Page 25 of The Demon’s Delight (The Demon Princes #3)

Chapter 24

Seir

I t was difficult to keep an eye on everything in an unfamiliar city, particularly with such festivities going on. My neck prickled with awareness as we got further away from the main focus of the festival, and that was enough to make me wary.

The rush I’d experienced with Hailon in my embrace was quickly washed away as my senses went on alert.

Tables were well spaced and being packed up in many cases the further out we got from the revelry, and the road had hardly any foot traffic. Mostly, we saw people ambling down alleys toward their homes, or someone waiting outside in a doorway or on a balcony for a loved one.

After passing the third dark street, I noticed a man in my periphery. He was hanging back enough to not be overly suspicious, but something about the way he moved had my attention. When he’d slowed, stopped, or changed direction the same as us even after every other person had vanished from the road, I resolved that I wasn’t making something out of nothing. Hailon was unaware, smiling softly to herself as we walked the cobbled street toward our bed, humming a tune in her throat.

Just as the fireworks started, I leaned down to whisper in her ear. I hated that I had to dash her beautiful mood.

My closeness and tone must have tipped her off that I wasn’t preparing to ask playfully if she wanted to race back to the inn.

“There’s a man behind us. Tall. Light hair. Been there for several streets now.” I was almost certain it was one of the two men she’d described to me from Olinbourg, but I wanted her to verify. “Play along.”

I slid my arm along her waist, inciting a startled noise from her as I spun her around like we were dancing again. To her credit, she was excellent at going along with things. I barely noticed her eyes shift from my face to the side of the street.

The man, on the other hand, was a terrible poker face, and very obviously tensed at our sudden movement.

I kept her tucked to my side as we half-stumbled a few extra steps, playing up that we might have had a little too much to drink and gaining a little bit of distance in the meantime. Hailon’s eyes were dilated wide, her breath coming in short gasps.

“I saw him earlier, but I thought I was imagining things. That’s the man who liked to hold me still.” Stress edged into her tone. “What is he doing here? Do you think he’s been following us all this time?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I soothed her, mouth as close to her ear as I could get it. “Do you have any of your little blades on you?”

“Yes.” She swiped her hand across her hip.

“Good. First, we’re going to lead him somewhere less populated.”

She blew out a slow breath, and I could feel her compartmentalize her feelings so she could fight. “Okay.”

I remembered a series of industrial buildings not far from the Rooster, they seemed like the best option for confrontation. Unfortunately for us, the man was tired of playing along and decided to start closing in before we got to the end of the next block.

“Fancy seeing you here, Jane,” he called out.

“You’ve got the wrong girl. No Jane here.” I tightened my grip on Hailon, her head turned down so her eyes weren’t visible.

The man stepped in front of us. I marveled at how bold he was given the difference in physicality between us. “That girl has something that belongs to me.” He reached out a hand, pointing. I simply stared at it.

“Her? Nah. I don’t think so.” I turned to Hailon, who was still examining the ground. “Moonflower, do you have anything that belongs to this man?” She shook her head aggressively. “There you have it.”

He reached out, his wrist caught in my hand before he could touch her face. “I just wanted to look. Say you’re right, I’ve got the wrong girl. I’ll leave, no harm done. But what if I’m right? Worth checking, wouldn’t you say?”

Incredible explosions of color and light went off in the sky, rattling the windows in the buildings around us. I stared at the man, weighing my options.

“It’s really not a good idea to do this right in the middle of the street. Shall we go somewhere a little more conducive to friendly conversation?”

He looked around shiftily, then gave a short nod, following closely as we walked toward a warehouse-type building with an open grassy yard and a chimney still smoking into the night.

The further we moved away from other eyes, the twitchier he got. I liked watching him squirm, but his actions made me nervous. They betrayed that he might not be alone, that things were not going according to his plans.

“Now then. Who are you and why are you accosting us in the street after such a lovely evening?”

“I’m Royston Lang. That girl there has things that belong to me. Things that belonged to my brother. And I’d put down good money she also had something to do with his untimely death.” His hand fluttered against his leg, and he looked around again.

