Prince Of Lust (Children of Asmodeus #1)

In Dreams

Dark shadows coalesce into monstrous creatures whose eyes glow blood-red.

Every single face resembles my father. Those intimidating eyes watch me from every angle with hatred and a rage so great it stabs into me like vicious claws.

I’ll take it out of you! The voice is a deafening shriek but strangely, none of them move their lips.

It’s in you! Breath is stolen from my lungs while the shadows bay and slither around me.

They wrap around my throat just like his hands do, like snakes tightening their coils around their prey.

I fear death. I fear it every time he does this to me.

I cry out as best I can, forcing my voice out into the nightmarish hellscape around me, but they won’t stop.

He never does. No matter what I do, I can’t fight the shadows.

I can’t pull them off me, even as my light starts to fade. I’m going to die.

Another monster appears, dark but different.

Instead of a shadowy-like creature, he’s solid, tall with broad, muscular shoulders, a severe masculine jaw, and skin as dark as night.

He’s studying his surroundings with confusion, knotting the space between his brows.

This one doesn’t belong here, he isn’t like the others.

When our eyes meet, his are completely black, just like the rest of his skin and the strong wings that sit high upon his back.

He narrows his gaze on me, studying my face while his lips perk up in a peculiar smile.

“Would you like me to kill them for you?” the new monster asks.

“Please, help me!”

He beats back the shadows, grabbing ahold of them and shattering them like glass. The remains sparkle like glitter in the air around me. The sun rises in the dreamscape and I run to this new monster. He kneels before I get to him and I wrap my arms around his neck.

“I will protect you, little one.”

My cheeks are wet with tears as I look up into his alien-black eyes that look nothing like a human’s. I pull away from him, intimidated but still grateful for his help. “Are you a demon? My father says I have a demon inside me. Are you my demon?”

“I am Ashmodai,” he says proudly, slamming a fist over his heart. “And you? What is your name now?”

“My name’s Vale Granger. I’m six and I live in Atlanta, Georgia.”

He stays on his knees for a moment, head tilting, and a frown on his face. “It’s always the wrong time, isn't it?” he says, and I want to hold him because deep in his eyes, he looks so sad. I want to wrap my tiny arms around him again and make him feel better. He stands tall, turning to go.

I’m so scared my hero will leave I scream out, “Please don’t go. They take my breath. I don’t want to die again.”

Those words stop him. He turns around with wide, worried eyes focused on me. “Have you died before?”

I nod my head.

“Do you die outside your dreams?” he asks me.

I nod my head and grab my throat. “Thank you for making them go away. I don’t like them. They hurt me.”

He kneels again in front of me, pressing his thumb into my cheek, lifting the corner of my lips into a silly smile. “Do you know who all monsters fear?”

“I don’t, maybe the demon Asmodeus. I don’t like monsters, they scare me.”

“They’re all afraid of the biggest, baddest monster of them all. Me.”

I smile up at him. “You’re not a monster, you’re beautiful. Can I braid your pretty hair?”

My words make him smile, and he turns around, sitting down on the ground while I stand between his wings.

I’ve never seen a man with such long hair.

It’s longer than mine and a unique color in the sunlight, it shines blue.

When I’m finished, a long braid hangs between his shoulder blades, all the way to the base of his ribs.

I sit down beside him, and the dreamscape changes. We sit upon a mountainside in a field of delicate wildflowers in a rainbow of colors. I grab one daisy after another, knotting them together as best I can for a crown. I stand up, reaching out to place it upon his head. “You’re a prince.”

He reaches out and a mirror appears before him. He smiles at his own reflection. When I see it, there’s a stranger there that doesn’t match his facade, but the mirror fades quickly, and I forget all about the stranger.

“You are my fiery Princess,” he says with a grin.

“I’m not a princess.”

“You will be.”