All The Wrong Signs
Stronger

Riley’s POV

The dark was a scary place to be. Being alone made the entire situation even worse. All your worse nightmares came to life in the dark.

I tried to imagine how Blaze must have felt being chained here in the darkness for centuries. How alone he must have felt. Even demons had to feel some type of emotions. Blaze was good about not showing emotions, but he had them. I knew he did.

Or maybe I just hoped he did. I hoped that our connection was more than the bond between us. Now that I had time to really think about it, I was ashamed of myself for pushing the bond at him so strongly.

He didn’t want it.

It had been me. All me.

He had been right. I had wanted to feel like I belonged somewhere. I wanted to be wanted by someone else.

I realized now that I had gone about it the wrong way. Blaze had surprised me when he made a knife appear out of thin air. I had thought at first that he would use it to kill me. I had never expected for him to slice my hand open and bond with me.

Why had he done it?

Was it guilt? What did he have to be guilty of?

Tear that I didn’t know I had left in me rolled down my face. I was the guilty one in all of this. I should have released him when I had the chance. Now I couldn’t even call out to him.

Wiping my eyes, I realized that Blaze’s mark on my hand could bring him back here, even without me calling out to him. Lakyn had used a marker, and the simple crossing out of his sigil had sent him back. I wondered if Kyler realized how simple it really was. He wouldn’t even need his name. Not at first.

I’d summon him here myself, scratch my skin with my nails if I thought it would help. I refused to call him here for him to only be stuck in the same circle I was in. If only I could damage his mark on the floor, I could release him from at least one of his captors. If I made it out of this alive, I would release him, too. As much as I would hate it, as much as it would destroy me, I’d let him out of our bond.

Feeling on the stone floor, I moved forward slowly until I could feel the deep carvings of his sigil. I could feel the magic pouring off of them. Caressing the carvings, I wondered if he could feel me. I wished I could talk. I wouldn’t summon him here, but I would speak to him in hopes that maybe he could hear me.

There was nothing on the floor to help me. No stray rocks. Nothing but me and my chains. There had to be a way. Maybe tomorrow I could get something off of one of the men that could help me. Maybe...

Maybe I’d be dead by this time tomorrow.

As bleak as it sounded, I knew it was true. I would not betray Blaze. His secret was safe with me.

So this would be the end. If I was going to die, I was going to die for something. That something would be Blaze. I would die to free him from this prison.

Moving back to the center of the circle, I played with my chains, hitting them against the ground in different ways to see if it marked the floor any. I could feel a little dust coming up after a few hits, but when I felt it wasn’t enough to do anything. It would take me years to even make a mark.

There had to be a way. There just had to. I refused to give up. Moving forward again, until I could feel the carves in the ground, I tried to hit them with the chains over and over, hoping for a miracle while I tried to think of what else I could do.

I had nothing in my pockets. If they would have left me with my jacket, I would at least have my keys. I didn’t even know where my things were.

The banging of the chains on the hard floor made a horrible racket, and I knew if Kyler had left anyone here to guard me, they would soon come running.

No one came. I guess being chained alone in the dark in a cave on the side of a cliff was enough of a guard for anyone.

I banged on the floor until I couldn’t anymore. I had stirred up dirt, but nothing that would mare Blaze’s sigil. Wiping my hand over the stone, I tried to make any evidence of what I had done disappear before I crawled back toward the center and rested on my side.

Morning would come soon, and I had a feeling with it Kyler and his men. As much as I hated to admit it, I was afraid. I’d never even had a broken bone, and I was sure that they would do much worse than break something on my body.

Whatever happens, I have to be strong.

Closing my eyes, I thought about Blaze. He controlled my dreams. What if I could get a message out to him? Maybe if I thought of something over and over enough, I would dream about it. Maybe...

Hearing a noise, I sat up.

Was it already morning?

