Lord of the Night

Chapter 13: Rage

I observed the next moments as a distant bystander. Streaming floodwater dragged my feet back as the Demons tugged me forward. Then the hallway opened into the cafeteria, and the sky gaped overhead. Lightning painted the wet wood white, and thunder rattled the metal. Floodwater swirled around the tabletops, rippled, and sprayed.

In the middle, a giant ship devoured the room. The wooden tables splintered and sagged beneath its weight. Occasionally, a current of water rocked it off the tables, shifting the vessel like vegetables in a simmering pot.

Giant cloths folded along both sides and splayed out behind the ship, rippled and fringed like the wings of a moth—or the wings of a Demon.

I wasn't sure if it was the sight of this crushing vessel or the current of water that knocked me back a step. Whatever it was, the Demons flanking me gripped my arms tighter and jerked me upright. The Demon on my right side dug fingers into the claw puncture marks I had sustained earlier, and before the pain had even registered, a cry escaped me.

Like a phantom nightmare, the High Demon Prince appeared before me. "Careful with him," he ordered in a low voice. "I don't want him further damaged."

Their jaws clenched in protest, but their heads drifted down, and they replied in an obedient unison. "Yes, High Prince."

The moment the words left their lips, Isalio—if that was even his name—vanished from sight.

Three Demons hopped onto the table and clambered up the ladder to board the ship. Then the two Demons gripping my arms dragged me up the ladder. I watched the ladder rungs pass in some distant haze. The Demons chained my cuffs to a metal bar in the back of the ship. Then the High Demon Prince swaggered onboard.

He folded his arms and leaned back against the railing nearest the ladder. Removed from the water and exposed to the sky, his pale, wet skin shone blindingly bright, a sharp contrast from his black clothing and hair. Still, he still didn't look like a monster. He looked much like the man whose head had fallen into my lap; the man whose lips had responded to mine with sweet hesitation.

Disarmingly, sickeningly human.

He tilted his head toward the Demon nearest the front of the ship, who cranked a metal lever. Four wings flapped open and beat against the air. The ship lurched free from the tables with a wet gluck, sending water rippling across the room. The ship careened from side to side as we gained momentum, and my stomach turned, threatening to dispel the burnt food my father had provided.

We shot up into the night sky.

The rest of the Demons joined us with a flutter of tattered wings. They hovered around the ship like moths flocking to a lantern, blotting out patches of the flickering sky. I watched two Demons collide, snarling and baring teeth claws in a game of dominance.

Only the High Prince remained in human form. Each time a Demon cast an uneasy glance in his direction, a hint of a smirk graced his too-human lips. With sparks dancing over his skin and eyes glowing, he needed no claws or wings.

I realized that I had no idea what this High Prince would do to me. Before, he had been attempting to seduce me or at least appear helpless. Now, he had nothing to hide and nothing to lose. Yet I felt no fear. A different feeling hooked claws deeper than the Demon's, siphoned the breath from my lungs, and consumed me.

Rage.

This Demon hadn't actually betrayed me—he had always been my enemy, and he had never even claimed otherwise. Yet somehow, he had whittled away my hatred and wormed his way into my heart. And knowing that he was fooling me all along, that he played me so easily, that I had cared about him...that cut as deeply as Borgal's betrayal.