Read Online Devdan Manor by Auden D. Johnson - Free Book Online

Uryl snapped. He turned to Ozais. “How many rooms did Cyl unseal?”
    “Two.”
    Uryl nodded. “He would have to empty his power to free this house. You know what that means.”
    For a demon, their power was their life. If he used it all, he’d die. Uryl had a plan. If that plan failed, Cyl would empty his power and destroy this house.
    “Also, it looks like the only way Cyl could remove the seal is if he let his power go out of control. This wasn’t the first time he used his power in this house, but this was the only time the symbols were affected,” Uryl said.
    What was the different between his violent power and his power under control? Another thing he needed to figure out once they were free.
    Uryl created a dagger and handed it to Ryse. Cyl snatched it from her. Uryl wasn’t the type to do stupid things. Why would he give his eight-year-old baby sister a blade?
    Uryl snatched it back and handed it to Ryse.
    Uryl glared at Cyl. He did have a plan. “The reason that demon got in was because Ryse drew the protective circles with pen. We need something more permanent.”
    Cyl fought with himself. If he took the blade from Ryse again, Uryl would kill him.
    “Why can’t one of us draw the circle?”
    Uryl cracked his neck. He was losing his patience. Cyl didn’t care.
    “The circles and symbols need to be perfect. Ryse is better and faster at it than we are.”
    Once they got out of here, Ryse was getting a life outside of drawing spells. She was too good at it for a demon her age.
    Ryse gripped the dagger. Cyl turned away. Her smell innocent hand wrapped around the vicious weapon…he didn’t like it. Why was Uryl encouraging her?
    “What should I draw?” she asked.
    Uryl bit his lip.
    “We need something to funnel that one’s power,” Nuall answer instead jabbing her finger at Cyl. “Is there a circle that uses another demon’s power?”
    Ryse walked to Cyl. “I need blood.”
    Cyl liked this plan less and less. He held out his palm. She slice his flesh. A nice deep wound. If he were human, he’d need a doctor.
    The blood pooled in his palm. It spilled over.
    “Why isn’t this closing?”
    Ryse grabbed his hand and guided him to the wall. “I need to paint with your blood.”
    He needed to banish those words in that sweet little voice to the special place in his mind reserved for obscene mental pictures.
    Cyl picked her up. With his blood, she drew two open circles facing away from each other connected on a line running through the middle. At each end of the line were small triangles. His blood flooded through the symbols, staining it red.
    A shrill voice screamed through the house- shaking the foundation.
    Ryse placed her small hand in his bleed palm. The wound closed.
    “I have to do this again, don’t I?” He wiped the blood off on his pants.
    “Everyone eat quickly,” Uryl ordered. “I have a feeling we’ll be using our powers a lot.” He opened his bag and pulled out dry meat, fruit and water.
    They gathered around the food. Cyl’s palm throbbed. His right hand didn’t want to hold anything.
    He flexed his fingers.
    “That symbol,” Ryse sipped some water, “pulls power from the area that’s cut. It is an old spell. Most demons don’t use it because it slows the healing process.”
    Uryl choked. “You should have mentioned that sooner. We need his power.”
    “Please, he has enough of it. We’re the ones that might run into a problem,” Nuall said.
    Why did she enjoy pointing out how useless he was? In most situations, Cyl couldn’t use his power. It wasn’t his fault. She always made comments like he’d been sitting on his hands the whole time. They’ve only needed protective spells. Cyl’s power was too volatile for that.
    Black smoke crept in from the window. It rose through the floor. It slipped in through the walls. It rolled towards them. Uryl threw the food in the bag. The smoke wasn’t in any hurry. It moved like silk in the wind.
    Nothing that beautiful could