She replayed the word in her head like something that scraped the inside of her skull: promise.A promise with the demon inside her? Or had the demon—while wearing Cassius's shape—forced him to swear something to it?
The idea curdled her stomach. Cassius was not a man to make frivolous bargains, but demons delighted in disguise and deceit. If the demon had traded places with her, could Cassius have thought he was bargaining with her and not the thing that wore her face?
Life force. Promises. Trickery. Arabella's mind raced through a dozen ghastly possibilities. Demons lied, inverted meaning, and turned vows into nooses. Even the thought of Cassius bound by some infernal pledge felt like acid in her veins.
