Page 20 of Into the Abyss
I’d completely forgotten the approachingvoices and the danger we were in with my eagerness to have thisdemon inside me.
I didn’t have to feel Magnus’sself-recrimination; I could see it in his eyes. And then, angerwafted off him. I held his gaze, refusing to be embarrassed orapologetic about what happened. It was the completely wrong timeand place, but we’d both wanted it. He probably believed I’d doneit to try to trap him or kill him or something, yet he was stillalive.
For now. I had no idea what was onthe other side of those rocks.
Untangling myself from him, I kept my chinraised as I straightened my dress before crouching beside him oncemore. For the first time, I became aware of an unfamiliar tinglingsensation in my gums. When I prodded at my teeth, the tinglingstopped, but I had no idea what caused it.
While struggling to catch my breath, Ileaned away from Magnus and turned to look as a man and woman ranaround the water. The woman’s laughter trailed behind her as theman chased her.
I’d never seen either of them before, butthey were human. The woman squealed when the man caught her andswept her into his arms.
“I know her,” Magnus murmured.
“I don’t,” I said.
He glanced at me before moving closer to theend of the crevice. “She’s one of the humans from camp, but I don’tknow the man.”
The man lowered the woman, and they kissedeach other with an obvious love that made my heart ache. I couldn’timagine what it would be like to have someone love me like that. Myparents loved me; even if we were completely different, they stillloved me. And I loved them though Iloathedtheir cruelstreak and that they’d aligned themselves with the craetons.
However, I doubted I’d ever have someonebein love with me as this couple so obviously was with eachother. The sexual parties of the jinn fascinated me behind theseals, but it was my parents’ love for each other, and the timeswhen they sat in a corner speaking with their heads bent closetogether, that I truly longed for one day.
Even trapped within the seal, my parentswere happy in a way none of the others were because they had eachother. And though I’d seen all the other jinn rut more times than Icould count, I’d never seen my parents. I was sure there were timesthey were together, I wouldn’t be here otherwise, but they somehowdid it without me knowing, and I suspected the other jinn were shutout from it too.
Their time together was private and unique,and they didn’t share it with anyone else.
The woman laughed again as the man liftedher and spun her around. While they twirled, the world around themstarted to shift. At first, it was so subtle I didn’t notice it,but slowly I noted the green grass sprouting forth to replace thegray, rocky ground. The woman, probably in her early tomid-thirties, started to age backward as if the hands of a clockwere rewinding her through the years.
Her brown hair lengthened until it cascadedto her ass. Her hollow cheeks plumped out and took on a rosy huewhile a sparkle lit her brown eyes. The man, perhaps in his earlytwenties, remained the same while the woman looked eighteenagain.
Then the man was taking her down into thegrass next to a lake that was now a deep blue. They tugged at theirclothes until they were both naked from the waist up.
“What is going on here?” Magnus asked; hisgaze was distrustful when it came back to me.
“I don’t know, but this is somethingprivate. We should leave them be.”
We’d have to step out into the open to leavehere, but the couple was too far gone in each other to notice us.Magnus seized my hand when I stepped forward. He drew me back as ahideous, lower-level demon appeared near a rocky outcropping on theother side of the lake.
My breath sucked in; I was about to shout awarning to the couple when Magnus clamped his hand over my mouth. Istruggled against his hold, unwilling to not at least try to helpthem, but his grip was as solid as the walls of the seal.
Had I really desired this asshole? I’dcastrate him for this!
“The demon materialized from out ofnowhere,” he hissed in my ear. “Something’s not right here. Let itplay out.”
My resistance weakened against him until Islouched in his arms. He didn’t remove his hand from my mouth asthe demon closed in on the couple. He was right about that, butstill, I couldn’t stop myself from crying out. Muffled by his hand,the sound didn’t reach beyond us.
The man was tugging the woman’s pants downher thighs when the demon rushed forward, cinched his arm aroundthe man’s throat, and lifted him off the woman. Screaming, thewoman used her elbows and feet to propel herself back across theground as the man released a choked cry.
Turning over, the woman leapt to her feet,but her movements were awkward due to the jeans hugging her lowerthighs. She nearly went down before catching herself and tuggingher jeans up. The demon broke the man’s neck and let his body falllimply to the ground.
When the demon turned toward the woman, itssnout pulled back in a leering grin as its foot-long penis rose tojut out from its yellow-tinted body. Screaming, the woman pulled agun from her back pocket and opened fire on the demon. She shot offits manhood before turning her attention to its eyes.
The demon roared and charged at her, butthree of her shots hit it dead center in the right eye, and thefourth hit it in the forehead. The final bullet, in its left eye,knocked it off its feet. It landed on its back, and its feet kickedlimply against the ground. Yanking a knife from the holster at herside, the woman rushed forward and fell beside the demon. Shedidn’t hesitate before sawing its head off.
Tossing the knife away, she raced to theman’s side. Tears spilled down her face as choked sobs shook herslender frame. Drawing his head into her lap, she cradled it there.The low wail issuing from her tore at my heart and wrenched tearsfrom me. She leaned over the man and rocked him as she begged himto come back to her.
Releasing me, Magnus rose and stepped awayfrom the crevice. I pressed my fist against my mouth to keep mysobs muffled while I crept out behind him. As I walked, I becameaware of the grass fading away and everything returning to what itwas before the couple arrived.
“Mara,” Magnus said as he stopped beside thewoman who was gradually aging again. “Mara.”
