Sympathy for the Demons (Promised to the Demons #1) - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,23

existence in a sad and cold place surrounded by rather pathetic servants, only to be murdered by a spunky gang of Ethereal wizards? It was the eventual fate of all too many high demons, no matter how many centuries it took. No one was truly immortal, I supposed. Eventually we all grew stagnant and tired, and then we were vulnerable to such attacks.

I very much feared I was headed down the same road at this point. Devouring souls and whipping servants was not the proud expression of my demonic nature that it once was. And I certainly did not find it very enjoyable just to ravage the countryside or roughly claim a nymph. That sort of thing was really only much fun when one was very young.

Yes, to have a son who I could show the ways of our great line, that filled me with vigor. It would be like having my youth all over again, and when he was fully matured as a demon, I could rest.

You just need the wife before you have the son…

And then sometimes there are daughters as well…

And sometimes…a woman dies in childbirth and nothing turns out as one hoped.

I frowned, circling back to the same trouble again as I rode down the narrow path between the misty bogs and thick trees surrounding my castle. I didn’t care for any my prospects. My true love was certainly not a toad, but who was?

I heard a voice on the wind, calling the dark words of my house.

Ah, someone summons me. Perhaps I do need a distraction.

Some demons hate to be summoned. I was not one of them. To be summoned was the highlight of my week—or month—or year. I was not summoned as much these days as I used to be, as magic itself was certainly going down the drain. That made it even more exciting that some young dark wizards were still discovering me.

When I answered the call, I was often drawn into a dark room, surrounded by candles, by some tormented soul who would ask me to devour their enemy.

Other times, I was summoned from desperation and drawn into the heat of battle, the smell of smoke and sweat and blood, the cries of fury and fear that all chaotic demons fed on. This was what I always hoped for.

I answered the call. I could hardly help but do so, once the words were spoken and the circle cast.

I seemed to be in some dusty archives, and it smelled as dank as my castle. Judging by the blonde male and female facing off, this was a tiff between relatives. Not quite as exciting as I hoped for. A library? How cramped. I missed the days when wizards fought on the battlefields, in extensive caverns, or in castle sieges.

“I summoned you, Lord Variel the Devourer.”

I looked at the blonde youth and I was not impressed. He was not especially tall and he had no muscles or sinew to speak of. No wizards, I thought, have any sinew nowadays.

“That is my name, though hearing it on your lips does it no favors,” I said.

“I have a gift for you on behalf of the Ethereal warlocks. The covenant of the House of Soundhunter.”

Well, at least that was convenient. Handing me a soul right off the bat. This was just a nice afternoon snack, as it turned out. The stone covenant thrummed like a living thing. I took the stone and bit off the corner. Although my razor teeth could break through any substance if there was a soul trapped within it, the stone was not the tastiest vessel. Luckily, the souls inside were as delicious as finding a cream filling inside a too-dry cake. (A taste I knew all too well, considering my cook’s lack of skill.)

Besides the squabbling siblings, or cousins, or whatever they were, there was also a young man crumpled on the floor, and when I ate the covenant, he started to scream.

Ah, so his soul is tied to this covenant. At least he looks like a sturdy fellow. I could use another gardener or stable boy.

As I was crunching the stone into bits small enough to swallow (very tedious), I realized that the blonde witch had a few allies who had been holding back. One was a winged Ethereal spirit. She seemed like a nuisance. As I was finishing off the soul she tried to hit me with a spell, but I had the advantage here, naturally. When I was summoned, I