She wouldn’t believe whatever false promises he made. An ache grew behind her temple, throbbing with each beat of her heart. She didn’t know if it boded well that he believed her as some gift from a goddess.
At least it meant she’d be relatively safe.
Though the term tasted like ash in her mouth.
“Come,” he said, barking at her like a dog as he snapped his fingers.
A growl crawled up her throat, but she swallowed it down.
As much as she wanted to glance back at her father one last time, she didn’t. Too afraid if she did, she wouldn’t be able to go through with allowing this demon to take her away.
Slowly, she trudged across the field. His eyes stayed trained on hers as he removed a swath of rope from the satchel on his belt.
Without a word, he gestured at her wrists.
Glowering, she clapped them together, extending them. The calluses on his hands brushed over her skin as he threaded the ropes. He tugged, making her stumble before he knotted the end, pulling on the remaining rope like a leash.
A prize he intended to treat as his hound.
“If not a prisoner, then why the bindings?”
“Your spirit is as fiery as your hair. I do not wish to find a blade in my back.”
She hated that a dry chuckle rasped from her in response.
Strong fingers flexed as he coiled the lead around one of his enormous hands while his axe hung firm in the other.
Streaks of sun peeked through thinning clouds as it sank lower toward the horizon.
Ominous silence followed them as he led her down the hill and through the remnants of her village.
Her captor… No. Handler? She didn’t know what to call him.
Dirt stung her dry eyes as she stared into the distance, not looking at anything in particular.
He beckoned another warrior to him, a man with dark eyes and even darker hair. The man’s gaze flicked to hers, a wrinkle furrowing between his brows as his nostrils twitched.
Now more than ever, she wanted the ground to swallow her. The demon with two different colored eyes hissed, his foreign words a guttural command. The other man lowered his voice, deferring to the leader before sprinting from them into the dense sounds emanating from her home.
Or what had been her home.
It wasn’t anymore.
Soon, the distant clash of steel quieted and the hum of shouts melted into the treetops. It made the nausea rolling in her belly ease. She followed a step behind the warrior as he dragged her into the forest, periodically giving the rope a swift tug, making her stumble.
She hissed, but remained silent otherwise.
“Good girl,” he mocked, his deep accent vibrating in his throat.
“I am not a dog!”
“No. My dog is better behaved.”
“If you wanted something obedient, you should have requested jewels.”
He paused, turning to face her, yanking her into his chest. With her hands bound, she couldn’t stop the way she tumbled into the hard planes of muscle. Her fists hammered on his abs, and the demon had the audacity to chuckle.
A knuckle curled under her chin, tilting her head back. Her face twisted into something spiteful.
