Page 112 of Demon's Bane

Gorver. Rhett. Halla. It was all a setup, wasn’t it? Just a lie to get Rhett away from me.

Tyvar gives me a rough shake. “Shut the fuck up. We’re not going to hurt you. Just get you the hell out of this realm.”

Pleading silently, desperately, I look at David.

I don’t know what I expected.

Pity, maybe, or at least an ounce of compassion. Something, anything, the tiniest sliver of evidence he’s got a heart in there somewhere.

I don’t find it.

David’s eyes rake over me, narrowed and unimpressed. “What did you think you were going to do, Joan, following us like that? Pour us a cup of tea and try to talk all this out?”

I grind my teeth together behind the gag, thrash at my restraints, and David sighs.

“Come on,” he says to Tyvar. “The sooner we can get her back through the Veil, the better.”

My blood runs cold and I thrash again, kicking and jerking my body against Tyvar’s hold.

Tyvar grunts in agreement and puts a hand back on David’s shoulder. I can’t do a single damn thing to break my restraints or fight against the portal he opens. I’m helpless to do anything but be drawn in with them.

It’s even more of an effort this time. The heavy drag of magick feels like trying to swim through quicksand, and I hear Tyvar grunt behind me like he’s in pain. Still, we make it through a couple of seconds later, the three of us stumbling out to a very familiar sight.

The Veil looms ahead of us, shifting and shimmering white in the moonlight.

Behind me, Tyvar’s step falters, and I take his momentary stupor and try to run. It only takes a couple of steps for him to catch me, though, shoving me in David’s direction.

“Hold her.”

As I’m passed off, I get a look at Tyvar. He looks like he’s been through the damn ringer, like all that magick and the effort of portalling has taken its toll as his chest heaves and his legs quiver.

“I need a second,” he mutters, staggering a few steps away to compose himself.

Spitefully, I want to tell him how Rhett’s never struggled with a portal, not once, how maybe his cousin could give him a few pointers, but all I can do is gnash my teeth behind the gag in irritation.

David’s hand digs into my upper arm. He watches Tyvar step away with concern furrowing his brow for a few moments before he shakes his head and looks down at me.

“Couldn’t have just left well-enough alone, could you?”

I make a sound behind my gag, and David’s eyes narrow in contemplation before he raises a hand to loosen the knot at the back of my head.

“What are you doing?” Tyvar calls from where he’s still in view.

“I just wanna talk to her,” David calls back. “She knows no one is close enough to hear her scream. Don’t you, Joan?”

The ties fall away, and David pulls the cloth out of my mouth. I bite back the scream that immediately wants to escape, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of shutting me up again.

“She’s not going to run, either,” David continues, still in that cold, harsh tone. “You’ve never been all that quick on the uptake, but you’re smarter than that, aren’t you?”

Tyvar grunts, taking another step closer to the treeline and doubling over to brace his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath. David glances away, tucking the piece of cloth back into his bag.

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, I shift subtly and test the bindings on my wrist. Thick, rough rope tied tightly enough to… there. Just there. A little bit of give in the knot, with as hastily as they tied me and with as much hell as I was giving them.

A chance.

A small one, but the only one I’m probably going to get. As long as I can keep calm and stay in this realm for as long as I can.

David turns his attention back to me, a challenge in his eyes like he’s just waiting for me to defy him, to scream or run again.

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