Runes of Truth (A Demon's Fall #1)(27)
“Why are they coming this way?” Trex asks from just behind me, and I shrug.
“They will try to trade you things, it’s what they do. They didn’t always trade humans. That was just a few of their kind that were evil, and they were all killed because of the actions of a few. I’m sure you killed many of their families,” I say, patting his arm as I walk past, and he glares at me, not liking the truth. “They are harmless and still people–don’t kill them or I’ll have to kill you, myself.”
“Fine,” Trex growls, going back to the rock, as I put my dagger back in my belt and go to my bag. I push all the stuff back into it, and check to see I have four breakfast bars, three protein bars and some random snacks left. I have two bottles of water, which isn’t the best when we have a hot desert to cross, but it will have to do.
“I miss bacon, and real meals,” I groan, shoving it all back the bag, and doing it up. At least my bag is lighter now and I don’t have to carry any arrows, I lost them all in the river with my bow. At least I have my daggers, it’s something.
“I have bacon rasher crisps. I don’t usually share them, but you look desperate,” Connor says, opening his bag, and going through it as I go to his side. He pulls out the small packet of crisps, and hands them to me. I smile as I take them, flashing back to memories of stealing them from shops as a kid.
“I used to steal these as kid. There was this little corner shop just outside the demon underground. When I was starving, and my friend couldn’t get me food, these were the easiest and cheapest thing to steal,” I tell Connor, but I don’t really know why I even told him. “I guess it’s why I became obsessed with bacon.”
“I’m sorry you had a life like that,” he says.
“Don’t be. I had a friend, who was like a sister, and a roof over my head. There were demon and human children in far worst places than I was,” I say, knowing from everything I saw, I was lucky. Kids don’t last long on the streets without being sold or killed. I was so lucky to have a guardian in a way.
“Who was your friend?” he asks.
“Hali’s mum, and she died what seems like a long time ago,” I tell him, looking away as he places his hand on my arm.
“She would be proud of you for protecting her daughter. Maybe one day, you can tell me about her? I would like to know,” he says, moving his hand away, not pushing me into an answer, and standing up.
“Maybe. Anyway, thanks for these,” I say, practically inhaling the crisps from the moment I open them. I look over to see Azi leaning against the wall, still glaring at me like he has been all night, and over to Nix who is talking to the traders. I watch as he holds his hands up in the air, shaking his head, and I realise that they might not speak English, and he could use my help.
“I’m going to check on Nix,” I tell Connor, standing up, and putting the empty wrapper in my trouser pocket. Connor looks over at Nix and nods at me.
“I don’t understand you,” Nix is saying when I get closer, and the demons stop talking to him to look at me instead.
“Artis? Artis?” The demon on the right repeats over and over. His eyes on the daggers on Nix’s belt.
“Non artis. Vos should relinquere,” I tell them, explaining that we don’t want to trade. The one on the right nods, huffing, and walking away with his friend following.
“Hearing you speak Latin is kinda sexy, love,” Nix whispers as the traders turn around, and start walking away slowly. I hear a little meow, and then I spot the cage in the back of their trolley underneath some metal rubbish.
“Is that a tiger?” Nix asks, leaning forward to look.
“Yeah, only a baby by the looks of it. Shame it’s down here. Animals like that need to be on earth and not in hell,” I say, feeling sorry for it, but there is nothing we can do. Nix looks at me, smiling widely, and then back at the traders.
“Could we trade for it?” Nix asks, and before I can stop him, he shouts for the traders to come back. “I’m going to trade for it.”
“What the hell are we going to do with a small tiger where we are going? Other than hope it doesn’t bite us?” I harshly whisper at Nix, who shrugs, pulling out a gold dagger from his belt. The trader’s eyes widen when they see the dagger, practically drooling with excitement.
“The tiger for the dagger,” Nix holds it up, showing them what he means without having to speak Latin. The traders nod happily, watching Nix walking around them, and lifting the small metal cage out from the rubbish. The tiger is a baby like we thought, about the size of a small child, and the cage is too small for her or him as it’s squished inside. It has white fur, with black lines around the fur on its face being the only pattern I can see. It’s cute, I’ll admit that, but this is still a bad idea. We are going to have a fight on our hands and we are trying to rescue three princesses from hell. I guess three princesses and a tiger now. That sounds like a fairy tale waiting to be written. The traders quickly snatch the dagger from Nix when he gets back, and one licks it before putting it in his cloak and walking away. Gross. Connor and Azi walk over, looking at the tiger in the cage, and Connor groans.
“You bought a tiger. Are you being serious?” Connor asks.
“Another thing to protect, good job,” Azi sarcastically comments, but Nix doesn’t care or even bother replying to them. I look back at the rocks to see Trex sitting on them, watching us, and he doesn’t look impressed. I almost want to shout that I had nothing to do with this, just so I don’t have to hear his lecture. He is definitely going to have a lecture waiting.