Chapter Fourteen
I always hear the humans complaining about family reunions and how horrible they are.
Before, I had thought they were petty. Ungrateful. That they should embrace those that they have. And who will have them.
But now?
Being less than twenty feet away from the thing that was once my mother?
Yeah, I can get behind the sentiment.
I have only had my teachings and the recounts of others to understand what the creature looks like.
Gone is her long, black, silky raven hair and her hardened green eyes. Or her thin lips that always seemed to be sneering at me.
Actually, the sneer looks pretty much the same on the monster as it did–
Oh for fucks sake. Who am I trying to convince?
For once, the monster on the outside, reflects the one that was always hiding inside.
The woman who destroyed a budding love with her own jealousies. The woman who never loved or respected the man who had fallen hopelessly in love with her. The woman who pushed her own son– her only child– off a cliff, hoping that he would either sprout the wings she desperately wanted him to have, or that he would die and rid her of the shame of his existence.
I remember the crazed look in her eyes when she took me to the top of that cliff. Her voice was laced with delirium. In my childish ignorance, I never believed she would harm me. But when we reached the top and she convinced me close to the edge to look at some “fascinating” thing, before she gripped my shoulders tightly.
Even then, I wasn’t afraid. Not until she leaned in and whispered “Fly you half-breed abomination” and punctuated her words with a hefty shove. Pure terror flooded my innocent veins as the ground grow far too close, far too fast.
News flash Mommy dearest.
I may not be able to fly, but I’m one resilient fucker, who holds firm to his grudges.
Forsythia’s scream sends ice down my spine and I can’t suppress the shiver. It feels like hours have passed since the creature stepped forward and began assessing us like specimens in a petri dish, but I know it’s only been a handful of minutes at most.
I fight my instinct to keep watch of the creature and let my gaze snap to my mate. The air leaves my lungs in a rush and I struggle to catch my breath.
She is… terrifyingly beautiful.
Her wings are stretched out behind her, flapping in slow lazy movements that keep her suspended only a few feet from the ground. Her tail whips around behind her. Unlike the normal velvety black skin covering both of her shifted appendages, there is dark wispy smoke dancing along the surface.
Her arms are stretched out to her sides, and her hands hold white balls of fire. Magick I have never seen before.
Speaking of things I have never seen before…
Two small curled horns protrude from the top of Forsythia’s head. They seem almost like a regal accessory. Announcing her true place in the hierarchy of this world.
The top.
I fight the urge to bow at her feet.
Ignoring the way my cock painfully throbs at her glory, I silently promise myself to spend time worshiping at her altar once this is behind us.
I take a steadying breath and turn my attention back to the Creatori.
But it only has eyes for her.
It opens its mouth and a creepy disembodied voice whispers through the wind.
“You are mine.”
Oh, fuck that.
I pull my dual blades from my back and hold them at the ready.
The monster doesn’t even blink at my movement. It turns its head slightly from side to side. Contemplating. Before turning its gaze and narrowing its focus on Orobas.
It speaks again without moving its mouth.
“You were always meant to be hers. The one who once was. She will have you now.”
The Creatori flicks a finger and Orobas is moving towards the creature. Based on the movements of his body and the panic in his eyes, his movements are not his own.
I move to intercept Orobas, only my feet refuse to budge. I look at Lucian, who is staring at his own feet. He too is stuck.
If we can’t get past this hurdle, how are we ever going to face off with the creature on even ground?