Page 67 of Demon's Bride

“I’m sorry,” I say, taking a step toward her and grasping both her hands in mine. “I have to find out what happened, and I need to know you’re safe.”

Her eyes dart across my face, filled with silent concern. “Okay. Okay. You’re… you’re right. And I’ll be fine here. Just… you need to be safe too. Promise me?”

“I promise,” I tell her, not knowing if it’s true.

Still, I would do anything to keep her from worrying about me.

With a last glance at Allie and dread curling up from the bottom of my soul, I summon a portal to take me back to the keep.

Chapter 26

Allie

When Eren disappears, I’m left alone in the middle of some sort of cabin. The style of it reminds me of Swiss chalets and long winter nights in front of a fire, but looking around the room, it’s clear no one’s used it in a long, long time.

It must be safe, though, if Eren thought it was better for me to be here than stay with him in the mountain.

My stomach clenches with fear and worry. The idea of him heading back into whatever just happened is horrifying, and even though he promised me he’d be safe, his eyes were filled with doubt.

It was an impossible promise to ask, but the idea of Eren in danger, of the entire court in danger, of even more chaos and suffering because my magick isn’t enough to make this realm stable…

It’s already happening, isn’t it?

My power isn’t enough to stop whatever was put in motion while Emilia was here. It’s not my fault, Iknowit’s not my fault, but the guilt and blame creeps up my throat in a strangle-hold.

Just before Eren portaled us here, I could taste it. The same caustic, bitter magick that greeted us when we arrived in the demon realm. It’s magick that feels unstable to its core. Pervasive, reaching magick that wants to grab and infect and destroy. I taste a little of it on my tongue, even now.

Pacing the room, I take deep, steadying breaths to banish the last of it from my lungs.

It’s no use.

If whatever just happened was part of the consequences of the failing bargain, how long before those consequences come for me, too? Sure, I’ve grasped a bit of power, and have gotten brief glimpses of the magick Eren and I might create together, but what good is that in the face of all this? For all I know, the entire mountain has collapsed, taking the court and courtiers with it…

No. I can’t let myself go there, not yet. Me falling apart before I even know how bad things are isn’t going to help this situation in the slightest.

Taking a few more deep breaths, I try to get my bearings and figure out where exactly I am.

Eren portaled us into a large living space in the middle of the cabin. The walls and ceilings are beamed in sturdy dark wood, and along one wall a huge fieldstone mantle stretches from the floor to the lofted ceiling two stories above. The opposite wall is made of enormous windows that look out on a stunning mountain vista.

Though grand, everything is covered in a layer of dust. The inside of the cabin is quiet enough to make me confident I’m here alone.

There are white cloths draped over all the furniture to keep the dust off, and any rugs that might have been laid out on the solid wood floors have long since been picked up and stored away somewhere. Beyond the physical starkness of the room, there’s a sense of emptiness that lingers around the entire place.

Glancing through an archway at the back of the room, I spy something that looks like a kitchen and dining area. With nothing to do but explore, I wander through the other rooms on the ground floor. Like the living space, everything here is also unused and dust-coated.

A kitchen sits in the center of the cabin, with a huge, wood-fired oven and stone counter tops. Beyond it, a formal dining space with a table big enough for twenty, another large stone hearth, and a chandelier hung with cobwebs.

Despite the dreariness of its current condition, the cabin is lovely. Rustic and charming in its own way. It’s easy to imagine this place cleaned up and washed in candlelight, hearths blazing, and snow falling over the spectacular view outside.

Stopping for a moment at the dining room windows to take it in, I look out over a beautiful vista. It looks like a postcard, picture perfect. The sloping yard around the cabin is blooming with spring grasses and wildflowers now, but the peaks beyond are still snow-capped, and if I close my eyes, I can almost see the entire scene how it would look draped in thick winter snow.

Wandering away from the windows, I head back toward the main room, stopping in a large entrance foyer. Across from the front door, a grand wooden staircase with intricately carved banisters leads to another level above. Curious, I’m about to start up the stairs to check out the second floor when a noise behind me catches my attention.

Someone is knocking at the front door.

Heart jumping into my throat, I freeze with my foot on the bottom step and my hand clenched painfully on the railing. The knock comes again, and I stay frozen there, rooted to the spot with fear and indecision.

But… no. Eren said he would send someone, didn’t he? This must just be whoever he’s asked to come and guard me. Who would even know I’m here if he hadn’t told them? And why would a demon who wanted to harm me bother knocking at all if they could just portal into the cabin and catch me by surprise?

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