I could see a torch in the distance, and others being lit slowly as one of the men from yesterday walked around the room lighting it up. Kyler and the other man walked in behind him. They were discussing something too low for me to hear.

Taking a deep breath of air, I stood up. I refused to meet Kyler laying down. When I moved, it seemed to drawl his attention to me. He shut a book in his hand and handed it over to the perv from yesterday.

“I trust you slept well,” Kyler said with a fake grin on his face. “Are you ready to part with that foul demon’s name?”

Looking up at him as the first man came and removed my gag, I sighed. “I can’t remember it. He put some kind of spell on me.”

Kyler growled, or at least it sounded like a growl.

I moved my hands behind my back in order to hide Blaze’s sigil and to look somewhat submissive. “I’m sorry.”

Tilting his head, Kyler narrowed his eyes at me. “Why did you lie to Rose? Are you helping him? What did he offer you?”

Rose. Lakyn’s grandmother. They had betrayed me.

“He hadn’t offered me anything. I accidentally summoned him one night when I was drunk and…”

“And what?” Kyler barked. “He’s just been playing house with you this whole time.”

“He has been locked up for centuries,” the creep said. “I’m sure he’s been making up for lost time fucking the shit out of her. Is that is babydoll?”

My mouth stayed glued shut, but I met the man’s eyes. I didn’t care what anyone said. He was evil, much evil than the two demons I knew.

Kyler walked up, not stopping until he was directly in front of me. “You want me to let Doyle and Rubert have their way with you? Will that loosen up that demon whore tongue of yours?”

I swallowed, meeting his eyes. “I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

“Bullshit,” Kyler said, turning around and storming off. As he paced, I glanced at the floor, trying to replace the spot I had worked on last night. You could see a difference in the floor. The color was lighter where I had been hitting the stone, but that was the only difference. Nothing that would matter.

The old man turned to look at me. “You forget Kyler she is human. We might not have been able to get past that demon’s shield, but her’s is nothing but creamy white skin. She will be easy to break.”

Kyler turned to look at him. “You can have all the fun you want when I’m done with her, Doyle.”

I turned my head to look at the old man, but had to look away as he winked, licking his lips at me.

The younger man, Rubert, walked up behind me from nowhere. “I know you are scared,” he said, walking around me. “But all we need is a name, sweetheart. One tiny name and you can be free.”

It was lies. They would kill me. They would kill me and they would do it in front of Blaze.

“She knows it,” Doyle spat out. “The whore is trying to protect him.”

Kyler walked up to me. “How much are you willing to risk to help a demon?”

Standing up straight, meeting his gaze, I took a sharp intake of breath. “I will risk it all to keep him from you. Whatever it takes.”

I was taken aback by the punch Kyler gave me. I stumbled back a little before I steadied myself. This would be it. I refused to just sit here and be someone’s punching bag. Not without a fight.

Kyler was inside the circle. He didn’t fear me like he did Blaze. Catching him off guard just as he did me, I ran forward, hitting him with my full body weight. I knew my tiny frame wouldn’t do much to him. But I was able to knock him down. The chains pulling me back as I ran out of slack.

Doyle was laughing. “Oh, mate, she got you good there.”

“Shut up,” Kyler screamed, trying to stand up. His robes kept getting in his way until he finally hiked them up and stood. Storming toward me, he put his face close to mine. I was surprised our eyelashes weren’t touching. “You will regret helping him, witch.”

Channeling some of Blaze, I smiled, “and you will regret ever putting a hand on me.”

I knew it wouldn’t be today, but one day Blaze would figure out how to get Kyler and when he did, I hoped he made him pay. Not just for me, but for him, too.

Doyle walked up between us, grabbing me by my arm roughly. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

“Bring it then.” I sounded way more confident than I was. Inside, I was shaking.

“Fucking Cunt,” Doyle spat, kicking my knees from behind and sending me to the floor. “You’re going to wish that demon killed you when he had the chance.”