Mal was infinitely more powerful than them because they had no defense against him, and he had no weakness they could exploit. Mal was a dark and vengeful god among the worst monsters reality had to offer, and he loved his job.
Especially on a day like today, when he got to show Clayton how amazing he was. He posed in a heroic stance, doing his best not to look like he was posing, and held out a hand to draw the essence of the demon into him.
He didn’t need to do that. He could have just hoovered the demon up like a gluttonous pig, but that aesthetic wasn’t something he could deal with. Even if no one was watching, Mal would still pose at least a little.
Mal heard Kendric shouting the inane command, “He’s only a dreamwalker. Just eat him!”
Mal shot Kendric a grin filled with extra malice and teeth. He shot out a tentacle to grab a demon heading toward Clayton’s parents, then shot out another to grab a demon making its way toward the boat. After that, he got distracted from Kendric because the final demon decided it didn’t want to be in the battle anymore. Mal made a tentacle for it too and drained it dry before it had a chance to portal out.
Once the area was clear of demons, Mal realized he felt different. Disoriented.
How many demons had he eaten so far? Whatever it was, it was far more than he’d ever gotten his hands on at one time.
He put a hand on his stomach and patted it. He felt oddly over-full. Had he finally found his limit?
“What the hell are you?!” Kendric shouted as he frantically opened three more portals behind him. Two of them were filledwith fae warriors, but the last one gave the telltale flash of white from the demon realm.
Mal’s essence gave what could only be described as a hiccup. He’d gone to an all-you-can-eat buffet and put the restaurant out of business, only to discover it had a sister store next door.
He was about to find out if he could get indigestion from overeating.
What fun.
Mal snatched demons up as soon as they stepped out of the portal. They didn’t exit fast enough for his liking, so after snarfing down five of them, he began to reach into the portal to drag them out to him. He threw out tentacle after tentacle, draining the life of demons, each one faster than the last. What would once be a grand meal for him was now little more than a drop in a rainstorm.
Instead of growing overfull, Mal grew larger. Each demon added to his own essence, and he could only condense it so far, so his physical form had to compensate. Mal was only vaguely aware of this fact because he’d discovered something absolutely lovely.
The portal Kendric opened hadn’t been to a handful of demons waiting on standby. It had been a direct line to the demon army.
All worries of aesthetics fell away as Mal worked his way deeper and deeper into the demon realm, devouring demon after demon like a greedy beast. He’d never had a chance to go because it was a tightly kept secret. People thought it was due to dreamwalkers, but Mal knew it was because of him. If he ever entered the demon realm, Mal would become an unstoppable god, and even a creature like Jack would fear him.
He’d never cared enough to find the demon realm, because he didn’t need the hassle of being a god, but the experience offeeding on endless demons was far beyond his wildest dreams. A guy could get used to such luxury.
Mal threw out more tentacles and continued to feast.
Chapter
Thirty-Three
CLAYTON
Clayton enjoyed the view from behind as his linguistically incorrect lover launched himself across the cavern to kill things.
As he watched Mal’s rippling muscles make a leap impossible for anyone but a magic user, Clayton’s mind glitched out, wondering if Mal used actual muscle for the jump, or if he used raw magic to control his body.
If it was the latter, it meant that Mal intentionally made his muscles flex purely for aesthetics.
If it were the former, Clayton would need weeks to figure out which one would be more difficult—creating a physical construct and setting it to function like an actual body without conscious thought, or shaping a physical construct on the fly and having it follow your commands to suit the present moment.
Unfortunately, Clayton didn’t get a chance to ponder the complexities of his lover’s existence, because he and his newly reunited family were swiftly being surrounded by a small fae army.
“Carwyn!” Elena cried out as the path between them was blocked by dozens of fae warriors. “Hold tight, and we’ll be there as soon as we’re done.”
“Don’t worry, son. We’ve got this, just keep the rest of our family safe until we get to you,” Naerith added with forced bravado.
Clayton would have had to be a literal toddler to believe either of them, but he appreciated the attempt, so he gave them an awkward thumbs-up.
“Carwyn?” There was a little tug on Clayton’s sleeve, and Merry’s face stared up at him, eyes bright and watery. “Why did Aunt call you Carwyn?”
