Page 52 of Fated to the Demon Lord

“It's a spell from the hedge witch book I’m reading.”

His eyes closed briefly in agony as he lay unmoving upon the wagon floor. “What are you… doing with a hedge witch book?”

“I might ask you the same question. I had the impression that demons don’t take hedge witch magic seriously.”

His expression darkened. “Many don’t. However, a few of us are aware of its power. Some secretly—or not so secretly—employ them like the slavers, giving them an advantage over other demons.” Even as he spoke, his voice sounded strained.

In a short while, the wagon began moving again. I unwrapped my arm to check the wound from my bite marks. The wound appeared mostly healed so I left it unwrapped and cast aside the binding.

Over the next several hours, two out of three of Vaelor’s wounds healed much faster than my arm, though he didn’t rise. It was odd watching them close. The lack of blood was the strangest of all.

“Forgive me. I have failed you,” Vaelor muttered.

“How have you failed me? Wasn’t I supposed to be your tool to find you a body?” Gods, I shouldn’t care, but I did.

Whether he was sacrificed or claimed by the Final Proving's time limit, I couldn't bear the thought of this raging, monstrous demon disappearing from the world.

“That is what I told myself.”

“But?” I whispered.

“It doesn’t matter. This was inevitable. I thought you might be immune. I thought that because you were… Fuck, I don’t know. I assumed you’d be different.”

“Different from what? I don’t understand.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he repeated. I hated the despair in his voice.

I lay next to him, the wings on his back extended a little, enveloping us, though they were transparent so they didn’t completely hide us from view.

We needed to escape. But after so many failed attempts, I didn’t know what might work at this point. And the hedge witch added an unknown element, not to mention the finger around the slaver’s neck that controlled Vaelor.

I sighed. “We need to devise a plan,” I whispered. There were numerous variables that needed to come together, but I had no idea how to make them fit.

“Denara, relax. Go to sleep. All the confounding factors you’re trying to sort through will be there in the morning.”

He was right. I grasped his hand and held it between our bodies. It was perhaps a terrible thought, but I was glad Vaelor was here with me. When they took me last time, they had split me and Gerand up almost immediately, and I didn’t locate Mira until later. It had been terrifying being shoved into a cage with others I hardly knew. Vaelor was becoming, for all his flaws, familiar and comforting.

I curled into him without fully touching him. “Good night, Vaelor.”

“Sleep well, Denara.”

The next day I awoke to Vaelor crouched at the bars, his body healed. Frustration was etched on his face, as he no doubt ran over the same factors I had last night, trying to find a way to freedom. But these slavers had experience and were far from stupid. Each demon or human they took to sell was hoping to escape, so they had taken precautions to ensure that we couldn’t.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“Like a fly caught in a spider’s web.”

“I meant pain-wise.”

His expression softened a tad. “I feel fine, Denara.”

“You didn’t have to do all that last night.”

“Do what?”

“Protect me from the slavers. Try to get me out alive.”

He didn’t answer, and I realized I was wrong. I was coming to learn that Vaelor did have to fight for me because he was someone who protected others.