Page 60 of Demonchild

Thank the Creator, she thought,Or whoever.

Holding her hands over her belly, Malissa carefully padded across the room to the door, which was still standing wide open following Wulfgang’s noisy entrance a few minutes before. She peered out into the corridor beyond. It was empty. Good. She quietly shut the door and latched it. Then she returned to the bed.

The king was lying on top of her black gown. Her good-luck gown. She could try to tug it out from beneath him, but if she did that, there was a chance she would awaken him. Not worth it.

Malissa went to the wardrobe and took out a different gown, a midnight blue one that would blend into the shadows nearly as well as the black. Once she was dressed, she went back to the side of the bed and stood over her sleeping husband. It was funny to think of him as such. He meant nothing to her. Nothing at all. She belonged to the demon now, body and soul.

She slid her wedding ring off her finger and placed it quietly on the bedside table.

“Goodnight, Wulfgang,” she whispered. “And farewell.”

Then she blew out the candles.

CHAPTER 31

Malissa hurried through the dark forest, just as she had done that first fateful night nearly three months before. She had made the trip so many times now, she didn’t even need her night-eyes to find the way. She could have done it blindfolded, so well did she know the location of every winding root and treacherous stone. She was heavier now than she had been that first time, her belly big and rounded with the child growing inside it, but that did not slow her down. If anything, she moved even more swiftly than before, gliding through the darkness like a spirit, like a demon.

She paused once, to adjust the satchel that was slung across her body, and she placed her hands against her belly, as if to feel the child sleeping within.

“We’re almost there,” she whispered. “Almost free.”

She would have to think of a name for him soon. A name suitable for a demonchild. She and Beliath had not spoken of that yet, but there would be plenty of time to discuss it soon, once the demon was free from his bondage and they had begun their new life together, far from Drachenval and the darkstone ring.

Malissa lingered for a moment and listened to the forest around her. The first few times she had made the night journey to the clearing, the darkness had been oppressive, and she had feared whatever creatures may have been hiding within the shadows, but tonight she was unafraid. She felt at home in the darkness. She smiled.

“Let’s go,” she whispered to the child in her belly.

She took off again, moving as fast as a person could move without running. The limbs overhead were beginning to shed their leaves, and shafts of moonlight pierced through the gaps, giving the forest an even greater sense of magic.

It was an excellent night for a ritual.

After what felt like an eternity, Malissa could finally see the clearing ahead of her, and she let out a soft cry of elation. She jogged the rest of the way through the woods and out into the open air. By the time she reached the darkstone ring, she was breathing hard, and her heart was beating fiercely.

She took off her satchel and set it upon the altar. Then she stripped off her gown. A few minutes later, everything was ready. Malissa was naked with the grimoire in her hands and the five candles burning around her.

She started with the summoning spell.

It had been several weeks since she had last recited the incantation, but she still knew the whole thing by heart, and it rolled off her tongue with ease. With every word she spoke, her pulse quickened.

As soon as she finished the summoning, she felt the demon’s presence behind her, and goosebumps pricked her flesh. The great beast hugged her from behind, drawing her back against his hard muscles and his even harder cock. Dark wings folded in around her, blocking out the candlelight, until it felt as if the only things that existed in the whole universe were herself, her demon, and the baby he had made inside her. With one hand, he cupped her breast. With the other, he stroked her pregnant belly. The warm, smoky scent of him surrounded her.

“Angel,” he whispered, his breath soft against her ear. “I have missed you.”

“I can tell,” she said, nestling her backside against his throbbing erection. “I’ve missed you too.”

The hand on her belly moved down between her legs, and a long middle finger separated her folds, which were already wet with desire.

“I can tell,” the demon purred.

Malissa gasped and shivered with arousal. It had been weeks since she and Beliath had been together, and she wanted nothing more than to have him bend her over the altar and use her as roughly and deeply as he wished. However, she knew that now was not the time.

She turned around to face him and placed her hands against his broad, smooth chest. His orange eyes blazed like molten iron above her.

“It is the day of the equinox,” she said.

“Yes. I can feel it.”

“I feared I might not make it out here tonight. Wulfgang returned from battle earlier than expected.”

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