Page 6 of Demonic Division

“I’m just having a little fun. Though it’s for pleasure, not amusement.” He leans forward again, gnashing its pointed teeth together. “Your soul smellsdelicious.I mayactually have to have a taste.” The demon lets out a low, sinful growl at my quick inhale.

“It would only hurt for a moment,” he murmurs, burning yellow eyes tracing the gentle curve of my lips. “I’m told demon venom is one of the most euphoric substances. You wouldn’t even realize it’s too late until you were all but digested.”

If you can fear, you can also be brave.

The words of my mother enter my mind as the demon inches forward. I force myself to stay put, scrutinizing the strange being on my mattress despite everything telling me to run and hide. He’s larger than any human man I’ve seen, with a chest the size of a whiskey barrel and long, powerful arms covered in corded muscle. Thin silver armor covers his figure, ending at the wrists and stretching up to his jaw, clinging to his body like a second skin. The material shimmers silver in the moonlight, contrasting beautifully with the dancing, swirling yellow runes that cover the fabric and pulse to the beat of his heart.

Where snapping, snarling teeth should be, full pink lips pull back to reveal a welcoming smile. The cruel, pitch-black orbs I was told of are replaced with shining yellow irises. Like his jaw, his brow is wide and strong, and it arches down to a slightly crooked nose where two endless dark slits should be. There is no greasy, thinning hair like the stories—instead, his head is covered with gleaming blond hair, cropped to just above his pointed ears. In fact, the only attribute from the tales that seems to be true are the two thick golden horns growing from his head. He’s nothing like the creatures I’ve heard about in the bedtime stories. He’s not terrifying.

He’s… beautiful.

I reach a hand out, an invisible string pulling my handtoward his face. I want to touch him, to see that he’s real. To lick and taste andfuck?—

I pull back with a jolt.What the hell was that?

The demon’s smile widens into something predatory, its nostrils flaring slightly as it takes a deep inhale. I’m about to ask what it’s doing when its pupils blow, enveloping the warm yellow in an instant and turning its eyes black.

“Mine.” The voice that enters my bedroom is not human, and it sends a jolt of terror down my spine. I go to move back when its hand snaps out, gripping the back of my neck. Its fingers curl around my windpipe, and it pulls me to its face, stopping when our lips are a breath away. “Mine,” it repeats. “My—” Its voice cuts off as it releases me, shoving me back with such force I nearly smack my skull against the headboard. It blinks once, twice, and the yellow is back.

We sit in silence for several moments, staring at each other in shock and horror. On impulse, I scooch farther back on the bed, and the demon laughs, its face carefree as if its earlier slip never happened.

“Your fear really is one of a kind,” it says. “The scent will have to be enough—since you’re so opposed to letting me taste.” At the last word, its pupils dilate, and its smile morphs into something predatory. “For now, that is.”

Try never.

The demon bursts into laughter as if it can hear my thoughts. I narrow my eyes suspiciously.

You smell like dirty demon dick.

“Aw, well, that’s not very nice,” it whines, that smirk still playing at its mouth. “Not to mention untrue. I’ll have you know I take two baths a dayandshine my horns.”

Holy shit. It can read my mind.

“It can,” the demon replies.

My mouth pops open as I stand there, unable to do anything but stare at that insipid smirk.

This is so fucked up.

“Right again,” it says. “My personal favorite was when you were saying how you wanted to touch me. Tolick.Tofu?—”

“That’s enough!” I yell, clapping my hands over my ears. “Get out of my fucking head, you creep! Those were private thoughts!”

Its voice lowers to a rasp. “Nothing is private when you’re in the presence of a demon. I know all your secrets, your deepest regrets and fears. I know where you want to be touched and how you like to be fucked. I know all your desires, big and small. But most importantly, I know that you’re notreallyscared of me. Not even a little.”

It crawls forward on the mattress, placing an arm on either side of my legs, trapping me in its cage. My heart races as it leans in, stopping when its lips are a breath away from my ear. I’m buzzing with energy, with a need, a desire I’ve never held for any man in my life. I’m riding high—higher than any drug I’ve tried—but it all comes crashing down when it speaks. Its voice is barely a whisper, a secret and a truth woven together on the tip of its sinful tongue, but it’s enough to remind me of the terrifying creature before me.

“I know you’re not scared of me,” he whispers, tone a sinister warning. “But youshould be.”

In an instant, its face morphs into the terrible creature I saw in the woods. Canines elongate, piercing the skin of his lower lip as shadows swarm his eyes, consuming the yellow pools until no color is left. The horns sweeping back from his hairline lengthen, pulsing with the same molten hue asthe runes on his forearms. His claws extend, the pointed tips pushing from his skin and deep into the padding of the mattress. But strangest of all is the pair of wings materializing just over his shoulders, seeming to manifest from the shadows themselves. The outline dances and swirls in the air before condensing into two bat-like wings, pumping the air gently and blowing a gust of wind across my cheekbones.

At that moment, I’m finally able to understand its earlier words. Because when I lay eyes on the horrifyingthingin my bedroom, I know for a fact that I am truly, utterly scared of it.

That’s much better.

I nearly scream when the demonic voice sounds in my mind. It’s similar to its human tone but darker. Distorted.Evil.

“W-what are you talking about?” I ask, my voice cracking heavily. “Better?”

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