Page 36 of Warmongers and Wands
“That’s me. We’re normally very cautious about others knowing our sigil, but since I’m currently trapped in a summoning circle, it really doesn’t matter.”
“So, if someone used this sigil to summon you, they’d get nothing because you’re already trapped?”
“Yes, aside from a few special circumstances.”
“What is used to summon, might be used to banish,” I mused.
“Yes, but hopefully you’re not going to banish me; you’re going to set me free.” He handed the marker back to me. “Banishing returns me to hell, and I won’t be able to come back unless I’m summoned again, or receive a task requiring my work here, or if I’m granted leave time and given a coin so Charon could transport me here.”
“It’s a worst-case scenario idea,” I assured him. “If I can’t free you from the circle, maybe I can banish you, then just summon you again.”
He reached out and placed a hand on my thigh, above the cast. “Summoning is no easy magic, Bronwyn. You’ve told me that you and your sisters do not practice the art, so there is no one to mentor you, no one to assist you in the ritual. There is a good chance if you banish me, that you will try unsuccessfully for decades to summon me back.”
“I know.” My chest hurt at the thought. “But if I can’t manage to free you, then at least by banishing, you would no longer be trapped here. Surely being returned to hell is a better life than being stuck on less than an acre of woods.”
“No, because then I would not be with you.” His hand caressed my leg, his thumb making little circles on my inner thigh. “Trapped here, I will hopefully still be able to see you, to have you with me. I would rather remain here then be free in hell without you.”
Could I do that? Live here with him on the side of a mountain within werewolf territory? With no electricity, no cell service, no place to park a car or truck. Each morning I’d need to hike up the side of a mountain and drive into town, pick up my truck and trailer, and work, only to do it all again the next day. Maybe if I reduced my hours to accommodate the commute. Maybe if we came to some sort of agreement with the werewolves where I didn’t feel like I was one full moon away from attack. Maybe we could make this work until I managed to find a way to free Hadur.
I wondered if Diebin would get along with a cat.
“Then it’s a plan,” I told him. “I’ll figure out a way to free you, and in the meantime, I’ll stay here off and on. Or maybe move in full time if things work out between us. I need you to be honest, though. If you decide this relationship isn’t working, and you want to call it quits, I don’t want you to think you need to keep going through the motions because otherwise you’ll be stuck here alone. If I can’t free you and you want to call it quits, then I’ll figure out a way to banish you back to hell. I’ll always help you, even if we don’t work out romantically.”
“You, my witch, are very silly. I’m an old demon. I know my mind. I want you. I want to partner with you, to bond with you, to be with you for all eternity. And your pledge to selflessly assist me makes me want you even more.”
My breath caught as he moved his hand higher. “We might want to delay the displays of mutual affection for later. Like, when I’m sure Cassie isn’t going to burst through the door later. So hold that thought. I’m going to do some research and try to keep my mind away from what you could be doing with your fingers and other body parts.”
He bent down, scooting my dress up practically to my hips. Then he placed a lingering kiss on my inner thigh and stood.
Ugh. I was so not going to be concentrating on anything but the feel of his lips on my leg, the brush of his beard against my thigh. And that was a problem, because these diaries with their outdated language and swoopy cursive handwriting required a lot of concentration.
“These are the diaries and spell books?” Hadur looked at the books, then picked up the bag Sylvie had left. Before I had a chance to stop him, he’d upended it, spilling the contents across the table.
Oh my. Sylvie…well, my sister had outdone herself this time.
Hadur stared at the items. “Your sisters are very strange.”
“Tell me about it.”
“What is this for?”
I turned bright red. “It’s…uh, it’s nipple clamps. And don’t ask me how I know that. Trust me, it’s not from personal experience.”
He pulled off his shirt and affixed them to each nipple while I stared with a mixture of admiration and horror.
“Ow. These things hurt,” he complained.
“They hurt worse when you take them off,” I told him, wincing as he yanked one from his nipple.
The demon sucked in a breath. “Does Lucien know about these? I think they need them in the punishment sections of hell.”
“I’m pretty sure Sylvie gave Cassie and Lucien a set as some sort of ‘you’ve got a boyfriend’ gift.”
He reached over and picked something else up from the table, the one nipple clamp still attached, the other dangling from the chain. “And this?”
I winced. “Anal plug.”
“Are you sure your sister isn’t a demon?”
