Demon Slave (Shadow Quest Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

worked.
    The stubborn demon may not submit to questioning, but his earlier behavior suggested he could be tempted by other means. If she failed tonight, she would be forced to hand him over to her warden. And she didn’t want to think of all the ways Renzo got his prisoners to talk.
    Choosing her outfit carefully Nadua tried to dress as nicely as possible. With a slight tremble, she slipped on her finest fur cloak, which spanned the length of her body and cinched at the waist. A small train brushed the floor.
    The robe fell open in the front, and she usually wore her riding clothes under it. Not tonight. Tonight it would serve as a dress of sorts. Holding the bottom of the fabric up she glanced down at her bare legs. It was surprisingly elegant. She blushed and let the material fall back into place.
    Was she really going to go through with this?
    Accessories were scarce, of course. While packing for this trip, she hadn’t realized she’d be in need of finer adornments—who would pack for a fight and think, where’s that necklace I love? So she was stuck with a clean pair of gloves, and boots with laces to match.
    It didn’t matter what her hair or face looked like, for it would remain covered, as usual, to protect her from the cold. Besides, it shouldn’t be her face the demon would be looking at.
    A mirror wasn’t necessary for her to realize this was a lackluster attempt at dressing for seduction. Everything she wore was made, in some part, from edisdon fur—it was the only material that could keep her warm—and he’d already expressed his distaste for it. But it would have to do.
     
    * * *
     
    Marik leaned back against the familiar stake, hands behind him once more, with the same flimsy rope in place. A soldier entered, carrying a stool and set it down next to the dimming fire pit. With shaky hands, he added a few logs and then rushed away, sparing Marik an uneasy look as he went.
    The day had been fairly productive—as productive as a day in captivity could be, anyway. He’d been able to learn quite a bit of the language by the simple act of observing those around him. Not enough to decipher complete sentences yet, but he could at least gather the gist of a conversation. It was sure to be useful, since no one spoke any other language that he could understand. Except that woman, of course.
    She had proven distracting while she was near him, though. Even while they were silent he was too focused on her, rather than keeping to his task.
    His curiosity had driven him mad. What was her name? Why does she speak a language of the stars when no one else could? What the hell was under that cloak?
    Getting rid of her had been easy enough, but then keeping her in his sights had been a full time occupation. He didn’t know why, but if she disappeared from view—which she managed often—Marik couldn’t concentrate till he knew where she was in the group. To keep tabs on his enemy, he reminded himself. Not because he feared for her life. The two guards had also been out of sight most of the day.
    After his crude remarks to her earlier, Marik was genuinely surprised when the woman entered his tent. Oddly, something in the pit of his stomach relaxed at the sight of her.
    She was still covered from head to toe in that fluff, but something was different: her outfit was tighter, revealing her figure and giving him an even better idea of what her body might look like under that damn fur.
    Tempting.
    A thick scarf tucked into her hood and hid her features. Her lovely eyes glimmered in the glow of the flames as she sauntered to the fire.
    A chair had been placed close to the flames and he expected her to take it immediately, but she remained standing. She looked a bit uneasy. By her swift glances to the exit, he had the feeling she was contemplating leaving without a word, and the thought bothered him.
    “ Are you here to continue our conversation about how talented my tongue can be? I assure you it...” Marik trailed off