Page 13 of Demon: Monsterverse
“Stop,” I cried and swallowed hard. If I had a weaker stomach, I would have vomited. I fixated on the blood dripping from the torn, stringy meat.
“I am feeding you.” He tilted his head to the side. “This is a creature many eat here. It’s nutritious.”
I blinked at him and opened and closed my mouth like a fish out of water. He was attempting to feed me ... but still! It squealed and the elongated snout twitched.
“He’s suffering! The least you can do is make sure it’s dead before you tear a limb off.” I clenched my fists at my sides, glaring up at him.
“Why?”
I sputtered.
The surreal experience wrecked my understanding of monsters. He wanted me to explain empathy, but I couldn’t drag my attention from his body that tapered at the waist. I wet my lips.
This was not the time to lust or moon over how well that forked tongue—I shook my head.
“It’s kind to end his life instead of letting him suffer.”
His head tilted, watching me for a few beats. Long enough for it to get uncomfortable. Tenebrous dipped and snapped its neck, cutting off the pitiful crying.
My stomach soured. Well, then.
He lifted the torn appendage and peeled the skin back, flicking it off his claws as he strode toward me.
He lifted a piece of the uncooked meat to my face, and I swallowed past the thickness in my throat. That didn’t look appetizing. It wasn’t helping that the meat was also a purplish color. Tenebrous stared at me, insistently lifting the meat.
I licked my lips and opened my mouth to politely deny, only for him to slip it on my tongue, claw grazing my lip. Unable to help it, I coughed, and it bounced off his chest. The texture and the thought of seeing it ripped up in front of me ... I couldn’t do it.
His runes flared, but instead of brightening, they flickered with aggression.
“Uh, is there a way to cook it?” He tilted his head again. “Like with fire. A flame?”
His shoulders tightened.
“Maybe I should start with water.” I shifted from foot to foot as I swept my gaze around the daunting,dryland. I couldn’t survive long without water.
This would be a problem.
“Is there water ...”
Instead of letting me explain, he swept me into his arms and headed back through the cave.
SEVEN
TENEBROUS
Remainingon the left side of the tunnel system eliminated the possibility of falling, but any wanderers would fall to their death—just as I wanted. Various hidden areas lay within my space, and one was a pool of water.
I neared the threshold deep in the cave. After this divot, there was a steep drop to the only liquid available for miles.
When I asked her what was wrong with her, I had not meant the strange rumble coming from her body.
No, I needed to know why she touched me with ease. I was not like her and had come close to devouring her in more ways than she would ever understand. What a strange creature. How could she act as if we were not two different species?
Her soft skin and features were off from what was normal, and those blunt teeth were the strangest of all.
Most disconcerting was how she remained so calm against me, allowing me to tote her about, yet her delectable fear had not left, it multiplied. If she feared me so much, why was she still touching me?
I should not be struggling to understand a human. If she asked for water, it must be what she survived on and not feedings. A Craving Lotus also had to be preserved in this way to extend the feedings. The human seemed sturdier than the wilting petals of the flower, so she would do well in my care as long as I did not lose control.
