Page 26 of The Demon’s Collar (The Bard’s Demon #1)

Ero: Did We Forget “See No Evil”?

I didn’t see it coming. And then I didn’t see anything at all.

I was lost in the moment—hating B?k, utterly consumed by B?k, and frankly a bit scared of myself and the things I wanted him to do to me.I knew the toads were near. I knew what they could do. I just didn’t think it would happen.

The tongue hit like a shard of glass, slamming into my eye with unnatural force. The headache was instantaneous—but it was also irrelevant. Because I was blind. My magic panicked. The tendrils shot out in a defensive strike against enemies I couldn’t see .

Pain pulsed and grew with each heartbeat. The venom spread like fire through my veins.

I shouted B?k’s name before I realized I shouldn’t be able to do that.

He’d compelled me not to speak. But an unbroken stream of epiphanies barreled into me then, each less pleasant than the last. The compulsion was gone.

B?k wasn’t answering. B?k was heavy and still on my back.

B?k’s chest was leaking a burning hot liquid that smelled of brimstone and rot.

I killed him.

Shit, shit, shit.

Had my tendrils been as disoriented as my mind, I might have suffocated under B?k’s deadweight.

Luckily, they were not. Probably because they were responsible for skewering him to death , and thus were not shocked by the occasion.

My magic took mercy and shoved him to the side for me.

I made an unholy noise as his cock slid out of my ass—leaving me suddenly empty, but also allowing me to breathe again.

The pain in my assaulted eye grew with every second. I groped for my lute, unsurprised to find that B?k had detached it from its strap during our encounter. My tendrils took mercy once again, carrying it to my eager fingers.

I strummed, coaxing the healing chords out. The cuts and scrapes from our scuffle faded. The aches gradually dulled. But the piercing pain in my eye didn’t waver—nor did my vision return.

Trying not to panic, I took stock. The stench of death grew more rapidly than it should have. Tentatively, I pushed my tendrils to feel around me. They were unusually cooperative.

B?k’s form was already deflated and festering, like a weeks-old corpse. He couldn’t be dead in a mortal sense—so how long did I have before he became my problem again?

I sat bolt upright .

If he were dead, even temporarily…could I remove the collar?

With the confidence of a person who was absolutely certain their harebrained plan was about to work, I reached for the clasp.

The resulting electric shock fused my fingers to the metal and singed its pattern onto my skin, eliciting a cry the nearest town must have heard.

When the collar finally relented, I sagged to the ground.

So much for that.

I sang my fresh wounds almost better before the venom made things…strange.

I had too many arms for one. That was my first clue that things weren’t right.

Dozens of arms. I felt around me, unsure which ones were real.

I grazed B?k’s melted corpse and felt my way into his little satchel, so deep I stretched as far as I could into it and still couldn’t touch the bottom.

The rough skin of the rock toads all around felt like sandpaper.

They were no threat now, because they liquefied at my touch.

The sun tasted azure and then magenta and then chartreuse as I poked it.

I noticed the woods flying past me. Or I flew past them?

I couldn’t see, but I suddenly had seven or eight other senses to rely on, so that mattered little.

I didn’t just pass the leaves brushing my cheeks.

I swam inside them, turning sunlight into energy.

I shrank to the size of a beetle. I grew taller than the forest and thundered through it, snapping centuries-old trees like twigs.

I jumped from a cliff and caught a gust of wind to soar into the sky.

I became a storm and raged down, frightening the woodland creatures.

I liquefied and trickled through the dirt, joining a stream and then a river, floating lazily toward the sea.

When I finally came to, my face was under water. I was naked, streaked with dirt, and mumbling words I didn’t mean to say into the gurgling brook.

The venom was fading.

I pushed myself up, blinking rapidly as I dug my knuckles into my eyes, hoping to make the forest come into focus. It didn’t work. I could see a faint light, but that was all.

For a while, I just sat there.

The forest was oppressively present. Like it was staring, waiting for me to figure my life out.

I started by cleaning myself in the water and searching for my clothes. My tendrils probed around in B?k’s bag until they unearthed everything I needed. I slipped into my leathers and fastened my cloak. I also found cooked venison. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I’d devoured most of that.

