Page 34 of The Night Hunting
His daughter …
Rage filled my veins and I acted. I jumped off the chair, ropes and all. I let my fangs out and shifted my arms. The ropes dug into my skin a little more, but I didn’t care. I opened my mouth and jumped at Paimon’s throat.
He lifted his hand and sent a blast of darkfire to me. It exploded in my chest and I fell back, over the chair, and onto the floor. But Paimon wasn’t done. He wrapped darkfire around my neck and shoulders and pulled me up.
“Impressive,” he said, looking genuinely amazed. “But not enough. I’m too strong for you, even when I’m at my weakest.” He set me down on the chair again.
I breathed hard, my muscles trembling. I might not be strong enough to take him out now, but I would find a way to end him.
Paimon glanced to the left. “Did I forget anything?”
I followed his gaze, and for the second time in less than five minutes, my heart stopped again.
Dot.
Dot was here.
The Nightmist witch smiled at me. She turned her gaze to Paimon. “There’s one more thing.”
The rage started inside me like a small stream, but grew into a river going down the hill and preparing for the waterfall. It came unbound and strong, if I had been standing, it would have brought me to my knees.
My chest heaved and the Shadow Wolf tickled the back of my mind.
“He’s cursed.” Dot pointed at me, and a spark of dark magic flew to my chest. Like a shock, it spread through my body, numbing me.
My head lolled forward and I inhaled a ragged breath.
“The Shadow Wolf,” Paimon said. “You told me about that. Won’t that be a problem?”
Dot shook her head. “I can keep it under control.”
“Splendid.” Paimon walked to me and leaned closer. He grasped my chin and made me look at him. “I’ll keep you locked in my prison until the next full moon. When you shift into your Shadow Wolf, I’ll kill you.”
I frowned. “Why wait until the full moon?”
“That’s when the Shadow Wolf will be stronger,” Dot said.
I shook my head. Wouldn’t that be worse for them? That didn’t make sense.
“Take him to the prison,” Paimon ordered.
Rotgar advanced on me along with another demon. Hands wrapped around my arms and pulled me up. The ropes, still enchanted and strong, never let out as the demons dragged me away from the living room—two held my arms, while another four surrounded me. Dazed from Dot’s spell, I couldn’t focus on my surroundings, but I did my best. We went through a hallway and past a door to the outside. A short set of steps followed, and I tripped over one of the demons carrying me. I fell back on the stairs and took a deep breath. I needed to think clearly, to pay attention, but this damn spell was making me feel like I had drunk too much.
A voice came from the top of the stairs. “We’ve got a report, sir.” The voice was faint, probably from being so far, but despite my drunkenness, my hearing was still good. “They are closing in on the dragon.”
The dragon? The same dragon that had been sleeping underneath my pack lands for centuries?
“Where are they now?”
“Northeastern Maine.”
“Excellent,” Paimon said. “I’ll be ready to travel when they call me. The sooner we kill this dragon and I absorb his power, the better.”
Paimon was weak, and he weakened easily. He lived on small bursts of magic and sacrifice from others. I gulped. That was why he wanted to wait until the full moon to kill me. Because my Shadow Wolf would be stronger. He could absorb more magic.
And now it seemed he was after the dragon.
Dragons were powerful creatures, by far the most powerful of all supernaturals. If he absorbed the dragon’s powers, it was likely Paimon would recover from whatever ailment afflicted him.