As he speaks, his head keeps drifting in my direction, and his nostrils continue to flare, like he’s distracted by the smell of me.
Because he wants to eat me.
Fuck, do I attack him? Do I let this play out? Do I and the demon enter into an unholy pact where we become reluctant allies?
That last one sounds good, except again, he wants to eat me.
“Of course I know who you are,” Luca says. “It’s all laid out in this book. The legions you command, the damned you oversee. You can go back to it all at first light, or you can bind yourself to this mage next to me and see your first true sunrise in one hundred and seven years.”
Asmodeth stares at Luca and Jacques for a long moment. Then, slowly, the demon turns to me.
Fuck. I think he’s made his decision.
I shift my weight, drawing my magic close. The demon’s eyes dip to the cut along my chest, and his pupils blow wide.
Asmodeth snarls, then he lunges for me. I dive to the side, banging hard against the invisible barrier.
I barely have time to pivot before the demon is charging again. And again I dive out of the way, only just escaping the attack.
The action is futile. There’s nowhere to go. The circle can’t be more than twenty feet in diameter. I can keep this up for another few minutes, but I’m going to stumble eventually, and the beast will get me. He’s practically vibrating with need.
I form my magic in my hand.
“Explode,” I whisper, lobbing the spell at him.
BOOM!
It detonates before it even reaches Asmodeth, blowing the demon into the air. He slams against the curved walls of the spell circle, then falls to the ground. His shoulder is mildly cut up, but for the most part, he looks unharmed.
Jacques has crept near the edge of the circle, his eyes rapt as he watches me and Asmodeth.
“Do not get close,” Luca warns. “If you smudge the salt, the demon can escape unbonded, and if any part of you crosses the barrier, you can be dragged in, and the demon gets a free meal.”
I draw together my power as, across from me, Asmodeth rises.
“Annihilate.” The curse hisses out of me, hitting him square in the chest.
The demon grunts as he staggers back, but the spell that should have blown him to bits seems to sink into him.
Asmodeth laughs. “I am made of curses, witch. They do not harm me. They fuel me.”
That bit of information would’ve been helpful a while ago.
From the other side of my bond, I feel a burst of pain.
Memnon!
I hear him laugh across our connection. I am fine, est amage. Just fighting a worthy opponent. Hold fast, and give these creatures hell.
While I’m half-distracted, the demon rushes me, his claws extended. His body slams into mine, taking us both to the ground.
Shit. I go for one of my daggers, but the weapon is pinned beneath the silk dress, and the silk dress is pinned beneath the demon.
I grunt as Asmodeth presses his face into my wound. His wet tongue licks up the slit of the cut, and ugh, that is so fucking gross.
He groans. “Haven’t tasted flesh in a long time.”
Beneath us, the ground trembles.
“He did it,” Jacques says way too eagerly. “The demon tasted her.”
“Congratulations,” Luca murmurs. “He’s agreed to the bond. Now we simply wait for him to finish.”
Finish me, they mean.
Asmodeth’s lips curl back to reveal two rows of sharp teeth. The sight is frightening, terrible.
You too are a dark, deadly thing, I remind myself. I gave myself to that earth for two millennia, and now I can easily draw power from it.
Here, deep in the bowels of the earth, at midnight of the new moon, the magic beneath the ground is especially potent. I press my hands to the cold floor, reaching for the buried power, siphoning it up from the earth. My palms prick as magic seeps into my flesh, then my bloodstream. It gathers like a storm in my veins.
Mistress of old, something far beneath me whispers, we’ve tasted your blood and bones before…
The demon pauses, his head cocking to the side.
“The Old Ones speak to you? And they’ve tasted you?” His eyes flit over my body. “How very interesting.” He casually swipes out, his claws cleanly slicing through my dress and the skin beneath.
I jerk, swallowing my scream as my blood wells.
“I don’t often meet curious mortals,” he says. “A pity you have to die. I will enjoy feasting on you though.” Asmodeth leans forward, his teeth and tongue hot on my injured flesh.
I draw my power together, and all at once, I shove my hands and my power at him. “Get off me.”
Clouds of my orange magic blow the demon back clear across the spell circle. I hear the smack of flesh as his body hits the ground.
I force myself to my feet, but just as quickly as I rise, Asmodeth does as well. A low, demonic growl rises from him, and when he glances at me, his eyes flash red.
I raise a hand. “Stop,” I command in Sarmatian, my power rushing out of me.
The demon freezes in place, his body going still beneath my spell. It holds for mere seconds before Asmodeth breaks through it, then barrels toward me once more.
I draw more power from beneath the soles of my feet.
Empress, the voices below hiss out, amage…mistress…queen…how we hunger…
“Explode.” I cast the spell at the demon, aware it will hardly affect him.
BOOM!
It detonates against his shoulder, throwing him against the wall of the spell circle for a moment.
Blood drips down my torso, but I’m too focused on Asmodeth to heal myself. My hand hovers over my thigh, where my dagger rests hidden.
In battle, you cannot solely rely on magic to save you. Memnon told me that long ago.
I will myself to believe it as Asmodeth closes in on me. I draw in a breath, growing calm as the demon reaches me. This time, I don’t cast a spell, and I don’t dive away. I let Asmodeth crash into me, slamming my body against the walls of the circle.
If the demon is surprised by my sudden lack of fight, he doesn’t stop to question it. His mouth opens, and his lips peel back, his gaze fixed on my throat.
All at once, he lunges for it.
Now.
I withdraw my dagger, and just as those sharp canines close around my neck, I sink my blade into his throat.
Asmodeth lets out an unholy cry, releasing my bloody neck. I yank the dagger out, and black blood spatters onto my dress and skin. Once more, I slam the blade into his throat.
The demon shrieks, then falls from me, my dagger making a wet noise as it exits the wound. Asmodeth hits the ground hard, and as he lays there, he weakly places a clawed hand against his neck. Blood rapidly spills out from between his fingers.
The whole building trembles, and someone somewhere is shitting their pants right now that they underestimated my mate.
I breathe heavily as I stare down at Asmodeth. I don’t believe demons can be killed, merely sent back to the Underworld.
I round on the demon’s body. Though every fiber of my being is screaming at me to run from this creature, I move to straddle him, my dagger still loosely held in my hands.