All Chapters of Demonbound: Chapter 11
- Chapter 20
74 chapters
11
Ashen turned.Gold eyes cut through the darkness.They locked onto Corvin and Scott like blades finding flesh.Both brothers stopped dead.For a heartbeat, no one moved.No sound. No fire. No wind.Just the weight of being seen.“Shit,” Corvin muttered.His hand tightened around his weapon.“It’s seen us.”The demon stretched slowly, as though waking from a pleasant nap.Fire gathered.Not rushed.Not violent.It pooled in the air around his hands, coiling, breathing.Scott swore under his breath.“Move!”The fire left Ashen’s hands in a sudden violent arc.Scott didn’t think.He shoved Corvin sideways with all his strength.The blast screamed past them and struck the stone wall behind.The impact shook the street.Flame crawled up brick and timber, swallowing a shutter whole.Ashen laughed.A low, delighted sound that rolled through the smoke.“Oh, that was close,” he said pleasantly.Another fireball formed.Then another.They came fast now.Corvin and Scott moved.They ducked, rolle
12
Ashen tore through the night sky.Wind screamed past his ears, cloak snapping violently behind him as the city shrank below. Fires still burned where he’d left them, small angry stars scattered across stone and slate.He didn’t look back.He couldn’t.The pull inside him grew stronger with every heartbeat.Lumi was waking.Too soon.Ashen bared his teeth and pushed harder, fire flaring beneath his feet as he cut through the darkness like a falling star.The estate rose ahead.Tall.Silent.Too close for comfort.“Move,” he growled, more to himself than the world.He angled sharply, diving.The window came up fast.Ashen smashed through it in a burst of glass and cold air and hit the floor hard, rolling once before slamming into the side of the bed.He lay there for a second, chest heaving.Then forced himself upright.No time.He climbed onto the bed and lay flat, staring at the ceiling as dawn’s first light began to creep through the broken window.A controlled breath in.Another out
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The study door shut behind them with a heavy thud.Books lined the walls from floor to ceiling, old leather and older dust. A single lamp burned on the desk, its light catching the sharp angles of their father’s face as he looked up.“What happened,” he said.Not a question.Corvin stood straight.Scott leaned more heavily on his bad leg than he’d admit.“We encountered the demon,” Corvin said. “High-tier. Fire-based. It ambushed us in the city.”Their father’s eyes flicked to Scott.“Injured.”Scott lifted his chin. “Nothing permanent.”“That is not the point,” their father snapped.He rose from his chair.Slowly.Each step deliberate as he came around the desk.“You sensed a high-tier demon,” he said. “Confirmed it. And instead of calling for backup, you engaged.”“We had an opening—” Corvin began.“You had arrogance,” their father cut in. “And luck. That is not a strategy.”He stopped in front of them.“Do you have any idea what could have happened if it had decided to stop playing
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Corvin opened his eyes slowly.The room was dark. Still.Then he saw a shape standing over his bed.Grinning.Corvin jolted upright with a sharp inhale, hand already reaching for the dagger beneath his pillow.“Scott!” he hissed. “What the hell is wrong with you?”Scott didn’t move.Didn’t stop smiling.“Many things,” he said cheerfully. “But who’s counting?”Corvin scrubbed a hand down his face and groaned.“Is it time already? I thought we agreed we’d go tomorrow.”“Time waits for no one,” Scott replied. “Let’s move.”Corvin swung his legs out of bed, already awake now. He grabbed a jacket from the chair, shrugged it on, and tightened the straps around his forearms.“Alright,” he muttered. “Let’s go.”They slipped into the corridor like shadows.The mansion slept, but never deeply. The faint hum of wards lingered in the air, a soft pressure against the skin.Scott led the way.They moved when the light flickered.Paused when footsteps echoed.A pair of hunters passed at the far end
15
Over the next week, Lumi learned the art of disappearing.He slipped out of the mansion at odd hours, always careful, always quiet, moving through places no one thought to watch. Burnt plains. Rocky clearings. Abandoned training fields half-swallowed by weeds.Ashen guided him when he felt like it.Mocked him when he didn’t.On one particular evening, Lumi snuck out as usual, the sky already bruised with dusk.The clearing was wide and empty. Wind brushed through tall grass. No hunters in sight.“So,” Lumi said, rolling his shoulders. “What are we working on today?”[I want to come out.]Lumi froze.“No.”[It’s boring as hell in here.]“You know why I can’t allow that,” Lumi said firmly. “This is hunter territory. If you come out, you’ll be attacked. And it’ll end with either you killing them—or them killing us.”A pause.Ashen sighed.[Damn humans and their fragile bodies.]Lumi waited.“…So do we have training today?”Silence.Ashen didn’t respond.Lumi frowned.“Fine, since you wan
16
