Page 58 of The Demon Mark

What little air she had left in her lungs exited in a scream that was both meager and quiet. The creature hauled her out of the water with a booming cry that echoed through her ears and made every part of her wince in pain. But then it was the heated slash of claws around her thigh as it used her leg like a whip to throw her across the room.

Lilith struck the wall hard. Her ears were ringing. She couldn’t inhale because the wall had thrust all the air from her lungs and she couldn’t even think.

She needed to run. She needed to hide again. The mist rose from her skin like a shield, and it was the only thing that stood between her and the snake of the chimera’s tail that reared back and snapped its jaws at her.

But the mist was a solid barrier between this creature and her. Again the creature struck, this time with its claws, but the mist held. A shield, unlike anything she’d ever been able to summon to protect herself. Her power kept her safe, even though she knew the oracle wasn’t afraid to die.

The oracle in her might know that its life wouldn’t end, but it also knew that her life would. So here it was. Protecting her until the bitter end.

Curling up in a ball, she tried to hold on to her legs and make herself even smaller, but she slipped in her own blood. Pouring out of her thigh, it covered the floor. The water only made it appear worse. It seemed she had made her own river of blood, trailing out of her body and pooling beneath the creature that would be her death.

But then there was the worst garbling noise. A bubbling ache of horrid insanity that echoed out of the creature’s mouth. She had no idea what would make a chimera sound like that, but it couldn’t be anything good.

And then she couldn’t hear anything at all. It was just silence. Eerie, strange silence that made her heartbeat seem to be so incredibly loud.

She swallowed hard, lifting her head to see the chimera stagger to the side and then fall limp onto the floor beside her. She stared into glassy eyes and watched as the life fled from its gaze. The great beast was rather sad in its death. She’d always thought creatures like this one were rare and difficult to find. They were beautiful, in their own way. A stunning mix of magic and matter that gave it so much power.

And it was sad to watch it die. It was sad to see all that power leave its body and its jaw became lax with death. But she also knew that it was a relief as well. This creature hadn’t taken her to death with it.

The static in her body slowly dissipated and all she could feel was the pain in her leg. Looking down, she was shocked to see that the claws of the creature had cut three furrows through her flesh. The skin was parted, a yellow layer of fat poking out of her skin and muscle revealed that flexed as she tried to straighten her limb.

Hissing out a breath, she froze. Lilith wasn’t sure what to do. Only that she had to move. She would not bleed out in this room alone but also... she was in so much pain.

Muffled words distracted her and it took her a few moments to understand that someone was trying to speak to her.

“Lilith,” the words broke through her daze. “Lilith, let me see. Call back your mist.”

What mist? She didn’t have the ability to summon the weather or the entire world would be encapsulated in a storm right now. Her pain would be lightning, followed by the groans of thunder.

But then her mind stilled again, and she felt all the power that had been her shield seep back into her skin. She was weak again. Shivering with pain and confusion and still, she didn’t stop the person from touching her.

Hands came down on her wounded leg, on either side of the searing ache. “Lilith, I need you to let me heal you. Do you understand? Don’t let your magic attack me.”

She did. But there was also a part of her that didn’t want him to touch her. She didn’t want anyone to touch her right now when she had almost just died and she didn’t trust him not to kill her, either.

Then those hands moved to her forehead. He smoothed the wet hair away from her face and forced her to look up at him. To look at the magnificent demon king drenched in blood. His face was paler than normal. Those emerald green eyes saw right through her, and the concern in them made her shake with exhaustion.

“You’re hurt too,” she whispered.

“Yes. But we’re going to heal you first. There are so many that I need to heal in this castle.” He stared down at the wounds on her legs and she saw the ache inside of him.

Not from his own wounds, not that she could see them or knew what plagued him. But from the sight of her injury.

Her heart swelled with hope that he cared for her, and she knew she would let him do whatever he wanted. Because this man wasn’t going to hurt her. Of all the people that might, it wouldn’t be him.

Swallowing hard, she nodded and turned her leg toward him. “Do what you have to do, demon king.”

The healing wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t awful. He leaned over and green light bathed her leg, turning into a teal as it sank into her flesh. Slowly, everything knitted back together. Bit by bit, sinew and fat weaved together the way it should be.

Over and over he murmured the spell until she could hardly even see the faintest white line of a scar. And still he continued. As though he thought there shouldn’t be any mark left on her, but she could see the toll it was taking on him. Already he was paler than before. Dark shadows were smudged underneath his eyes and his breathing was labored.

Healing her wasn’t doing this. He was a stronger man than that. She knew for a fact he had killed and stolen the power of countless healers, perhaps in preparation for something like this happening.

Envy was a wealth of healing power, so what else was he doing while he healed her?

She put her hands over his, interrupting the magic that gave her a little zap of electricity before it retreated into his body.

His eyes opened, glaring at her. “Do not interrupt spells. You don’t know what will happen if I stop.”

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