Page 46 of Ashes to Ashes

Blood pooled underneath the body, each drop echoing like a final drumbeat marking the end of its life. The metallic scent of it filled her nostrils, a bitter taste on the back of her tongue - a taste she was all too familiar with since being sold into slavery.

The eerie silence that followed was deafening, only broken by their shaky breaths and the sound of dripping blood from the lifeless body. Even in death, it seemed to mock their presence.

She turned to Leviathan, watching him with curiosity as he seemed to revel in the satisfaction of seeing her stepmother gone.

“You’re right,” she whispered softly, swallowing hard against the metallic taste that lingered on her tongue from where she tasted blood on the breeze. “You shouldn’t apologize.” She couldn’t help but wonder how different things would have been if he hadn’t saved her. “But my place is here. I can’t give into the darkness that calls to me even now.” She took a step back, not wanting to give him space to grab her.

“You used me.”

She shook her head, tears now spilling freely. “No, I mean, at first. But not now. I am grateful for what you did, and I truly revel in the power that being by your side would bring me. But I didn’t care when she took her last breath. I cannot let myself be that way. It’s not what my mother would have wanted.”

“Your mother was a demon.”

“Who hid amongst humans for a reason.” It was strange, the way her heart seemed to crack at the idea of leaving this handsome, yet dangerous, demon. “I will never forget you, though I know your envy will catch another in time. My place is where my humanity is.”

She expected him to lash out, but instead he walked past her, making certain his body did brush hers. When she turned to look at him one last time, she found the portal somehow quietly opened, and his wings sprouting from his back as he stepped through before it shut.

An unimaginable spike of hurt rushed through her. She didn’t want to be a demon. She didn’t want to be by his side.

But you do. You want to be with him, but you want to be here, too.

“But you didn’t expect him to let you go without a fight.”

CHAPTER 23

Leviathan paced the chamber, the same chamber where he’d worshiped Ashe’s body not too long ago, and he was a wreck without her.

He paced back and forth inside his lavishly decorated chambers, unable to sit still or focus on anything else but the vision of her delicate form dancing through his mind. The dulcet tone of her voice echoed in his head, mingling with the scent of her skin—soft and sweet like wildflowers on a spring breeze. Scents he shouldn’t even know as a demon, but somehow did.

His fists clenched as he recalled how she felt beneath him, how she moaned and arched into him, seeking more of his touch. Just as he thought he couldn’t bear it any longer, a rustling of fabric came from just behind him. He turned swiftly towards it only to find one of his servants trying to offer him some wine. But all he could see was Ashe’s face when she whispered those life-changing words - her decision to leave behind all he could offer her.

Ashe’s absence was like a void within him, an emptiness that no amount of power or envy could fill. It should have been inconceivable, but she’d stirred so much within him that there was nothing left with her gone.

His eyes scanned the room filled with beautiful artworks from around the world. Pieces that were the envy of every collector at some period in history or another. Every piece seemed to lose its luster in comparison to Ashe’s radiant presence.

And then he caught sight of it. A glimpse of red hair peeking out from behind a tapestry hanging on the wall, reminding him that she was close by but just out of reach. His heart raced as he dashed towards it, tearing down the heavy curtain and revealing an empty corridor beyond.

The cool marble underfoot did nothing to stop the fire burning within him as his loneliness turned to rage. All he could think about was having her back in his arms where she belonged.

He stormed through hallways, getting as far from the chamber as he could, forcing away the thoughts of the only halfling he’d ever met who could take both forms. She’d made her choice, and he had no choice but to agree with it because he’d foolishly needed to taste her lips under his.

She had chosen a mortal life over immortality with him.

Leviathan’s heart pounded with each step he took, the need to find Ashe consuming him. He pushed his demonic senses to their limits, searching for her familiar presence. Of course, he could not feel her as she was in the human realm.

Frustration pulled a growl past his lips, and he slammed his fist into the wall of the corridor. The marble cracked and crumbled under his strength, but it did little to satiate his anger.

With a roar of fury, Leviathan continued down the hallway, passing by servants who cowered in fear at the sight of their angry master. He paid them no heed as he marched towards the main doors.

He burst through the doors and out into the night air, inhaling deeply as if hoping to catch a trace of her scent on the wind. But all he could smell was envy.

He flew high above the city walls, past towering spires that jutted menacingly up towards the starry sky, their tips lost in the clouds. The castle behind him was a distant glowing dot now, and he reveled in the freedom of movement that flying afforded him.

The prince’s wings beat against the air, propelling him towards the edge of the realm where he could feel her. He needed to see her again, even if it was just for a moment. The space between the realms would allow him to glimpse the other world without a portal that would alert her to eyes.

The wind whipped through his black hair and chilled his skin, but it didn’t compare to the burning ache within him. Every fiber of his being longed for her presence. She’d somehow gotten under his skin with her tenacious will to survive and bravery. Her skills at bringing him to release were not enough to cause this borderline obsession. This was about her as a person.

Leviathan soared to the edge of his realm and the world began to fade into nothingness. The stars above twinkled in the vast expanse of space, their light barely reaching him as he flew higher and higher.

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