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Furic shrieked and fell back, writhing on the floor as he fought off the Corniper plant again. It wasn’t really there. He just thought it was.
Idid that. I plucked that fear from the depths of his mind and made him relive it.
My head tilted back as I laughed. “Let’s see what else you’re afraid of, Furic.” You’d think demons wouldn’t be afraid of much.
That wasn’t the case. Everyone had fears, even monsters.
I bent and laid my hand on his forehead, tapping into his memories and unleashing another horrible scene. His father was a flesh eater. He’d tried to force-feed Furic human flesh when he was just a tiny little boy demon.
“Aw, you look like a cute puppy.” The Corniper plant dissolved, and Furic scooted back on his hands, his face pale and sweaty.
“No, I don’t want it.” His voice had grown soft and scared like the little boy version of him. “Please, Da, no.”
The illusion of his father stomped toward him, crimson horns curling from his forehead and citrine eyes burning. “Eat it, boy.” He pushed a bowl of raw, bloody meat at him. “Eat it, or I will send you to the fields.”
Furic gagged as his father shoved the raw meat down his throat. He rolled over and puked on the ornate rug.
“Oh, the fields.” I drummed my fingers together in glee. His father must have been referring to the burning region in the Underworld. It was an ancient, terrible territory filled with fire, ash, and monsters.
I tapped into Furic’s head again, replaying a memory where he tried to outrun the flames after his father had sent him to the fields to gather hispid bane. This was no ordinary fire of course. It was alive, sentient, with the urge to consume victims who strayed too close. The fire reveled in their anguished shrieks as they slowly succumbed to death.
Furic screamed as flames only he and I could see converged over him. He frantically rolled on the ground, trying to pat them out. “Please! Let me go. I won’t come back.” His voice broke as he pleaded with the fire to release him.
Pleasure ran through my veins, and I rolled my shoulders, enjoying the show. “You’re quite entertaining. I’m glad I didn’t kill you right away like your friend. I wonder what else you’re afraid of.”
The dux demon slid into a pile of glass from the shattered coffee table, slicing his arms and spilling ebony blood. He scrambled to his feet and bolted for the door, yanking it open and dashing into the hall.
I followed, laughing as his screams sounded while he tried to outrun the imaginary fire chasing him. As we got into the living room, he tripped over a demon head and sprawled on the ground.
“No! No! I don’t want to burn.”
“Jack be nimble, Jack be quick.” A foster mother had read me nursery rhymes when I was little. I never knew why Jack was trying to jump over a candlestick. Maybe he feared fire like Furic. I couldn’t remember the rest of the words.
Movement registered on the edges of my vision, but my attention remained on Furic as he tried to crawl away.
“Jack caught fire and screamed until his flesh burned off.” I slammed my boot into his leg, his bone snapping.
Furic’s shriek made my skin hum, and if I were a cat, I’d start purring.
Dead demons and body parts littered the ground, black blood splashing everything like an abstract painting and turning the fountain water between the staircases murky gray. On the right, chains coiled around a huge beast struggling like a bull. A pretty demon held up another one covered in cuts, bruises, and blood. They seemed familiar.
Someone came up to me, a rough hand sliding over my arm.
My beautiful beast.
“Teague, what happened?” Curses burst from his mouth when he saw the blood staining my stomach. He lifted my shirt to reveal the healing gash. “What the fuck?”
“He tried to cut it out.” My shoulders shook from laughter. “So I found his fears and made him dance. Mary’s garden grew with suckers and nettles that wrapped him in a bundle. A thimble of flesh from his father, threats he did toil. Fire and poison dug their claws in, and he cried like the rocking baby that fell from the boughs.”
Somewhere beyond the fog clouding my mind, I knew my words didn’t make sense to him. They made sense to me, in my head, but not once I spoke them. They became twisted and not what I meant. But I did mean them. Just differently.
A coherent thought seared through the haze, and I reached out to my beast.“I know I sound crazy. I can’t help it.”
The Infernal Sol had taken over and poured its insanity into me, distorting my mind. Would it drive me totally mad like it had done to whole villages?
Worry eclipsed his eyes, and he held my face between his hands.“Find your way back. I’m here. It’s me, Fane.”
I ran my hands over his chest. “I’m back already and enjoying the party. I made him tell stories like nightmares on the TV and sing songs that would make you weep.”
