Page 20 of Witch Queen

Even the black magic Vedran had gifted him had been all but consumed byReverse. In all his centuries as an Archduke of Hell, the demon had never felt as impotent as he did now.

No.He sagged, his talons sinking into his palms.There was another time when I was this helpless.Barquiel closed his eyes and shuddered.It was when I had to watch her die.

What the demon missed more than anything right now was not his freedom, nor the authority granted him by his title, nor even the monstrous army he had once commanded. Not being able to see the woman he loved was a far worse fate.

“Ran Soyun,” he whispered brokenly.

A cold sensation trickled down his spine. Barquiel stiffened.

Dread, a sensation that was alien to him, was filling his veins.Is it because I can no longer sense my troops?

It had been several days since he’d lost all trace of the demonic creatures he’d been gathering in the Underworld to do his bidding. He frowned.

Still, that is hardly a reason to be feeling such a cowardly emo?—

A sharp sensation pierced the demon’s body with his next breath. Barquiel clutched his stomach, startled. Something had just twisted deep inside him.

He gasped when it came again.

His body transformed into that of the human he had possessed before morphing back into his demonic appearance just as quickly.

Barquiel stared wide-eyed at his trembling fingers.What’s happening? Why am I losing control over my form?!

A voice sounded faintly in his ears. Barquiel twisted, his frantic gaze scanning his surroundings where he floated in the void.

“Who are you?” he barked after a moment. “Show yourself!”

The voice came again. It was followed by a heat that threatened to scorch his very being. Barquiel grunted and doubled over, stunned. He froze when the words dancing on the edge of his hearing finally became perceptible.

I’m coming for you, asshole!Rose Blake growled in his mind.

Barquiel recoiled.What?! But—how?! There shouldn’t be anything left of her consciousness!

Only a fragment of Rose Blake’s soul remained inside the body he had taken over. It should have been impossible for her mind to survive the destruction he had wreaked upon her consciousness.

The voice faded, along with the fire licking at his insides.

“Impossible,” Barquiel mumbled, his throat tight. “It—it must have been a figment of my imagination.”

But however much the demon tried to deny what he’d heard and felt, he wasn’t able to convince himself that it had been fake. Because there remained a lingering heat deep inside the body he had stolen and the taste of a fury that wasn’t his.

* * *

“This is creepy,”Roman said nervously.

Filomena clung to his shoulder and tested the air warily with her tongue.

“Nobody asked you to come, choirboy,” Nikolai said coldly.

“I wanted to see Mae’s workplace.” Roman scowled. “What’s it to you, douchebag?”

Vlad said something rude under his breath.

Mae gritted her teeth. “How about everyone shut up before security catches wind of us?”

Would you like me to teach them a lesson, my witch?Brimstone asked enthusiastically.

Mae rolled her eyes.Do I look like I want that kind of trouble right now?

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