Page 29 of The Demon Prince

The spirits hesitated. Perhaps no one had ever spoken with them before. Katherine’s mother was the only one she’d ever heard of who even tried to speak with them at all. She’d been crazy though. Everyone in the town said it.

Poor Katherine with her mad mother who had wandered off into the moors because she truly believed the monsters were her friends. And poor Katherine’s father, who’d gone off after her only to be eaten along with her.

The story was always the same. Monsters like the spirits below her gently swaying feet would never be kind or converse with any human. Not if they had the opportunity to kill them instead.

Still, she wanted to know.

“Would you let your king wander through these waters without a scratch?” She glanced up at the moors, the pale green light glowing from within them while the wisps danced upon the mist. Then she snorted. “I bet you would. I can already see him, emerging out of the mist like some forgotten god while you all parted for him. Are you afraid of the demon king as well?”

They probably were. Although she still couldn’t understand it.

She kicked her good foot back and forth, watching the spirits track the movement with greedy eyes. The one directly underneath her had once been a warrior. He still had his armor on, although it had gone mottled green with age. His cheeks were rotten clear through, only his jaw and teeth visible as he gnashed his mouth.

“I don’t understand why you’re so interested in dragging people down with you,” she muttered, before sighing and shaking her head. “I bet you’re afraid of him. But he’s always been so kind to me, or at least, his version of kind. It’s hard to imagine him as the monster everyone claims him to be, when he’s more interested in telling me that I’m beautiful or sweet.”

She knew the sweet comment was entirely about the scent of her blood. He’d sink his teeth into her neck without a single thought and probably drink her dry if she let him.

He’d done it before.

Not lately, of course. She was the one who got all the young women he’d fed off of, and though they weren’t in great condition, he hadn’t killed one in a very long time.

But she remembered the one he had killed. She was a lovely little thing, the daughter of the previous mayor. Though she couldn’t remember her name, or really much about her other than she’d been beautiful, Katherine had always wanted to be her.

Everyone in town did. The woman had been stunning, and walked through the town with a confidence only the rich could have. She’d traveled back and forth to Gluttony’s castle so many times, people had started to whisper that maybe she’d become their queen. Maybe, for the first time in the kingdom’s history, someone had tamed the demon in the castle.

And then she’d died. Returned with wounds on her neck and so pale her body had looked deflated.

Katherine could still remember the mayor’s screams. He’d been so distraught he’d left the next day. Just up and left an entire town who had relied on him for years because he refused to be so close to the monster who had taken his daughter’s life.

Biting her lip, she looked back into the water. “Why do you think he did it?”

The spirit below her froze, and she met his wide-eyed stare. How had his cheeks rotted clear through when his eyes were still there? Maybe it was part of their curse. They’d be able to see, no matter how much they didn’t want to see any longer.

“Killing her, I mean.” She cleared her throat as though the question was a little too awkward to ask. “Everyone thinks he did it because he couldn’t help himself. They paint him as the picture of a villain, or perhaps as some bloodthirsty animal who can only devour everything that comes in his path. But he hasn’t done that with me. In fact, I’d argue he’s been nothing but a perfect gentleman in my presence and I suppose that’s rather unsettling. You see, I wanted him to be the monster as well. It’s so much easier to deal with someone like him if they’re a terrible person. And not just... human.”

A soft snort interrupted her musing. “He’s not human.”

That raspy voice was rather surprising. She hadn’t expected anyone to be listening to her, let alone respond. It definitely wasn’t the spirit in the water. For all that her mother had been certain the spirits retained some memories, they absolutely could not speak.

Freezing, Katherine looked around herself for someone who might have been listening to her musing. But she was well and truly alone in the mist. Even the comforting blanket of fog parted a bit for her to look up and down the boardwalk. Nothing. No one. Just herself and her thoughts.

Frowning, she muttered, “How would you know that?”

“It’s easy enough to see. Just look at him.” Again, the voice seemed to come without a body at all. But she could definitely hear it, and maybe if she kept it talking, she might be able to pinpoint where it was coming from.

“I see a human when I look at him. Isn’t that the point of his figure?”

“You’re an idiot if you think red glowing eyes and fangs are as human as they come.” A snort accompanied the angry words. “You should leave him up there in the castle to rot on his own. It would serve him right.”

Were the words coming from... underneath the boardwalk?

Oh, that wasn’t good. She was likely talking to some creature she was completely unaware of. Suddenly frozen with fear, she looked down at her feet and swore she saw a shadow reaching for her from underneath the planks.

She’d never moved so fast in her life. Katherine ignored the twinge of pain and stiffness in her hips as she drew her legs out of the creature’s reach. She nearly pitched off the opposite end of the walkway. Breath wheezed from her lungs, ragged and horrified as she contemplated how close she had just been to being pulled into the water.

Whatever creature spoke with her wheezed in laughter. “Oh, that was hilarious!”

It took a while to get her breathing under control, but once she did, anger took the place of fear. “What a cruel thing to do!”

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