Chapter 24

His head almost scraped the ceiling; his shoulders were so broad they strained against his cloak. He pushed back his hood and shook out a long, dark mane. Horns, meaner than Damon’s, stuck out from his fringe. Then he grinned, and his teeth were as sharp as a hound’s.

“So, you’ve finally seen me,” he said, and swept aside his cloak, revealing a bronze bulk rippling with muscle. “Just as I’ve seen you.”

He took a step toward her, and Lilitha backed away. She gasped as she tripped and sank amid the mound of clothing.

She scrambled out. “Stay away!”

She retreated until her hands scraped against the rock wall. She sidled along it as Mateus watched, dark eyes glinting above his pointed teeth. With an almighty crash, she knocked over an array of armor and weaponry in her way. A golden sword fell at her feet, and she picked it up, its hilt wreathed in dry blood, so heavy she could barely lift it. Her wrist ached.

He raised his hands in mock surrender. “Going to slay me like a beast, Lilitha?” She started at her name, but her grip did not waver. “From what Damon says, I don’t think you have it in you. From what I hear, you are a lover of beasts.” One hand still raised, he reached down and gripped his groin. “Can’t wait.”

Lilitha stared, mouth open. Not because of his foul words, not even because of the terrible way he was, but because of the gruesome necklace she noticed slung around his neck.

“Do you like it?” He fondled it affectionately. “It’s of my own making. These are from my first kills as a boy.”

~Ears.~ Strung together on a chain, they were dried and shriveled and blackened, but unmistakably ~ears~.

Licking her lips, Lilitha anchored her feet. Her arms shook beneath the sword’s weight as she lifted it higher, pointing it at his navel. He fell silent but held his grin. Their eyes locked. With a cry, she stepped into him and jabbed. He dodged out of her reach, a big brown blur, and knocked the sword from her grasp. It thudded heavily to the ground. She ducked to retrieve it, but he kicked it away, sending it spinning across the floor. She tried to skirt around him, but he stepped in her path. She tried again, ducked and weaved, but he was quick, mirroring her every move. For someone so large, he was ~fast~.

He gave a deep mocking laugh that echoed around the cavern. “See what I mean? Your heart’s not in it.”

“Keep away!” she cried.

His eyes were gleaming, his grin never faltering. With nothing left to lose, she charged at him, but she was like a leaf against a boulder. He caught her in his arms and hugged her against him. She squirmed and thrashed, but he merely tightened his grip. He nuzzled her cheek, ran his fingers through her hair, sniffed around her neck.

“You smell so good,” he purred, pressing his face into her throat. “Can’t wait to know what you feel like.”

His breath was rank with blood, his hands were slick with it. Tightening his hold, he pushed his hips against hers. His eyes twinkled as he leaned in for a kiss. ~No!~

He reeled back with a roar.

Lilitha yanked at his balls again, and he released her with a yelp. She fled the cavern.

She dashed along the trail, escaped the rocky terrain and crashed headlong into the trees. She had no destination in mind until her ears pricked at an astonishing sound—laughter, ~female~ laughter—and altered course. She broke into a clearing. Three cloaked figures were lounging around a roaring fire. Two looked up at her approach, one leapt to its feet. She skidded to a stop, just short of the flames, a hot thrill seizing her foot as it grazed against the coals.

“Lilitha!” came Damon’s cry.

They all spun at the sound of crashing as Mateus hurled himself through the bracken. Lilitha ducked behind Damon.

“Where is she!” he roared, stopping in a swirl of leaves, eyes and horns and pointed teeth flashing scarlet against the flames. The shadow of his tail lashed across the trees. When he saw her, he turned his eyes on Damon.

“Keep away, Lilitha,” Damon said, shoving her back.

Mateus’s tail coiled and cracked. With a roar, he thundered toward Damon. There was a nasty thud as the two Diablons crashed into each other, falling together in a heap. Roars and snarling rent the air as they wrestled and fought. Horns clashed, tails cracked, heavy punches were thrown, but in the end Mateus had Damon pinned to the ground, the tips of his deadly horns pointing into his face.

“Let him go!” she cried.

She rushed over to help but stopped before she reached them, helpless. He was so enormous he might as well be a mountain. Utterly unscalable. Sometimes she wasn’t very smart. Mateus sneered at her, glaring eyes red against the flames. Then Damon ripped himself free, punching him hard in the face. He leapt to his feet as Mateus staggered backward. Damon was baring his teeth. Mateus spat out a mouthful of blood. They were growling at each other like animals. Both their tails were lashing wildly.

“Aren’t you going to help?” Lilitha called desperately to the two hooded figures watching on. “Or are you just going to stand there?”

One of them stepped toward her and pushed back his hood.

He was another Diablon but much older, white hairs sprinkled through his copper beard and shoulder-length hair. He was different to Mateus and Damon, less imposing; his horns were shorter, somehow less savage. He definitely seemed more human than they did.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“My name is Silus, and I’ve been looking for you.”

“Looking for me?”

His eyes shone against the flames. “For a long time.”

Leaves crunched beneath his boots as he approached. His eyes were green like hers and Damon’s, and they glinted with a hunger even more fiercely than Mateus’s. He was heavily lined, deep furrows in his brow and at the corners of his mouth. He reached out to cup her cheek. Lilitha jerked away.

“Lilitha, it’s okay,” Damon said, wiping the blood from his mouth. “He’s safe.”

Gently, the monster reached out again. Lilitha was trembling as he gently took her chin, twisting and turning her face, his gaze running over the length of her nose, her lips, along the curve of her jaw, until finally coming to rest upon her eyes. He released her and stepped back, a range of emotions flitting over his features: shock, elation, fear. And then his face crumpled in grief.

“Silus?” Damon said.

Lilitha blinked. They were all watching: Mateus and Damon, bruised and bleeding, their fight forgotten; a female, black hair twisted atop her head. There were tears on her cheeks.

The older Diablon stepped toward her and fell to his knees. Lilitha jerked when he slung his arms around her waist and pulled her against him, shuddering into her navel. He lifted a tear-streaked face. “I knew I’d find you one day, and here you are, as beautiful as your mother.”

Lilitha’s heart skipped a beat.

“Are you sure, Silus?” the female said, watching Lilitha doubtfully.

“Without a doubt. For a moment, I almost mistook her for Charmaine herself. She is my daughter. I am sure of it.”