Page 20 of Demonic Cage
“One of them indeed didn’t understand his task. But fortunately,” he says, leaning closer to me, “I intervened in time.”
He played the savior. I suppress a whimper.
“We had to get you out quickly, there was no time for explanations,” he adds. “And if you want to,” he continues casually, “we can move on.”
I just blink and look at the demons surrounding me.
“But where will we go?”
“The center of Filizi is not far.”
“What is that?”
“Where we demons live.”
“You’re taking me to a country filled with monsters?”
He smiles.
“You no longer belong in the Third World, among humans.”
“What do you mean? WhatThird World?”
Darya steps quite close, and I feel the heat between us again. He tilts his head to the side. I can’t make out much in the red lights. Thoughtfully, he gazes at me, taking hold of a strand of hair. His slow movements sharply contrast with how quickly he snatched me away from the hungry monster in the barn. He brushes a purple lock behind my ear.
“I like it,” he says, as though talking directly to my hair. “I very much like it.”
His last comment dries my mouth. I want to deny how satisfying it is that he likes the part of me that, in the past twenty-four hours, has become almost as important as thenecklace from Bengt. But I don’t want to let him closer. That man, or demon, is the reason for what is happening to me.
Without any warning, I slap him across the face.
He doesn’t react to the slap as he should. He doesn’t get angry. Instead, surprise spreads across his beautifully smooth face. He looks down at me and smiles.
“You’re stronger than I thought.”
“Only when I’m angry!” I hiss, clenching my fists.
“Tell me, Lotte. Are you scared?”
I grimace as the blood pumps more strongly in my veins, but in the end, no sound comes out of my throat. My heart beats wildly, like the pounding of a dozen horses, and yes, I am scared, but… my anger is greater.
How would I have reacted if I didn’t already know these creatures? Surely, I would have died from fear. Should I be grateful that I have been seeing these monsters since I was five, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to handle meeting them now?
Darya smiles faintly. I shiver from his gaze, as if beaten. I want to take a pill…
The monsters follow as I take a step. They turn their black skulls to the side, sizing me up. My lungs whistle as I command myself to breathe. There are too many of them. Too close.
“Let’s go,” Darya declares. Every instruction he gives feels like he’s just informing me of my next move. He places his hand on my waist and gently pushes me forward. “Go in front of me.”
He doesn’t need to say it – there’s no way I’d willingly place myself between him and the creatures behind us.
I glance at Darya as we walk, trying to sift through every piece of information I know about him.
“You said you would never lie to me,” I state, carefully assessing his face.
“That’s right, Lotte,” he states, nodding while keeping his gaze on the cave.
“You said at the café that I could choose the monsters, too. You lied to me. Those creatures,” I point my thumb backward, “are yours. They wouldn’t have harmed me.”
