Sinners' Kingdom #1: The Book of Lust (Complete)

21

When we approached the red-painted threshold, an impressive rectangular gateway reminiscent of Southern Asian architecture, the freezing temperatures and mountains of snow everywhere I looked had been the worst of my worries. I hadn't expected the two men in white-and-gray robes to materialize out of the ice and winds with long staffs pointed at us. Or the dozen more people that streamed out of the large gateway to do the same.

"This is unfortunate," Lust hummed. "I hoped I would have time to disguise myself a little before we entered. I suppose this means we can't get an honored guest's reception."

"Don't go any closer then! We're obviously not welcome." I tried to wriggle free, but he tightened his hold on me so much he nearly folded my knees to my chest. And all the while, he kept walking straight toward the growing army -- now that we were close enough, I could see all too clearly that there were even more people stationed past the gate that sat on what I now realized was a narrow pass. There was no way to go around them, left or right or over. We had to turn back. "Lust! Back up! Stop!"

"I never want you to tell me to stop." His voice was a low, delighted purr, half-laughing. So he was paying attention after all. He was just getting a kick out of ignoring my demands. "Sable, if you keep struggling like that, I'm going to have no choice but to take you right here in the cold, in front of an audience. You're likely to be even more upset than you are now."

"Are you threatening me?"

"A threat! Sable, love. You would be thrilled. But you have a penchant for stubbornness that I look forward to taming."

No. This was not happening. I had demanded the tabula rasa contract. I had initiated the binding agreement between us. I was already in the advantaged position for that reason alone, but with every taunt and tease, he was pulling the fulcrum of our contract closer to himself, gaining more leverage. All this time, I'd been brushing off his advances because I'd thought it was demonstrating my assertiveness to reject him so effortlessly, but at this rate, he was going to wrest control of the contract and turn me into his crawling subordinate.

The crux of a binding agreement was always willpower. Whoever bent and folded first was the loser. Even if I could use no magic, I still had the blood of witches in me meant to subdue demons, and I had more willpower than ten of him put together.

And I was going to remind him exactly what that meant.

"Put me down," I barked. "Right now."

He stopped in his tracks. His arms didn't loosen from around me, but the pulse of power that ran through his body was unmistakable. It was responding to my energy, to my soul, and to my command. Put me down, I had said, and a command voiced aloud was exponentially more powerful. Like any other spell, the incantation gave it strength. Even now, the power thrummed in the air -- and he was resisting.

Just like I'd thought. All this time, he'd been sneakily trying to manipulate me and knock me off-balance. If he had succeeded, the power of the binding would already have transferred from me to him. What would he have done once he accomplished that?

"Put. Me. Down."

There was no denying me this time. The tabula rasa made it so that we both had equal skin in the game, and that I couldn't hurt him unless I wanted to hurt myself too, but commanding him to heel like an unruly dog was well within my rights as not just any demon summoner, but a witchborn. For once, I could be thankful for my heritage, even if it had put me in this position in the first place.

My shoes landed in the snow, soft as a feather.

"Stay back. I'm going ahead first."

"Sable, wait."

"I said, stay back. Don't come any closer until I tell you to. As a matter of fact, stay still. Completely."

I prayed I wouldn't have to repeat myself. These weren't ordinary words I was uttering. Invoking the binding nature had a cost, and since I had no awoken magic to spare, the price was my physical stamina. Every word made me a little colder, and my knees a little weaker, draining my strength straight from my body.

Better not to give him a chance to argue. I turned and walked toward the gateway, head held high.

Instantly, the wind and cold cut into my skin, stripping away the warmth I had borrowed from Lust with gouging, arctic harshness.

The sharp hiss of an inhale came from behind me. "Sable! You'll freeze. Let me go."

"No."

"Sable!"

Gone was the infuriatingly seductive drawl, replaced by something far more serious. He struggled against the bond to no avail.

"Sable, let me go now!"

Excellent. So it was working. Just like I'd known it would, obviously.

(Thank fucking God.)

"I can last long enough t-to get over th-there," I countered. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my teeth from chattering any more than they already were and forged on. How long did I have before my body shut down? Holy shit, I couldn't even feel my face anymore. Did I even have more than a couple of minutes before I passed out?

I moved faster, fueled by fear. The robed people just ahead stood their ground, staves still pointed, but when I approached with my arms spread and showing no weapons, some of them narrowed their eyes in confusion.

Yeah, I would, too. If they were what I thought they were, then they could sense I had no magic. I had no business traveling with the demon they had also certainly sensed, and if I so much as twitched, they could bludgeon me to death and I wouldn't stand a chance.

"No weapons," I wheezed when I drew close. "Please help. You speak my language, right? You're trained? I claim sanctuary. Shelter and water, and then I'll leave. I stake my life on my vow that I mean no harm."

For a moment, no one moved, and my heart plummeted like a rock. Was I wrong? I'd been so certain. The robes they wore, the strange red-and -brown hued staves carved with sigils, the true appearance of the magnificent gateway now that I was close enough to see it through the blizzard.

"My mother helped one of your sister t-temples with a demon invasion," I said desperately. My lips were so numb. How much longer could I keep talking? "Her name was Alael, of the Solaria line. Sh-she saved hundreds of monks in the attack on the Temple of Kunlun Pass. You can check for yourself, and if it turns out I'm lying, you can do with me as you like. You have a way of communicating with your sister temples, right? Please. Her name was Alael Solaria, I'm her daughter--"

"Alael Solaria did not help any sister temple of ours," announced a serene voice. An hooded, unarmed woman stepped forward through the congregated monks, her dark hair done in a long braid that fell over one shoulder. The others all parted for her as she approached.

"She did! She left one of her talismans there. It's sun-shaped, and it was supposed to be so any member of the family could identify--"

"Your mother did not help a sister temple." The woman came to a stop in front of me. She gently pushed back her loose hood and revealed her face, narrow and angular with a sharp nose -- and a soft smile. "Your mother helped us. Welcome to the Temple of the Kunlun Pass. I have been waiting for you for a very long time."