Taming Demons for Beginners (The Guild Codex Demonized #1) - Annette Marie Page 0,30

flush against his fingertip. It wasn’t razor sharp and seemed too short to be dangerous, but that didn’t lessen the thrill in my center.

With the barrier rippling like liquid light, I spread my fingers and pressed my palm to his, my small hand dwarfed, my slender fingers so fragile in comparison, my fair skin white against his reddish-brown tone.

I raised my eyes, wide with awe, to his dark ones. He watched me, his expression unreadable.

It happened in an instant.

He pulled his hand back—and because I was pressing my palm to his, my hand moved too, dipping forward. It crossed that invisible line and the strong fingers I had traced snapped tight around mine.

Adrenaline flooded my body. Panic screeched in my head, but I couldn’t move. Frozen like a rabbit in the wolf’s teeth, I stared at him in horror.

He held my fingers in a tight grip, then pulled.

I had lamented his obvious weakness—but he wasn’t weak. Not compared to my pathetic strength. I locked my limbs but my knees slid across the floor. My wrist crossed the invisible line, then my forearm, then my elbow.

Tears flooded my cheeks. Why was I so stupid? Why had I gotten so close? Why had I put myself within his reach? He would drag me in and tear me apart—the perfect finale to his long imprisonment. A demon’s most exhilarating send-off—murdering a helpless human girl.

His other hand closed around my wrist. I expected him to wrench me the rest of the way into the circle. Expected him to tear into my flesh, to sink his predator’s fangs into my throat and rip it out.

Instead, he flipped my hand over and pressed two fingers to my palm.

Between one hammering beat and the next, my tremoring heart threatened to stop.

He examined my palm, then each finger. He brushed the pad of his finger across my thumbnail, feeling the texture, then flicked his claw against it to test its strength. He felt the bumps of my knuckles, then stroked the back of my hand.

I trembled violently, scarcely breathing, not understanding.

He pinched my skin, his head tilting as he pulled. It hurt but I kept quiet. Pushing my sleeve up, he studied my inner wrist, then lightly traced the shadows of veins under my pale skin. His head dipped and his nostrils flared as he inhaled my scent. Inhaling again, he licked my racing pulse. His tongue was warmer than his cool skin.

His black, starving, dying eyes lifted to mine.

Then he tightened his hold and dragged me into the circle.

My paralysis broke. I gasped wildly and scrambled for purchase on the smooth hardwood floor, but he hauled me easily across it. I crumpled inward, instinct driving me into a protective ball before he could strike.

He yanked on my arm, pulling me straight, and his other hand caught my jaw. Forcing my head up, he leaned down, his face filling my blurring vision. My breath wheezed from my lungs too fast and my head spun.

A low, husky laugh rumbled from his throat, his breath brushing across my tear-streaked cheeks, and he whispered, “What does your blood look like, payilas?”

My limbs turned to liquid. A sob shook my torso.

His head snapped up, his gaze flashing to the library door. In the brief second his attention shot away from me, his hand on my wrist loosened.

With strength I didn’t know I had, I wrenched backward and threw myself out of the circle. My butt hit the floor as darkness flashed through the dome and the demon vanished from sight. I shoved away from the silver line.

“Robin?”

I jerked toward the door. Travis stood in the threshold, gaping.

Another sob burst from me, and trembling too badly to stand, I twisted onto my hands and knees to crawl away. Travis rushed across the room and knelt beside me, touching my shoulder.

“Robin, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

I shook my head. My voice had deserted me when Zylas caught my hand, and I still couldn’t find it.

“Did the demon grab you? Why would you get that close?”

I drew in a shuddering breath. “I—” The word was a feathery croak. “I didn’t …”

He put his arm around my waist and pulled me to my feet. I couldn’t support myself, the adrenaline having reduced my muscles to quivering jelly. He propped me against his side.

“Dad mentioned you’d come down here to get a book,” Travis muttered as he scanned the black dome. “Robin … the demon lured you over, didn’t it? It tricked you into getting so