She rubbed at her temples again. “So, the people who glimpsed between the veils and who stumbled across demon-folk on Earth spread the word about them after?” she asked.
“They did. Some were condemned and destroyed because of it, others were believed and the word spread.”
“I hate to disappoint you, but I’ve never glimpsed anything beyond this world. I knew who was going to volunteer yesterday, and I also knew one girl’s name. I could often find the hot fishing spots and could see things hidden from me, like my brother under the kitchen sink. I know nothing about other worlds, much less whole other dimensions.”
“Doesn’t mean you’re not who I’m searching for.”
“You’re the one searching for someone?” Her voice took on a razor edge.
“I am.”
All humor vanished from her face; her mouth pursed as her eyes narrowed. Her scar became more visible when her skin paled. “So you’re the reason I was torn away from my family?”
“Yes.”
A muscle jumped in her cheek, and her eyes deepened to an almost plum color. Her head fell into her hand. When she looked at me again, I couldn’t tell if she wanted to leap across the space between us and attack me, or start screaming in frustration. Her hand clamped around her goblet. “Why?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
She stood up so quickly the chair skidded away from her. Her hands fisted and un-fisted as she stalked toward the flap in the tent before freezing and coming back toward me. Stopping before me, she slammed her hand down on the table. Her lack of fear over me both fascinated and irritated me. No one, not even Corson and Bale, were so free and defiant around me.
When she leaned closer to me, her enticing scent assailed me. She smelled like the earth, of fresh spring rain and flowers in bloom. I had been on this dimension for thirteen years, and the various scents, both good and bad, had become one of my favorite things about it. Since I’d been here, I had almost forgotten the burnt smell of brimstone, and the coppery aroma of blood that permeated Hell.
I inhaled her aroma, taking it into me. Highly attuned to all scents, I knew hers would be one I’d never forget. My fangs pricked as blood rushed into my dick and I swelled against my pants. She looked like she was about to throttle me. All I wanted was to drag her into my lap and tear the clothing from her body so I could sink myself into her and have her scent all over me.
“If it’s not me, this person you’re searching for, will you allow me to go back?” she demanded, pulling me from images of her body working over mine. “I understand why volunteers are kept here and not allowed to return after what you’ve told me, but what of me? I would never tell anyone what I’ve learned here, and my brothers need me.”
I found myself unwilling to shatter the glimmer of hope I saw within her pleading, amethyst eyes, but I had no choice but to deny her.
“That cannot be allowed.”
She didn’t cry, didn’t start screaming and carrying on. She simply stood there and stared at me before turning away. I knew she intended to leave here and not look back. Something inside me couldn’t allow that. She didn’t make it two steps before I loosely seized hold of her wrist and tugged her back around.
“If you tell anyone I said this, it will not happen, but perhaps in the future, there can be a supervised visitation with your brothers,” I said to her.
I didn’t know if it was an idea I would ever be able to make a reality, but I couldn’t stand seeing such misery in her eyes. There were demons I cared for and would try to make happy, but never had I considered trying to please a human.
The callouses on her palm and the nicks on her fingers brushed over my skin when her small hand covered mine and she squeezed. She’d done no training in camp yet, but she already had working hands. What had her life been like before this?
I don’t care what it was like; all that matters now is if she is the progeny.I told myself this, but I still found myself intrigued by her.
“On my life, I would never say a word,” she vowed. “Why would you do that for me?”
I released her, unwilling to touch her any longer. She rattled my resolve in a way no other had done in all my fifteen hundred and sixty-two years. I didn’t entirely trust myself to keep touching her, didn’t trust myself to let her leave here without knowing what those plump, reddened lips tasted like.
“Despite popular belief, we are not all evil. We have needs, and we can be incredibly cruel if necessary, but we aren’t inherently evil. We are simply a means to an end. No creature, demon or otherwise, is completely evil.”
“What about Hitler?” she asked.
“That one is debatable.” This time, the smile she gave me caused her eyes to twinkle. She sat back down into her chair. “I’m not promising you anything, you know.”
“I know, but something,anything, is better than the solid wall of nothing I’ve met for the past two days.”
“Understandable.”
“So, what exactly happened on your side when the humans cut into your world?”
“Hell broke loose.”
