Page 19 of Taken By Fury
She dug through her pack and pulled out a jacket. The temperature declined quickly as the sun dropped and the forest plunged into darkness. “What does that mean?”
He pushed himself up and took her pack to place it inside the tent with his. “It means the fire will not turn the wood to ash. While it acts as a fuel to feed the flame, my magic renews the fuel source.”
She shook her head, not even comprehending what he was trying to tell her. So, he waved her back to her seat.
“Watch.” He was about to pull out all the stops. Why? For some reason, he felt the need to impress her further, as well as see to her comfort. Calling on all the elements, he first summoned a small table with two chairs. Next, he presented a loaf of bread, then two steaming bowls of stew, followed by a pitcher of wine and two glasses.
“Hungry?”
“Unbelievable. Are you saying I could do that too?”
“Sure. Maybe not today, but one day with practice and guidance from another demon. Of course, remember that royal magic is more powerful, so there will be limits.”
“I want to learn. Will you teach me?” Excitement vibrated off her and who was he to tell her no?
“Let’s eat first, then we can see what we can do.”
With a nod, she pulled out a chair and sat down. “These smells delicious.” Then dug into her bowl.
* * *
With her bellyfull and the wine warming her to the bone, Sheila had a radiant glow. This time she moved her chair by the fire, which still burned like it had when Zander started it. And to his word, the wood had done nothing more than scorch, and it remained as it had been hours before. Her excitement from earlier when he promised to help her find her magic turned to panic. What if she failed? What if she didn’t? This could mean a whole new life for her. She could better protect herself, that was for certain, but not even demon magic could stand up to a pissed-off god on a mission. It was time to offer a truce. After all, she was one of them.
“I know how Zolar created the netting.”
Zander moved beside her so quickly he startled her. “How?”
“He embedded your DNA into the magic he used.”
“How do you know this?” He pulled his chair in beside her.
“Because it had started to decay over the years, and he forced me to help fix it.” She turned to face him. “I was told I needed to find a way to take the Valarian DNA and improve it.”
His brows furrowed. “Improve it how?”
“I had no idea what he meant at first, but then he showed me. Apparently, when he first made the netting, he took the DNA from one of your people and sequenced it into his magic so that the netting recognized you and could somehow immobilize you. I didn’t understand how it all worked, but he was able to show me the molecular structure of it all. The DNA had decayed with time.”
“So, couldn’t he simply replace it with more?”
“He tried, but it didn’t work. The netting was useless when he abducted me, so I was tasked with figuring out why and fixing it.”
His lip curled. “You mean along with impregnating women?”
“Yes! Along with any other dirty deed he demanded I do.” She sighed. “Look, I can’t erase my past and what I did to survive no more than you can. If you allow him to get to me, I will be put right back in that lab and back to doing his bidding, and this time, he’s likely to pry into my brain. So, you’d best make sure that doesn’t happen,” she snapped. “I’m trying to make a peace offering here so that maybe you will not become ensnared in his trap.”
“I apologize. Please continue.”
That was the first time he had apologized to her since he had taken her prisoner. Astounding. “Anyway, I tried using fresh DNA, but it still didn’t work. I was months into trying to figure out why, and Zolar was growing impatient. Finally, one day, I noticed a tiny change in a fresh sample I had acquired. It was so small that it was understandable how I might have missed it before. To make sure it wasn’t a fluke, I drew samples from four other demons and noticed the same results. Every single one had evolved.”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure I follow.”
“In simple terms, your DNA had a change so small it was difficult to detect, and each Valarian I tested proved my theory. This was some defense mechanism you guys had developed to evade capture, I’m guessing.” For some reason, she felt the need to reach out and place her hand on his knee.
“Don’t you see? Since your original capture, your species has evolved to protect itself from the enemy.”
“Then how does the netting still capture us?”
“It doesn’t. At least not very often. When was the last time you heard of someone getting snared in it?”
