My lips quivered at his words. The hallway got colder and my teeth chattered. With each word he spoke, it felt like he was sucking the warmth away from this place, his eyes bleeding into mine. Unlike the hallway, the place where he held my wrist burned as if I had a bracelet of fire around it. The pain caused me to yelp, but he held me tighter. This wasn't what I came here for. I felt it would be a painless death, one that would send me on the way to meet my parents. I never imagined it to be like this.
"Do you know what I love about humans?" He leaned in to whisper, his voice dangerously low, conveying the danger in his tone, the thrill he got from hearing me yelp in pain.
"Please…" I begged, my lips moving on its own. If I'd known this was what I would face, I would have taken Athan on his offer to hide me. He knew this was what would happen and was trying to shield me from it. I was just too stubborn to listen…
"Are you begging me, human?" He grinned, showing off teeth which were sharp enough to bite into my skin and tear my flesh apart. Everything about the demon lord was dangerous. The way he smiled made me feel itching sensations in my body. "That's what I love the most. When they beg me, grovelling at their feet for me not to hurt them. I love it, human and I take pleasure in that."
Every other plea I had in my mouth vanished at his words. He didn't sound like he was joking. Not with that animalistic look. The stories I'd heard about him were true. Even more fearful. None of them captured the dread, the taunting looks in his eyes, and the way they flashed when he spoke of pain.
"What? Cat got your tongue?" He tightened his hold, laughing when I cried out. "Oh, human. I would love to break you and watch you crumble at my feet." He let go and stepped back.
With no one to hold me up, I fell to the floor, gasping for breath. I felt like he almost choked me, even though he didn't hold my neck.
A peal of dry laughter echoed throughout the hallway, bouncing off the walls and conveying the darkness he wasn't trying to hide. Shivering, I rubbed my arms, praying for this to pass, for it to be one long nightmare I would wake up from, but I knew it wouldn't be the case.
This was as real as it could get. I was in the palace of a king with the face of the one who was kind to me, being tortured for my decision to replace someone else.
He stopped laughing and looked down at me, his face scrunched in anger before he turned his back to me. "I don't have all night to waste with you, human. We will see tomorrow night."
And that was all he said to me. One minute he was standing in front of me and the next he wasn't there. He vanished. Without a freaking trace.
I always thought I was strong, but the demon lord showed me what it was for someone to be terrified. He made it feel like he would get rid of me with just a snap of his fingers.
I didn't rise from my position the entire night, scared he might return to continue from where he stopped. It wasn't impossible. I had seen it in his gaze, in the way he looked at me, and knew he wouldn't think twice about returning just to break my bones and prove a point.
"Sera?"
The call startled me, and I screamed in fear. The voice was back. The demon Lord is here to finish what he started.
"It's me, Athan."
I stopped flinging my arms when I heard him. His tone was soft, just like it was when he made lunch for me and took me on a walk around the garden.
I peeked an eye open to look at him, to make certain he was the one and not the demon Lord. Kind golden eyes stared down at me, softening when I continued to peer at him. He smiled and reached out to me like he was coaxing a pet.
"It's alright. I won't hurt you."
"Where is he?" I looked around, expecting the demon lord to leap out from the shadows. Though it wasn't as dark as it was in the hallway when I met him, and there were rays from the sun filtering in through the cracks in the windows, I didn't doubt that he would show up.
"Who?" Athan frowned.
"The demon king, Rythanasios Vasileios."
Athan's face transformed at the mention of the name, and he knelt in front of me, taking my hand in his as he looked at me with urgency. "What did he do to you?"
"He…" I gulped, looking around. Oddly enough, I felt like he was watching me, waiting for me to bad mouth him so he would appear and complete his task. I shook my head and closed my eyes. "Nothing."
Warm hands cradled my face, causing me to snap my eyes open. I stared into his eyes, feeling drawn into them, not in a bad way like I did with the other one.
"He won't harm you, Sera, not during the day."
"What do you mean?" I blinked at his words. "Why won't he hurt me during the day?"
"Because he has no power." He smiled, caressing my cheeks. "You can trust me, Sera. He won't hurt you."
"I don't want to meet him again." I shook my head, my lips trembling. "He's a psychopath."
Athan smiled. "Typical of him. He enjoys playing the villain."
"He's your brother, right? You guys have the same face and almost the same —"
"He's not my fucking brother!" He growled, narrowing his eyes at me.
"But —"
"We are nothing alike." He shook his head like the mere thought of it was repulsing enough. "We only share the same…." He trailed off, blinking. "Are you hungry?"
"Huh?"
Talk more about a dramatic change of topic.
"Come. I will prepare breakfast for you. You must be tired and ravenous from sitting at a spot all night."
"I —"
I yelped when he carried me up from the floor, doing so effortlessly like I weighed nothing.
"What are you doing?!"
"Taking you to the kitchen. It's time to fill your stomach with something delicious, my dear."