Page 94 of Demon with Benefits
He either floated on the shadows pouring off him, or he scuttled on the ends of a million spider legs.
She didn’t know where she got the idea that he had spider legs, since she could see nothing but blackness around the base of his flowing cloak, but she couldn’t shake it. There was something about his movement—smooth and graceful and silently dreadful—that just screamed arachnid.
He drew nearer, and she couldn’t fight her fear. She shrank further into the corner until she was pressed against it as close as she could. As if she was hoping to sink into the stone and disappear.
Those skeletal hands reached toward her as he leaned down from his towering height like a willow folding in the wind.
Closer and closer he came, until the tips of those deadly claws brushed her face. She would have screamed, but terror had frozen her in place. She wasn’t breathing; she wasn’t even sure her heart was beating.
One claw caught against the gag on her cheek, and with one swipe, it tore the cloth. The fabric dropped into her lap, taking the rag in her mouth with it. Far from reassuring, it only proved how deadly sharp those weapons were.
It was then she finally glimpsed what was beneath his hood.
Sunken red eyes glowed from the empty sockets of a skull-like face. No, not actual eyes, just eerie lights that cast a faint sheen on his hollow cheekbones. His nose was flat and snakelike, and his mouth...
God, she wanted to scream so badly.
His mouth was a slash from ear to ear, all the way across his face. No lips. It was parted to reveal teeth.So many teeth.And she was certain that when he opened his mouth all the way, his jaw would keep stretching and stretching into a yawning pit wide enough to consume anything.
As she continued to stare at that horrifying face, something happened. A vision. Or maybe it was real life.
But... she was suddenly staring at her twin sister. The rest of the world faded to nothing, and there was only Lily before her.
“You’re weak,” Lily said in that disappointed voice she only used when Iris had really screwed up. “I’ve always looked up to you, but I can see now that you’ve always been weak.”
“No, that’s not true—” Iris fumbled to validate herself. “I’m only waiting for my powers to awaken like yours—”
“My powers were awake all along. I just chose to ignore them. Yours have never manifested, and they’re never going to.”
“No, they will. When I need them, they’ll come.” But she wasn’t sure she believed it either.
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Lily said, shaking her head. “I’ll never forgive you.”
“F-for what?”
“It was your fault Mam and Dad died. You should have saved them.”
“No! Mam made me vow—”
“You should have been strong enough to fight it when the time came. You should have been strong enough to stop the fire.”
“I tried! I swear, I gave it everything I—”
“And worse,” Lily continued in that toneless voice, “you lied about it. You kept your shame from me for nearly ten years because you couldn’t bear the thought that I would see you for the failure you are.”
“N-no, that’s not—”
“Well, I’m seeing it now. I’m finally seeing that you’re nothing but weak and scared and alone. You’ll always be alone.”
Fire.There was suddenly fire everywhere. Iris spun around, trying to escape it, but it surrounded her on all sides.
“No!” she cried. “Please don’t leave me!”
“You failed us, Iris,” her mother said, her face emerging from the flames. Burning—she was burning. “I was counting on you to save us, and you didn’t.”
“No!” Iris rushed at the fire, trying to reach her, but the heat singed her skin. “I tried to fight—”
“Your mother believed in you,” her father said, his face appearing next to her mam’s. “But I always knew you were weak.”
