Embracing The Demon

Embracing The Demon Celeste King Protheka Publishing Copyright © 2023 by Celeste King All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Sigh up for my newsletter at https://www.subscribepage.com/celesteking Join my Facebook group here! Dedication This book is dedicated to Kaylee, Emily, Taylor, Jordon, Melanie, Jamie, Jennifer, Hannah, Donna and the whole “Project Protheka” family. Thanks for believing in the world. Contents Books in The World of Protheka The World of Protheka 1. Anastasia 2. Volikan 3. Volikan 4. Anastasia 5. Anastasia 6. Volikan 7. Volikan 8. Anastasia 9. Volikan 10. Anastasia 11. Volikan 12. Volikan 13. Anastasia 14. Volikan 15. Anastasia 16. Volikan 17. Anastasia 18. Volikan 19. Anastasia 20. Anastasia 21. Anastasia 22. Volikan 23. Volikan 24. Volikan 25. Anastasia 26. Volikan 27. Anastasia 28. Volikan 29. Anastasia 30. Volikan 31. Asmodeus Preview of Mated to the Dark Elf 32. Amelie 33. Kral Ishiraya 34. Amelie 35. Kral Ishiraya Books in The World of Protheka Orc Warriors of Protheka Series Mates of the Burning Sun Clan Series Dark Elves of Protheka Series Thoruk’s Prize: A Monster Romance Naga’s of Protheka Series Minotaur’s of Protheka Series Demon’s of Protheka Series Vampires of Protheka Gargoyles of Protheka The World of Protheka 1 Anastasia “Is anyone there?” I whisper, peering into the dark. I can’t be sure yet if I’m inviting trouble by speaking, but I take the risk anyway. It all depends on whether a friend or a foe lurks in the shadows. Still, I keep my voice down, testing the water. No one answers. I wait, listening to the silence that surrounds me. It never breaks, and I finally decide that I must be alone. Alone. Whether that’s good or bad, I do not know. I suppose it depends on whatever has brought me to this place. Or where this place even is. I push myself upright, from where I lay on the cold stone floor. Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I scan over my surroundings. The only light is one small candle, far away, which doesn’t do much to reveal the setting. It’s hard to see, in the inky blackness, but it’s almost certainly another dungeon. But it seems utterly unfamiliar. At first, I think it might be a different side of the dungeon that I’m used to. The one that I’ve spent months in. Perhaps I’m still there, just seeing the view from a different angle. The more my eyes take in, however, the more I become convinced that this is someplace new. I look down at my body for clues, trying to piece together what has transpired in the past few hours. At least, I hope I’ve only lost a few hours. It could just as easily be days, and I suppose it doesn’t really matter in either case. When you’re a prisoner, time starts to lose all meaning. The only thing revealed by my limited examination is that I am naked. I tenderly feel over my body, trying to judge what has happened to it when I was unaware. Nothing significant jumps out at me. No mysterious fluids or sticky thighs. I feel some bruises, but I’m pretty confident they were already there. It’s not like my last dungeon setting didn’t leave marks. Still, it doesn’t help me solve my current mystery. Where am I now? I remember, of course, the raid on my work camp. I’ll never forget that – that nightmare will be imprinted on my mind until the day I die. Of course, that could be any day now. In many ways, I’m surprised it hasn’t come already. Sometimes, I think that I’d greet it eagerly. Life under the dark elves was not easy, but somehow it only got worse. We were used to being forced to work nearly to death in the camp. I suppose once, young and naive, the women all would have agreed that nothing could be harder than that. But then the demons came. They kidnapped us and forced us back to a strange floating island, hovering in the sky over Protheka. What they wanted us for, no one really knew. Torture seemed to be the only thing on their minds, and perhaps we were just the easiest targets. We had been, for the dark elves, after all. Maybe the demons thought it was their turn. And it turned out that they proved one thing – what we considered suffering under the dark elves was only the beginning. The demons, now they were the true experts of misery. Every day was cruelty for the sake of cruelty. I’ve managed to survive it this long, but for what? “Ouch,” I breathe out, my hand reflexively covering my neck. A sudden, sharp stabbing pain interrupts my thoughts. I feel a strange substance hit my fingers, something wet and tacky, and it sinks into my hazy mind that it’s drying blood. Suddenly, it all comes back to me in a flash, like a thunderbolt. This is the piece of the puzzle I needed. My foggy brain jerks into overdrive, suddenly alert as the floodgates of my memory open. I remember the King drawing a lottery, essentially raffling off the women to his favorite supporters. The cruelty and abuse had lessened in the past few days, though never stopped completely, once the King realized that human women could serve a purpose. That is, other than entertaining demons as they watch us scream, cry, and die. Human women, it turns out, are more fertile than demon women. We have a mission now – to be farmed out like barnyard animals and used for breeding. We will bear their children, like it or not. Because otherwise, the demons are in danger of going extinct. Their women simply cannot keep up. It takes them far too long to reach