Page 24 of Dancing With Demons
She lets her hand drop. “He’s always thinking ahead.”
“That, he is,” I grumble, urging her towards the camp. “Let’s be finished with this before the day ends, shall we?”
“Right,” she says, never taking her eyes off me for long. It’s as if she’s trying to findmeunderneath the guise, screwing her eyes with a measure of humor.
Even in this form, I want to toss her over a fallen log and take her like my body demands. Human or demon, it doesn’t matter in the least. Ineedher, and that’s what makes this errand so difficult. “Your home is just up this way, right?” I ask, trying to distract myself.
“Yes,” she says, taking me by the hand and leading me into the town’s center. Her touch is velvet soft, which does not help. “It’s on the other side, so let’s not take too long. If someone dies while I’m here, they’ll find a way to blame me for it.”
Irritation burbles inside of me.
They have already treated her abhorrently, and to blame her for all their ills? It’s true cruelty. She is thriving in Ti’lith, as she could have thrived here, if they had allowed it. But we don’t make it very far into town before several people recognize her on sight.
She does have strange garb compared to them, but she does not stand out so much that they should make a spectacle of it. There are heated whispers from the women, and a few men become brave enough to block our path.
“I saw you,” one of them accuses with a finger pointed at her. “You and your demon, who killed Oliver. I saw it with my own two eyes.”
“Yeah,” another spits, “but you don’t have it now, do you?”
No one has given me the time of day, their focus only on Piper. “Even demons have abandonedyou,you little wench.”
The crowd is closing in.
I can taste Piper’s worry on my tongue, which is as sensitive as ever as I taste the air. A snarl reaches my disguised mouth, and I want to cut through their ranks, until all the sneers are gone. Howdarethey accuse her of her uncle’s death, when she was only a witness?
Poor Piper was right.
They’ll blame anything on her.
Someone brings out a knife. Another, an ax.
They won’t let her go home, and I’m the only one who can stop it. With a decisive twist of the ring, I yank it off and the disguise melts from my form. I grow taller, broader, my wide wings shivering as they spread out, and issue a true scowl. “You think we abandoned her, humans?” I revel in how they take a collective step back, knowing that their weapons are useless against me. “Wrong. We are here with her, even now.”
12
Piper
I’m still stunned by their accusations when Eth’tak bolts past me, catching the first human with his wicked claws and slicing through his midsection. His guts spill with a wet slap against the ground, and the crowd goes wild with terror.
The man, however, wavers on his feet, dropping his ax before sliding to the ground as well, his dark eyes sightless.
Eth’tak has all but disappeared, zooming through the crowd with claws and teeth out, his wings propelling him faster than any human can flee.
Screams fill the air all around me.
I stand amidst a slaughter, unable to move, unable to speak. If Tolmond were here, I’d have suspected he put a spell on me. But with Eth’tak, I know it’s simply my own terror that’s seized me. I want to stop him from killing the innocent.
But are they innocent? Really?
They permitted my uncle’s treatment, blamed me for every problem in the settlement, and were ready to lynch me without trial or reason. Maybe there are some sympathizers among them, but none spoke out. Not even a word of protest.
They were so sure of themselves, thatIam the problem.
As I watch my enemies fall, I’m flattered by Eth’tak’s brutal response to their hospitality.They deserve it, I think bitterly, hating how good it feels to finally have someone protectingmefor once.
He didn’t even hesitate.
Some try to fight back, but they’re no match for Eth’tak. I want to feel bad. I do. But there’s nothing redeeming about them. A man rallies a few others and charges Eth’tak with pitchforks, but he is too fast for them. Even as he is cut to ribbons, I remember how he once watched on as the village boys threw me into a dung heap, and when I asked for help, he spit on me and walked away.