Page 80 of Unbinding the Demon
I whipped my gaze over to the treeline. At least one hundred of Adelstein’schildrenwere sprinting through the forest, straight toward me. “Ashton!” I screamed in absolute terror while I fought against my restraints with all my strength.
Ashton’s glowing eyes snapped up to me, then widened in fear. Blood sprayed into the air as he tore the flesh from Adelstein’s throat. Then he vanished into a cloud of black mist, leaving Adelstein to collapse and thud weakly to the ground in a crumpled heap.
He reappeared above me in a flash, using his claws to tear through the ropes that bound my feet and wrists. His hands latched onto my body, and a black mist swirled around us. Then it disappeared. “What the fuck?” he muttered under his breath, with a brief look of confusion. Realizing there was no time to waste, he frantically swooped me up into his monstrous embrace, then jumped off the altar and into the air. I let out a blood-curdling scream as the stone below us cracked into pieces from the powerful force of his foot kicking off. I held his neck in a death grip as his mighty wings flapped with a powerful whoosh, sending a bunch of dead leaves swirling around us. We just barely made it out in time to avoid the horde of zombies swarming the altar like a pack of rabid hyenas.
Snarling came from right below me, and I looked down in panic, finding that one of them had latched onto Ashton’s leg. His eerie black eyes stared up at me as his gnarled hand reached for my foot. Ashton kicked it off, causing it to hiss and fall. The others ripped it to shreds in a grotesque display of blackened blood and entrails once it hit the ground.
Spiked obsidian wings swooshed around us as they powerfully flapped in the frosty night air. The zombies were jumping up in a sickening frenzy, screeching and snapping their sickly jaws below. As we hovered above the bloody massacre, Adelstein stumbled to his feet. Black smoke swirled like fluttering ribbons around him, seeming to cauterize his wounds. His cloak hung off him in bloody tatters, and his maimed face glared up at us with venomous hatred.
“This isn’t over, Azathoth! You will die, and then I will kill the girl! Mark my words!” Adelstein shouted, shaking his one remaining fist at us in a fit of rage.
Ashton’s grip tightened around me as he glared bitterly down at Adelstein. His gaze then shifted to my terrified one, and a gentle smile appeared on his face. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you,” he reassured me with tenderness and pressed his lips to the top of my head.
Even though I’d seen him like this many times before in my dreams, his sudden real-life demonic appearance still daunted me. I didn’t know if I should hold on to Ashton or try to squirm away from the menacing demon clutching me. But, considering how far up off the ground we were and what was below us, I chose the former.
“What about Belzar?” My soft voice was just a whisper in the wind as tears brimmed in my eyes.
Ashton smiled at me again. “Don’t worry, it takes a lot more than that to kill an abyss wolf.”
Black smoke swirled around us, then disappeared, and once again Ashton frowned in confusion. His wings then flapped faster as he flew us up even higher into the frigid night sky. My arms tightened around him in a fearful grip as he glided away with me wrapped tightly in his warm, demonic embrace, soaring over the glittering frost-kissed forest below.
34. Confrontation
Bright lunar rays set the scene below me aglow in a sea of glittering pale blues and shimmering silvers. The lofty mountains reached majestically up to the star-embellished skyline. Frosty forestland adorned each peak, glimmering in the moonlight. Shadows from the rugged cliffs and rolling hills obscured the deep crevices hidden between the towering rocks like blackened icy tombs. They reached out with their darkened hands to caress the soft dips in the valley below.
The inky-black waters of a large meandering river gleamed as it cut through the forested landscape. It flowed from the prodigious falls that cascaded down the side of a cliff-carved mountain. Tiny streams broke off from the river and spread throughout the land like thin little veins bringing life to the forest. Black, glassy lakes were ringed with layers of sparkling ice that had only recently formed around their curved edges. And in the distance, specks of warm light glowed from the town like fireflies in a midsummer field.
