Page 38 of Demonchild

But there were other differences too. Her hair, for example. Normally she let her long dark tresses hang freely down her back and shoulders. Today her hair was neatly braided. Beliath guessed that was how she normally wore it during the daylight hours.

Her face was different too. Her cheeks were wet with tears, and the skin around her eyes was puffy and red from crying. That sight made Beliath’s heart pang with concern.

Behind her, at the edge of the clearing, a white horse stood tied to a tree. So, she had ridden.

“Answer me!” she shouted. “What have you done to my baby?”

“What are you talking about, Malissa? What’s wrong?”

He desperately wanted to go to her and put his arms around her, but the magic barrier made that impossible. She would have to come to him.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” Malissa snarled. “You’ve put a curse on my baby.”

“Ourbaby,” Beliath said.

But the little queen didn’t seem to be listening. She was hysterical, and she was hugging her midsection as if she were in pain.

“It’s dying,” she sobbed. “You put a curse on it, and now it’s dying.”

Beliath’s heart stopped.

Their baby was dying?

“Malissa, what are you talking about? What’s happened? Tell me exactly what has happened.”

“You know what happened,” she said. “Youmadeit happen.”

The way she looked at him was like a spear thrust into his chest. Did she really believe he would do something to harm his own offspring?

Then again, whywouldn’tshe believe it? Had he given her any reason to believe otherwise? No. As a matter of fact, he had donejust the opposite. He had claimed to have put a curse on her that would strike her dead if she didn’t free him before the baby came. Hell, he had reminded her about that every time she had come to visit him.

He had reminded her, because he needed her to believe that it was true.

Now he regretted it.

“Malissa, listen to me,” he said, keeping his voice level. “I swear to you, I would never do anything to harm our child. But I can help. Come to me, and I will help you.”

It was, he realized, exactly the kind of thing a liar would say.

The woman was conflicted. He could tell shewantedto believe him, but she didn’t step into the ring. The tears had returned, and they were running down her face, leaving wet streaks on her cheeks.

“How do I know I can trust y—oh!”

She bent over, clutching at her belly as if she were in intense pain.

Beliath could not take it anymore. He needed her to be inside the darkstone ring with him. He needed to help her.

“Damn it, woman!” he roared. “Enough of this. Come to meright now!”

His words were so loud, the white horse at the edge of the forest reared back and whinnied in terror. Beliath was worried that he might have frightened the woman too. He had not meant to yell at her like that, and he was certainly not in a position to be issuing commands at her. He was the one trapped inside thedarkstone ring. If he was going to help her, she would have to come to him freely, and yelling at her probably wasn’t the best way to make that happen.

And yet…

It seemed to work!

The woman came stumbling into the darkstone ring with him, still clutching at her belly. Her legs started to buckle, and Beliath had to catch her to keep her from collapsing.

“Easy, little one,” he whispered. “Easy, I’ve got you.”

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