Beauty’s Monstrous Demons (Fairy Tales With A Monstrous Twist)

Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

SAMAEL

“ M other,” I murmur. “Hello, Father.”

We’re standing in a field just outside of Hell, because I don’t trust them not to trap me there.

“Are the rumors true?” my mother asks, her eyes drinking me in. It’s been a very long time since we’ve seen each other.

My stubborn streak is miles longer than they thought it would be.

“There are many, I expect,” I say with a small smile. “Which one is that?”

My parents look good, their skin appearing youthful still, their bodies strong. They’ve always been very regal, their positions in power feeding them regularly.

“You found your soul match,” my father rumbles. “A true omega.”

“I have,” I admit. “She’s in a deep sleep, and the creature who tried to kill her is lost in the wind. I need to find her.”

“President Christa has already been added to our Lord’s list,” Dad says. “She is marked for her actions.”

“Do you have need of the hellhounds?” Mom asks gently. “She is a shadow being, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s hiding there.”

“That’s what is so frustrating,” I admit. “I am very comfortable with the shadows, yet she still hides from me.”

“There are different types of shadows,” my mom says, amused.

“What do you require of me for your assistance?” I ask, bracing myself.

“You’ve been alone for so long,” my father says gently. “We just want you to be happy. If forming a pack with your omega does that, then we’ll call it an even trade. We want to meet her, though.”

My parents have fire licking over their skin, and I raise my brow. They’re living, breathing, hell demons.

“If she can survive being your food source, then she can handle meeting us,” he says wryly.

Smirking, I nod. My father waves his hand and two large, snarling Hellhounds appear next to him. Shadows and fire slide over their manes of hair, eyes black with flames inside of the pupils. They’re both adorable and scary as fuck.

“Meet Ashborne and Drago,” Mom says. “Boys, you’re to find the one our Lord is looking for. President Christa will put up a fight. Be sure not to kill her immediately so our son can properly interrogate her.”

They both nod, and I sigh. Here we go.

“Thank you,” I say gratefully. “We believe she meant to kill her. The prophecy has stated that she’ll sleep for a hundred years, but?—”

“Those things are always difficult to interpret and are ever changing,” my father says, interrupting. “How is she overall?”

“Terrified,” I grunt. “The only bright spots in her mind are the ones we create for her, and they never last for long before she’s pulled away. While it’s keeping me at full strength through the bond, I would much rather have my mate alive and well.”

“Of course you would,” my mother murmurs. “Have you attempted to visit her together?”

“We haven’t,” I admit. “We’re barely surviving. Our pack was just forming when this all began. It’s been ten months.”

“And it will be many more if you don’t try,” Dad says gently. “The Hellhounds will do their best, as that’s all they know how to do. Don’t expect results right away. Hunt with them, but also take care of your mate.”

That means I’ll need to split my time, and I’ll need patience because President Christa probably won’t be easily found.

“I understand it must be difficult,” my mom says. “She sounds very special. May you have good hunting.”

Knowing I’m being gently dismissed so I can do my job, I nod.

“Thank you,” I say. “Drago, Ashborne, shall we hunt a stupid bitch who made the mistake of hurting what belongs to me?”

The fire gets brighter on their jet black hair, saliva dripping from their jowls as they step forward to sniff my hand and get my scent. Then, I have them smell something that President Christa left in her office when she left in a hurry. It’s a hair tie funny enough.

Leading the way, I mist away knowing that they’ll be able to follow me now, and if they catch a scent, I’ll be able to find them.

The hunt is on.

LORELEI

I’m standing at a clearing, blinking in confusion as I gaze out. I’m bathed in darkness, wind tearing at my hair while I watch my men trade stories about me. They’re sitting on a huge blanket, and I can only imagine how nice the sun must feel on their skin.

I’m always so cold now.

Taking a step forward, I wonder if they’ll recognize me. Do I look different now? Looking at my skin self consciously as the light hits it, I see midnight black veins crawling up my arms. Am I getting sick?

Is this place, and what President Christa injected into my veins finally killing me?

“Lorelei,” Alecto says warmly as I walk toward him. It’s been lonely without them, but he’s been coming to see me in my dreams more.

“Hi,” I murmur, patting down my wild curls. There’s black now streaming my hair too.

“You look beautiful,” Samael says with a small smirk. God, he’s the beautiful one. His electric blue hair is so pretty. “Why are you fussing with your hair?”

“It feels like it’s floating,” I sigh. “I feel like I look messy compared to you all.”

