Binding Ties The Sentinel Wars - Shannon K. Butcher Page 0,106
that of the belly of a cave.
Still, the light flowing down the tunnel here told her that this was no ordinary cave.
The demon eased up beside her, keeping a safe distance. It knew not to trust her any more than she trusted it. Still, they had reached some odd kind of agreement that stemmed from her promise to help it get what it wanted.
It went to all fours, moving easily along the low tunnel. She followed it, pausing only when she saw what lay ahead.
There were more demons like it milling about—dozens of them. Some of them were piled in sleep, while others were tearing raw meat from cow bones.
At least it was cow and not people.
As they neared the gathering, the demons began noticing her presence one at a time. There was a moment of confusion—she doubted any of them had ever seen a tiger before—but it passed as they realized that whatever she was, she was still made of meat.
They closed in.
The demon escorting her hissed at the others, warning them away. It made a strange clicking sound for a few seconds, then a series of short hums. After that, the horde began going back about its business.
Miraculously, she’d been labeled as not food. And it stuck. Hopefully, it would stick long enough for her to gather her kin and get out of here, because there was no way she was going to be able to fight this many demons and survive.
The system of caverns and tunnels wound around in a wide spiral. As they neared the center, Lyka could smell Slayer young. They were hungry, afraid. She could smell their tears.
A rough growl rumbled in her chest.
The demon stopped and looked at her, baring its teeth in warning.
She held perfectly still, waiting for the thing to make up its mind whether to attack or keep moving. Finally, it turned around, giving her a view of the leather Nicholas had glued to its back as it moved deeper into the spiral.
The ceiling of the cave shot up high in this area. The tunnels curved so tightly that she could see only a few yards before her vision was obscured by more rock wall.
The demon pushed open a pair of solid wooden doors, stirring the air.
Eric’s scent hit her with such force, she felt her eyes tear up. He was here. Alive. But something was off. He smelled wrong. Broken.
The demon pointed, indicating she should go through the doors. She did, and stepped into a lavishly decorated room fit for any queen. There were thick, ornate rugs; elaborately carved furniture; and a line of wooden wardrobes, one of which stood open to reveal several velvet gowns.
Lying in the center of a giant bed, bound hand and foot, was her brother Eric. He was naked, covered in ragged bite marks like nothing she’d ever seen. Infection burned red around his wounds, especially at his groin. It looked like animals had been gnawing on his genitals.
His body was lean, almost gaunt—proof that he’d burned a lot of his reserves trying to heal himself. Sickness hovered about him, and a heavy layer of that wrongness she’d sensed earlier.
She raced to his side, shifting back into her human form as she did. The second she reached the bed, his eyes popped open.
He blinked several times as if to clear his vision.
She went to work loosening the ropes binding his wrists over his head. “I’m getting you out of here. Just hang on.”
“Lyka?” His tone was heavy with confusion, so she took a couple of seconds to ease his mind.
“It’s okay now, Eric,” she said. “Everything is going to be okay.”
The smell of his fear was so strong, it gagged her, but his gaze wasn’t fixed on her. He was looking past her to something behind her.
“She’s here.” His voice cracked with terror. “Run.”
Chapter 38
Lyka turned in time to watch the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen let go of her velvet skirts and lift her hand.
“He’s mine.”
A crackling electrical charge filled the room an instant before power exploded out of the woman.
Lyka instinctively pulled on Joseph’s power to shield her while she covered her brother’s body with her own.
The force of the blast hit her back and knocked the breath out of her. It shoved the heavy bed several feet across the stone floor, where it hit the opposite wall hard enough to shatter the wooden frame. Heat spilled out around her shield, burning precious oxygen from the air.