Page 114 of Beauty's Monstrous Demons

Laying my head on Samael’s chest, I hum under my breath.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” I admit. “My hair is even different now. Am I dying?”

“No,” Alecto says. “You’re fighting the sickness, and you have four, strong mates. We’re changing your DNA and body chemistry. Your hair has black, blue, and white streaks through it.”

“Poor girl,” Bast teases me. “You’re becoming more like us.”

“What do I have of yours?” I ask tentatively.

“My eyes,” he murmurs. “The blue in your eyes is being taken over by darkness. You’re still tiny, though.”

My laugh startles me. It feels as if I haven’t made that sound in ages. The darkness in the clearing pushes back, and my heart begins to pound. I don’t want to pay too much attention to it, because I’m not ready to go yet.

“I don’t think that’ll ever change,” I tell him.

“It suits you,” Samael says, his fingers tracing over the veins on my arms. “I love your laugh, Lorelei.”

“I almost forgot I could make that sound,” I whisper. “You’re not really here, are you?”

“Do you think you’re imagining us?” Bast asks.

“Yeah,” I rasp. “It’s desperate and sad, isn’t it?”

“It’s not,” Phenex says. “The bond lets us come visit you. We stay as long as the darkness lets us.”

“Keep fighting to stay,” Alecto says softly.

“Do you think I have a choice?” I ask, biting my lip.

Are they judging me for not being stronger?

“No,” Phenex says. “I’ve noticed sometimes, you’re able to stay longer with us. I think whatever this illness is, your body is fighting it off the best it can.”

“We’re doing what we can too,” Samael says. “We miss your light, Lorelei.”

“It’s so warm here,” I say. “I hate how cold I always feel.”

“What does the cold feel like?” Alecto asks, his eyes narrowing.

I feel put on the spot, but I think as I swallow hard.

“Like ice crawling through my veins,” I say. “It’s what the injection felt like too.”

“Then we’ll do our best to keep you warm,” he says, moving to lay between my legs, his head in his usual spot on my stomach.

My fingers sink into his platinum white hair, and Bast and Phenex get closer as well.

“Has your hair always been this color?” I ask him.

“It used to be black as night with midnight blue highlights,” Alecto murmurs, his eyes closing slightly as he purrs.

Sighing, I lean into the way that feels, and soon my alphas are all purring for me, the sound deep in their chests. More and more of the darkness disappears until the clearing grows wider.

But eventually, I fade away, despite their best efforts to keep me. One day, I’m afraid I won’t be able to return.

ALECTO

“She said she feels cold,” I mutter, sitting up in the bed. We all worked together to find her, and it’s the best success we’ve had in keeping her with us.

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