Out of the Lamp

Chapter 18: Bullied

Immediately, strong gale force winds buffet me left right and centre. It's like walking into a whole new world. The quiet safety of my room exchanged for a dark night sky and high altitude. My scream, as slow and late as it is, eventually rips through my mouth and sings into the air. The wind howls over the sound as I look down to notice I'm standing on top of the Eiffel Tower, right at the very top. By top, I mean the tip top. Where it is humanly impossible to stand. Unless you're a demon of course. I reflexively grab hold of Daemon - because of course it's him - and I don't let go.

He snickers at my rush of fear, and buries his nose into the hair at the top of my head, inhaling deeply as if it's a bouquet of flowers, personalised to his preference. Nothing says appealing like one hundred percent raw fear. I flinch back at the touch but my fingers curl tighter into his cloak. My heartbeat racing irrationally at the sudden sweeping feeling of vertigo. My skin prickles with goosebumps at the cold. We are so high up...

Woah

'Afraid?' He queries, his voice cutting through the air to caress my ears like liquid gold.

Mocking tone: check.
Self satisfied: check.
Complete prick: double check.

I shout back something inaudible to my own ears, as the winds continue to snatch away my voice and smother any sound.

I try to summon my own portal and zip back to my room. Daemon's lips split into a toothy grin. 'Tsk tsk, genie, you'd think I'd be dumb enough not to bind your abilities?' His eyes shine with the broadening of his own genius.

Bind? Ah shit.

I curse vehemently.

Binding was another quirk he had. Albeit temporary and unrefined compared to his father's, Daemon could still put a stop to lower level beings' abilities with a mere thought or utterance of words.

'Daemon, please!' I try to keep the whining out of my voice. It fails miserably.

He cocks his head to the side, appearing thoughtful, lifting my hopes by 0.05%

Big mistake.

Abruptly, he pushes me away from me, letting go to hold me outstretched by one arm, I scream as I'm sent flailing into midair, magic bound and utterly helpless.

Daemon pulls me back in and I thud against him, limbs immediately wrapping around his solid form. Not giving a toss my source of torment was my only form of salvation. My eyes screwed shut as i take refuge from the sight of our great height in the pitch blackness of my closed lids.

'Saved your life!' He sneers, voice oozing a twisted childlike amusement.

My chest heaves with the effort of restraining my heavy breathing and erratic pulse. A cold sweat having broken out across my body.

Daemon laughs at my reaction as I continue to stand frozen against him. My knuckles turning white from the unyielding tight grip I had on his clothes.

'Alia?' He stops laughing to look down at me when I don't respond.

I brave a glance, avoiding looking down at the insane drop below to the rock solid ground. The wind is ruffling his cherry black locks, sending them crashing over each other in tumultuous waves of deep red. His eyes so shadowed, almost like a stilled surface of a black pool, I could see my own pale and frightened face reflecting back in them.

He sighs heavily. 'You're no fun when you act like such a-' he wrinkles his nose in thought, in this unbelievably cute way that doesn't suit his sadistic character at all, and says, 'a mortal!'