FORTY THREE

Word Count: 2027

~Tove

I yawn, trying not to drag my feet.

This has been the longest day of my life. I've followed Keo around a large part of the Territory One city, asking people for information.

Almost every one of them has no idea what we are talking about...

This fabled Demon doesn't seem to exist.

"We have talked to everyone we can, we have been to every corner of this city...this is hopeless," I mutter, pausing at the end of the street.

The sun is setting behind the rolling dunes of the expansive desert. We have made it to a district at the end of the city that is almost half consumed by sand. It's everywhere. It blankets roofs, it blows across the street and right into my eyes...

"It just doesn't make sense," Keo mutters, sweeping his hand through his hair frustratingly. "Why would this Demon stop taking Angel-blood's from here?"

I sigh, shaking my head.

"Because they aren't here anymore," I mutter.

The wind flutters through Keo's hair as he stares out at the horizon. He's tense, uneasy. Ever since we got here he's been deep in thought, hardly paying attention to what's going on around him.

"Something doesn't feel right," he murmurs.

"You're the one who is good at tracking. Perhaps you should follow your instincts," I encourage.

Keo was able to determine out of all Angel-blood's in these vast lands that I had the powers he needed. How long it took him is beyond me, but I imagine it all came down to his uncanny ability to track people down.

He shifts his attention over slightly, back down the street. "Wait..."

"What?"

"That's Dax."

I follow where he is pointing, seeing a figure strolling stiffly down the street. Those deep brown curls and slender figure is all too familiar, and not in a good way.

"Dax? What is he doing out here?" I question. This is right on the outskirts of the city. "He's walking out into the desert."

The Noble's stride doesn't falter once as his feet his the sand. He clearly has a destination in mine.

"I suppose we follow him," Keo says with a shrug.

So, we too start off after him. He doesn't turn around once, although we keep a decent distance back. Keo walks close to me, ready to transport us both away in case Dax does decide to scan the area.

"Where do you think he is going?" I ask.

Keo frowns. "I'm not sure, but something doesn't feel right."

He's right, Dax is acting strange. The way he walks, it's like he's in a trance. I know he has the ability to transport himself, and yet he is walking into the desert like he's just a mortal.

"Don't get too close. I don't want him seeing me and...you know," I remind him, staring at the back of Dax's head from a distance.

Keo's eyes are dark as he looks down at me. "He won't touch you. Don't worry."

I nod, shivering a little. The sun has officially slipped below the horizon, darkness sweeping across the dunes. My eyes strain to keep Dax in my vision, not wanting to let him slip from view.

We walk for a while, not exchanging any words at risk of Dax hearing.

Eventually Dax stops, going ridgid.

Keo and I stoop down, looking down at him from the top of a sweeping red dune. We have been walking for hours at this point, and I'm exhausted. But if Dax is walking out here, there must be an important reason for it.

All of a sudden another figure appears in front of Dax. In the darkness it's impossible to see much, but I can tell it's a woman.

"Who is that?" I ask breathily.

"I'm not sure," Keo mutters.

The woman grabs Dax's arm, and before I can blink, they are both gone. I startle a little, surrpised at how quickly they managed to vanish.

Keo stands again, brushing red sand off himself. "It's okay, I can track their magic."

"So we're just going to go exactly where they are?" I ask warily. Who knows what this is about. Maybe this woman is his lover and she is taking him away to...I don't want to see that.

"Yes."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

There's also a chance that we are going to enter an unknown situation that could end with us getting killed.

Keo smiles a little, clearly not as concerned about this as I am. "I'm not scared of Dax."

Of course not. He's not scared of anyone.

"Alright. I trust you," I breathe, trying to muster some courage as I slide my hands into his.

I don't close my eyes as the world disappears from around us. I focus on everything I can as we land on hard ground again, trying to decipher if there is any danger.

We are in some kind of dimly lit cave. The walls are wide set apart, the floor sandy. The cave seems to wind around for quite a distance, and despite how natural the place is, it's clear someone lives here.

"What is this place?" I whisper. There's no one around, thankfully.

"I have no idea, but by the colour of these walls we are still in Territory One," Keo mutters, running his hand down one of them. He's right, the walls are the familiar red colour of the desert.

"Can you sense anything?"

He pauses, his eyes glazing as he refers back to a part of him that is pure supernatural. I wish I shared that power, although what I have now is more than I can handle.

"Hmm. There's magic this way." He nods down the corridor, encouraging me to follow.

I do so, hoping this doesn't lead to something terrible. This place has a crushing weight about it that is impossible to describe. It's as if dark secrets permeate the walls, threatening to draw me into them.

Something brushes against my hand from the shadows, making me jump. I flinch a little, until fingers wrap around my wrist and I'm transported out the cave corridor.