The engine hummed softly as the car rolled through the iron gates of the Blackwell estate.Corvin sat in the passenger seat, elbow resting against the window, eyes fixed on the road ahead. Scott drove one-handed, relaxed, as if they were heading out on a casual errand rather than into unknown territory.The city thinned the further they went.Stone buildings gave way to squat houses with patched roofs. Paved roads cracked into gravel, then into packed dirt. Streetlamps became scarce, replaced by oil lanterns hanging outside shops and homes.“This place looks like it got forgotten by time,” Scott muttered.Corvin didn’t reply.He was watching.The village appeared suddenly, clustered low and wide like it was afraid to rise too high. People moved through the streets unhurriedly. Children ran barefoot. Women chatted near doorways. Men leaned against walls, laughing softly.Life, uninterrupted.Too normal.They parked near the edge of the village and stepped out.The air smelled of earth
17
Night settled over the village like a held breath.Lanterns glowed softly along the narrow streets, their light warm but weak, barely pushing back the dark. Shadows stretched long and thin, clinging to doorways and corners. Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked once, then fell silent.Maya adjusted the basket in her arms as she stepped up to the fruit stall.The square was quieter now. Most people had already gone home, shutters drawn, doors barred. Only a few vendors remained, packing up for the night.The man at the stall looked up when he saw her and smiled.“Back again?” he asked warmly.“Yes,” Maya replied, returning the smile. “My mum sent me. Said we ran out of apples.”He chuckled and picked a few, adding an extra one before tying the bag.“On the house,” he said, handing her the fruit. “It’s late. Best not to walk home empty-handed.”She accepted it gratefully and passed him the money.He counted quickly and gave her her change.“Thank you,” Maya said. “Good night.”“Good n
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The night had fully claimed the village.Lanternlight flickered weakly, struggling against shadows that felt thicker now, heavier, as if the dark itself was watching. The streets were almost empty. Windows were shuttered. Doors locked tight.Somewhere ahead, something moved.Corvin slowed to a stop and closed his eyes.Scott halted beside him. “You sense it?”Corvin didn’t answer.He inhaled slowly, pushing everything else aside—the smell of damp stone, the echo of distant footsteps, the low hum of fear still lingering in the air. He reached outward, not with his eyes, but with something deeper.There.A wrongness.A presence that didn’t belong.Corvin’s eyes snapped open.He took off running.Scott cursed under his breath and followed.They cut through narrow streets and sharp turns, boots pounding against stone. The village blurred past them—fences, doorways, darkened alleys slipping by like frames in a reel.Corvin skidded to a halt.An alley stretched ahead of them, narrow and cra
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Night swallowed the narrow streets as the demon ran.Its feet barely touched the ground, body gliding between shadows, Maya’s face stretched across its own like a mockery. It inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring.Then it smiled.The scent was there.Fear. Sweat. Warm blood beneath fragile skin.It turned sharply and slowed.At the far end of the street, beneath a flickering lantern, Maya stumbled into view.She froze when she saw herself standing there.Her basket slipped from her fingers and hit the ground with a dull thud.The demon’s lips curled wider.Maya’s breath hitched. For half a second, her body refused to move.Then instinct took over.She turned and ran.Bare feet slapped against stone as she fled down the street, heart hammering so loud it drowned out everything else. Tears blurred her vision.Behind her, something laughed.It caught her easily.A hand closed around her neck and yanked her backwards. Maya screamed as her feet left the ground, fingers clawing uselessly at the
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Night pressed in thick as Scott’s body hit the ground.Pain flared in every joint, every muscle. Dust choked the air.Three demons loomed over him, teeth bared, claws glinting. They walked slowly and deliberately towards him, prepared to end the fight.One picked him up by the leg and threw him. Another demon caught him mid air and slammed him into the floor. He didn’t groan. Didn’t complain. Just tried to crawl away but they didn’t let him.As he was crawling whilst lying flat on the floor, the tallest of the demons grabbed his head and shoved it into the floor, creating a crater.The demon kicked him, sending him flying backwards.Scott blinked, wiped blood from his lip.And laughed.Slow at first. Soft. Then a low, rolling chuckle that twisted into something darker.The demons froze. Eyes narrowed. Snarls faltered.“What…?” one hissed.Scott pushed himself upright, shaking off the grit, straightening slowly. He stretched.His wounds stitched themselves closed. Cuts vanished. Bruise