Page 40 of To Dwell in Shadows
Cass’s eyes glittered with something like triumph. Satisfaction.
“Do you want to know how it happened?—”
Her words were cut short by a vicious, snarling bark sounding from a distance. Cass turned, and in an instant, was tackled by Zetta.
“Zetta, no!” Selene shouted.
Zetta clamped her jaws around Cass’s translucent throat and bit down. Selene watched in horror as Cass screamed, and her face distorted with agony. Then Selene realized it wasn’t agony she was seeing; it was that Cass’s face was morphing into a solid form. And a different person.
Cass’s blonde hair shriveled like a match tossed on a bale of hay. Her eyes bulged then retreated until they were star-shaped holes sunken within a pasty face. Her white robe split as six spider-like arms burst from her rib cage. Her legs lengthened and her body rose until she was seven feet tall, looming over Selene.
The creature that Cass had become smiled down through a mouth of rotted teeth.
Selene whispered, “Who are you?”
“Greetings, mortal. I am called Drath, demon of Fear.” He spoke with a guttural, deliberate cadence that made Selene’s skin crawl. Zetta growled and tugged on the tattered black robes the demon now wore. “I was just having a little fun. Eldest daughters radiate with guilt and obligation so sweetly.”
Selene opened her mouth to say something, then just stood there, utterly speechless.
Drath crossed his six arms. “My companion and I saw you pass by earlier. He felt all that delicious guilt within you, and I felt the fear. A little deception to feed on those emotions proved…mmm,irresistible.”
Selene wiped away the tears still clinging to her lashes. “That was a horrible trick. Why would you do something so cruel to a stranger?”
The sound of Drath’s chuckle made Selene so angry she was unable to stop herself from blurting out, “Do you even know who I am?”
“Of course. Prince Samael’s mate.” Drath leaned down, making Selene realize his face was painted like a nightmarish clown. He extended a leg toward her. The red outlining his mouth split and flaked as he asked, “Would you like help out of that hole?”
“At what price?”
“No charge.” Drath wound a hairy leg around Selene’s waist and lifted her to stand beside him. “Rest assured, your sister is fine.”
“I don’t see why I should trust your word on that.”
“Suit yourself.”
“Don’t ever do that to me again.”
Drath rubbed two of his arms together. “Ah, but don’t leave yourself so open to manipulation and I won’t.”
Selene wasn’t sure how to respond, so she started walking back toward the tunnel’s exit. Zetta was at her heels.
Drath trailed beside her, prompting her to say, “Just leave me alone, will you?”
“It’s been a decade since I visited your realm. What are your kind most afraid of now?”
“I don’t know. The usual stuff.”
“Like this?” Drath’s body shifted into a giant cobra, startling Selene so much she yelped.
“Yes, that!”
“Or perhaps this?” Drath morphed into a demented-looking dentist wearing a soiled white coat and waving a rusty drill at her.
“Yes. Great trick. You can stop now.”
“But what about this?”
Selene’s steps abruptly halted as her face and back felt as though they were pressed between two slabs of wood. She tried to turn her head but there was wood on either side as well. She was overtaken with the sensation that she was locked inside a coffin. Claustrophobic panic began to rise, even though she knew it wasn’treal. The moment she opened her mouth to scream, the illusion dissolved.
