Chapter Eighteen Revelations
Chapter Eighteen
Revelations
Selena
She wasn’t really sure why she said it—but it appeared to snap him out of his momentary gloom.
The truth of things, what she was to him—and him to her—she wanted to know it. Finally.
Though she wanted to go to her crew, she didn’t know what came afterward. What would she say to them? Would it be begging them to take her away from him? Or a last goodbye before she returned to his side?
He had been unaccountably kind to let her make such a choice. She had no doubt he would have been sorely tempted to take such a decision away from her.
She was his mate. They both knew it now.
The only real question left was: would that truth be enough to overcome her fear of the unknown—and the fear of what she might become?
It was all shrouded in shadow, everything uncertain. Had she even made up her mind yet?
“Malcolm? Who are you, really?”
“Are you ready to know all of it?”
She smiled then—something she realized she hadn’t done in a very long time. “How can I love someone I don’t truly see?”
He blinked once, but showed no other reaction.
Not sure why she’d used the word ‘love,’ she let it hang there between them, hoping it might shock him enough to let his guard down.
To finally let her in, if only the tiniest bit.
“Once you know, you cannot unknow. Be sure you’re ready.”
She straightened her shoulders, leveling her gaze with his. “I am.”
Then it was as if a veil had been lifted—and for the first time, she saw him in his true form.
Oh… my dear God.
He was taller even than she’d been seeing him until that reveal; he had to be nearly three meters. His eyes didn’t quite glow, but instead the irises had a brilliant, ever shifting kaleidoscope of iridescent colors, changing and altering seemingly by the second.
They were remarkable—and equal parts beautiful and intimidating.
She gasped when she saw what loomed behind him.
He had wings—great, powerful wings of snow-white feathers.
Is this an angel—or the Devil himself?
His skin was a deep, dark color, closer to copper than anything else, and it had a distinctly metallic sheen to it, something that was at once appealing and yet made him seem truly alien.
He still retained the marked Mephistophelian mien… but now, it was even more striking.
“Why do you hide yourself from me?” Though she trembled, she reached up to his face, touching his cheek. She needed him to know she wasn’t repulsed. If anything, his true form was even more striking. “You’re so… handsome. I’m… I don’t know how to describe it.”
“My form appears as your mind prefers. My image is unique to the beholder.” He inclined his head. “Within limits, of course.”
“You mean… it’s an illusion too? From my own mind?”
“Is that so hard to believe? It’s not that much different than eyesight. Only a difference of degree, really.”
Stunned, she put her hand to her mouth. “I… can’t believe it.”
He bent close, his smile lighting up his face. “There’s more you need to see.”
Before she could say another word, he took her in his arms and soared straight up, faster and faster, his wings beating furiously.
They picked up more and more speed, the wind an increasing roar in her ears, her hair whipping wildly in it.
Soon, they’d passed far into the atmosphere above, the air above them darkening by the second, until the brilliance of space could be seen.
Then even its lights and the stars became a blur, his power supernatural, his speed becoming otherworldly.
As soon as it started, they stopped instantaneously, and for a moment, they hovered, a great distance above the surface, where it should have been impossible to breathe, where the temperature should have been deadly for her.
But with him, she was safe—from everything.
“I want you to see it all,” his voice boomed. Yet it wasn’t his mouth speaking the words.
He was speaking in her mind.
The impossible beauty of the vista stunned her. More than that, she was able to see much more than mere eyes were able to convey. Far below them, the planet teeming with life, the pixies on the surface, the living, thriving world that was part of Malcolm. And that he wanted to share with her.
Yet, it was clear—her heart knew—that much of that world was sadly empty, that more life would fill that planet.
Soon.
It was touching, and frightening, and awe-inspiring. He was either a god, or an avenging angel, or a seductive demon from hell itself.
But she wanted to be nowhere else than by his side. Perhaps more in that moment, than at any other time, did she realize the immense power he possessed, a power unlike anything any humans had ever encountered.
She knew deep in her heart that he would use that power to protect her, to save her at all costs.
And anyone—or anything—opposing him in that endeavor would face the most terrifying opponent imaginable.
As fast as it began, she was suddenly back on the surface—only now they were back in his treetop aerie, high up in the sacred valley jungle.
He set her back on her feet, and the instant her toes touched the wood, she was overcome with fatigue.
She dropped to her knees, and he stooped down next to her, catching her as she toppled backward, her world spinning, her vision beginning to gray out.
“What… what’s… happening?”
“Sleep now,” he said, cradling her head in his arms as he brought her to the bed. “Sleep as long as you need.”
She had no idea how long she slumbered; it could have been seconds, it could have been hours. But when she opened her eyes, he appeared as he had before. The Malcolm she’d originally encountered.
Fear grew within her then. Fear that all that she had just experienced—no matter how vivid and moving—had only been in her mind. What if all of it was merely a vision?
Or worse, a dream.
“Tell me, little human,” Malcolm said, murmuring to her as he stroked her hair. “Tell me what you wish, and I will grant it.”
For reasons she still couldn’t understand, she spoke the words.
“I must see my crew.”
She had to talk to them again.