit.

Her eyes widened in surprise before a tenseness fell over her face.

“Yien,” she greeted, her eyes shifting to me.

“I need your help,” I said, letting the words settle between us.

It had been a few weeks since I first decided that I was going to try and purchase a human. In that time, I had made many deals with the demon realms, helping get rid of some of their less-than-welcoming wandering spirits. It gave me some money, but not enough.

Aris, on the other hand, had a lot of it.

“You want one?” she asked, her voice unsure.

I gave her a nod. I needed money. I had other tricks up my sleeve, but the last thing I wanted to do was show my cards to a room full of potential enemies.

“I have enough money for one or two rounds, but not more.”

“Too bad they don’t take that god-awful glitter that falls out of your ass,” Oros commented, her words hitting my chest like an annoying stab to the heart. I imagined taking the same knife and ramming it between her well-filed horns.

“Why do you need a human all of a sudden?” Aris asked, her words cutting through my bloodthirsty haze.

“I want a companion,” I admitted.

Oros let out a laugh that caused a few of the demons’ heads to turn. They were laughing at me.

That’s fine. They could laugh all they wanted. When the souls of their companions finally made it to my realm, they’d be hoping I would not be able to glean any information that would harm their ruling.

“If you want a companion so badly, just fetch one of those demons your estate employs. I’m sure they’d jump at the chance to get a mouth full of?—“

“Once you run out of money, let me know,” Aris said, cutting them off.

She’s kind. A kindness I would take advantage of.

“Thank you,” I replied and sank back into the shadows so only my face and claws were showing. Aris’s face went through a flurry of conflicting emotions before the crowd roared to life when lights flooded the stage. A small, winged demon with brilliant white hair and red horns took center stage.

Madam. Older than me and all the souls in my realm combined.

“Who’s ready to purchase some humans?” she asked, a wicked smile spreading across her face, showing off all her sharp teeth.

And then I felt it.

Her.