Patches of black scales rippled over his abs, catching her attention. They crept up his bare chest. More scaly blotches appeared on the left side of his jaw and cheeks. Double horns protruded through his damp inky hair, behind the thick front ones. Another shorter pair emerged from his blackened, ridged brow. His face appeared gaunt, eyes sunken.
“He’s stuck mid-shift,” Aba said hoarsely. “The symbiont is powering up, feeding—”
“Feeding? But there’s no death or gore here.”
“It feeds on his very being. Hades! Forgive me,cnati.”
By all the cursed gods and Fates who seemed determined to fuck with them, she wasn’t going to lose him to some hellish creature!
Blood pounding in her head, Ely picked up Nate’s hand. His fingers, scaly black and gnarled with bony knuckles, tipped with dangerous, blade-like talons, were longer than what he usually sported. His deadly fangs dug not into his lower lip like she’d seen before, but into his chin.
“Nate?” She brushed back his sweat-drenched hair. “You have to fight this, you have to, my love. You’re so damn strong, don’t give up, not now, please!”
He remained still. Not even an eyelash flickered. Dread deepening, she pressed his scaly hands to her mouth, tears blurring her sight. Then she leaned down and kissed him, gently moving her lips over his contorted mouth and the frighteningly long fangs, hoping he could sense her… But his mouth remained unresponsive.
Fight, my love, please.
Harsh breaths sawed in and out of her lungs. Her tears fell onto his face. She swiped her eyes with the back of her hand and looked across at Aba. “We have to wake him up before he shifts—”
A low rumble broke the stillness, almost animalistic. His eyes snapped open, his irises a molten red, pupils shifting between circular and vertical. A smidgen of recognition flashed and disappeared.
“Nate?” she whispered, hope warring with fear.
His growls intensified. With a swipe of his hand, he shoved her away, and she landed on her ass, pain jarring up her spine. He shot to his feet, his single wing causing him to list to the side.
“Stay away from me—” A screech tore free. Guttural and petrifying.
He grabbed his head with his black-taloned fingers and tugged as if he would yank his skull free. More blood dripped down his face.
Aba reached for him. “Nate—”
“No!” He flung out his clawed hand, revealing more black scales creeping up his forearm.
“We have to get you away from here!” Aba yelled. “Azgor has his guards looking for you.”
Without a word, Nate waved his half-morphed claws but stumbled back, unable to balance himself. Ely grabbed him before he fell.
“Don’t!” he snarled, baring his dangerous fangs at her. “Leave—”
“I’m not going anywhere without you!” Terror backed up her ragged voice. Gods, he was impossibly heavy.
His eerie red eyes swiveled to hers, cognition flickering in them again, and the anguish in there gutted her. “Go. Please,” he rasped, dragging himself away from her, his clawed feet raking up the dust. “I don’t want to hurt you, Ely mine.”
“Then don’t.”
“I can’t control this side of me anymore. You have to leave me,laika. Our life was never meant to be. Go, find another to give you the happiness you deserve.”
Hurt as he was, and in such a precarious state, he would still give her orders? A part of her was filled with relief, while another was strangled with fear.
“It’s the second time you’ve told me that,” she retorted. “Fine. After I’ve helped your stubborn ass, I’ll go find someone who will make me happy and give me loads of young. I’ll name one of them after you—”
A low growl rumbled in his chest. Tears blurred her eyes at the sound. Her Nate was still in there, fighting. It was all she wanted.
He stumbled away from her.
“Where are you going?” she asked, keeping her tone hard, the only thing which seemed to work with him.
“Whereitwants to go, back to the Infernii Realm.”
