by Debra Dunbar
Angry was a mild word for what he was at that time. It wasn’t the first time he’d let his temper get away from him with disastrous results. He’d always struggled with anger. And pride. It seemed over the ages that he been giving in far too much to sin and too less to virtue. Funny how that happens.
“But if you, too, are bound, Brother?” The woman let the question hang in the air.
“No. She’s just a baby, and far too Low to have any idea of how to use a bound angel,” he insisted.
But she wasn’t Low. All that raw energy, and that perfectly formed human flesh with her spirit embedded deep and tightly contained. Such potential hiding in a dirty little cockroach. It was a shame she’d not live long enough to realize that potential. Not that it mattered. Even if she did somehow manage to survive, she’d never bother to expand her knowledge and skills. Demons only wanted to roll around in the muck of sensation, and play frivolously in the physical world. Such a waste.
“Besides,” Gregory added. “I don’t plan on having her live more than a year or two.”
“What? You don’t plan on walking her around Aaru on a leash, like a pet?” The woman laughed.
“She’d just pee on the carpet,” Gregory said, amused.
The woman waved her hand. “Enough about this filthy creature. Why have you not formally reported on Althean’s death? The longer you wait, the more the factions accuse you of wrongful murder.”
“As soon as I am able,” Gregory assured her. “I gave Althean a chance to return on his own, or be banished to Hel with the demons and he refused either option.”
The woman laughed. “You seriously gave him the option of being banished with the demons? Like he was going to choose that? Wow, you must have been pissed. Still, I can’t believe you actually killed him.”
Gregory couldn’t believe it, either. Again, it was anger. Blinding, white hot anger — not that Althean attacked him, but that he’d so injured the little cockroach. Just thinking of it brought up the urge to pulverize something, smash it into the rocks.
“Althean attacked me,” he replied.
“Come on.” The woman grinned. “You could have subdued him, taken him down. You dusted him.”
“He would not back down,” Gregory insisted. “I had no choice. He was determined to be a martyr for his cause.”
Probably. Not that Gregory had given him a chance.
“Was it the demon?” the woman asked. Gregory stiffened. “Did she kill Althean? Are you covering for her?”
“No. I told you she is Low,” he said.
They sat in silence for a few moments. The dark haired angel let her eyes trail along Gregory’s outstretched wings, shifting her own white ones so they swept the red dust in a pattern of lines. Picking up a wing, she admired the red dust clinging to the bottom edges.
“We cannot go back in time, Brother,” she said sadly, affection in her voice. “Even if we could, I’m not sure it would be right. What’s gone is gone. They are not angels anymore, they are demons, and we cannot bring back our loved ones by indulging in reckless fantasy.”
Gregory nodded, looking out along the shore. His brother was right, but encasing himself in stone, trying to petrify the hurt inside hadn’t helped either. Still, something deep inside him felt like it was chipping away at the hard edges. Like it was trying to get out. He wasn’t sure if he should let it. When he meditated on it, he saw a laughing imp playing with lightning, or sometimes his younger brother, also laughing and playing with lightning. But she was not the brother he still mourned. That was foolish thought.
The red haired angel stood and stretched his wings once more.
“There will be no reckless fantasy,” he assured his brother before gating away.
About the Author
After majoring in English Literature with a concentration in Medieval and Folklore studies, Debra promptly sold out to the corporate world, occasionally dabbling in writing marketing copy and op/ed articles for a local city paper. By day, she designs compensation programs, after dark she stuffs her nose into obscure mythology, and feverishly writes her novels. A DEMON BOUND is her debut novel.
Debra lives on a farm in Maryland with Sweetie, three sons, and a Noah’s ark of four legged family members. Unlike her protagonist, she drives an old PT Cruiser, couldn’t carry a tune if you duct taped it to her back, and enjoys an occasional cosmopolitan (heavy on the vodka). On a good day, she jogs and horseback rides, hopefully managing to keep the horse between herself and the ground. Her only known super power is ‘Identify Roadkill’.
Connect with Debra Dunbar on Facebook, on Twitter @Debra_Dunbar , or at her website http://debradunbar.com
Also by Debra Dunbar
SATAN’S SWORD (Imp Series, Book 2)
Samantha Martin is an imp, bound by an angel who allows her to live among the humans… as long as she follows his rules. It’s not easy for an imp to follow the rules, especially when Sam’s brother, Dar, finds himself in hot water. He needs her help to retrieve an artifact from the vampires, or the powerful demon he owes a favor to will enslave and torture him for centuries. It should be a simple courier job, but with demons nothing is simple. Sam reluctantly attempts to help her brother, trying not antagonize the vampires or the demon gunning for him, all while chafing to comply with the restrictions her angel has placed on her as a bound demon.
IMP (Imp Series, prequel novella)
Demon young are cruel, especially to little imps like Az. No matter where she hides, even deep in the swamplands, her siblings eventually find her and hurt her, ripping off her scales and slicing her wings. Many demons don’t live to adulthood. Only the strong survive. And the clever.
Survival isn’t looking probable for Az, with eldest brother, Paquit, determined to rip her to shreds at every opportunity. When her other brother, Dar, proposes a trip through the angelic gates into the land of the humans, she jumps at the chance. Finally, a fun adventure safe from Paquit’s cruelty and attacks. Or maybe not.
ELVEN BLOOD (Imp Series, Book 3)
Sam may be the Iblis, but she is also an imp with a price on her head. The powerful demon, Haagenti, won’t rest until she’s dragged back to Hel for “punishment”. Sam knows she can’t face Haagenti and win, so when an Elf Lord offers to eliminate the demon in return for her help, Sam accepts. It’s a simple job—find and retrieve a half–breed monster dead or alive. But finding this demon/elf hybrid isn�t proving easy and time is running out.
Table of Contents
Unnamed
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Debra Dunbar