Page 52 of Hell Sent

As he was aboutto enter their tent the next evening, he overheard his own name. He stopped just outside the door flap, listening. Raiya was speaking to someone inside.

“Don’t ever let a suspiciously handsome, rich man court you, Jai. It’s not worth it.”

“What about a suspiciously handsome, rich lady?” It was Raiya’s young elf friend. Azreth could hear the cheeky grin in her voice.

Raiya paused. “Fair enough. If you can find a nice elf girl, I’m sure you’ll be better off. But don’t let anyone bully you into falling in love with them, either way. And if someone hurts you when they’re angry, don’t believe them when they say they’ll never do it again.”

For once, Jai didn’t fill the heavy silence.

“It doesn’t seem so bad at first, when you’re still blinded by love and you still believe it was a one-off event. But it’s never just a one-off. Once he realizes he can take his anger out on you, he’ll do it every time. You’ll start to worry about any little thing that might upset him, and… It’s not love after that. You’ll feel like a hostage.”

Azreth heard something shifting, perhaps one of them moving to touch the other.

“Just be careful,” Raiya finished quietly.

“Raiya…” Jai said hesitantly. “Don’t you ever…”

“What?”

“I mean, he’s ademon,” Jai whispered.

Azreth closed his eyes, almost a flinch.

“Didn’t he keep you hostage?” Jai asked. “Hasn’t he hurt you, too? Isn’t he dangerous? How can you be sure it’s not the same as it was with your husband?”

Raiya sounded darkly amused. “He’s certainly more bloodthirsty than Nirlan ever was.”

“That’s exactly what I mean. I almost thought you hadn’t noticed.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed.”

“Then what’s the difference between him and Nirlan?” Jai asked.

Raiya was quiet for a long time. Azreth was on pins and needles, his heart heavy. He almost turned around and walked away, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. He knew Raiya would try to defend him, even though Jai was right, and that pained him. He imagined her weakly protesting that he wasn’t that bad, that he had only hurt her a little, as if that made it all right.

In the end, she said something he hadn’t expected.

“Azreth believes mortals are different from demons,” Raiya said finally. “They’re not, but that’s what he believes. He thinks mortals think and feel more deeply than he does. I think he thinks about that a lot. He wants to understand us—to understand me. He wants to know what I’m thinking and feeling, and why.”

“Oh,” Jai said, but it sounded like the younger girl was having trouble following. Azreth was, too.

“Nirlan never thought about my thoughts and feelings,” Raiya said. “I don’t know if it occurred to him that I had any.”

“Oh.”

“The real difference is… I chose this. And I’m happy. My life is not spinning out of control anymore. I’m choosing where I want to be, what I want to do, and who I want to do it with. I’m not the same person I was when I was rotting in that castle.”

“That wasn’t long ago. How much could you have changed already?”

“I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like something snapped. I don’t know who that person was, but it’s not me. Not anymore.”

“That’s good. I think?”

Raiya laughed a little. “It’s very good.”

Azreth relaxed a fraction. He pushed aside the tent flap and stepped inside. Jai and Raiya were lounging on the floor of the tent.

Jai jumped. “Oh, hello, Azreth!” she said brightly.

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