Gods, I know I’ve never been the heroine of the story, but I hope this won’t be the beginning of the end.
CHAPTER9
ZAKI
There is something about her. I don’t know what kind of human she was when living—witch, mage, norm—but she has this alluring gravity to her I can’t take my eyes from. Maybe it’s because she’s trying to escape the inescapable, and that is a sign of how insane she must be.
And I am fatally attracted to the insane.
She also doesn’t look taken aback by my appearance. The routine when meeting humans is to conceal what makes us appear other—tails, horns, eyes. Today, I don’t feel like it. I’ve already had enough pretending for one day. I don’t feel like hiding, and she doesn’t seem to mind. Quite the opposite.
I’ve always been good at telling people’s humor, and this woman likes what she sees. Of course, that means nothing. She’s my ticket out, not someone to get close to. Some demons do relationships, but I’m not one of them. Relationships are just another weight I want to avoid.
“Okay, now we’re bound,” she says, pulling her smooth hand back from my fingers the moment we’re out of the portal. “What comes next? Do you have a plan?” And she crosses her arms, arching an eyebrow with all that fire she has burning inside of her.
“First,” I say and put a forefinger up. “We’re not yet bound. This was merely an agreement. The binding requires more... ritual.” And I smile, because, hell, I can’t wait to tell her the rest. She parts her lips to complain, but I keep going, not giving her the time to argue. “Second, yes, I do have a plan of sorts. It begins with us having to leave.”
She nods, her big, dark eyes focused on me. We’re far enough from that gate that we can see color again. My gaze rakes down her body, admiring it in all its hues. Her eyes are deep pits of shadows staring back at me, like the very end of the Abyss. I’m hypnotized for a moment, gaping at the way her nose tilts up at the end, and how her red lips press together,as if she’s about to kiss me. Shiny black hair cascades down pale shoulders, reaching her waist in thick waves, and her skin is that pale color that makes me want to see her blush.
“Are we leaving, then? Where?” she asks, shattering the spell she had me under. I blink a couple of times. That’s a first. No one has ever gotten me like this before, and she’s not even trying.
I clear my throat, put my usual smirk back on and face her. “A place where there’s only you and me. And your pup, I guess.” I shrug. “Keep a hold on your dog, we’re moving again. Let’s put more distance between us and the gate.”
She does as I say, tightening her hold on the hellhound. Still have to ask her about that. It’s not like hellhounds are lying about, asking to be adopted. And she’s human. Where the hell did she come across one of these? I watch her straighten herself,and I have to force my gaze away from her cleavage. The tank top she wears is a tad too small, and thank the Devil for that. It makes her fantastic tits pop, and I am an honest admirer of those.
I step closer and fold an arm around her waist, pressing her body to mine. The woman gasps in a perfect mixture of heat and outrage.
“What are you doing?” she hisses, both hands too busy holding the dog to push me away. The hound growls, but he won’t attack without orders when she’s not in obvious danger, so I’m safe.
“Sweeping you off your feet.” And I smile at her, taking the moment to sniff at her natural scent. Something like shadows and ash. Certainly an unexpected smell.
She furrows her brows and opens her mouth to spita string of curses out at me, but with a moment’s thought, I open a new portal and slip into it. The darkness embraces me and welcomes me, but it’s for mere seconds before it spewsme back out. I step onto solid ground, still holding her to my chest. She sways for a moment. She’s quite nonchalant for all the portal travel she’s been making—I kind of expected her to go green in the face. Her eyes shoot up to mine, and I can’t help but squeeze her once, her breasts so soft against my chest.
I might be too obvious in my admiration, because she bares her teeth in indignation and slams an elbow to my ribs. Releasing a grunt, I let her go. She eagerly steps away and puts the hound down. The animal goes about sniffing the ground as his owner whirls around herself, inspecting the hill we’re standing on, and the dark skies. She stops, facing the gates left behind. They’re a safe distance from us, far to the right on the horizon.
“Wow, we traveled really far,” she says, her hair moving behind her back. She stays in silence for a beat, staring into the distance. “That hurricane thing is so pretty when you’re not running from reapers.”
I chuckle. “Hurricane thing?”
She shrugs. “Yeah, you know. The place I came from. The portal.”
“It’s called a gate. For obvious reasons.” I step next to her, brushing our arms together.
Her lips go round in understanding. “Gate. Makes sense. Better than hurricane.”
“More poetic, I would say. The Devil enjoys giving biblical names to his things. I guess he’s nostalgic.” I watch her as she watches the gate in the distance. She’s gorgeous, but it’s the hardness, the fire in her eyes that makes her truly memorable. She has a body made for all the lustful fantasies in my head, partially on show in the snug top and pants. My pants grow tight. I turn away so she won’t notice it. We don’t need to have this discussion right now. “So, here’s the plan. You can’t go through that gate. It’s obviously heavily guarded.”
“Obviously.” And she turns to face me, crossing her arms under her chest. Does she have any idea how this makes her tits pop? I’m betting not. “I bet you know of another way out.”
“There is another gate, also guarded, but one I can promise you we’ll have an easier time accessing.” One of the few advantages of who I am. Not that I’veever used it. Demons need an anchor on the human realm, otherwise, it just spits us backout. Besides, attempting to cross the gate without an anchor would set off alarms. Father would know if I did, and he’d get pissed off, and Father’s so very creative with punishments.
“Amazing. Very convenient, too.” She arches an eyebrow, watching me. “Where is it?”
“A bit of a trek. In the Abyss.”
She presses her lips into a thin line, and I wait for her to argue, but she doesn’t. Not the reaction I expected. I expected outrage, wrath, maybe a punch. She just nods. “Okay. It makes sense since you’re a demon. So, you’re taking me there.”
So, she’s okay with me dragging her to the Abyss? She isinsane. “I will.”