Taming Demons for Beginners (The Guild Codex: Demonized, #1)

by Annette Marie

He sat at the edge of the circle, with one arm propped behind him, a knee raised, and his forearm resting on it. At my shocked gasp, he canted his head, the motion cocky and challenging, and his crimson eyes locked on mine. A faint magma glow emanated from his stare. He was definitely a demon, but he was so different from the one under the greenhouse that they could’ve been different species. He had no wings, for starters. In fact, he looked … he looked … He looked almost human.

Briefly closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. “Zylas, I think enough people have died already.” “Mercy is for the weak, payilas.” “The weak can’t afford mercy.” I met his eyes. “I think we can.”

Zylas shoved Darius’s arm away from me. “Get back.” Instead, Darius sat on his heels. “You’re very protective of your contractor.” Zylas’s lips peeled back. Because I knew him pretty well now, I was already lunging up. Before his slashing claws could find Darius’s flesh, I yanked Zylas’s face into my chest and clamped my arms around his head as tightly as I could.

“By the way, Robin,” he murmured. “The expression on your demon’s face when you called him your partner was fascinating.”

“In my world,” he said unexpectedly, “there is a type of … tree.” I faced him again, my brow furrowed in puzzlement. “On the tree, it grows small …” He cupped his hands as though holding something. “… small fruits. The outside is poisonous, deadly, but inside is juicy and sweet. We fight over these trees. I have killed to take the fruit when it is ripe.” He picked up another s’more cookie. “These are better.”

He thought my cookies were better than a fruit he’d killed to eat. My hands, submerged in soapy water, paused. I’d have to make sure no one ever tried to take food from him. It sounded dangerous.