Devdan Manor Read Online Free Page A

He’d never known someone so obsessed with words. If only he knew what they meant. He saw a pattern. It meant nothing if he didn’t know what the markings meant.
    The beings in the paintings were radiant. The demons he met all had a savage aura. They could be attractive, but never so glowing. Were these beings in these paintings even demons? Maybe they were humans. Why would paintings of humans be in the demon world? No, their eyes were red, violet and deep black. They weren’t human. Male or female. It didn’t matter. They were all beautiful.
    He had heard stories of demons that lived in the light. Whose sole purpose was to protect some land in the human world or a gate between worlds. Could these be those demons?
    Maybe the artist exaggerated the subjects’ features. That was the only logical explanation. No demon could be that perfect.
    The hall emptied into a kitchen almost as large at the entrance hall. The markings were here too— chiseled into the stone walls.
    Tink, tink, tink.
    Sounded like glass hitting each other. It came from the pantry. He never felt so blind.
    Tink, tink, tink.
    Too consistent to be an act of nature. Sounded like small demons were in the pantry. He couldn’t sense anything. He pointed. The light rushed into the pantry.
    Numerous jars sat on tall shelves. They covered every wall.
    Tink, tink, tink.
    He didn’t see anything more. He needed to go in there. Damn. This was not the best idea. Didn’t have a choice. This was why they needed to search this place. What if this small sound turned into a demon who went after Ryse?
    He let his power bleed out of him to form a skin-tight barrier around him. The shield was as strong as he was. As long as the demon in there wasn’t more powerful than he was, it couldn’t touch him. He shot power out of his hand. The glowing blue line reached the floor. Too much. He still didn’t have much control over his power. Cyl pulled back. The line became about as long as dagger. He created the Antun house dagger in his hand. Silver lines twisted and wrapped around the handle and ran up the blade.
    The dagger could’ve been plain. It had taken him years to master this. He would admit. He wasted precious energy focusing on decorating his blade. Still, seeing it made him smile. Creating a blade with the Antun marking was worth it just to see the horror and disgust in his family’s faces and to feel the pride spilling from Uryl.
    No need to mask his footsteps. The light had announced his presence.
    He gripped his blade and walked to the door. Different sized jars made of glass, wood, porcelain and metal filled the room. They were decorated with those strange markings. This time they were painted different colors. Did the colors mean anything?
    The noise had stopped. The glass jars were steady. They couldn’t have moved without help.
    Wind touched the back of his neck. It felt like a cold wet tongue. It left him feeling violated. Something was here. He needed to find it before it hurt his family.
    Dozens of whispered voiced hissed throughout the air.
    “A new one.”
    “It has gotten boring this past hundred years.”
    “They have two females with them.”
    “Do you think they can share my cell?”
    The voices laughed.
    They were coming from the jars.
    “How do you think they’ll be captured?”
    “They smell like an Ancient demon. I thought they had all gone into hiding.”
    “It seems like the house has some interesting prey.”
    “Maybe it’ll let us play too this time.”
    The hissing was sharp. They all talked at once. It was getting harder to understand the words. It was overpowering his sensitive earing. He felt the noise everywhere. It became blades diving in and out of his head.
    His shield fell. The voices attack became fierce. He couldn’t see anything past the noise.
    This was no good. He needed to leave.
    He crossed the threshold into the main kitchen area. The voices stopped. His ears rang. His blade vanished.
    Damn.
    He needed to go