The scenery was breathtaking and never had I gotten such a magnificent view of the valley before. Unfortunately, I had no breath left in me for it to take away because I was screaming my fucking head off while clutching onto my demon boyfriend for dear life.
The frigid air bit at my exposed skin, causing me to savor the heat from Ashton’s body. He flapped his large black wings in a way that brought his soaring to a stop. I quieted down, but kept my arms wrapped tightly around him in fear as we hovered high up for a moment. Black mist surrounded us and then dissipated again. Ashton’s fiery eyes contrasted sharply with the cold, dark blue scenery of the night as he furrowed his brow and searched my face in confusion.
“Oh, here’s the problem,” he muttered in realization. One of his claws slashed through the sapphire necklace I was wearing. He pulled it from my neck, then carelessly tossed it away.
The deep blue gem glittered beautifully in the moonlight as it disappeared into the glimmering forest below. Black mist surrounded us yet again, but this time I felt the relief of warm air on my skin and heard the soft crackling of a fireplace. I looked around in a confused stupor, finding that we were standing in the middle of the living room, back at the house. The only sources of light were the peacefully flickering flames and the silvery lunar rays shining through heavy black curtains.
What the hell just happened? Did we just teleport?
Ashton looked like his regular human self again, but blood was still splattered across his chest and face. It dripped from his mouth and down his chin, making him appear like a vampire who had just fed. He collapsed to his knees while holding me tightly in a relieved, loving embrace. I continued to grip his neck, trembling in terror. My body felt frozen from both being cold and in absolute shock. The frazzled thoughts whizzing through my mind nearly drove me insane as I tried to comprehend all that had happened.
The dim light from the crackling fireplace danced across our embracing, half-naked forms. We stayed like that, unmoving for what seemed like a long time. Ashton eventually turned his head to look into my eyes with an apprehensive gaze. Another long, silent moment passed as we stared at one another. It was as if we were both stuck in a paralyzing trance, too afraid to speak.
“I was going to tell you.” He finally broke the ice with a deep but quiet voice as he searched my face. I didn’t know how to respond, so I just stared up at him with wide, shocked eyes. Both concern and fury etched his features as he gently ran a hand along my bruised cheek. “He hit you.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement.
His eyes glowed with a flash of rage for only a mere, measly second, but it was enough to break me out of my stunned spell. My nerves went haywire; anxiety spread through my veins like liquid ice. I panicked as the trauma of what had just happened sank in, and I wasn’t sure if I was having a moment of sudden sanity or insanity.
Oh my god. That actually just happened. The blood. The carnage. Ashton turning into a demon. A real-life bona fide demon... demon.. demon.. DEMON!
All the things Adelstein had said began racing through my mind. My eyes widened warily up at him, and a look of terror and betrayal fell across my face. “P-Put me down!”I stuttered, gripped by fear while I wiggled and pushed to escape his tight hold.
“Wait, no!” he panicked and held onto me even tighter. “Please don’t be afraid of me. Let me hold you.” His voice went back to being soft as he clung to me, pressing my bare breasts against his bloodied chest in a steely death grip. “I almost just lost you,” he whispered, as though he were in pain.
Being confined by him only worsened my anxiety and sent me into full-blown hysteria.“Get away from me!”I screeched, with tears falling from my eyes as I thrashed to get away.
He realized that restraining me was making it worse, and reluctantly let me go with a sorrowful expression. “Gwendolyn, please. I need to explain.” I barely registered his deep, desperate-sounding voice as my weak, trembling hands clawed at the rug to pull myself off his lap.
My body flopped off him, and I scrambled across the room as I stood up. I turned and stared at him, my body shaking like a cowering rabbit. “Why didn’t you respond to anything Adelstein said?” I asked, my heart racing.
“Because there’s no point in wasting my breath on a dead man,” he replied while rising to his feet and offering his hand to me. “Please, come back over here. You don’t need to be afraid of me.” His voice was soft and calm, but his eyes were pleading and anxious.