I’d like to say I felt refreshed then. I didn’t.

I felt…vulnerable. And not just because I couldn’t see.

Because I was alone again, and I missed the camp—missed Brü and Aelith and the chatter around the fire and the way everyone relaxed when I played and the way their running jokes made my skin heat with belonging—unsettled me.

I was supposed to be looking for my family.

What if I’d found something better? My father—whoever he was—wasn’t good.

I knew that. I knew he was the reason my mother had hated me since my birth.

But I still wondered about him. I’d convinced myself that finding him would help me find my place. Was that desire fading?

No. It wasn’t.

I groaned. Making it back to camp might mask the empty feeling, but it wouldn’t solve it.

I didn’t need my father to care about me.

I just needed to know who he was— why he’d left me, and why he’d required that I visit the temple yearly to give a drop of my blood to Haz.

It wasn’t about him. It was about knowing where I’d come from.

I took a slow, shaky breath, and walked. My tendrils spread out before me, guiding my way. I felt where the trees were, sensed the poisonous leaves I wouldn’t want to allow near my skin, and dodged them easily. I didn’t have a plan. I just needed to move.

By the time my legs ached for a break, I could see shapes again. I sat on a huge rock and made a game out of staring at the trees, willing my vision to come back in earnest. I hummed a melody that didn’t help at all because it was as melancholy as I was—but it kept me company.

The light above began to fade. Dusk neared.

That meant the end of the game, right? I snorted softly.

What was B?k going to do when he found me?

A few hours ago, that question would have thrilled me on some deep, primal level.

Now, it exhausted me. I didn’t feel like being hunted right now.

I felt like being wrapped in strong arms, caressed, loved. None of that was B?k’s department.

I sighed, shifting on the rock to look at a new collection of shadows. I defined the outline of one tree, and then the next, comforting myself with the reassurance that they were becoming easier to see. I was going to be all right. Soon.

One tree was closer than the others. I followed its outlined edges up—but it halted abruptly. I tried again, concentrating harder. Only the rough edges moved.

“There you are,” he said.

I froze. Not a tree. A demon.

The surrounding air gave me nothing to read. No heat, no chill. I supposed it was a good sign that his fury wasn’t palpable—but fear gripped me all the same. I wished I could see his face .

His shape grew as he closed in. He lifted my hand and examined it, thumb grazing the skin where the collar had singed me and hadn’t quite healed before the venom distracted me. I flinched at his touch.

“I didn’t mean to,” I couldn’t help whispering. Even if it didn’t make a difference. I needed him to know that. I would take credit for my strike when it was time. This one had been an accident.

B?k cradled my chin, letting one finger fall on my lips, whispering, shh . His hot breath against my ear sent sparks of heady desire to the much-played and yet deeply unsatisfied instrument between my legs.

Despite his shushing, I opened my mouth again. He shifted suddenly, scooping me into his arms. My back was against a tree. His lips were on mine. The kiss was deep and thorough and strangely passionate.

I stopped trying to speak. His fingers explored over my clothes while his tongue slipped into my mouth. He cradled the back of my neck with one hand while the other unbuttoned my pants and pushed them down. His talented fingers went to work teasing my arousal until it was all I could think of.

He took me like that—soft and careful and sweet. Why? I kept asking myself. But I didn’t ask him. He slid into me and filled me perfectly, rocking to a rhythm my soul keened for. And it was so much worse than anything he’d done before, because I ached for it.

Helpless tears cut paths down my cheeks, and I gave in, tasting the soft skin on his throat, sucking, kissing —needing. I came hard and cried out against him while he picked up his pace and answered my whines with a satisfied groan of his own.

I opened my eyes, still breathing hard, and realized I could see his face. Relief mingled with the high of the orgasm. He wiped my tears away with his thumb, smiling. Devastatingly beautiful.

His fingers trailed down to my collar. The moment slowed, hanging so I could feel the full weight of the pleasure he’d just used to chisel away my distress. He traced the metalwork with one finger.

And then…he asked, “Do you want me to remove this?”

It was dusk.

I’d survived.

And the deal was still on.

