Page 75 of Emma & Edmund

Everything about it betrayed danger, from the top of his high, twisted horns to the tip of his bare feet.

Emma did not spend every Sunday in the second row of St. Augustine to not know what this thing was.

"A demon," Emma gasped out between her fingers, slapped over her mouth after her scream.

"Oh, a fan!" The demon - a male, if the bulge tenting his loincloth was any indication - threw a dramatic hand against his chest, giving a small bow.

"What do you want?" Edmund's voice was low and brave. Despite it, Emma felt far from the sense of safety he normally instilled, clinging to the back of his shirt.

"Edmund, this thing is dangerous. I do not want to be here."

"You can't go yet," the thing drawled, taking a gliding step toward the pair. "Not after how long it took for me to get here."

"Don't come any closer," Edmund warned, holding out a broad hand to the demon as if it would compel him to leave them alone.

"Please, Edmund," Emma begged, "I-"

In an instant, not even a breath's time, the demon had melted into the air around him and reappeared at Emma's side. Before she could think, it wrapped one clawed hand around her jaw, seizing it in a powerful grip. It felt as if with a simple flex, it could shatter her bone.

It smelled of sulfur, scaley palm hot against her skin.

"I said,not yet."

"Get your hands off her!" Edmund, with his own incredible speed, had the red throat in his grasp within the next moment. Having been on the receiving end of his grip many times now, Emma knew just how powerful it can be, but the demon didn't react, his neck didn't constrict even a bit.

"Now, is that any way to greet your sire?"

"What?" Edmund recoiled, his lip drawing over his teeth and blunt nose scrunching at the words, his hand dropping to take several disgusted steps back, taking Emma with him. "How dare you say such a thing."

Her foot nearly slipped when it landed against fabric. Glancing down at her once-beautiful dress, Emma wondered again how quickly she could scoop them up.

"I've been trying to get to you for a while now," the hellion cooed, sounding like scraping metal in Emma's ears. "Oh, just grab it, you little twit."

Emma's face burned in a blush, knowing the words were for her, and indigence bubbled in her. But she couldn't deny the cold taking over her body, making her shiver hard to distinguish between fear and chill.

"Don't speak to her like that," Edmund growled again, even as she did as commanded, scooping up and slipping on her shift before clutching the dirty gown to her chest.

"And why not? By all accounts, she belongs to me now."

"I beg your pardon?" The aghast words spilled out of Emma's mouth, riddled with disgust.

"Stop spewing your trickery," Edmund kept his eyes on the thing even while turning to Emma, taking up the ribbon of her corset, "and go back from where you came. Emma, let me help..."

"Hmph," the demon snarled, "how rude."

Emma couldn't see much over Edmund's broad shoulder, but for the sinister grinning face she was desperate to be away from. Everything within her demanded she run, demanded that she save herself, leaving whatever happened with Edmund and thisthingup to them.

At the same time, the gentle hands that were helping her regain her modesty had just been the ones to bring her to the heights of pleasure. And the unique, black eyes staring at her from over his shoulder were unmistakable. Although it made her feel sick to think about it, she felt the disturbing truth in the creature’s words.

The feeling was not aided when, in the same second she made the last thought, the demon melted into the mist again, as if it were made up of the fine droplets.

In the next moment, Emma was weightless. The ground - and Edmund - fell far beneath her, his shocked and angry face barely discernable. With a yelp, Emma nearly jumped out of her skin, held from her death by two hot iron bars for arms holding her high above the ground.

"Oh, good Lord!" Emma exclaimed, earning a hiss from the polar opposite being that held her.

"Do you understand now?" The demon yelled down. "I would pay attention if I were you."

"Let her go!"

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