Taming Demons for Beginners (The Guild Codex Demonized #1) - Annette Marie Page 0,46

I fought its pull, the realization that I was alone and had nowhere to go or anyone to help hit me all over again.

“Payilas,” Zylas growled. “Stop it.”

I hunched inward and pressed my face against my knees, hiding from him.

He pulled on my shirt to make me sit up. I lost my balance and fell on my butt, then curled into an even tighter ball. I couldn’t breathe right. The ground was rolling and tilting.

“What are you doing?” he snarled. “Stop it!”

“I—I can’t! Leave me alone!”

He sprang to his feet and whirled, the barbed end of his tail just missing my face. He paced away from me, glanced back with his teeth bared and eyes blazing, then disappeared into the alley’s dark depths.

Now I was completely alone. The maelstrom of panic spiraled deeper, my pulse racing and heart heaving in my chest. If only getting rid of the demon were as easy as sending him away, but he was bound to the infernus. Just like me. I was an illegal contractor bound to a demon I couldn’t control.

Mom, what should I do?

My heart broke all over again, and I wept into my knees. Minutes crawled by, and my sobs weakened until I was sniffling pathetically, my cheek resting on my knee. I stared blearily into the darkness where Zylas had vanished.

A black shape appeared among the shadows, drawing closer. Two points of crimson glowed—demonic eyes.

Zylas stalked down the alley, irritation radiating off him with each gliding step. And under his arm …

Amalia hung from his arm like an oversized sack, her hands scrabbling vainly at his wrist. Her hair was a wild tangle, her face pasty white beneath her makeup.

Zylas swept over to me and tossed Amalia onto the ground. She hit the pavement in her third painful impact of the evening, a gasping whimper rushing from her throat. She shoved onto her hands and knees—and Zylas stepped on her back, flattening her. Her sharp cry echoed off the alley walls.

Leaning his weight on her, he grabbed her hair at the scalp and bent her head back to look into her terrified face.

“Listening, hh’ainun?” he snarled. “The payilas wants your help, so you will help her. If you don’t, I will take you apart piece by piece by little piece. Sounds fun, na? Or would you rather help her?”

Amalia’s mouth moved but no sound came out.

He pulled harder on her hair. “Answer or I will decide for you.”

“Zylas!” I shrieked, breaking my horrified silence. “Let her go!”

His glowing eyes didn’t shift from Amalia’s face.

She whimpered weakly. “I’ll help. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Smart hh’ainun,” he crooned, opening his hand. He stepped off her and folded his arms expectantly.

I stared at him, then at Amalia, my limbs quivering. Her teary glare burned with hatred as, wincing and cringing, she gingerly sat up.

“I—I didn’t tell him to do that,” I choked. “I didn’t, I swear.”

Her mouth trembled as she fought back tears. Sucking in a breath, she straightened her spine. “I dropped my backpack. I need to go get it, then we should find a hotel.”

Just like that, she was tough-Amalia again, pretending nothing had happened and a vicious demon wasn’t one word away from ripping her apart. I wished I had half her backbone.

“Okay,” I mumbled, climbing to my feet.

Amalia got up far more slowly, each movement triggering a wince. Without the contract, without Zylas’s promise, he could have done the same to me. His interpretation of “protect,” whatever it might be, was all that kept me safe from his strength, his claws, and his merciless brutality.

He watched me, arms folded, tail lashing impatiently.

I was bound to him. He was my demon. And if I couldn’t control him, he would kill a lot of people before he and I landed in an early grave.

Chapter Seventeen

Amalia scrubbed both hands over her face, then dropped them into her lap.

“Let me see if I’ve got this right,” she said. “You were feeding the demon in the library because … I still don’t understand your reasoning, but whatever. You were feeding it. Travis saw you.”

I nodded.

“This afternoon, while we were out, Travis took you downstairs and Dad’s clients were there. Travis had made a deal with them.”

I bobbed my head again.

“And then …” She took a deep breath. “And then you made a contract with the demon to save yourself.”

“Yes,” I whispered, not minding that she’d skipped over the worst part.

We were sitting side by side on a stiff bed, heads bent together to hear