Page 47 of Fallen Demon

I blinked at her. “You don’t know me?”

“I know you but I don’t remember you.” She tilted her head. “I feel strong things for you. But I don’t know why.”

What the hell? Had she slipped so deep into insanity? Forgotten everything? And her ashen skin, her dark fingertips turned claws? Were they a trick of this place too?

If I stayed here for a week, would I become like that too?

“Do you know who you are?” I asked.

She tilted her head to the other side, but snarled at me.

Which was my answer.

Ylena didn’t remember who she was. She didn’t remember me, and perhaps she didn’t remember anything, which meant I could use that to my advantage. I could trap her before her curiosity ran out and she decided to attack me.

“You’re Ylena,” I said, standing up. A wave of dizziness coursed through me, but I blinked fast and contracted my core, willing myself to stay upright. “You were my mentor and friend.”

The word felt like poison on my throat, but I was playing a role here. Nothing more.

She stared at me, as if she could feel it made sense, that it was true, but she couldn’tseeit.

“What—?”

A growl came from somewhere behind me, and I turned, only to get dizzy again and almost trip on my feet.

On a large rock formation was an opening, like the mouth of a cave.

The growl came again from there.

From behind me, Ylena closed her hand around my neck and pressed her claws into my throat. “She’s here!”

I jerked, trying to disentangle myself from her, but damn, she either had gotten stronger, or she had always hidden her full strength.

I forgot all about her when the growl echoed a third time and Levi emerged from the cave.

He was still in his demon form and looking more terrifying than ever.

I stilled.

“She’s all yours,” Ylena said, and only now I noticed her hand was gone and she was several feet back.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice low.

“He seemed to take interest in you,” she said. “You’re my ticket to get rid of him.”

“What—?”

Levi’s red eyes locked on me and I stilled.

Ylena flew away and he stared at me.

I retreated.

He growled louder this time and I froze.

With deliberate steps, he advanced toward me.

I would have been so glad for finding him except for the murderous gleam in his eyes, the tension in his powerful body; it made me want to run.