Promises of a Deadly Bind {Sequel to Games of a Different Kind}

Chapter 2

"What the hell is your problem?" Liam snapped at me, as we left the Qatrus's establishment. "You tortured that girl and treated her as if she was nothing better than a cockroach!" 

"I did what I had to do," I shrugged, ignoring his theatrics. "When you grow up, you'll learn that what I did was necessary- and thank me for that." 

"I'll never thank you for such a show of... of barbarism!" 

"I think I'll survive," I sighed, zig-zagging into one the dark alleys. There was a ladder that tailed all the way up the roof- we could travel that way. It was less conspicuous than the roads and if we went by night, we could leave Stavros soon and pass onto Dyriz. 

"You don't get it," Liam snarled, whipping out his hand to grab my wrist before I could begin to climb. 

"Well, enlighten me, Liam," I remarked. "Because we need to get a move on before dawn. I actually have a plan to get out of here soon and you're ruining it at the moment." 

"You're becoming just like them," he argued. "Just like those creatures down here and the demons. You're losing everything that you're meant to keep." 

"My humanity isn't my concern right this second," I snapped. "I don't think it's such a big issue that I think about it-"

"But it is," Liam growled. "With every day, you're turning into a demon. You heard what Klaveese said, you're going to lose your humanity. And eventually, you're not even going to care about your child." 

"I am not losing control of myself," I spat, completely livid that he would even say such a thing. "I am stepping up to the task and making sure that we don't die while we're here! Can you say something like that, Liam? Because lately, it seems, all you do is try and drag me down." 

"I'm trying to stop you from going down a path you wouldn't want! The old you would never have considered any of this!" 

"The old me?" I shook my head. "You know nothing about the old me." 

"I know everything-" 

"No, you don't!" I snarled at him. "What you saw was simply what I let you see. You knew barely anything about me- not my sister's death, not about my depression, not about the fact that I was struggling to keep up with a life that I never wanted, until I chose to tell you. You were the person that I didn't have to tell- because I kept everything separated." 

"Well maybe you were a bitch all along then," he said angrily. Liam was offended. I had insulted him. So he lashed back at me. I tried not to show him how much it hurt me. 

And I started to climb.  

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As dawn gradually infiltrated the day, Liam and I walked along the sprawling rooftops of Stavros. Once we reached the end of the buildings- it was a long dusty road from then on. The breaks between cities in the underworld were barren and bloody. It wasn't clogged with cars as humans had- demons and creatures didn't use them. They flew, teleported, ran- their powers were various.

But as Liam and I were mortals, there wasn't a whole lot else we could do then walk along the thin brown road that ribboned across the far off distance. It would be a long walk- and thankfully, we had the rations for it. Slintas had given us much different forms of food or drink- mainly in the substance of a vile black liquid that we choked down at every meal time. 

"This looks like poison," I commented flatly, eyeing the bottles of black liquid. 

"If I wanted you dead, you would be dead already," Slintas reassured me with a wave of his hand. Somehow I didn't feel very reassured.