I'd heard that before. And wasn't about to let some low-ranking rebel leader succeed where so many others had failed. Not when I was in full possession of my powers and able to defend myself.It was almost comical their reactions to my sudden power flare, multi-hued magic rippling around me as I grinned, my demon's need to fight almost taking over. "Who's first?"I wish I could say they turned coward and ran, not because I didn't want to fight or was afraid, but because I really didn't want to hurt anyone. Despite the fear on their faces, the bulk of the demons obeyed their orders and rushed me as a unit.Only to fly back, tossed by a blast of air magic in a lovely arc, landing in a heap on top of Luprimustica."Nice technique," Ram snarled in my ear, hand wrapped around my arm again, "but we don't have time to play."I tried to pull free, but he had already turned and ran in the opposite direction, taking me with him. I could easily have fought him off, taken on all the rebels as
As we wove our way through the city, Ram moved with surety I wished I trusted. I fought off my demon grandmother's need to return to find Ameline and crush her like an insect. The pain was enough of a distraction I was grateful for Ram's guidance, following him almost blindly as my vampire, Shaylee and my own demon assisted my family magic in wrapping up Ahbi's insistence and smothering it before it left permanent damage.I finally breathed a sigh of relief and came back to the outside world just as Ram pulled me to a halt in a shadowed overhang, cursing softly under his breath. I peered over his shoulder, realizing we'd circled back to where we'd left our transport only to find it under guard. But not by Guards. By a handful of nervous-looking demons who could only be rebels.Ram backed into me and I took the hint, retreating a few feet while he spun on me and drew me into his arms. Though the embrace seemed heated and passionate, the tension in his body as he bent over me told me t
Either the transport Ahbi used to give us our tour was much faster or Ram's magic just wasn't up to the same task, because it took us a couple of hours to reach Bilhaeder, just as the first of the suns was starting to come up. Nights were short on Demonicon, all those spinning stars making it almost impossible to predict, though I was sure there was a calendar of sunrises and sets somewhere.Just as well. The view was even more spectacular than I remembered, the rainbow quality of the city's domes catching the early light, throwing back flashes of reds and blues and greens as we swooped low, still disguised by my power, into the edge of the city. I sighed sadly as Ram set us down on a quiet street, looking up at the tall domes further off, wanting to hold onto the wonder and contentment I'd felt through the ride, a welcome respite from the urgency of the last day or so.Ram dropped his magic and I did the same, but he shook his head as he leaped out and turned to catch my eyes."I'm
I could have let my grandmother's power out and attacked them to get to Ameline. Easily. Effortlessly. But doing so would have hurt and possibly killed a number of innocent demons and I just couldn't bring myself to do it.Damn my conscience anyway.Instead, Ahbi's power punishing me with jabbing pains to my gut, I turned and willingly went with the group now leading me out of the populated library and to the back of the room where I was funneled through a small door and into a private study chamber.Empty, naturally. Perfect. Since I didn't for a second consider any of these demons innocent, I could act with impunity."We've been looking for you." Fenukamadi glared at me, gesturing to his people to guard the room."How lovely you found me then," I said. "But if you don't mind, I have a sociopathic murderer to hunt down, and now that you've let her go, I'll have to chase her again." I closed the distance between us in two quick strides before anyone could stop me, my anger snappin
Ram, now dressed as I was in a black robe, led me, a pair of rebel guards flanking us, back the way we came to the library and the table where Ameline had stood. The busybody colleagues already cleared the book she'd read from away, but after letting my demon sniff the spot, I followed her guidance to a nearby shelf and retrieved the tome in question.It stank of Ameline, so much Ahbi's power jerked inside me.Look, I sent, not knowing if what was left of her could understand me or not. I'm doing my damned best. But if you keep doing crap like this, we won't get anywhere. Got me?The power fluttered, shot me one last jab and subsided.Okay then.Ram had already flipped the book open by the time I finished my little internal argument and from the pale look on his face, it wasn't good news. Since I couldn't read what was written there, I had to impatiently poke him in the ribs to catch his attention. He was so concerned he didn't even frown at me."What?" I looked down at the sketc
Ram filled Culectorion in while I was led to a private room and allowed to collapse into a sunken tub carved from stone and soak the filth of the desert I'd walked through and the sweat of anxiety from my body. I knew I didn't have much time, but it was hard to drag myself from the water, now scrubbed clean and smelling of some kind of Demoniconian flower, toweling off with a soft sheet, dressing in boots-thank the elements. Boots!-flowing black pants and a tightly belted red tunic, tossing my poor t-shirt and what remained of my pajama bottoms in the corner. It felt weird to go without a bra, but I didn't have much choice, hoping my demon's larger chest, though perky, wouldn't bounce too much.Making me blush. Because I thought of Ram and if he'd notice.Aw, hell.A metal ring with an elastic substance on the inside held my hair back and a warm black jacket hemmed at my knees finished the ensemble. Much more wearable than most of the clothes I'd been forced to choose from in Ostrog
I kicked my own sorry ass for the next several minutes while resolutely not meeting Ram's eyes. What was I thinking? This was serious business. Stupid romance and girly passion had no place in my mind. Or shouldn't have. I had a world to save, didn't I?So why did I catch myself thinking about what Ram would look like with considerably less clothing on?Syd. Girlfriend. Priorities.At least our escort was over it, or at least had the good sense to stop with the smirking and sideways glances. They had to be all males, didn't they? I was surrounded by juveniles.Time to get with the program. I steadfastly tuned out anything romantic and looked around to get my bearings. What I saw wasn't all that thrilling and almost disappointed me enough my demon's desire to think about Ram again nearly won.While Milanseme was beautiful for its spiky spires and Bilhaeder stunning with its shining domes, Ilogabon bordered on ugly. All angles and odd shapes that made no sense, carved from the same
I spent the remainder of the day with Ram in tow, following the pull of Ameline. There were several times we were forced to hide from approaching Guards and dodge fights still breaking out all over Ilogabon, simply blending in with the rest of the fleeing populace in most cases.I had no idea what Ameline was up to, but she led me on a labyrinth chase all over the hideous city, and I began to wonder as the largest suns set if she'd somehow managed to trick Ahbi's power into following a false trail while our quarry eluded us and escaped.Ram finally pulled me to a halt when yet another tug ended up in a dead end alley."Your method is getting us nowhere," he said, holding up his hands in defense as I spun on him with a snarl."You try following the geas of a dead demon Ruler," I snapped.Ram bowed his head with a little smile. "I'm not faulting you, Princess," he said. "But something is clearly making our job harder. Might I suggest something?""Go ahead." I stomped one foot befor