Surprising me, he pulls me into his arms, his lips brushing along my temple. I can’t tell if there’s something growing there, but it feels itchy.

“You have the cutest horns growing in,” he says with a deep chuckle. “I love them. They’re blue and black.”

“Mine,” Alecto growls. “They look like mine.”

“Look at you, using your words today,” Phenex says with a smirk. “The horns are new, I love them.”

Laying my head on Samael’s chest, I hum under my breath.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” I admit. “My hair is even different now. Am I dying?”

“No,” Alecto says. “You’re fighting the sickness, and you have four, strong mates. We’re changing your DNA and body chemistry. Your hair has black, blue, and white streaks through it.”

“Poor girl,” Bast teases me. “You’re becoming more like us.”

“What do I have of yours?” I ask tentatively.

“My eyes,” he murmurs. “The blue in your eyes is being taken over by darkness. You’re still tiny, though.”

My laugh startles me. It feels as if I haven’t made that sound in ages. The darkness in the clearing pushes back, and my heart begins to pound. I don’t want to pay too much attention to it, because I’m not ready to go yet.

“I don’t think that’ll ever change,” I tell him.

“It suits you,” Samael says, his fingers tracing over the veins on my arms. “I love your laugh, Lorelei.”

“I almost forgot I could make that sound,” I whisper. “You’re not really here, are you?”

“Do you think you’re imagining us?” Bast asks.

“Yeah,” I rasp. “It’s desperate and sad, isn’t it?”

“It’s not,” Phenex says. “The bond lets us come visit you. We stay as long as the darkness lets us.”

“Keep fighting to stay,” Alecto says softly.

“Do you think I have a choice?” I ask, biting my lip.

Are they judging me for not being stronger?

“No,” Phenex says. “I’ve noticed sometimes, you’re able to stay longer with us. I think whatever this illness is, your body is fighting it off the best it can.”

“We’re doing what we can too,” Samael says. “We miss your light, Lorelei.”

“It’s so warm here,” I say. “I hate how cold I always feel.”

“What does the cold feel like?” Alecto asks, his eyes narrowing.

I feel put on the spot, but I think as I swallow hard.

“Like ice crawling through my veins,” I say. “It’s what the injection felt like too.”

“Then we’ll do our best to keep you warm,” he says, moving to lay between my legs, his head in his usual spot on my stomach.

My fingers sink into his platinum white hair, and Bast and Phenex get closer as well.

“Has your hair always been this color?” I ask him.

“It used to be black as night with midnight blue highlights,” Alecto murmurs, his eyes closing slightly as he purrs.

Sighing, I lean into the way that feels, and soon my alphas are all purring for me, the sound deep in their chests. More and more of the darkness disappears until the clearing grows wider.

But eventually, I fade away, despite their best efforts to keep me. One day, I’m afraid I won’t be able to return.

ALECTO

“She said she feels cold,” I mutter, sitting up in the bed. We all worked together to find her, and it’s the best success we’ve had in keeping her with us.

An entire hour, instead of snippets of time here and there.

“I want to work on an infusion to try to warm her up,” I say. “I know she’s fighting this in her mind, but science has to be able to help too.”

“Do it,” Samael says. “I’m going hunting again. I’ve felt the bitch a couple of times, but we keep losing her.”

“I’m going to find more blankets for her,” Bast says softly.

“We all have to eat,” Phenex grunts.

We each have our role, and we’ve learned to run with it. Maybe we’ll finally begin to understand how to fight this plague.

Lorelei’s body is a reflection of how she sees her soul, and the changes are showing here as well. Her veins are black and spiderweb over her body, the horns growing at her temples. Even her hair is wild and multi-colored.

The longer she’s asleep, the more her body changes. I think she looks like a beautiful doll, but I would rather she be awake and fighting with me any day.

Samael had a point when he yelled at me for being away so long, so I brush a kiss over her temple as I stand.

“Who’s going to stay with her?” I ask, eyes wide.

Bast is already returning with blankets, and pulls off his shirt to get into the bed with her.

“I will,” he says with a wide yawn. “I need a nap. I’m exhausted.”

Nodding, I turn away to walk out to the little garage in our cottage and across the yard to the laboratory I created. If I can find a way to use our own DNA to continue to help her fight the disease in her veins, it may also help her wake up sooner.

It’s been ten months since Christa hurt our girl.

Enough is enough.

SAMAEL

The Hellhounds have the scent and I’m following them as we run through space and time to catch Christa. The fucking taint eater needs to die.

