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A burning sensation lanced through me, like I wasn’t just smoke but had been set on fire. I crashed back to the earth, returning to solid form out of pure desperation.
But it only barely helped. The claw wounds still burned like a particularly aggressive brand had been scorched in my skin. My heart stuttered at the agony, and my hands gripped the grass as if that could somehow stabilize me against the pain.
“Whoa, what just happened?” Dex strode over to me.
I shuddered, trying to find words. The pain was receding, but that did nothing for my rage. What the hell had that creature done to me?
“You good, Cas?” Clay called.
The nickname pulled my attention to him, though my chest still rose and fell in ragged breaths from the residual pain. No one in my former life in Zenirya would have dared give me a nickname, much less use it in my presence. Yet the fact the blond giant had done so did not offend me.
It was a sign of belonging, and I found myself unexpectedly pleased by that.
Dex reached down, offering his hand—another gesture of acceptance.
I took it gratefully.
“It appears,” I said while he helped me to my feet, “the effect of this wound is more pervasive than I anticipated.”
“There might be a reason for that,” Byron said, studying the sky like he was piecing together a puzzle in his mind. By his side, Niko carefully tied off a bandage on the scholar’s burned shoulder before turning his attention to the gash on Clay’s forehead.
“And that would be?” Dex prompted.
“Stygiaterros,” Byron replied.
Understanding hit me, followed by a rush of irritation aimed entirely at myself. I was a fool. Of course. Though how the hell one of those was here…
“Stidgy what now?” Clay gave his friend a baffled look.
Not answering, Byron grimaced in pain as he adjusted the bandage on his wound.
“Leave that alone,” Niko called without looking away from his examination of Clay’s injury.
Byron frowned at him and then grunted as he shifted the bandage again slightly. Shaking his head, Niko rolled his eyes like he expected nothing less.
“Stygi-a-terros,” I answered in the scholar’s place, pronouncing the word more carefully for the other giants’ benefit.
Dex’s eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”
“Is that a spell or something?” Lars asked.
I shook my head. “It is a creature. One of the many species of beings found within the demonic realm.”
A new thought occurred to me. There were countless creatures in that realm, but precious few ever crossed over to this one.
Few was not none.
I looked at Ruhl.
His green eyes glowing the same as ever, the wolf met my silent question with a bland and indecipherable stare, revealing nothing.
“So, okay, wait.” Clay’s face was a picture of incredulity. “You’re saying Roan’s a demon?”
I marveled that he questioned it, given how that creature appeared. “Well, yes.”
“Roan is our friend,” Niko countered, but his tone made it sound like he was trying to convince himself as much as me, and he didn’t meet anyone’s eyes as he spoke.
The young man was a gentle sort, I knew. He rarely argued, seeming content to let the others take the lead in any dispute. But I’d seen enough to learn he was a fighter and not to be underestimated in his fierce loyalty to the princess or his friends.
