Page 28 of Deranged Demons

I’d fought against him that day, thrashing in the lake to try and get him to release his grip, but this time I don’t bother. I’m still as I let the creature pull me under, dragging me down into the dark water far beneath me.

The bath is impossibly deep, and I soon realizethere is no bottom. Or at least, not one I can see. Whatever this place is, it isn’t just a bath, and I’m not sure if it’s because Dad changed it, or if it was always this way. I try to send a message to Shade, but it’s like I can’t reach her. As if something is blocking our connection.

My lungs burn the longer I’m submerged, small bubbles slipping past my lips. I’m a demon, an immortal, but that doesn’t mean I can’t drown. It just means I come back to life after a short while. I could be trapped in an endless cycle of drowning if the creature kept me down here.Fuck.I knew the fish couldn’t be all Dad had in store. As hard and painful as they were, they still weren’t enough of a challenge. Not for the demon king. They were only a distraction from the real threat.

I feel impossibly empty as I continue to be pulled downward, the despair winding through my body like a poison as the bony hand wrapped around my ankle continues to hold tight, never letting go. I don’t want to look at him, don’t want to see one of the many faces that haunt my nightmares, but I force myself to keep my eyes open. My vision adjusts to the darkness, the fish far above us and not following us down, and I don’t let myself react when I make out his massive, twisted limbs and bulging black eyes. He’s easily three times my size, with gills along his scaled neck, and fangs that protrude in all directions. Some say he’s a creature from the spirit realm that escaped into Seral. Others say he’s a mutilation born from thedeepest parts of the river. All I know is, he’s in my way.

“Princess of death,”he hisses in my mind with an ancient voice that makes the back of my neck prickle.“Oh, how I’ve waited for you.”

“You shouldn’t have,”I reply sarcastically.“I’m sure you can find much better.”

His laughter in my head should be enough to make my courage wither, but I grit my teeth. He’s just another monster, and I won’t let him have me.

He stops swimming and comes up beside me, his slimy tongue trailing up my cheek. I cringe, but I don’t react.

“Still just as delicious, and not as bland as the demons,”he hisses in appreciation.“When I let you go as a child, I knew one day you’d be mine. And here you are, my bride. Oh, how you’ll suffer, and I’ll get to watch it all. When the king came to me with a bargain, I was dubious, but the moment he mentioned your hand in return for my services in Perstalia, I could no longer refuse.”

My hand? So that’s how Dad persuaded him to come here. Unfortunately for the monster, he doesn’t realize that bargain was likely a lie like many things that spill from the king’s mouth.I resist the urge to grab out my dagger and stab the monster in the side. From what I gather, he wants me to stay in the watery depths with him, in a constant state of drowning and coming back for small snippets. I still remember him saying something about us having monster babies all those years ago, and just the thought of it makes my stomach roil. If itweren’t for my angel blood igniting his interest when I was a child, I might not have survived our last encounter, but now the attention it’s getting me is a pain in my ass.

“The only one who’s going to suffer will be you,”I reply sweetly, responding to the monster’s earlier comment.

He laughs again, and the sound is like a gurgling, drowning noise in my head.“Such spirit. I’m going to miss your quick tongue when I’ve broken you.”

He continues pulling me downward, and my lungs burn in protest at the lack of air.Fuck.I’ve been down for too long. I think about holding on longer, but it’s better if I let it happen now before I’ve reached his lair. I don’t fight it as the water floods into my mouth, my body jerking as I drown. And then I’m no longer in Perstalia.

Seconds. That’s all it is. Seconds when I’m suspended in the shadow realm, walking with the true dead, and then I’m back in the water, my heart beating rapidly with life.

We’ve reached some kind of underwater cave, and he pulls me past the bodies of four archangels. Three of them are headless, their souls walking the shadow realm, but the fourth is in some kind of air bubble, his body paralyzed. I recognize Saphis from the ballroom, though his skin is deathly pale.

Not far from the angels is a small silver chest.The provisions.

“Princess of death,”the monster hisses in my head.“Yes, yes. I’ll keep you always. But first, thecage.”Ahead is a box consisting of rusted, thick metal bars on all sides. It’s only just big enough for me, and I can’t let him put me in there.

Peering back, I eye the bubble around Saphis’s head. If I can get to it, I can breathe. The monster pulls me closer to the opening in the cage, and I can’t wait any longer. My lungs burn as I pull out my dagger, and I keep my grip tight on the hilt as I stab into the monster’s gills. Even with my strength, I couldn’t pierce his scales, but my blade punctures through the thin openings, and he screeches a high-pitched wail that vibrates through the water.

I don’t waste time. Leaving the dagger embedded, I swim to Saphis, my lips breaking into the bubble of air just in time. I gasp, sucking in a breath, and pivot, angling toward the chest of provisions. I yank on the lid. If I can open it, there must be weapons in there. Dad would have prepared for this, and I can only guess he’s put something in there that can defeat the monster. The lid doesn’t budge, and I pull harder, wedging my fingers under the rim.Fuck. Has this been sealed by magic? Fuck, it won’t—The lid finally gives way, and I push it open, frantically searching the contents.Weapon. There must be a weapon.I glimpse parcels of food and flasks of water. There’s a small selection of daggers, but… My heart sinks. There’s nothing else here. Aside from the ordinary blades, there’s no weapon that would give me an advantage against the lake creature. My fingers tremble, and I pull out the sword atmy side.

“My violent little bride,”the monster’s voice sounds in my head, and I turn to see he’s removed the dagger, and his skin has already healed.The Unkillable.That’s what the demons in Seral call the monster. Even if you sever his head, he doesn’t die, and is said to grow another.

My heart pounds. I try moving away, but I can’t outswim him, and soon his clawed hands are on me again dragging me down. I kick a leg free and slam it into his face, then I lash out with my sword, but he grabs me, restraining my limbs with his four arms.

“Such excitement. Have I ever had such excitement?”he hisses. I struggle, but he pulls me closer to the cage again.

No. No. No!

The bars draw closer, and I snarl, but I can’t break free from his iron grip. So close. Just as he’s about to push me inside, bubbles trail past my face, and a large bubble of air envelopes the monster’s head. He screeches and thrashes, releasing me as he tries to get away from it.

But the bubble follows him, the air making him suffocate. I turn to see Prince Callan not far away in the water, his expression serious as he concentrates, controlling the air bubble, while another bubble surrounds his own face. He sends one in my direction, and I cough and wheeze as I suck in the air and swim straight for the chest of provisions, my relief near crippling.

I scoop up the chest with one hand, and rush overto Saphis. Seaweed is wrapped around his ankles and anchoring him, but I sever them with my blade and use my other arm to lift the archangel, slowly making my way upward.

Prince Callan moves after me as I travel past him, and he hooks one hand under Saphis’s other arm as he helps me carry the paralyzed archangel to the surface.

“Princess!”The anguished cry of the monster makes my blood turn to ice.“You will not leave me again!”

I feel the monster’s magic as it implodes in the water, spreading outward, and a rush of despair stronger than anything I’ve felt slams into me making my limbs weak. The emotion sucks away my energy, weighing me down, and clouding my mind. I struggle to remember what I’m doing, or even where I am, and I see the same confusion on Prince Callan’s face. His air magic wavers, the bubbles disappearing from around our faces and from the monster.

The creature swims after us shooting in our direction, and we remain still in the water, the darkness closing in on me, and suddenly I’m eight again. Eight and full of fear as the world closes off to me. Eight and lost in the unknown. The despair weighs on me like a stone pulling me deeper into the darkness. Prince Callan’s free hand floats in the water, and his fingers brush across my cheek.

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