11. Callista

11

CALLISTA

I can't remember anymore when my days here began. At first, they were long and arduous, but as time escapes me, Dagon and I fall into familiar ways. I won't call it a routine, not yet, it's still too new. But since that night in his kitchen, Dagon has been a new demon around me.

Gentler? No, never. And the longer I'm here the less I care when his hands reach for my neck. But there has been a shift, imperceptible to anyone but me. Tagar still looms in and out, his regular disruption the only wrinkle in our day.

Even now, Dagon and I lounge near the fountain in his courtyard, wondering how long it will take Tagar to seek us out. We've taken the cool evening air and sound of rushing waters together for a few days.

Despite his gruff exterior, I can't deny the visceral pull I feel towards Dagon's chiseled features and sinewy physique. Those smoldering crimson eyes and rugged angles stir an undeniable longing within me. Days turn into weeks, yet every time my eyes meet his body, I feel like I'm seeing him in a new light, or exploring a side of him heretofore obscured from me.

He seems less tense, the huge muscles in his neck relaxing as he sits back in his chair and looks calmly over at me. Naturally, we hear a voice, breaking the growing peace budding between us.

"Where are you two?"

I can feel the shift in the air the moment Tagar swaggers into the courtyard, his lips curled in a sneer. Dagon immediately tenses beside me, the warm camaraderie we've been sharing evaporating like mist.

Dagon's whole demeanor shutters closed as Tagar approaches, his eyes hardening to flinty stones. It's like watching a transformation - the gentle soul I've come to know retreating behind an impenetrable wall of thorns.

"Brother," Tagar greets with a mocking nod. "I thought I'd pay another visit to your… quaint accommodations."

His piercing obsidian gaze cuts over to me, pure disdain etched into those harsh features. I bristle, lifting my chin defiantly. After all we've been through, I won't let this brute intimidate me now.

"Callista was just leaving," Dagon growls, his voice lower and more gravelly than I've heard it in weeks.

A protectiveness flares up in me, irrational as it may be. I will not be dismissed like some obedient ur'gin pup. Not after the bond Dagon and I have forged.

"Actually, I'm staying right here," I declare, staring straight into those crimson eyes I've come to cherish. Dagon's jaw tightens, but I can see the faintest crack in his stony facade. Good. I want to draw out that part of him again, the true Dagon I've grown so attached to.

"How adorable," Tagar sneers. "You've let this pathetic human get under your skin, baby brother."

Dagon releases a low warning rumble. I step boldly between the two towering demons, unwilling to back down.

"Better be careful, Tagar," I taunt, making sure to use his name in a way he can't miss my lack of deference. "Your 'pathetic human' has a mean left hook."

"Callista!" Dagon barks, but I catch the slight twitch at the corner of his lips. He's still in there, my Dagon. I just have to poke and prod him free from this prickly shell.

Undeterred, Tagar rakes his gaze over me with a nauseating appraisal. "I could break you over my knee before you landed a single blow, girl."

I open my mouth to fire back another scathing retort, but Dagon suddenly grabs my arm in a vise. "That's enough," he rumbles, his tone brokering no argument as he hauls me away from his leering brother.

"What did you think you were doing, mouthing off to Tagar like that?" Dagon's voice is a low, dangerous rumble as he rounds on me. "He could snap you in half without blinking, you foolish girl." With a disgusted snort, he whirls and stalks away, leaving me bristling in his wake.

The courtyard's cracked flagstones dig into my back, the shadows lengthening as the merciless sun sinks behind the towering ramparts. Dagon's footsteps have barely faded before Tagar's large frame looms over me, blocking out the courtyard light. A shiver of unease ripples through me, but I refuse to show weakness before this bully.

"You've got quite a mouth on you for a lowly human," he rumbles, lips twisting. "Though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, living with my wayward brother."

I lift my chin, meeting his dark glower head-on. "At least I can speak my mind freely. More than can be said for you cowards who only open your traps to kick a demon when he's down."

The words are barely past my lips before Tagar's hand lashes out, thick fingers clamping around my throat. In a blink I'm slammed against the rough stone wall, feet leaving the ground as he effortlessly suspends me by the neck.

Tagar's obsidian glare bores into me with sadistic promise, his twisted features exuding menace like a coiled viper.

"You've no idea what you're dealing with, girl," he snarls, eyes glittering with malice as I claw futilely at his grip. "With a flick of my wrist, I could crush your puny windpipe to dust."

Panic claws up my chest as his hold tightens, merciless as a constrictor's coils. Black spots bloom across my vision, distant roaring filling my ears. This is it, I'm going to die at the hands of Dagon's twisted brother.

Then, as swiftly as it began, Tagar releases me. I crumple gracelessly to the ground, wheezing and coughing as sweet air floods my lungs once more. Tagar sneers down at my crumpled form with contempt.

"That's just a small taste of the pain I could inflict if I wished. Don't think I've forgotten what you bloodless creatures did during the wars, massacring my kin without mercy."

He crouches before me, his next words a soft, deadly hiss. "But you may yet prove useful, human. I have a mind to break you down completely, piece by brutal piece. Once you're a sniveling wretch, perhaps my brother will rediscover his true nature as well."

Tagar's cruel smile makes my stomach lurch. "Just something to ponder in the sleepless nights ahead, pet."

With a final contemptuous glance, he turns and strides away, leaving me trembling and cold on the unforgiving stones. Dagon's going to have one tough decision ahead of him if his brother makes good on his threats.