Page 10 of Drawn to the Demon Duke
He jerks his chin at the other demon. That crown must mean something because he doesn’t hesitate. The shadowy demon does something with his hands, and suddenly there’s a wall offirein front of him.
He hops through it.
The demon king marches toward it.
I shriek again. “No, no, no! I’m human, okay? I don’t know what you two are, but I burn.”
Nope. He still can’t understand me. He does, however, pat my ass in what’s probably supposed to be a soothing gesture, then ducks his head and walks right through the fire.
I screw my eyes shut, waiting for the sizzle as he burns me alive.
It doesn’t happy.
Oh, thank God.
I sense movement, but there’s a noticeable shift when he steps out of the portal again. The way my eyes glowed red frombehind the lids vanished, and when I risk opening them again, I’m in a hall that’s slightly dark and gloomy. A handful of strange glowing lights are positioned every few feet on the stone wall. They alternate between blue and white, both shades powerful enough for me to see what’s opposite of the wall.
Bars.
Gleaming silver bars.
Bars that lead to jail cells.
My heart leaps up to my throat. I nearly gag when the purple-eyed demon opens the nearest cell, stepping aside so that the king guy can carry me in.
Once he has, he eases me to my feet. I guess that’s something. He could’ve tossed me to the cot in the corner or something, but instead of doing that, he waits until I’m standing on shaky legs before he snaps something at the other demon.
Instantly, he waves his hands and the chains are gone.
A little too late, I think, considering I’ve gotten a better look at those lights. They’re unlike any lightbulbs or fluorescents I’ve ever seen before, and the way they hover and twist, more of an orb than anything else, it looks like… magic.
Magic.
Well, I’ve always wanted to be like Alice. Take a tumble through a rabbithole and go on an adventure in another world… that was Suzy’s dream. As Su, I was hoping for my own romantic hero.
And what did I get? A giant who is bearing down on me, his hand outstretched, palm up.
He pauses when there is about a foot separating us. I don’t know his language, but I don’t need to in order to get the gist. He wants me to put my much smaller human hand in his mitt.
I gulp.
The weird part… and I mean, thereallyweird part is… I kind of want to.
So I do.
A jolt passes between us, like an electrical shock times ten. My arm jerks. He doesn’t let go of me, though. Instead, he folds his fingers over mine, tethering me to him.
And then he speaks, and if he wasn’t holding onto me, I might’ve crumpled to the floor of the cell?—
“I am Duke Haures, ruler of Sombra, Lord of the Shadows,” he rumbles, his English slightly accented, though there’s no denying that sing that, suddenly,he’s speaking English. Which means I can’t even pretend I don’t understand it when his blue eyes blaze wildly and, in the deepest voice I’ve ever heard, he says, “And you are mine, mortal.”
CHAPTER 5
THREE DAYS
SUSANNA
He brought me to his world through a portal, said I was hisin English, then tossed me into a dungeon.
