Page 106 of Lost in the Dark

“I’ve never heard of a cambion before.”

I took a deep breath. “Few have. My kind are often exiled. Not demon enough for the demon realm, and not human enough for the human world.”

“How did you end up down here? In Dalwick Cave?”

I didn’t normally share these intimate details about myself, but because there were so many parallels between our lives, I felt compelled to. Iris was worthy of knowing about my mother and my past. About how I came to be the Demon of Dalwick.

“Considering we have quite the hike ahead of us, I guess I can tell you my story. But be warned, it’s a sad one.”

“I’m no stranger to sad stories.”

“Good.” I took a swig from my drinking skin and passed it to Iris. When she was finished, I hooked it back to my bag and cleared my throat.

“Much like you, my mother was a whore, pleasuring men with money and power but holding neither herself. One day a handsome man approached her, seeking her services, but he was a demon in disguise. My father got her pregnant and she never saw him again.

“According to my mother, I was born on a dark and stormy night, just as the clock struck twelve. The midwife took one look at me and ran out of the house screaming, swearing that I was the devil incarnate. But to my mother, I was everything. For a long time, she hid me from the townsfolk and raised me in secret. She taught me to read and write, and since I had no other children to play with, I’d lose myself in the pages of a book.

“Just as I was on the cusp of becoming a young man, I was discovered. The town guard and priest stormed our home one night and ripped my mother and me from our beds. She begged and pleaded, saying that I meant the villagers no harm, but it was no use.”

My eyes grew misty as I recalled the memories of that fateful night so many years ago.

As I struggled to find my words, a tiny hand clutched mine, and Iris drew closer to my side as we walked.

This sweet, innocent human. If anyone understood, it was her.

“They brought us to the mouth of the cave and, despite my mother’s protests, into the pit we went. As we fell, my mother wrapped her arms around me, using her body to cushion our fall. I heard the crack of her bones as we hit the ground, but the only injury I sustained was a cracked horn. Even in her final moments, my mother fought to keep me safe.” Tears tracked down my face, but I kept my voice steady and even.

“I sat with her as she took her final breath. When she passed, I laid her to rest here under the mountain.”

Iris sniffled next to me and gripped my hand even tighter. “I’m so sorry.”

I ran the rough pad of my thumb over the soft skin of her hand. “It’s okay. It was a long, long time ago.”

“How did you survive? How did they know you were down here?”

“I swear they knew that my mother was going to sacrifice herself for me. Occasionally, they’d call out to me and throw down baskets of rotten food. Things got better when I came to know the tunnels and found my way to the other side of the mountain. I learned to hunt and fish, and even befriended some of the villagers. For the most part, I stay here. I smoothed the walls of the pit and made the landing pad. I refuse to let anyone else die like my mother did.

“The guards and the church–I believe they kept me alive to use me. To drive fear into the hearts of the townsfolk to keep them obedient. It seems that humans fear what’s different, the things that they don’t understand. I was born in the unfortunate position of being one of those things.”

Iris clenched our fingers together and stopped dead in her tracks. She looked up at me for a moment with fat tears rimming her eyes, before slamming her body into mine. Her skinny arms wrapped around me as best as they could in a tight hug.

I stood there frozen, my body rigid and in shock.

I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had shown me even a hint of affection.

And yet, here was this tiny human who had every reason to fear me, showing me that she cared.

My arms pulled her to me tightly, and I ran my fingers along the waves of her hair as she cried against my bare stomach.

“Please, Iris. Please don’t cry.” I leaned over and murmured into her ear.

“Humans are awful,” she said through her sobs.

I ran the clawed tip of my finger along her jaw and tilted her gaze up to meet mine, needing to see those wide brown eyes. “Not all humans, Iris. Not all humans.”

Iris

Istared up into Selvyn’s molten eyes, my heart beating a rapid crescendo in my chest. It’d been a long time since I’d felt such attraction and excitement.