Taming Demons for Beginners (The Guild Codex Demonized #1) - Annette Marie Page 0,59
fear in my gut intensified, but I raised my chin. If Zylas and I found and defeated the escaped demon, everyone would be safe. I needed to do this, even if it terrified me.
I cut into an alley and withdrew my phone from my pocket. As I opened the MPD app, the infernus heated. Light flashed and Zylas appeared beside me.
“Payilas? What are you doing?”
I pulled up a map marked with all the demon sightings so far. “We’re going to find the escaped demon.”
His eyebrows drew down. “Why?”
“Because we’re the reason it’s on the loose. Why can’t you and Amalia understand this? I freed you from the circle, and you freed the other demon. People are being hurt, and it’s our fault.”
He examined my face, pondering me like I was some sort of puzzle. “So?”
“Right. Of course you don’t get it. You’re a demon.” I refocused on the app. “The most recent sighting was eight blocks away. We’re too far west.”
Gastown, a busy tourist area, was only a few blocks farther west. And, I saw, the Crow and Hammer guild was almost as close—four blocks to the northeast. I had a long walk to reach the correct area and it would get dark soon. Maybe I shouldn’t do this …
No. It was my responsibility. Shoving my phone into my pocket, I started down the alley.
Zylas looked up from the newspaper dispenser he’d been examining, then started after me. “Where are you going?”
“To find the demon.”
“Just like this?” Mocking amusement joined his swirling accent. “Walk, walk. Na, a demon! So easy.”
I realized I was clenching my jaw again. The more time I spent around him, the higher my dental bills would be. “Help me, then. I’m sure you have a better idea of how to find it.”
“Why would I want to find him?”
“Why did you free him in the first place?”
“Because he is old. He knows more … and he wants to return home too.”
Stopping, I turned to study the demon. “You freed him to see if he knows a way back to your world.”
Zylas made an irritated sound. “But he does not know or he would not be playing games with hh’ainun. I should have left him in his circle.”
“Games? What kind of games?”
“Stalking games. He likes to hunt weak things on the ground.”
“Do you know this demon?” I asked incredulously.
“His name is Tahēsh. He is the Dīnen …” His nose scrunched. “I do not know your word. He is … king?”
“King?” I gasped. “He’s a demon king?”
Zylas hopped onto a dumpster, crouched on its edge, and peered up into the erratic rain. “He is Dīnen of the First House. All of my kind know his name.”
A memory stirred—Uncle Jack’s email to his partner Claude. I think this is the 12th house??
“How many demon kings are there?” I asked.
He watched the sky, his nostrils flaring as he scented the breeze. “Twelve.”
A king for each House. I rubbed my hands over my face, smearing raindrops across my skin. “Uncle Jack summoned a demon king. That’s insane. And you set him free!”
“What is so impressive, payilas? He lived longest, so he became Dīnen.”
“But … a king! Does that mean he commands other demons?”
“He rules his House.” Zylas’s gaze traced the rooftops. “It is not a great thing.”
I snorted. “Now you just sound jealous. You wish you were a demon king too.”
“Ih?” He looked at me properly, his mouth thinning. “I am.”
“You’re what?”
“Dīnen.”
My expression froze. “Wh … what? You’re a demon king?”
His scowl deepened at my disbelieving tone and his tail lashed, hitting the dumpster’s side with a clang. “Of course, payilas. Do you know anything?”
I stared at him, my heart thudding in a strange rhythm. “You’re King of the Twelfth House …”
He glanced skyward, then hopped off the dumpster. “Finding Tahēsh is stupid, payilas. Leave now. Back to the other hh’ainun.”
“What? No, we have to stop him. I just explained—”
Zylas stepped closer, his dark hair tangled across his eyes and dripping rainwater. “Go back to the hh’ainun.”
“No, I—”
He pushed on my stomach, forcing me back a step. “Go now.”
“Quit it! I’m not leaving until Tahēsh is stopped.”
Zylas shoved me again—gently, but he was so strong I staggered.
“Stop it!” I seethed, skittering away from him. How did I make him understand our responsibility to stop this demon? Could he understand it or was it beyond his moral conception?
His eyes glowed menacingly as he herded me toward the alley’s entrance, his teeth glinting, half bared. His contractual promise to protect me suddenly felt all