Dark Hunger

The man smiled showing his yellow, tobacco stained teeth. "That is going to cost you extra. After all, I don't have so much time to spare." 

Elize dug inside her cloak and then took a gold coin out. She tossed it at him and said, "How long will that buy?" 

"Two hours!" the man said with a grin and caught the coin. "And my name is Arlo!" He turned the coin in his fingers. It was genuine. This was one rich customer. He hurried out of there. 

An hour later, the man was blabbering rubbish. Using her magic, Elize had made sure that he had both her portion as well. The man had opened up and was talking nonstop. Elize gave him time to become comfortable with her. She glanced at the burly man who was keeping an eye at her and found that he was irritated and fidgeting. Soon he left seeing that things were all in place. 

Elize leaned over to the owner and without wasting time, asked, "Have you heard of men called Caleb and Auril? I heard they came here in this den."

The owner jerked his head back. "No…" He raked his memory but then shook his head. "I don't. Why?"

Disappointment settled in her heart. This was just the beginning of her hunt for her husband. She didn't know how to find out more without raising suspicions. Byrd had said that Caleb had mentioned this location before entering the portal. But why would he do that? What was the significance of this place? Why was he keen to come here? In order to dig more, she said, "There are a lot of soldiers camped here, I guess. I saw them in the inns and taverns and so many are marching on the streets even at this hour." 

Arlo scoffed. "Those bastards are everywhere. The king's men have arrested our Alpha, and we are not going to go down without a fight!" He became excited. "Our beta, Vaarin is going to give them back a tough battle!" he said, spraying a shower of his saliva. "We are planning on getting some more men on our sides, but the bastards are too selfish!" He poked his hands over his head in the form of horns. 

"Which men?" she asked, leaning away from the shower. Then a sudden realization hit her. "Have you heard about demons in this part of the Whiteclaw pack?" 

Even though he was high on opium, he gave her a stare. "Why do you ask?" 

Excited as hell, Elize picked up a hazelnut slowly and tossed it in her mouth. She crunched it noisily and said, "I have a score to settle." 

The man sized up the little woman in front of him. His lips kicked up and then the smile turned into laughter. "A small person like you against a demon?" He leaned forward. "Take my advice and forget whatever he has done to you." 

Elize raised her eyebrow. "Who said it was a he?" 

The owner jerked his head back. "You mean a demoness did something to you?" He had never heard of it before. This was definitely the most shocking thing he had heard in his life. He looked up at the ceiling as if remembering his god and asking him what else was there in his life to see. 

Elize picked up another hazelnut and popped it in her mouth. "Yes, she left me high and dry for someone else." 

The man grinned and shook his head. All the beautiful women were already hitched or had no interest in men. He beckoned her closer to him with his forefinger as he too leaned forward. Elize too leaned forward a little but kept her expressions stoic. He said, "That is going to cost you another five gold coins!" 

Though Elize could easily give that many coins to him, she didn't want to look easy. She haggled, "Are you being too greedy? One gold coin was enough to buy two hours from you with this," she pointed at the gray gooey substance. "And now you want five coins for a small piece of information?" 

The man gave her a leery smile. He relaxed back in his chair. "It is time value for money, young lady," he said. He hadn't earned that much in a week's time. And he could sense that the woman in front of him was very rich. He had heard her purse jingle. 

"Three coins." 

"Four." 

Elize clenched her teeth and then took out four coins from her purse and tossed them to his side. Greedily, he reached his hand to pick them up, but she slammed her hands over them. "You have to take me to the place where you saw her, else the deal is off!" 

The man glared at her through the redness in his eyes. "You ask for too much lady!" he growled and then swayed a little. "Even my mistress knows her limits!" 

Elize pursed her lips in a thin line. "I guess the deal is off now. I have to try my luck elsewhere." She started sliding the coins back. 

The owner of the den clenched his teeth. "There is a very high risk involved in taking you there." 

"You mean you know where she stays?" asked Elize, as she played with a coin between her fingers. 

"No one knows where the demons stay," he said, watching the coin with lust. "But I can take you to the place in the foothills of the mountains where my people last saw them. After that you are on your own." 

"They live in the foothills of the Northern Mountains?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Arlo laughed at her. "No, they don't live there. They live higher up, but no one knows where they exactly live." Suddenly he became serious and leaned towards her. "Sometimes one or two of them come down to our pack and they have taken our women with them. Those women have never returned and so now when they come, no one talks to them. Our women stay away from them."

Elize got up from her place. "Take me there now." 

Stunned that even after hearing about the demons, she was eager to go to them, he thought of an idea. The girl was simply too foolish and she was loaded. He caught the edge of the table and straightened himself. "I will ask my man to drop you there. But after that you are on your own." He picked up the coins she had left. So foolish. 

"That's fine," said Elize. She didn't want to waste a single minute staying here, because she didn't want to lose the cover of night. She would find a way to the demon's lair somehow. And a new form of anger surged through her body. She was sure that Caleb had come here for Edyrm. A sense of urgency cruised in her body. She had to see him. 

Arlo got out of the place. He sauntered his way out of the den and then walked all the way to the door, where he spoke in the local language to the man who was standing guard. Once he gave instructions to him, he looked at Elize. "He will take you there." Elize nodded.. Arlo went back while the man gestured with his chin to follow him in the street to the left.