Light flashes in my eyes and then I'm standing in a completely different room.

An unfamiliar woman let's me go, stepping back. I gape at her, trying to comprehend what just happened.

"Holy-"

"Shh, you're still in the same place," she cuts me off coldly. The harshness of her tone has me closing my mouth as quickly as it opened.

She is beautiful in a cruel, intimidating kind of way. Her almost black eyes are narrowed on me, examining me as I am her. There is nothing warm or gentle about her.

"Who are you?" I ask breathlessly.

She steps back, folding her arms. "Who do you think I am?"

"I don't know, that's why I asked," I bite back. I'm playing with fire, considering this is probably Dax's lover and I've just stumbled into her home uninvited.

She rolls her eyes although her stoic expression doesn't shift.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm looking for...a friend. Dax," I tell her tightly.

She steps forward, grabbing my forearm. Her grip is tight and impossible to tug away from her. Her strength feels otherwordly as she pulls me so close my chest nearly bumps against hers.

With her free hand she sweeps my hair off my neck, leaning down.

I still, my heartbeat fluttering against my ribcage. Her nose brushes against my neck as she draws in a deep breath.

"Ah, another Angel-blood," she murmurs, pulling back.

Fear flares up within me. Her eyes went from dead to alive in a second, like she is starved and looking at her next meal.

"Are you the Demon?" I ask, wishing my voice wouldn't shake as back it is.

She raises her dark brows. "The Demon?"

"The one who drinks blood and brought Dax here?" I should be getting out of here not stopping to talk without Keo. But this is why we are here, to find this Demon and get their help.

"I definitely do all those things, so I guess that's me," she says.

"You're..." I break off.

I figured the Demon Relm and Keo mentioned would be intimidating, but I didn't expect them to be as lethal looking as this woman does. Plus she is young...so young, and yet I know she is older than even Keo.

"Not who you expected?" She smirks, which is an expression that doesn't look right with her sharp features. "You were probably meaning my brother."

"Huh?"

"My brother. My twin. He's also a Demon, although he consumes a lot less Angel-blood. He just kills them and let's me have my fun," she tells me. By the gleam in her eye, it's clear she enjoys making me uncomfortable.

My eyes widen at the new information I've been fed. There's two of them?

"Oh...were you going to kill Dax?" I question.

"No, Dax is how we get information about Territory One. He doesn't realise he's under a spell," she muses.

I shift my hair back over my neck as I notice her eyes constantly sweeping back to it. Thankfully she is more curious about why I am here than more desperate to drink my blood.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"I may not, but my brother might." She shrugs, as if it's not as big deal. "It depends on why there is an Angel-blood here with Keo."

"You know Keo?"

She frowns, looking over me. She thinks I'm an idiot. "I've been alive for a very long time. I know about every Demon."

"And you've been letting them die?" I question.

She raises he brows at the sound of my raise voice. Then, her eyes darken, her limbs tensing as she takes a threatening step toward me. I stumble back a little, reminding myself of who I'm talking to.

"I wouldn't push me, Angel-blood. And I wouldn't push my brother," she growls.

"Take me to see him then," I beg.

It doesn't seem like it, but I'm hoping he's more willing to hear me out than her. She seems to have already decided she wants to drink my blood, and if I tell her I'm here to help Demon's she won't take me seriously.

"What are you going to do when he slaughters you on the spot, Angel-blood?" she asks. Clearly that's what she is hoping will happen.

I rub my arm uncomfortably. "You haven't...yet."

"Because I'm curious. I want to know why Keo brought you here." She tilts her head. The dim room is casting shadows across her face that make her appear gaunt.

"I'll tell you, if you promise not to kill me," I barter.

Strangely there's no door to this room. It's mostly empty aside from some furniture which is covered in red sand and clearly doesn't belong here. This must be where all intruders are brought to be interrogated.

"No promises from me, I'm afraid," she exclaims. "Luckily for you, Ziah and I make collective decisions, so I'm going to need his opinion on this."

Ziah. That is the name of the other Demon.

Relm either lied to me when he said he trusts the Demon Keo has been hunting for, or he truly does trust one of them.

One of them. Which one, I have no idea.

"He's going to kill me," I say. I don't have a reason to give her to make her save me. Not yet anyway. I need Keo there, to back me up, otherwise I'm just another Angel-blood who is connected to those that slaughtered their entire race.

Her smile is cruel. "Maybe. But you're just going to have to risk it, won't you? Because I imagine he's already got his claws in your mate."

I swallow thickly. Keo is alive, I know it. I just don't know for how much longer...

I hold my hand out to her. "Take me to him.

❤️••❤️

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