I’ve lost patience for her, my claws are out, my tail sharpened to a point.

“There she is, boys!” I yell, seeing her hair streaming behind her.

No one realized how much of President Christa’s body was contrived. Her body is made of shadows as she flees from us, her face a snarled expression and ugly as fuck. Hooked nose, long, stringy hair matted and tangled.

She no longer looks like the dignified version of herself that I knew. She’s a goddamned mess.

“Stop!” she yells. “There’s no way to save her.”

“Lie!” I snarl. I can tell, there’s deception in her words. I need to know what the truth is. “Tell me and I’ll make sure the Hellhounds make it swift.”

The hounds howl with sadness, making me smirk. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t do that to them. Christa doesn’t know that though.

Dematerializing completely, I make a gamble and reappear in front of her, my hand snatching her throat from the air. While she’s made of shadows and mist, so am I.

Slamming her against the tree next to me, I hold tightly to her neck while she tries to squirm away.

“Time is up,” I whisper. “Lorelei should be dead, shouldn’t she?”

“Yes,” she says. “I don’t know how she’s not. It should have taken minutes for her to have passed.”

“Were you trying to kill us as well?” I ask, brows furrowing as my tail stabs her body into the bark of the tree. More of her shadowy figure is becoming corporeal, and she screams in frustration.

“What’s the death of a few monsters when it means she dies?” Christa asks. “She’s a fucking girl who isn’t supposed to exist. She makes you weak!”

“She makes me better,” I growl. “Lorelei is part demon now. Oh yeah, the prettiest little horns you’ve ever seen.”

“That’s not possible,” she says. “No!”

“The Demon Council in Hell will have a lot of fun dealing with you,” I murmur. “The community has decided to adopt her.”

My parents brought it in front of the Council, and explained everything to them. They also discussed how omegas have always helped to balance monsters, and without them something has been missing in their lives. While monsters are still procreating, mental health is on the decline.

Alecto was preparing his bucket list in a promise to himself to join his wife in death. Many monsters who lost their omegas are doing the same, or they’ve been alone for so long that they no longer want to continue to live.

The growing issues made it clear that omegas should survive, and it needs to start with Lorelei. I want her to have a life with us, if that means that she will help bring a new wave of omegas into the world as well, then so be it.

She has a zest for scientific discoveries and research. The Council said they would fully fund her research and back her experiments, which is something that I’ve never seen done before.

We just need to wake her up first.

“The only way to possibly help yourself is to help Lorelei,” I say, bluffing hard. Nothing can help Christa.

“I can’t. Samael, it’s permanent! There’s no way to bring her back,” she says, shaking her head. “She will ultimately die.”

Gazing at her, I backhand her. My knee slams into her body, knowing that my touch will make the shadows become flesh. Over and over I hit her, careful not to kill her as I scream. I’ve held onto so much hope, prayed and cried when I’m alone, wishing for a miracle.

There’s none coming.

Alecto has had Lorelei on an IV drip to force her body to warm up. She whimpers in pain on the bed, and once she began to convulse in a seizure. He just gazed at her impassively, telling us this was normal. Bast left the room to throw up in the bathroom, while Phenex and I watched to make sure Alecto didn’t kill her.

We are despondent at this point.

One of the Hellhounds leans into my body, helping me find myself. Taking a deep breath, I find that my cheeks are wet with tears. Fuck, I’ve lost my sanity. I don’t know if I’ll find it even if Lorelei comes back to us at this point.

I’m angry with the world, and the hatred that led Christa down this path. She’s barely holding onto her consciousness as I lean toward her, my fangs on full display.

“Are there any others like you?” I ask. At her small nod, I find a new way to burn the world down in Lorelei’s honor. “I want a fucking list, or you’ll be screaming for days before I hand you to my parents and the Demon Council.”

“Parents,” she whispers. “You can’t do that. I can’t go to Hell.”

“Who do you think lent me the HellHounds?” I ask.

Draco sinks his fangs into Christa’s hip, the flames blue as they infect her body. He shakes her like a rag doll, making me smirk with dark amusement.

“I’m sure they’re getting hungry,” I murmur. “Want to try that again?”

Christa screams beautifully for me, and one of the names on her list is Valaria, the annoying professor with a hard-on for Phenex. It seems she joined Christa’s little group because she was jealous. Fucking bitch.

“Very good,” I say with a cruel smile.

I will live in the hope that Lorelei is strong enough to keep fighting to return to us, and will clear the world of these monsters who wanted to kill her.