His eyes flashed, and for a second, yellow bled into the rest of them, filling the white completely. Then he looked at Lily, rooted in place, speechless and terrified.
Except, his expression… There was something so tormented in his eyes, it made tears spring into the corners of hers.
Which was absurd. A demon had kissed her, and this was her reaction? To want to cry because he looked sad? But she couldn’t help it, couldn’t stifle the ache that sprang up in her chest.
They looked at each other, and for a moment, everything was forgotten, and they were right back in her kitchen.
Then he turned away, and the spell was broken. He headed down the stairs to the street below. He didn’t attack. He didn’t threaten them. He just left.
When he reached the ground, he tugged his shirt over his head, revealing a broad back ribbed with strength. He looked over his shoulder to where she watched from the balcony.
Before her eyes, he shifted.
First his skin darkened, becoming an ashy gray that matched the shadows cast by the streetlights on the pavement. He grew nearly a foot taller, making him absolutely enormous. His eyes turned back to the glimpse she’d seen of glowing yellow. Claws elongated from his fingers. Claws she hadn’t imagined feeling after all.
And finally… wings.
Black wings burst from his back and spread wide. Like a bat’s, fine bones delineated the segments of leather-like membrane stretched between them. The top, reminiscent of the shape of a hand, was tipped with a long, curved talon where the thumb would be.
Lily gasped, and Iris cursed. All the while, Mist stared at her.
At this point, the natural glamor hiding the supernatural would have made him invisible to anyone else nearby. But Lily wasn’t a regular human, and Mist knew that now. He knew she could see him. He was showing her exactly what he was, giving up his charade.
But why?
She didn’t have time to wonder. The next moment, he finally turned away. Crouching deeply, he sprang, pumping those great wings, and launched into the air, that lily flower still clutched in his claws.
And then he dissolved into a black cloud and disappeared completely.
He dissolved into… mist.
7
Mist Versus Reality
The black mist circled the apartment building before finally slipping through the crack in an open window.
Mist solidified in his bedroom. Through the closed door, he could hear Belial banging around the kitchen and talking to someone—probably Raum, since he knew Meph would still be waiting in the park. Meph had offered to wait there during the date in case of emergency, though he surely hadn’t imagined anything like this happening.
Mist surveyed his surroundings and finalized his plan. He had to move quickly and quietly. There was a greater chance of someone realizing he was missing the longer he delayed, and he wanted to be long gone before anyone thought to look for him.
It was for the best.
The brand on his neck burned fiercer than ever, and he had only a few days left before he could no longer fight the compulsion. He’d known he couldn’t ignore Paimon forever, but he’d been in denial. Excitement at playing human and hunting Lily had distracted him from contemplating the futility of his entire sojourn on Earth.
He felt a pang of regret at the thought of leaving. He would miss his… friends. Yes, he supposed that was what they were. Eva had explained the concept of friendship, and he felt certain he had formed such bonds with her and the other demons.
And Lily.
He’d wanted to pretend he could live like Asmodeus and Eligos with a human female that looked upon him with acceptance instead of horror. But he had seen Lily’s face tonight when confronted with his true form, and it was nothing like the way Eligos’s female regarded him.
Lily’s eyes had been wide, her mouth open, her expression one of revulsion.
Something inside Mist had withered at that look, and he realized he no longer cared to find a human female if he had to pretend to be something he wasn’t.
And if he couldn’t have Lily, he didn’t want another anyway. He had scented every female he’d come across and none appealed to him as she did. He wanted her or no one.
In the end, however, it didn’t matter what he wanted.
