Page 39 of Fated to the Demon Lord

Eleven

After a few hours, we came to a little shack in the woods. Vaelor materialized and motioned to it. “Here it is.”

“The inn? I don’t see it.”

“You’ll need to put blood on the forepost of the entryway.”

I gave him a side-eye. “What for?”

“It is the price of entry. An agreement to the terms of staying. That you’ll do no ill to those who are inside.”

“And you? You don’t have blood.”

“We are traveling in the same party so only one of us needs to give blood to enter. But that means the spirits can’t follow us unless they have a body.”

He moved toward the door. I noticed his wing was still broken, and I wondered if he had been hurting the entire journey here.

“There is one more thing,” he added. “The inn is designed to be a sanctuary for demons. As open-minded as they are, you are only a human. I’ll need you to pretend to be my slave. Otherwise, they may not take us seriously.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that what I am?”

His jaw clenched. “You must let me do the talking, keep your eyes down, and do as you’re told.”

“I know how to be a slave.”

He snorted. “You could have fooled me.”

I drew the sword and lightly cut the middle finger of my right hand. “Do I just press it to the post or do I do some sort of symbol or something?”

“Press it and say, ‘I agree not to inflict or encourage harm on any in this establishment.’”

I repeated his words as I placed my finger on the post.

He grunted. “Now open the door and hold it for me, human.”

I suppressed a sigh. We were back to commands and condescension. But I did as he ordered, and Vaelor swept past me as if he were royalty himself.

I stepped in after him. And gaped.

The small, lopsided shack was much bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. On the bottom floor was a large bar with demons sitting at tables. A stairway went up that presumably led to the rooms.

Tugging nervously at the strap of my bag, I followed Vaelor to the counter. My gaze drifted across the room, lingering on the demons gathered throughout the inn.

“Know your place, slave.” Vaelor didn’t look at me, yet somehow he seemed aware of exactly where my attention had wandered. Swallowing my unease, I lowered my eyes to the floor.

“We’d like a room for the night,” he said to the demon behind the counter.

The creature sat perched on a stool. He had pointed ears and stubby little legs—a goblin.

“A Spiritu Malignos spirit. We haven’t had one of you in a while.” The goblin leaned forward, looking interested. “And you are traveling with a human.”

I risked a glance and noticed the hungry way he leered at me. I lowered my gaze and took a step closer to Vaelor.

“We have money. We can pay,” Vaelor said.

“In that case, it’ll be three gold pieces a night.”

My eyes widened. So much.