“He will come after us.” A bitter grin. “And he’ll punish us like only a King of the Abyss could.”
CHAPTER16
CASSANDRA
How long has it been since this began? The days here run so strangely. The fact I don’t get hungry or sleepy makes time look like a huge clump of one second after another, no breaks, just an endless stream of walking and waiting.
Though this region is more populated than the areas of the Underworld we’ve been in, I don’t feel anywhere near comfortable. I keep looking over my shoulder, waiting for those strange horses to approach again, for someone to jump on us. And I know Zaki is doing this because he has his personal agenda, but the longer I stay with him, the harder it gets to remember this. It's nearly impossible to ignore the way he touches me and the way he looks at me.
To remind myself nonstop he’s a sex demon, and whatever I’m feeling toward him has nothing to do with genuine feelings, and everything to do with his powers.
Zaki has grown tense, too, ever since we crossed into the Abyss. In the Underworld, it was a matter of avoiding being seen. Here, it’s like he knows there are eyes everywhere, and being found is just a matter of time.
He turns to me and tilts the corner of his lips up. “Not a place you would spend the holidays, right?”
I take another look around. “Everything looks like it’s out to get us. Why do the trees have to look so menacing?”
He chuckles. “The good part is, it’s just appearances. Mostly. The Abyss and the demons in it, they’re all so fucking concerned with looking bad and scary. Demons backstab because that’s what’s expected of us, but everyone spends much longer gossiping about one another than doing any actual damage.”
I blink twice. “Wait. Are you telling me it’s not all bad down here?”
He sways his head from side to side. “The plants and the animals are just that. Plants and animals. Some might be dangerous, but the human realm is the same way, no?”
“Well, yeah,” I say, nodding. Zaki has a point. You can’t just enter a jungle and pick up every fruit you see out there. Or mushrooms. I mean, every mushroom is edible—some only once. “But I expected things to be more... aggressive down here.”
“That’s the point. Expectation. Most of the creatures here aren’t even that bad, but they like to look the part.”
I nod, thinking through it as we keep to the side of the road. “What about you?” I ask. “Are you all bad?”
He offers this mischievous grin that makes my stomach churn in a good way. “Sometimes. Depending on the mood.”
Okay, so he has all this chat about demons pretending to be bad and shit, but something tells me Zaki just wants to watch the world burn. He won’t ever make me believe he’s the good guy, no matter how he treats me. I slide a glance in his direction. He looks like the sort who would torture someone because he’s bored.
“Is the portal somewhere around here?” I ask, looking ahead of us for any sign of another barrier like the one we left behind.
Zaki shakes his head, then shoves a hand through his dark hair to put it back into place. “No. It’s on the other side of the Abyss.” I feel my knees already buckling from having to walk around that enormous hole we saw. Zaki must notice it, because he laughs. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.” And he props a hand to his hips, posing as if having a plan wasn’t the least he should do.
“I hope the plan involves a very comfortable mode of transportation. Or maybe that teleport you didon the first day?” That one was neat. I hope I can learn something like that one day.
Zaki presses his brows together. “No more teleporting if we don’t want daddy dearest to track us. He already knows I’m not where I was supposed to be. Sorry, pet.”
I punch him in the arm. He pretends to be insulted. “For the last time, stop calling me that,” I say, baring my teeth in my best threatening look. Not that I could do much other than complain.Petis degrading.
“Alright, alright. You’re feisty. I keep forgetting that. What should I call you?”
“How about Cassandra? I have a name for a reason.”
He blows raspberries, which is a weird sight coming from a horned man like him. “Boring.”
“Cass? Ren calls me Cassie.” Anything but pet. It makes me feel like he’s my sugar daddy or something.
Red flashes across his eyes. “I’m not calling you the same as your mates do. Hard pass.”
“Oh, gods, you’re so annoying,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“I like to be original.” And he flashes me a smile, that lopsided grin that would make panties melt in a mile radius.
I look away because the flesh is weak. “Then think of something that’s not as ridiculous aspet. Or kitten.”