For a moment I simply stared at him. Because when you accidentally summon a demon in an underground ruin while wearing a ruined wedding dress, your brain needs a second to catch up with reality. Or at least mine did.
The man—demon—whatever he was stood in the center of the circle like he had been there his entire life. The black flames had vanished, leaving only the faint glow of the carved symbols beneath his boots.
He tilted his head slightly. "You're unusually quiet," he observed. I blinked.
"You're unusually demonic." I shot back. His smile widened. "Ah. There it is." He stepped forward.
The moment his foot crossed the edge of the circle, the air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. I felt it like a physical pressure against my chest. Every instinct in my body screamed that I should run. Unfortunately, I had nowhere to go. The tunnel behind me was the only exit. And he was standing between me and it.
Fantastic.
He stopped a few feet away and studied me again.
Up close, the details were even more unsettling. His eyes were still completely black, like staring into empty space. Faint dark markings curled along his forearms beneath the sleeves of his coat.
Magic. Ancient magic. The kind that made priests nervous.
"Well," he said eventually. "This is certainly new." I swallowed. "You're… a demon."
"Very good." He sounded pleased. I crossed my arms, mostly to stop my hands from shaking. "I didn't summon you on purpose."
"That much is obvious." He glanced around the chamber with mild curiosity before looking back at me. "You activated a binding circle," he said.
"I thought it was a protection ward." I looked down feeling like a child being scolded.
"That's unfortunate."
I glared at him. "You think?"
He chuckled softly. The sound echoed strangely in the cavernous chamber.
"Humans rarely summon me by accident," he continued. "You must be having a very bad day." I considered the list. Betrayed fiancé. Framed for treason. Scheduled execution. Accidental demon summoning.
"Yes," I said dryly. "You could say that."
His gaze sharpened slightly. "Execution?"
I hesitated. Then sighed. "Well, since you're already here, yes." He seemed to find that extremely entertaining. "Interesting." He seemed to be talking more to himself than me.
"Not for me."
He paced slowly around the ritual circle, examining the carvings on the floor. The faint glow of the symbols reflected in his black eyes. "You activated this with blood," he said.
"It was an accident." I reminded him.
"They usually are."
I shifted uneasily. "So… now what?" He looked back at me. "That depends."
"On?"
His gaze lingered on the pendant still clutched in my hand.
"That."
I instinctively closed my fingers around it. "It belonged to my mother."
"Did it." His tone suggested he already knew that.
Silence stretched between us. Finally I asked the question that had been hovering in my mind since he appeared. "Who are you?"
He met my eyes directly. "Mal."
"That's it?"
"Short for something longer," he said lightly.
"And what exactly are you?"
His smile returned. "A problem."