Beauty and the Beast (Demon Tales 1) Read Free Page A

for a quiet corner to do her
business. He followed her closely, his leering stare never far from
her. Irritated by his presence, Cally reeled around and glared.
    “Some privacy, please,” she hissed, the
sound echoing around the craggy room.
    He laughed, throwing his head back. “Privacy
ain’t yours to have, darlin’.” Brown teeth flashed in Cally’s
vision, and her fist itched to knock those foul tushes from his
repugnant mouth, but that would involve actually touching him.
    “Well, then I will wait all day.” Folding
her arms, Cally did her best to look and sound fearless—even though
she couldn’t ignore the fact that her voice shook and broke on the
last word. The demon shrugged and took her arm again, he dragged
her towards the door. Cally dug her heels into the ground and
shouted “Hey!”
    He spun around and placed his face so close
to hers that Cally could feel the end of his nose touching hers.
His breath, a vile, thick mist of putrid stench, stank so badly
that it overrode even the funk that filled the toilet room.
    “Listen to me, Princess,” he growled, “I
ain’t a nice man. I don’t like looking after people—especially
fucking humans.” His grip grew tighter, threatening to snap her
bone. Cally held her breath against the vomit-inspiring smell and
tried really hard not to cry. “So you won’t mess me around. Right?”
He shook her so hard that her head snapped back, pain blasted
through her arm where his grip increased. His body was so close,
that Cally could feel his every shape. Something hard pressed into
her soft abdomen and she instantly knew that it was his knife. Halleluiah!
    Slowly, so as not to let him know what she
was doing, Cally lifted her hand up to where she felt the hilt
pressed into her. He continued to growl nasty words into her face,
she no longer heard them. Her concentration was solely on getting
the knife. Her fingers found what they were searching for, and
slowly, she pulled it free from his trousers.
    “Helki. So nice to see you.” A loud, cocky
voice boomed into the craggy cave. Helki turned his head and looked
behind Cally, without releasing her arm. Panic throbbed through her
when she realized that the knife could be seen. Hastily she tucked
the knife into her palm and hid it from view.
    In the doorway stood the very same demon
that she had stared at in the large cave. His massive build blocked
the entrance, making the smaller room feel even smaller. Breath
slammed out of her chest when his arresting eyes fell upon her.
Heat climbed up her neck and Cally found herself backing up,
regardless of her captors grip on her arm.
    “Brigg.” The vile man holding Cally let go
of her and turned fully to face the demon. Cally took the chance to
sink back further, her grip tightening on the hilt.
    Shrewd, dark eyes watched her for a moment,
before they turned to her captor. Cally was stuck, this was not
good. She had stolen a knife with intent to use it against one
demon. Now that there were two, she wasn’t sure that she had the
guts—nor the power—to get both of them. But in another instant
Cally understood that her captor and the hairy demon were not
friends. An aggressive force filled the air, making Cally wonder
what was about to happen.
    “What are you up to, Helki?” The hairy demon
asked. The name ‘Helki’ sat heavy on her thoughts as Cally
processed for the first time what the vile man was named. She also
understood that the hairy demon had spoken Helki’s name with
definite venom in his tone.
    Hairy demon, does not like stinky
demon. And even as that thought developed, another one wound
its way into her mind. Hairy demon might just be my key out of
here. Cally pressed herself against the wall and watched the
by-play between the two demons.
    “None o’ your business, Brigg,” Helki
replied, spitting at the feet of the hairy demon.
    Brown eyes passed over her again, resting
for a brief moment on her wounded hands. Cally felt the sudden urge
to hide