The Sun's Shadow

Chapter Thirty-Five

As she predicted, Ele found him in the middle of the office, which had turned into an inferno. She had to inhale steadily to maintain focus. When she released the exhale, he sensed her. The demon's resolve dwindled and his clenched fists relaxed.

The palm of her hand throbbed imagining him holding it.

The heart in her chest hollowed to match his anguish.

An imprint of his fangs rested on her neck and the dress she wore did little to hide it from sight. It was there that felt the most hollow of all. She remembered vividly how his fangs sank inside her... A feeling she became addicted to after the first time in his bedroom all those months ago.

When the monster fed from her.

Monsters were beings portrayed in scary stories meant to frighten little children into behaving or else the "thing" under their bed might get them. Ele remembered when Kaanan fit that description- When she was too afraid to move a muscle in his presence for fear of being assaulted. Now that fear washed away and what replaced it shocked her.

Love doesn't ask you to sacrifice anything, it expects it. The wise words of the Queen rested heavily in her heart and she knew what she had to do.

Without hesitation, she stepped into the office and closed them into the inferno together. The demon within kept him from getting badly burned, but the flames still licked his skin and she saw how it pained him.

Fully black pupils calculated her every move.

Hopes of talking him out of this flew out the window when she realized that Kaanan was pushed deep into this cursed state.

"You think you can save him?" The voice that came out of him was not his own. It sounded like numerous people talking over one another and it hurt her ears. When it laughed, the noise shook the windows. "It's too late now! The vampires will fall come daybreak."

'There's an army coming for you, Kaanan. I need you to surrender before they kill you.' She hoped that, even when overtaken by demons, he understood her hand language.

"Kill me? Kill me? Ha!" He threw his head back. Then he slowly lowered it again to hold her under a burdened stare. This demon knew more about the world than her and he wasn't afraid to express that. "These vampires you love, even the one whose body I inhabit, are cruel and undeserving of immortality. Don't you see that?"

Ele saw it. She saw it every day she spent trapped in this castle. What she also saw was their affection. Their determination. Their devotion to their families. 

'The royal family is misguided. They think their power comes from lineage.' With that, she agreed. 'But cruel? Is it not you that's here to kill off an entire bloodline?'

His nose scrunched and it pulled back his upper lip to reveal a jagged set of teeth, all misshapen. 

"Careful with your words, girl. This vessel does not want you dead, so we're being generous by sparing your life. Turn away now and fly away." He snickered at the last bit and had to explain the outburst, "The sun gods must hate you. They restored your wings and you repay them by attempting to save vampires?"

Ele channeled what remained of the sun flooding into the room and used it to create sparks at her fingertips. The attempt only made the demon's laugh deepen. She focused; she ignored the demons and even had to push back her own insecurities.

The sparks igniting from her hands formed into a lucid spear-like object made of pure energy and she gripped the base of it firmly, aiming it towards its intended. The demon's composure faltered, having underestimated the girl moments earlier. Too late did he sense that her archaic abilities could be his doom.