Page 82 of Sinful Curses
Finally free of the spiders surrounding him, the demon staggered toward Orin before falling to a knee. He bent his head and rested his fist on the ground before lifting his gaze to Orin’s.
In his yellow eyes, Orin saw the truth; Zeth didn’t expect to leave here alive. He didn’t know how to feel about that as he drew the shadows around him.
When Orin first arrived in the Cursed Realm, he was indifferent to the demon, who mostly kept to himself. But when Sahira arrived, he saw the demon as competition for her and disliked the man.
When he learned she’d fed from Zeth, Orin wanted to kill the demon but didn’t because he couldn’t let his emotions gain control of him like that. He wasn’t alycan.
He’d often envisioned tearing the demon’s head off, but once Sahira told him Zeth was married with a child, and they never had sex, he’d come to see the demon as an ally in this land. He was strong, powerful, determined to escape, and would help Orin get Sahira through this.
Unlike many of his brethren, Zeth remained more levelheaded, probably because he had a wife and child to return to. He wasn’t brash, irrational, and prone to violence.
Orin respected this more-controlled aspect of the demon as the dark fae were often more reserved and in control of their emotions. He’d always been completely rational… until the witch.
She’d rattled him, and while he didn’t like it, he couldn’t deny she’d changed something inside him. His gaze flicked to Sahira as her flames dwindled while the fire behind her raged.
The spiders maintained their distance as she backed toward the burning web. Her fire might be going out, but the web was building into an inferno that scared the rest of the monsters.
He could leave the demon behind; it was his right to do so, survival of the fittest and all. He’d always put his life above most others, but he hesitated to leave Zeth.
Before Sahira, he wouldn’t have thought twice about letting the demon die. Now, a conscience, that he’d never known he possessed, raised its ugly head and started sputtering nonsense about saving the man.
What the fuck?
He wasn’t sure if this new development was good or bad, but he didn’t like it. And because of it, he would have to risk his life to help another, so it must be bad.
But there was Sahira, and she would be upset if he left the demon to die. However, conscience or not, ally or not, he’d throw the demon aside to save her.
He didn’t have to worry, as Sahira had moved close enough to the burning web that the spiders stayed far away from her. She could also use those flames against the big bitch if she tried anything.
Sahira was as safe as she could get in this place, and the spiders were closing in on the demon. He was going to have to save Zeth’s ass again.
With the shadows encased securely around him, Orin raced toward Zeth as a spider shot some webbing at him. It hit the demon in the side.
Zeth grasped the filament and tried to tear it free, but he was too weak, or it was too strong. The demon’s razor-sharp claws should cut through the webbing; the fact they didn’t, confirmed the demon’s weakness as the spider started dragging Zeth toward it.
Adjusting his hold on his dagger, Orin sprinted faster and jumped onto the spider’s back before it could pull Zeth beneath it. He plunged his blade into the tail end of the thing’s ass and sliced across it.
With deft movements, he cut away the spider’s ability to make more of the sticky web while freeing Zeth. He didn’t bother finishing off the thing as the other spiders closed in on them.
He had to get the demon away from here and closer to the flames where he would be safer from the spiders looking to eat him. Sliding off the spider, he sprinted toward Zeth as another creature, encased in fire, raced past them. Its piercing screams alerted Orin that things had become far quieter since most of the spiders retreated.
The flames continued to roar, but the spider’s screams subsided while they watched their home and relatives burn. Some of them hovered feet away from the demon, but most had retreated toward the cliffs and that big bitch.
Orin kept the shadows around him as he skidded to a halt beside the demon. By the time he reached the man, Zeth had gotten to his knees. With his head bent forward, sweat dripped from Zeth’s brow to plop on the ground.
He looked like death, and when he slumped to the side, Orin thought he might be.
CHAPTERSEVENTY-TWO
Steppingon the web still connected to the demon’s side, Orin used his dagger to separate Zeth from the spider’s ass. The webbing clung to his boot, refusing to come free until he kicked off his boot and yanked his dagger free of the sticky substance.
Once they were free, he slid his arm under the demon’s and lifted him off the ground. The man was a heavy, dead weight as he leaned against Orin’s side. His weight pulled on Orin’s wounded arm, but he didn’t say anything or release him like he should.
Orin ignored the flare of discomfort from his injury as, shifting his hold on the demon, he draped Zeth’s arm around his shoulders before drawing the shadows around them. Zeth’s feet dragged across the ground as Orin ran toward Sahira and Elsa.
Why am I doing this?Orin pondered as Zeth’s weight pulled at his shoulders. If the spiders started swarming again, or mama web-slinger decided to charge Sahira, he’d drop the demon.
He told himself this, but as Zeth hindered his progress, he kept dragging him. Orin cursed himself and his conscience as a newfound weakness that might get him killed if he wasn’t careful.
