Taming Demons for Beginners (The Guild Codex Demonized #1) - Annette Marie Page 0,52

would be simple. Easy-peasy. I grasped the pendant, as Amalia had instructed, and waited for Zylas to appear in a swirl of red magic.

Nothing happened.

Tae-min glanced at Amalia, then back to me. “Are you calling it or what?”

I squeezed the infernus tightly, adrenaline flooding my veins. Why wasn’t Zylas appearing? He could detect some of what went on outside the infernus, couldn’t he? He’d popped out at exactly the right time to save me and Amalia last night.

Should I call his name out loud? No, Amalia had explained that a normal contractor controlled his demon through a telepathic connection, puppeteering the demon’s body in silence.

Angry rumbles grew among the watching mythics. The infernus cut into my palm as I gripped it harder.

Zylas, get out here! I silently shouted. As the words rang through my head, red light bloomed over the infernus. It streaked to the floor, then flowed upward into Zylas’s shape. The glow died away, revealing his solid body.

He stood utterly still, arms hanging at his sides, expression blank and eyes staring straight ahead. Not even his tail twitched, exactly as Amalia had told him. His imitation of an enslaved puppet was perfect, and a mixture of pride and relief swept through me. We could do this!

I looked up eagerly, but the Grand Grimoire mythics were gawking at Zylas in disbelief. Had he done something wrong? Why—

Burly burst into laughter.

Roaring guffaws erupted from the others, and they exchanged gleefully derisive looks as they slapped their thighs with mirth. Only Tae-min kept his composure.

“That’s your demon?” a man called between chuckles. “That little thing?”

“Is it even full grown?” someone else asked mockingly. “Did the summoner catch an adolescent by mistake?”

“I’ve never seen such a pathetic demon!”

“Mine would tear it apart in half a second.”

“If the demon isn’t bigger than a human, what’s the point?”

Burly snorted. “A new line, eh? Now we know why. Who would bother contracting such a weak demon?”

My hands curled into fists. “He’s not weak!”

My loud protest silenced all the laughter and I stiffened under the weight of the group’s judgement.

“You think your baby demon can compete in our guild, little girl?” Burly scoffed. “This is a real demon.”

He dragged an infernus from under his leather jacket and crimson power leaped off it. The light pooled on the floor, then crawled up—and up and up. When it reached seven and a half feet, the light dispersed to reveal the demon.

Thick gorilla arms were bound by heavy muscle. Spikes protruded from its elbows and shoulders, and its tail was thick and powerful and tipped with more spines. Two pairs of six-inch horns curled off its head, its scalp covered in bristling black hair, and its eyes glowed like lava in a swarthy, reddish-brown face with a heavy jaw and protruding fangs.

In comparison, Zylas looked like a toy version of a demon. Burly’s beast was so huge that Zylas could’ve walked under its outstretched arm without ducking.

“Aw, look, you scared her,” a guy said with feigned sympathy. “Take your pet demon and go home, girl.”

“A demon like that wouldn’t put us on the radar,” Burly told Tae-min. “It’d make us a laughingstock. I’m sorry for bringing them up here.”

My fists tightened. “My demon isn’t weak!”

Burly laughed again. “Should I demonstrate for you?”

His attention turned to his spiky demon. The creature, who’d been standing as statue-still as Zylas, lifted its huge arm. Its monstrous hand zoomed toward its smaller cousin’s face.

Zylas! I silently screamed.

That gigantic, talon-tipped hand reached for Zylas’s head—and he ducked. The demon’s hand closed over nothing but air. Legs already coiled, Zylas sprang up and grabbed the demon by its horns. He vaulted over the demon’s head and landed lightly in front of Burly.

Before the man could do more than widen his eyes in shock, Zylas grabbed him by the throat. He lifted the taller, heavier man off the floor with an easy flex of his arm.

“No!” Tae-min shouted, whipping out a small, rune-marked wand. “Ori imped—”

Still holding Burly in the air, Zylas pivoted and slammed his foot into Tae-min’s chest. The officer flew backward and crashed into two other guys.

The Grand Grimoire mythics shouted furiously. They surged into motion, infernus pendants appearing everywhere. Someone began an incantation and electric magic crackled up another’s arms.

Zylas hurled Burly into the crowd—then leaped in right after the man’s tumbling form.

Chaos reigned. Shouts, bellows, flares of crimson light as contractors tried to summon their demons. Zylas was a spinning flash of reddish-toffee skin, shining armor, and dark fabric. I couldn’t