Page 52 of Demonic Cage
“Both sides have a ritual, but I don’t know the herebias’. In Filizi, the thirty-day ritual begins today, and you’re invited. Don’t look so scared, you won’t transform. We’re not holding the ceremony for you.”
“Then for whom?”
“For broken souls ready for it,” Darya says darkly.
I pull my knees to my chest as if it will protect me from the answer to my next question.
“How do you break someone?”
Darya’s face twists into a cruel, insane smile. The silver streak in his eyes ignites, shining even brighter now.
“Oh,” he says. “This is the best part, and it’s unique to everyone. There’s never the same way to break two souls. It takes centuries of ingenuity to succeed. Not that I’ve ever tasted the bitterness of failure.”
“So, is that your goal for me?” I whisper softly. “You want to break me? That’s why you put me in front of the monster, so I can plead for my life in a half-dead state and want to become a demon?”
“It doesn’t work like that,” the Demon King replies. “I can’t force you, and neither can the herebias. You have to decide for yourself, but often even that’s not enough.”
“What do you mean?”
“Wanting and truly becoming a demon or an angel are two different things. You can’t lie to either side. To become a demon, you have to lose what makes you human. Currently, if you were to attempt the ritual, you’d only get hurt. After all, you’re not attracted to either side, are you?”
“How do you know that I’m not more attracted to the angels and that I would even consider being with you monsters?”
“Dramatic,” he says.
The Demon King’s dark eyes wander into the distance, before looking back at me.
“One day, you’ll find out what kind ofmonstersyour world worships.”
“I can hardly wait!” I hiss.
Darya laughs insanely, making me shudder. He slaps the root, then gets up suddenly and reaches out to me. I have no intention of accepting. Instead, I push myself back against the rock.
As if pouring oil on fire, his lizard grin immediately springs onto his pale face. He materializes beside me in one step and curls a purple lock around his fingers as he studies the line of my jaw.
“This fierceness!”
He comes even closer, and I try to retreat, but the rock behind me doesn’t yield. Warmth floods my face, and my neck burns from the Kraldem’s gaze.
He takes my chin in his fingers, and his black claws gently scratch my skin. He leans closer to me, whispering in my ear.
“This fierceness is what will get me what I want!”
“And what do you want…?” I recoil from his darkening gaze. Two black tears flow from the corners of his eyes, and his skin hardens in an instant. In a moment, he reminds me who he really is. My chest starts to pound, and blood rushes through myveins. I lurch out from under his arm, but stumble on the rock slab. He catches me with merciless speed before I can fall.
The mockery disappears from his gaze, his expression settles into serious lines, and he just scrutinizes my flushed face. With his tight arm holding me close, his dark claw traces along my jawline.
“I don’t usually get surprised, Lotte,” he whispers, “but I never thought the solution would come in such an attractive package.”
My face burns with fire. My body sticks to his like two intertwined branches. His icy breath dances on my neck, and as he looks at me with his dark eyes, the fear of my desire for him freezes me. His mouth touches mine, but he doesn’t kiss me. Instead, he moves toward my neck. I sigh. His lips creep up, and I tilt my head back, exposing myself to him, letting his icy mouth tease my chin.
One of his hands moves lower, the other higher on my body. His lips slowly find mine, and then… he bites into me.
The taste of iron floods my tongue, and pain scatters in my head like lightning. Somehow, I manage to push Darya away from me, who doesn’t resist, and I press my hand to my pulsating lower lip.
Terrified and angry, I stare at Darya, who seems to be coming back from a drunken state. He coils his neck like a reptile, almost hissing, but when he speaks, it’s clear he wants to return to reality.
“Just in time… Sylla,” the Kraldem whispers.
