As the Demon Demands ✔️

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Evangeline didn't sleep much that night. Every time she thought she heard a noise, she was jolted awake and looked in fright. She was certain she managed to get some sleep, if only by the fact she would jolt awake from different positions. And she remembered brief glimpses of the nightmares that plagued her mind every time she woke up.

She was kneeled in front of the water bucket, washing away the sweat she had accumulated last night from her night terrors. All this morning, she had tried to think of a plan to stop this. She would rather be whipped and beaten black and blue than let this happen. Even just the thought of being touched by a man other than Marak made her skin crawl.

Yet, she couldn't think of a way out of this. Even if she tried putting up a fight, she would still be pinned down by Claude, and he would do what Solomon commanded of him. Solomon had insisted that this was to keep her from getting hurt, but she couldn't see how this was better. If anything, it was probably even worse.

She glanced down at her ring. The connection strand still glowed brightly as it disappeared into the wall. She prayed that Marak was following it. That he would be here soon and save her from this nightmare. But it would take time before help arrived. She had to wait... She had to endure.

Heavy footsteps caught her attention. Frightened, she scurried away to her best. Her hands shaking, she managed to get a hold off her ring and pull it off her finger. The strand quickly disappeared, and she shoved the ring into the dirty pillowcase of her bed. As terrified as she was, she had the sense to remember Solomon's words. That ring was her only way out of here. As much as she didn't want to remove it, she wanted to live. She had to be smart, and only wear it alone, no matter how desperate she was.

Two demons suddenly appeared in front of her cell. Evangeline paled, her legs shaking as one of them opened the cell door. In a fruitless attempt, she tried to run and hide in the corner, which only seemed to annoy the demon that entered. He quickly advanced on her, roughly grabbing her arm and forcing her to her feet.

"NO!" she screamed, trying to pull her arm free. When that didn't work, she threw herself on the ground, using her weight to try and delay the inevitable. "NO! Let go! Let go of me!"

"Get up," he snarled, giving her a hard yank. He grabbed her across the hard floor, the poor woman hissing in pain as her legs scraped against them. She was helpless to stop him or the second guard, who had grabbed her other arm to force her to stand. They dragged her out of the cell, forcing her up the stairs with her bare feet scraping against the cold floor.

She had no idea where they were taking her. Had Solomon lied to her? Perhaps Lamia had changed her mind and wished to beat her down before throwing her to Claude. Or worse – she wanted to go through with Solomon's suggestion, but just let anyone have their way with her. That way, if she did get pregnant, she wouldn't even know who the father was.

She would have rather found a way to kill herself before letting that happen.

She was soon dragged into a dark room before being tossed to the ground. She grunted as she fell onto her side. Pain erupted across her hip, but she forced herself to ignore it as she looked up. Desperate, she attempted to collect her bearing, only for one of the guards to grab her arm and drag her to the wall.

She shrieked, kicking her legs fruitlessly until she was slammed against the wall. Still screaming, she struggled with all her might as he forced up her arm against the wall. Soon, a cold metal cuff locked around her wrist. Her other arm was forced up as well with another cuff going around her wrist. And when he pulled away, she was left with her arms suspended in the air.

Panting hard, she turned her head to look up. The restraints were connected to the wall, and only a short chain came down to her wrists. She was unable to pull down her arms any further than her ears, which only frightened her more. Now she had no way of fighting back except legs, but her position on the ground still put her at a disadvantage.