Page 37 of Ashes to Ashes

Slowly, he stepped into her line of vision - his tall frame blocked out what little light seeped through the small window—but she still, she knew him.

Leviathan.

His horns glinted in the dim light as he approached, making him appear more menacing than usual. His fierce dark blue gaze bore into her, causing her entire body to tremble under his scrutiny. She couldn’t look away from those eyes that held both promise and danger.

Ashe’s heart rate quickened the longer she stared into Leviathan’s eyes. His dark wings unfurled like a menacing shadow that she barely caught out of the corner of her eyes. His piercing blue eyes seemed to glow with otherworldly power that stole the breath from her lungs the longer she looked into them.

The air around them crackled with dark energy, freezing her where she stood. She wasn’t certain if he came to kill her or something worse, but the fury in his eyes was a palpable entity even among the magic that held Ashe still.

“It’s time to pay the price for your betrayal, human.” His voice came out as little more than a raspy growl. “You’ve made me do this, you understand? You’ve forced my hand because I cannot have humans running around murdering the superior race.”

Belial. He knows. Fuck.

Terror wrapped around her—a cold freezing hand just over her throat, but Leviathan’s magic held her still.

“I do not know how you disposed of a demon, but there is only one way to ensure your treachery is confirmed.”

Tears welled up in her eyes but could not seem to fall with the magic holding her in place. Instead, her vision blurred, leaving her unable to see anything as the death she feared approached.

“This,” his voice was low, “is what happens when you play with fire.”

At once, the tears tracked down her cheeks, and Ashe stumbled forward, finally released from his magic.

Through the tears she saw him jam his hand into the pocket of his pants, the enchanted ring sparkling even through her tears as he held it before her. His lips twisted into a sneer seconds before the silver chain slipped through his fingers, dropping onto the cold stone floor. Her breath caught as it hit the floor, right in front of her feet inside the cell.

Why would he return my mother’s ring and chain?

Ashe’s heart pounded in terror and anticipation. Every beat of her heart was a thunderous drum inside her chest. There was no telling what would come next, and it seemed Leviathan enjoyed playing with her.

A chilling smile stretched across Leviathan’s face, his eyes glinting with cold malice. He took a step back from the bars of the cell but remained close enough to instill fear in his captive. The air crackled with an electric charge as he spoke, his voice dripping with venom, “Put it on.” His command echoed off the stone walls.

The command sent shivers down Ashe’s spine like lightning striking over rain-dampened skin.

Ashe hesitated for a moment before reaching down cautiously towards the necklace with trembling hands. It seemed heavier in her grip, but the calming effect she was used to rolled through her the second the thin chain was in her hand.

“Do it,” he ground out between clenched teeth, “Put on the necklace.”

She undid the clasp, her hands now still. It seemed his earlier insistence she couldn’t wear it had washed away. Ashe didn’t understand how this would punish her for killing Belial, but she feared what the prince might do if she did not listen.

The chain was warm as she set it against her neck, and Ashe realized Leviathan had held it on him, for some reason keeping it close. Tugging it around so that the clasp was now just above her breasts, Ashe looked at it and her fingers as she screwed one end of the closure into the other.

Without warning, the enchantment took effect, transforming Ashe from human to demon costume. As with the first time, there was no pain, only a slight tingling that she now understood was Lily’s magic at work.

There was no mirror in the dungeon, and the small window had no glass for her to see her reflection, but Leviathan’s response told her everything she needed to know.

Ashe was the demon once again.

Ashe,the beautiful human woman with long red hair and startling white eyes, stood there in the dark dungeon becoming something else.

Her skin rippled like water, her hair turning to sparkling silver and spread across her body in waves of warmth. Her nails elongated into sharp black claws that lengthened an inch more than before. A fiery aura flared around her, casting a crimson glow against the damp stone walls. The air around her shimmered and crackled, and when the strange haze cleared, silvery scales lined her arms, like a tribal line that he’d seen before. Porcelain skin was now a snow-kissed silver that sparkled unlike any gemstone he’d ever seen.

Leviathan’s hands trembled slightly where they clenched into fists at his sides as he tried to understand the transformation just behind the bars.

When she stared at him and no further changes continued to shift through her form, Leviathan’s fingers landed on the bars, prying them open rather than opting for the key.

A sharp gasp escaped her lips, and she stumbled backward as he advanced towards her. The terror in her eyes was evident, in stark contrast to the pure pleasure that once shone from their depths when she looked upon him. He knew she could feel his breath on her skin as he closed in on her, but he did not care.

There was no explanation for what he saw, but he would not deny it. Everything was upside down and his heart thundered in his chest as he forced himself to understand.

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