Page 65 of A Study of Blood and Ichor

I had to squint against the darkness to see him, and when I did, I immediately wished I hadn’t.

Ilo looked like a creature born of midnight. It was impossible to make out any defining features of its face except for two unblinking, beady red eyes and a lipless mouth that cut across his face from ear to ear and displayed a row of serrated yellowed teeth. The demon’s wiry arms clawed at the ground as he attempted to drag his body away, scraping through the pool of blood and sinew across the asphalt.

Vain’s rage was like a living thing. His whole body shook with it as he plucked up the demon with one hand by the throat and held him high.

“Pathetic,” Vain snarled.

His other hand wrapped around the demon’s forearm. Then he pulled. He pulled so hard that the pop reverberated in my eardrums as Ilo’s arm ripped out of the socket and a rain of ichor spewed from the wound. Vain didn’t stop there though. His insatiable need to hurt—to destroy—seemed to be an endless pit. With each tear and every rip of the demon’s flesh, the glint in Vain’s eyes only grew brighter.

Ilo’s howls faded to gasping groans as his ichor sprayed everywhere, a few drops landing on my lips. Unconsciously, I swept my tongue across them and instantly regretted it the second I tasted the warm substance. The demon’s ichor was sour and tasted more rotten than his breath. I wanted to gag to keep from swallowing.

But it was too late.

The ichor slid down my throat, and with it came a rush of power as it swelled and warmed in my chest. I had never felt anything like it before.

Ilo’s body was nothing more than a carved-up slab of meat, a heap of sinew, scraps of bone, and a puddle of ichor.

Vain released what was left of the demon, and it smacked onto the ground with a heavy squelching sound.

His swirling mass of shadows dissipated before Vain crouched in front of me, onyx eyes coming into view. Splatters of blood and ichor lashed across his face, dripping off his chin as they traced his features in dark lines. I couldn’t tell if I reached for him first or if he was the one who pulled me to him, but my face burrowed into his chest all the same. His arms gathered me up, holding me tightly against him.

“You came for me,” I said, sighing into him.

Vain moved one hand from my back to cradle my head and lightly stroked my hair. “Perhaps you misunderstood me before, mellilla.” He spoke with the velvety darkness I had once feared, but now couldn’t have been more grateful to hear. “I will do anything to protect what is mine.”

EIGHTEEN

Ava

Vain shifted us outside onto the rooftop balcony of the penthouse, still tangled in each other’s arms with Dru by our side.

Alastair and Nesera rushed out toward us. Dru scrambled away from Alastair at the sight of him. I couldn’t blame her for being so untrusting after having just escaped a demon like Ilo. Seeming to note her hesitation, Alastair let Nesera help her instead. She returned with a soft blanket and draped it around Dru’s shoulders, telling her she’d help get her cleaned up and into some fresh clothes before walking her inside.

Alastair bent down next to me, and I became faintly aware that he was speaking. He sounded far away as he blinked at me with all three sets of emerald eyes. It was the first time they had all appeared open at once, and I found that I was fascinated by them more than I was startled. I nodded at him and allowed him to peel me off Vain and help me to stand.

“I’m okay,” I muttered.

When I looked down, Vain was no longer in control. Rory knelt, shell-shocked, his eyes distant and hazy. His dark hair, which was still soaked and dripping with Ilo’s ichor and his vessel's blood, fell over his face in shining ringlets.

“I’ll help him,” I told Alastair. “I need valerian, saffron, and chamomile…crushed amethyst too.” I named off everything to draft a calming elixir. “Do you have all that?”

“If not, I can find some.”

“As fast as you can, please,” I said, voice straining. “He’s in shock.”

“I’ll get what you need,” Alastair said and retreated back inside.

I lowered myself to my knees in front of Rory and placed my hands on either side of his face, urging his eyes to meet mine.

“We’re going to stand together, alright? Come on.”

I guided Rory’s hands to my forearms and lifted him by the sides of his abdomen until we were both more or less standing with his weight leaned against me.

“Damn you, Vain,” I cursed under my breath as I guided Rory inside to the bathroom adjoining his room. How could he leave Rory in control after he had put them both through an ordeal like that? And what the hell had happened after Ghen pulled them aside?

I had to get Rory into the shower so he could wash the sickening smell of the ichor off him. The stench permeated the air, reminding me of Ilo’s hot, rotten breath against my face.

“Can you get in by yourself?” I asked, turning the knobs. Hot water instantly streamed down from the large rain showerhead.

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