Page 60 of Chaos Demons

My heart lurched.

My beast’s heart lurched, which was even more fascinating.

But Ana only fell for a moment before shifting back into a dove and flitting down to land on the street ahead of me, then transformed back.

“That was thoroughly disgusting, Fen,” she said brushing gobs of huge-dog slobber off her. “I’d much rather you licked me as a person, in that special way that drives me crazy, if you know what I mean.”

I did. I wanted that more than anything.

And my wolf wanted it to. It wanted to be with Ana as much as I did, and a part of it knew it couldn’t do that as it was.

My wolf’s massive body began to shrink and shift as my world-ending beast slowly returned control back to me.

Then… I was myself again, lying amidst the rubble on a street, staring up at the sky, a brilliant, beautiful blue sky. But nothing compared to my Ana who was standing over me.

“Hey,” she said, smiling down at me, as a heavy drop of slobber fell onto my face. I got the feeling she’d done that on purpose.

“Ugh,” I groaned, wiping the goo away as I slowly sat up.

She knelt beside me. “You okay?”

I tried to smile at her, but couldn’t. I’d done far too much evil today, and I shook my head. “No.”

She reached out, running a hand through my sweat-soaked hair. Her love for me radiated through that touch, and something else which soothed me just a little. She didn’t say anything, just nodded. She understood what I’d done and knew there was no easy way to make it right.

I leaned my head into her touch, closing my eyes, and letting her presence comfort the ragged edges of my soul. With her here, I could almost imagine everything would be all right… someday.

“You up for punishing a couple of corrupt daemons?” she asked, her tone was soft and gentle but her intention was steel-clad.

“Yeah,” I breathed. That wouldn’t make everything right, but it would sure as Hel make me feel better.

Getting up slowly, I looked around. I didn’t want to see the destruction I’d wrought, but… I had to.

I had no clue how far I’d fled from the cemetery. It had to have been some distance, because I couldn’t see it, only a massive swath of destruction. The fringes of what I’d consumed held half-toppled buildings. The main path — easy enough to follow — was a cleared area with nothing but exposed earth and pipes and gaping holes indicating basements. I’d devoured everything down to several feet below street level.

Bile rose in my throat, but I forced it back down.

“How far?” I asked, barely able to speak.

Ana put her arm around me, and once again I was soothed by her love seeping into me.

“Far enough,” she whispered. “It will take us a while to get back unless you can transform into anything other than your wolf?” There was a note of uncertainty in her voice.

I looked down at her and raised a brow. “No, but I did notice your dove form. That’s new.”

She nodded. “Comes with being a goddess.”

I smiled. That wasn’t a surprise. I’d always suspected there was far more to Ana than just her two aspects.

“And… so does this… I think,” she said, and she put out a hand, seeming uncertain. But a moment later a large lion appeared. “Ah… I thought so!” Looking up at me, she smiled. “Want to take a ride on my pussy?”

“Always,” I whispered. Still, I was just a little confused about how she’d summoned the beast. I kept looking from her to it, as she guided me over to the large cat. “I think you’re going to have a lot of explaining to do later.”

“Later,” she agreed as we both climbed onto the beast. She was in front, her hands curled into the lion’s mane. I leaned against her, arms around her, as she commanded the beast to run.

And run it did, faster than any horse, sprinting back over the devastation I’d carved through Queens.

I’d have to atone for that later. Right now… it was my brother who needed to atone for his sins.

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