“No,” I answered simply.

“Sorry?” He jerked.

“She doesn’t have anything that belongs to you. If your brother died, he must have done something to deserve his fate. And her name isn’t Jane.”

“Listen, friend?—”

“I’m not your friend.” My fingers itched to pull a blade. Hailon was still safely tucked under my arm, her own little dagger palmed in her right hand. She’d brought the one that could be held between her fingers today. I liked that one. I slid the pack off my shoulder and set it on the ground near my foot.

“Be that as it may, that girl was previously under the… stewardship of me and my friends. I have reason to believe she has something that belonged to my brother.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, my brother and his friends had business in Olinbourg. She was part of a residence there.”

“Oh? An employee?” I baited, interested how far this idiot would go thinking he had me on the hook.

“Of sorts, yes!” The man grew excited, thinking he’d won me over with such an argument. He was a fool.

“Moonflower?” Her head finally rose, and I could see the rage burning behind her beautiful eyes. “Do you recognize this man?”

“Yes.”

“See! She knows me. There was a little book, maybe more?—”

I didn’t move so much as a muscle before Hailon stabbed him in the ribs with her dagger. Because of the way the weapon was held, it looked like she’d punched him just before he started bleeding. It was spectacular.

“Oh, dear. Looks like she doesn’t want to go with you. Have you done something she didn’t care for? Seems as though you have, she’s not one to just skewer people like that on a whim.” My blood rushed under my skin, lust chasing the adrenaline of the fight. All the facets of her beauty had manifested before my eyes in one evening, and I wasn’t sure I was going to recover from such a gift.

He stuttered and babbled, making pointless excuses and lying through his teeth about what had happened back at that house. Hailon was having none of it, and didn’t appear to need my help.

“You in particular liked to hold me down while they poked and prodded,” she snarled, twisting the blade. “You think I don’t remember you?” The man begged for his life while drowning in his own blood, but she wasn’t yet finished exacting her wrath over every vile bit of experimentation she’d suffered at his hands. “Your brother’s pathetic life came to an end on the tip of his sword,” she hissed, gesturing at me. “Meaningless. With no fanfare. They all died in that terrible house, you know. Then we set it on fire. I gutted three of your friends myself .”

“You? How?” He somehow managed to scoff, and it was by far one of the most brazenly foolish acts I’d ever had the pleasure of seeing someone perform.

Hailon was incensed, and honestly, I understood. To doubt this goddess when she’d already escorted you to death’s door? Sheer madness.

“If I had it to do again, you’d all die slower .” Rage flared in her gaze as she twisted the blade buried in his flesh, then pulled it out. The tall man gasped, clutching at the wound, trying to figure out how to breathe over the blood he was coughing up. “I’d take the same kind of care with you that you took with me. I’d snatch you up from your peaceful life and leave you chained in a cold room with no comforts. Hungry. Tired. Always waiting for the next torture session. I’d poke and prod at your flesh with pointy objects, take little pieces of you away until there was nothing left.” Her shoulders sagged and she stepped away from him. “But really… you aren’t worth the time it would take to do all that. None of you. And soon? You’ll all be dead anyway, so it won’t even matter. I’ll go on to live my life, and you’ll all be long gone. Where’s the other one? I know there’s one more, is he following us too?”

“Too important. You’ll never find him.”

“That’s not what I asked you!” she yelled. “Is he following us too?”

He was no longer capable of speech, but he shook his head aggressively. I wasn’t sure I believed him.

Now that I’d had a second taste of it, I’d firmly decided that vengeful Hailon was my favorite to watch, though happy Hailon was a very close second.

The life drained from him faster than I’d hoped, honestly. All too soon, the gurgling stopped, and there was nothing left but a wide-eyed corpse on the grass.

Hailon glared down at the body, her rage having left her panting. “There should be a furnace in that warehouse, right?”

I smiled. She was still her brilliant self. “Almost certainly. Come on, Moonflower,” I said, slinging the man over my shoulder. “Let’s make sure he’s not carrying anything important and clean this mess up.”