It was time for his next adventure.
If you die without a soul, you will be in utter misery for eternity.
He laughed at the thought. How would that be a change from normal? Hell, he wouldn't even notice the difference.
Kyatel shimmered in front of him. His demon's eyes were a bright fluorescent purple. "You owe me your blood."
Ren sneered. "I owe you nothing."
The demon bared his fangs before he went for Ren's throat. Ren caught him and swung him around. But instead of flying away from him, Kyatel embraced him like a brother. The demon sank five claws deep into Ren's previously injured shoulder.
Ren cried out in agony of the additional wound.
"Remember your debt," Kyatel breathed in his ear.
Ren's sight dimmed as that one word took him back to the distant past. Back to the time when he had ruled here as Grizzly's overlord.
When he had owned everything ...
It had been the only time in his entire life he had felt no pain. No shame. He had walked this realm with the knowledge that he was king. No one could touch him.
You are mine again. Grizzly laughed, the sound echoing through his head.
No! Ren struggled to hold on to his last shred of humanity. But it was impossible. No matter how much he denied it, he knew the truth in his heart.
He wanted to belong to something. Anything. Just once. No one else had ever wanted him. Evil had been the only thing that ever welcomed him to its bosom....
But this wasn't belonging and he knew it. All of it had been a lie. The demons hadn't welcomed his presence any more than his family or the world in general. And the only reason Grizzly had pretended to want him was so that he could use Ren's body to get at his enemies.
As for Windseer ...
She'd abandoned him as soon as she had her freedom. Ren had been just as lonely here as their overlord as he'd been in the human realm.
Nothing changed. He was a worthless throwaway then.
He was worthless now.
Closing his eyes, he waited for the demon to end him.
"Let. Him. Go."
At first, Ren couldn't place that angry tone. And even once he'd identified it, he couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Kateri standing behind Kyatel.
And she was pissed at the demon holding him. As incredulous as it was, she appeared ready to tear the demon apart. He wasn't sure who was more shocked by her reappearance. Him or the demon.
That being said, Kyatel recovered first.
Then laughed.
Ren took advantage of the distraction to stab the demon. Too bad, it couldn't kill him. But the blow to Kyatel's carotid would weaken him. Kyatel would have to stop the bleeding and replenish the missing blood, or he'd be too weak to fight. Something no one could afford to be in this realm.
Kyatel's eyes glowed a deep vibrant orange that obliterated their normal purple hue. "This isn't over."
Ren gave him a taunting grin. "It is for now."
As the demon vanished, Ren turned to grab Kateri's arm. "What are you doing here? I sent you away."
"I don't know. I was at Talon's and then I vanished ... and came back."
Ren cursed. Kyatel was stronger than he'd been before. Much stronger. But for her timing, he'd have probably been killed. And now, thanks to the wound in his shoulder, he was even weaker than he'd been before.
Which meant she was in extreme danger. If something attacked her, he was in no condition to put up much of a fight. And if it came for him, he wouldn't be able to keep it from getting her.
Shit ...
"You shouldn't have come back here."
Kateri didn't respond to that. Her attention was diverted by the amount of blood on his clothing. His arms had cuts all over them. And his left shoulder looked as if someone had tried to shred it. "You're hurt."
"I'll live." He leaned his head over to glance past her shoulder, where more creatures were piling in on them. "We need to leave."
"And go where?"
Ren hefted his club up, over his uninjured shoulder. "Preferably some place they're not."
"I couldn't agree more." She followed him out of the room, down a long hallway where there were more demonlike creatures, but they didn't attack. Rather, they stayed to the shadows, watching with an eerie intentness that made her extremely uncomfortable. "Where are we?"
He twisted his club around on his shoulder before he answered. "Someplace neither of us needs to be ... The first level of the West Lands."
Kateri scowled at the term. "Why does that sound familiar to me?"
"It's where our ancestors locked away the worst evils of the world to keep them from preying on humanity."
Oh yeah ...
Her eyes widened as she remembered her grandmother's stories about the Guardian who'd been chosen to keep mankind safe. Benevolent and kind, he'd sought to protect the first humans by banishing all threats. Unfortunately, mankind had been tricked and, like Pandora in Greek mythology, had cracked open the door to release just enough evil to keep them from having a life free of pain and suffering.