The realization barreled into me. A fresh panic rose. What had he said? If I take the collar off, you can leave and never look back. I will remove the tattoo from your skin, strike your name from the Fated’s enrollment logs, and never pursue you again.

Did I want that?

I didn’t want that.

I didn’t want to leave now. Possibly not ever. But could I afford to say no? Would I be able to live with myself if I did?

This was a test. The pleasure drained away, and with agonizing clarity, I realized what was about to happen. B?k hadn’t made sweet love to me because he wanted me. He’d done it because he’d read my desire for it and thought he could use it to manipulate me.

The betrayal aspect helped, really, with what I was going to have to do. It didn’t make it easy, though. Not at all. He’d fucking won. I wanted to stay. I wanted him to use me. I wanted everything.

And still, I managed to force out the words. “Yes. Take it off.”

The air heated at last. His eyes swirled with unfathomable fury. But he didn’t move. We stared at each other, locked in an embrace that had started sweet and become cruel.

One corner of his mouth curled up—but his eyes darkened as he growled a deeply satisfied, “No.”

My heart pounded.

No? But the deal. He’d said?—

It hit me then. He’d said he would ask me. That I would have one chance to answer. He’d said that if he removed the collar, I could leave—not that he would remove it. That was the trick. He’d planned to make me say no, but saying yes didn’t mean he would listen—it only meant I hadn’t given in.

“B?k—” I gasped.

He smiled now. “No, don’t do that. Don’t try to change your answer, kitten. I think I prefer you like this.”

I reeled, more off balance now than I’d been at the height of the rock toad’s venomous trip. What did he mean?

“I can’t break you, can I?” he whispered, stroking my face. “You’re perfect.”

The soft words and touches were at odds with the fingers digging into my back. My breath hitched.

“My own little puzzle,” he mused, tone darkening further with each word. “To play with for as long as it takes. Keep holding out, kitten. I need that like you need me.”

I shook my head frantically. I didn’t need him. I didn’t want him, even if my body did. The humiliation of failing to see his game before I lost clawed at me. I was na?ve. I was stupid. This was my own personal Hell.

B?k’s cock grew hard against me. Again. I knew this round wouldn’t be soft and kind. And I hated that I thrilled at that promise.

When his lips crashed into mine, I bit back. I drew his blood, and would have kept going—but a metal cuff clamped around my wrist. My magic reeled, screaming in protest as the dampener forced it to recoil. The other snapped on.

“B?k, no—” I pleaded.

I hated it. It wasn’t part of the pleasure. It was agony—the real kind—losing a vital part of myself.

“Shh,” he purred. “This isn’t a punishment, kitten. It’s for my safety.”

He ate my reply with another furious kiss. I writhed against him.

But he was right, wasn’t he? My magic couldn’t be trusted. If he chased me and took me—I might kill him again. I was just as much of a monster as he was. That fact didn’t make any of it feel better, but it stopped me from arguing.

His fingers twisted in my hair. “I’m going to make you want things that will make it hard to look yourself in the eye, kitten,” he growled. “And then I’m going to give them to you.”

I let out a defeated groan, sinking into him. I could have pointed out that he’d already done that. He did it every time he looked at me, even when I knew damned well I should stop wanting him.

He stepped back abruptly. Losing his warmth was a stab to the gut.

The fact that I wanted him back? Infuriating.

I knew he was going to tell me to run now—and I would do it.

And this time, nothing would go wrong. He would catch me, and fuck me, and we would both come apart, and the pleasure would make it all worse and better at the same time. I would lose myself to him.

Or so I thought.

Right before the celestial spear exploded from his chest.

I watched the light leave his eyes this time. His death was instantaneous .

Five of the Huntress’s soldiers looked on with satisfaction as his body crumpled where it stood.

I might have tried to fight the women who surrounded me…but B?k’s dampeners remained on my wrists, keeping my magic out of reach.

“Hello, Eroithiel,” one of the women said. She glanced at B?k and back again with a sneer that told me exactly what she thought of the scene she’d just interrupted. An answering snake of shame ricocheted through me.

Then my new captor looked to the others and said, “Take her.”