Chapter 35

CHAPTER 35

A great peal of thunder shook the walls of the castle and rattled the wooden post where Malissa stood bound among the flames. But the thunder had not come from the dark clouds covering the sky.

It had come from Jaeger's red crystal.

As Malissa watched through the roiling smoke and whipping tongues of fire, she saw the crystal shatter, and an eruption of black particles emerged, like a swarm of angry wasps pouring forth from a damaged hive. The particles swirled in the air above the courtyard, then congealed into a shape Malissa recognized. A pair of black dragon's wings spread wide against the gray sky, a pair of long curving horns, and a body that ignited her senses with a different kind of fire.

The demon's orange eyes darted around the courtyard, taking in the gathering with a look of disgust and fury. Then he let loose a great, bellowing roar that was even louder than the thunder that had come before.

The screams from the crowd got louder.

Much louder.

Malissa saw people fleeing in terror, attempting to exit the courtyard. Some of them rushed for the main gate, others toward the supposed safety of the tower keep. But to no avail. At a glance from the demon, the doors slammed shut, and the drawbars dropped into place. Some of the men tried to push the drawbars free again, but the heavy slabs of oak refused to budge, as if held by invisible hands.

The crowd was trapped.

With the courtyard secured, Beliath turned his attention toward Malissa, and she felt her heart lift as his orange eyes met hers.

He flapped his wings twice and glided down to greet her on the burning platform. Flames enfolded him, but he didn't seem to mind.

Malissa didn't mind either.

Her roughspun smock had been completely devoured by the fire, but her skin remained unscathed. The smoke did not sting her eyes. The heated air did not burn her lungs when she inhaled it. And the pain she had experienced a few moments before—on her forehead, her back, and the tips of her fingers and ears—had entirely vanished.

As a matter of fact, she felt good. Extremely good. Better than she had ever felt before.

"You're alive," she said.

"So are you," said Beliath, and he raised his hand to caress her face. "My angel. My little fallen angel."

"The baby?"

He placed his other hand against her belly.

"Our baby is fine, my love. He is quite at home among the flames—as are you."

"My body?" Malissa said. "What happened to me?"

"Best if you see for yourself."

Beliath touched a claw to the chain holding Malissa's neck, and it fell away like a piece of yarn cut by a knife. Next, he touched the chains holding her thighs, and they too fell away. Finally, he pressed his body close to hers, and he reached around behind her to remove the shackles binding her wrists.

Malissa lifted her hands to her forehead and touched the place where the pain had been. What her fingers found there made her gasp in surprise.

"I have horns?"

"Yes," Beliath said. "And that's not all."

He reached behind her again and touched her in a place she had never been touched before.

"Wings?"

It took a great deal of effort, and the movement was awkward and jerky at first, like a fledgling bird opening its wings for the first time, but at last Malissa managed to unfold her newly formed limbs so she could have a look at them. They were different from Beliath's.

"My angel," the demon said softly as he stroked her black feathers. "My beautiful, perfect angel."

Malissa shook her head in wonder.

"How?"

"It is as I guessed," Beliath said. "You are a cambion, a demonchild, half human and half Sabaoth. When your father conceived you, he must have used his magic to conceal your hybrid nature, but the fire has revealed your true form."

"Incredible," Malissa murmured.

She looked down at her hands and realized her fingers were now adorned with sharp claws. With a thought, she was able to retract them inside her fingertips, just like a cat. Incredible.

She lifted her hands to her head again and touched her ears. They had grown points.

Then she touched a little higher, and gasped again.

"My hair!"

It was gone.

Malissa ran her fingertips over her head and felt nothing but smooth scalp.

"The fire took it," Beliath said. "It was the only part of you not impervious to the flames. I shall miss wrapping it around my fist. However, I must admit… I rather like your new look."

He cradled the back of her skull with one of his huge hands.

"Will it grow back?" Malissa asked.

"Eventually."

"And what about the rest of it? The horns, the wings… am I going to look like this forever?"

"Most cambions are able to shift. It will take some practice, but I'm sure you will get the hang of it."

That was reassuring.

"Do you really like the way I look now?" Malissa asked.

"I said so, didn't I?"

"Well, you are a demon, and demons aren't exactly known for their honesty."

"Have I ever lied to you, angel?"

"You lied about the curse."

"Yes, but that was the only time. Everything else I told you was the truth, and I'm telling you the truth now—you are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, Malissa. But you don't have to take my word for it. You can feel for yourself…"

The demon pulled her close and claimed her lips in a sweltering kiss that Malissa could feel all the way to her toes. She could also feel the demon's arousal, long and stiff, pressing into her—pressing against the belly that it had made pregnant. She rubbed herself against him and moaned softly as his hands swept down her back and clutched the bare mounds of her backside. For several long moments, she forgot about everything else and surrendered herself completely to the demon's desire. It was only when they separated to catch their breath that Malissa remembered where she was—standing in the heart of a roaring blaze and surrounded by a screaming crowd of terrified men and women who had once been her subjects.

"Beliath!" she gasped. "Everyone can see us."

"So what?"

She immediately realized he was right. So what if the crowd could see what she and her mate were doing? Only a few minutes earlier, that same crowd had happily watched while the king tried to murder her and the unborn child within her womb. Why should she care one whit what those people thought of her now?

Let them see me in the demon's embrace , she thought. Let them see us kissing. Let them watch as we join our two bodies into one, the way that lovers do .

The very thought of such an exhibition sent a thrill of arousal spiraling deep into her core. She reached down and gripped the demon's firm shaft.

"I want you inside me," she said. "Right here in front of everybody. But there's something else we need to do first."

"Vengeance?" Beliath asked.

"Vengeance."