Page 25 of Drawn to the Demon Duke
That must’ve done something because, with another thunderous clap, the shadows disperse. Dagon chokes, but he’salive, and I only hope that my promise was enough to get Yelios off my back so that I can finish the search for the ashbalm flower and get the heck out of here.
And then the former king says, “It is done. When you give birth to the usurper’s spawn it is mine. Until then, I will take one thing that you hold dear in exchange. When I get what I want, you get it back.”
There is no deal for that one. Yelios makes his pronouncement, and before I can realize how I’ve been maneuvered intothatagreement, the air shifts. It turns lighter, and I didn’t even realize how the weight of my surrounding was pushing me down until he’s gone.
Because he’s gone, and I’m left to wonder what the heck I just agreed to.
I still don’t havean ashbalm flower.
Just because I don’t want to sever this bond doesn’t mean that I’m about to walk into Haures’s castle empty-handed. I’m stubborn that way. I want to rub it in his face that I found the flowerandbeat that arkoda monster.
Only one problem: I can’t find it. Can’t smell it, either.
I try. Even though the idea that Yelios is lurking nearby, I try, but it’s pointless. It’s like there was only one of those flowers in these dark woods, and I lost it?—
“Human?”
My shoulders hunch in annoyance.
Right. Make that two problems.
As if insulting me earlier was bad enough, after thesecondtime I saved him from the shadows, Dagon decided he wanted tobecomemyshadow. Without a word, he simply started to follow after me. Figuring it wasn’t worth an argument, I let him.
But calling me ‘human’?
“Yes?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Why did you save me?”
“Why are you following me?” I retort.
“Because you saved me,” is Dagon’s answer. “Why did you, female?”
I sigh before telling him again, “Susanna.”
He pauses, frowning.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Aren’t these demons used to common decency and using someone’s name instead of what they are? I don’t call Haures my ‘demon duke’, even if that’s how I think of him, but ‘human’ and ‘female’... “My name is Susanna.”
“And I am Dagon of Caol. Fierce hunter,” he says before fisting his hand, then beating himself in his shadowy chest. “And I pledge myself to your service.”
Huh?
“Um. That’s okay.”
He firms his jaw. “I insist. Tell me what you require and I will do it.”
Oh, boy.
You know what?
Fine.
“Did you see that flower I had before the flame went out? It’s the ashbalm flower. It grows in these shadows and I need to find another one.”
“Very well. Then I will endeavor to help you find the flower.”
I give him a thin-lipped smile and decide, hey, maybe he knows enough about the forest that he can help. As long as we avoid any more of those arkodas, we should be good.
