“What do you think you’re doing?” he said, his voice low and ice cold.
I scowled, pressing my lips together as my eyes narrowed. “You’d think after I gave you every fucking part of me, you’d trust me more.”
His grip on me loosened—only just—and with a scoff, he allowed me to lift his mask enough to expose his mouth. I rose on my tiptoes as he leaned down to kiss me, a swell of heat ripping through me at the contact.
For a beat, everything else melted away—the music, the ball guests. It all disappeared, and for the briefest moment, it was just us. Nothing else existed, and a ripple of mixed emotions flooded my system. Belial was everything I never knew I wanted and everything I shouldn’t have.
When he pulled away and snapped his mask back into place, there was a curious glint in his eyes that hadn’t been there moments ago.
“You kiss me as if you’re saying goodbye.”
The lump in my throat swelled, growing by the second. “I—”
Fuck. How was I supposed to tell him I was scared shitless by the very real possibility that the Lord of Bones would destroy him once he found out Belial claimed my soul?
Before I knew it, we were dancing again. Round and round we went, the haunting music and the chatter of the busy ballroom meshing into a white noise that had my skull spinning.
My hand clutched Belial’s shoulder, holding on for dear life. I was terrified he’d let me go, and I’d go plunging into the crowd, down, down, like I had in the oubliette, with nothing but the cold hands of the dead to catch me.
Belial brought us to a stop and pulled me close to his chest, smoothing a gloved hand over my hair in comfort. “Hey,shhh.It’s alright. You’re here, safe with me.”
I lifted my face, fat tears running down my burning cheeks. “Safe? For how long? Until the Lord of Bones kills you for claiming my soul before he could?”
Those shocking orbs of gray swam with so much emotion, like there were a million and one things he wanted to say but couldn’t figure out how to voice them.
“I…” He sighed and thrust his fingers into his hair, smoothing his dark locks behind his antlers. “You just have to trust me on this, Rayven. The Lord of Bones isn’t going to kill me. He isn’t going to do anything to me. Hecan’t.”
I blinked at him. “W-what do you mean?”
“I know the Lord of Bones won’t kill me because—” He paused. The words froze in his throat. Before, I didn’t think a demon like Belial could feel fear. Now, I knew that wasn’t true. Even with the mask, I could see he was terrified.
“What is it?” The sinking ball of dread in my stomach grew spikes. “What are you not telling me?”
His pronounced Adam’s apple twitched as he swallowed. “How about I show you what I mean?”
Right here? In front of everyone?
My stomach cartwheeled.
No one was paying attention to us, other than the occasional glance over a shoulder. I didn’t know what he was going to show me, but I got the feeling it was something I wouldn’t want an audience for.
I didn’t want to stay at this party for a minute longer anyway. I hadn’t even wanted to come in the first place.
“Whatever you need to show me, it can wait.” I moved to grab his sleeve so I could tug him off the dance floor to somewhere more private, away from prying eyes. “Let’s get out of here first.”
The demon snatched my wrist again before I could grasp onto him, his firm touch—lacking the warmth it had before—doing nothing for my anxiety.
“It can’t wait anymore, little human.” His voice grew darker, more guttural. “Ican’t wait one more bleeding second. I’m done with the trickery.”
Visceral dread hooked in my gut, sharp and painful. “What trickery? What are you talking about?”
Belial dropped his hold on me and took a few steps back. His demeanor darkened as powerful magic began to whirl around him in a shimmering swirl of blue and white. Sensing the oncoming spectacle, every guest cleared off the dance floor.
My curiosity morphed into shock and horror as Belial’s form grew, his muscles swelling. His skin turned deathly pale, with that familiar blueish tinge. The flesh on his skull melted, and the bone elongated into something monstrous. His antlers shifted and cracked, morphing into horns that stretched out and up toward the ceiling.
Blue flames leapt to life in his eyes as he stretched to his full, terrifying height.
Murmurs rippled through the throne room—clearly, I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know the Lord of Bones had two forms.
