Queen of the Ashes

Chapter Fourteen

Phlox:
our souls are united
∗·• ♔ ♥ ♔ •·∗

«Y-you're...a d-demon?» the words tasted somewhat bitter in his mouth as if they weren't right. As if it was a lie. But they weren't. The proof was the dark creature of a naked woman lying next to him, stretched out like a pleased cat. But she was anything but tame.

«A-a shapeshifting...succubus...» She traced a talon over his pale chest, feeling how his heartbeat was still running a million miles an hour, despite that they weren't fooling around anymore.

He was scared. And it aroused her. But she held back.

«H-how...» he whispered dumbfounded, turning his head to look at the roof, thoughts echoing in his head all at once, making it impossible for him to make any reason out of the situation. She had explained it so calmly, so nonchalantly, that she was «living» an afterlife of karma- as if it wasn't ridiculously impossible.

«H-hold on...if yo-you're a shapeshifter...do you have...like a...co-constant...a-a true...» he hesitated, motioning his hand in circles to somewhat elaborate what he meant.

«A true appearance?» she continued for him and Ethan could only nod vaguely as her talon had begun to now run up to his collarbones.

Right now she was just a mere combination of the appearance between the Maze Ethan knew and her demon form. Her skin had finally returned to a much more human-like color but she still towered over him. Her face was round and heart-shaped, yet she had very high and defined cheekbones. Her hair was curled in a reddish color, yet the straws faded in a much darker shade at the tips. She looked almost human if one could look past her fangs, extended pupil that melted into her iris and claws.

«I suppose my shadow - or demon- form» She allowed the darkness to grow from her pupil to the white of her sclera but refrained from allowing it to crawl any further, keeping it safely in her eyes only.

Ethan could only watch her with an astonished expression. Even as she laid next to him - existing proof right in front of his eyes- he still found it hard to believe that she was in fact a demon. He wanted to laugh but he was too dumbfounded to even smile right now.

«However, now that I am in the human realm I take on the form of a human...» with said words her form changed: her skin became paler and filled with random freckles, her hair turned lighter in color taking on a red shade that Ethan could help but run his fingers through. Her face grew rounder and cheeks redder. She shrunk a little in height and grew slightly curvier. And her eyes turned into a light caramel color.

Ethan felt his mouth pull into an uneven smile and felt the name «Maze» bubble in his throat. He had learned to know the demon by this form, but little did he know that he had also encountered her through a different form.

The demon allowed her form to grow longer, slimmer and more tanned, her freckles melted into the color. Her hair grew longer and darker, the edges of her face grew sharper, cheekbones rising even higher and chin growing more pointed. Her eye-color turned into a dark brown shade, nose became straighter and lips fuller, stretching into a smirk as Ethan's jaw almost fell to the floor in shock.

«A-Ace...?» he whispered, his gaze lost in her almost onyx eyes. The demon could only laugh lowly at his shock as she noticed the prominent blush beginning to spread in his face.

The dumbfounded human groaned as he turned his back to her, hiding his face in the pillows, form shrinking in embarrassment. He just wanted to sink into the sheets and never reappear ever again as the memory of his encounters with Ace or Maze or... whoever she was, played in his head.