She whirled at
the scrabbling sound behind her. “You call a god? And a fairy?” The demon
quailed on the table before her. “Please! Do not bring them in here! By my
bond, I beg you!”
Rachel sighed. “Nazu
and Ablidioni are two of the best doctors we have. It’s true, Ablidioni is a
fairy, but he’s the best diagnostician I’ve ever seen. And Nazu? He’s not a….”
She faltered.
Her Nazu? What was he? A demon? She’d never seen him in anything other than his
human form. He had power, no doubt. Power to heal, power to sense her anywhere
in the human or demon realms, power to make her weak in the knees. But…a god?
The demon had
stilled and watched her from the table. It hissed again, lashing its three
forked tongues, and Rachel recognized the laughter this time. “You don’t know,
do you, human? You play a dangerous game, consorting with a god.”
Rachel shook her
head and stepped forward again, pressing the demon to lie flat on the table. “Lie
still. You play a dangerous game, moving while you’re bleeding out. By
your bond, lie still!”
The demon froze
as if she had cast a spell on it. Rachel sucked in a breath of annoyance. “I
release you. I didn’t mean that. Just….lie still so you don’t bleed all over
the floor.”
The demon
relaxed on the table, and Rachel wished—not for the first time—that demon oath’s
were truly as easy to release. And where were the doctors? The demon’s eyes
were slowly filling with blood, and it was pooling on the table and splattering
on the tiles beneath them. She had no idea how they would restore it if it lost
much more.
The air pressure
shifted as the outer door lock opened. Good. They were here. Nazu would know
what to do.
The demon’s hand
flashed out and gripped her wrist. It didn’t struggle, but it looked at her
with the first hint of fear in its eyes. “Please. Do not leave me with the
fairy.”
Rachel bit her
inner lip and fought the smile that threatened her composure. The demon was
sure to take it either as a threat or an insult. Rachel couldn’t imagine being afraid
of Ablidioni, nor any of the fae she had met. But this giant demon—who looked
like it could tear Rachel apart without a second thought—was afraid. Suddenly
Rachel wasn’t smiling.
The inner door
opened, and Rachel gently pushed the demon’s hand back onto the table. Nazu wouldn’t
be pleased if he thought she was threatened.
The demon turned
its head and coughed black blood. “Ninazu ak Enlil, I am oath-bound to your
consort. I beg your protection from the fae.” Almost as an afterthought, it
said in a whisper, “And the gods.”
Rachel’s
eyebrows climbed as she turned to see the frown on Nazu’s face. Oh, this was
going to be good…
TBC…
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Dogs
in House
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Houdini
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Time
writing
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~40 minutes
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April
word count
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3,678
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