His long tongue snaked out from between his terrible teeth again. The thing had to be three feet long, and he barely had to lean forward to lick around her jaw.
“Ew, Meph, that’s so gross.”
He licked her again.
She laughed. “That tickles!”
And then the light got brighter until her own glowing body blinded her. Meph shrank back as if the light hurt his eyes too.
And then it finally occurred to her what was happening.
She wasn’t dead at all. She wasglowing. Like a nightlight, as Lily had described it. The same damn thing that had been happening to her twin for years.The goddamn prophesied witch twins.
They were supposed to be immortal, but until now, Iris had never seen any evidence of how that was possible. Sure, powerful witches were capable of extending their lifespans by hundreds of years. But they were not immortal.
But as she straightened in Meph’s lap and felt no pain in her head, no weakness from hunger or thirst, she began to understand.
The light was healing.
Duh.Of course it was. Lily had taken a tumble into a pit and battled with a Queen of Hell without getting a single scratch on her.
The same light Lily had stifled because she was afraid of it, the same light that had protected her in the fight with Paimon, the same light now shining from Iris’s own body...thatwas what gave them the power to be immortal.
It had cured Iris’s injuries, taken away her need for sustenance, and she’d bet a million dollars it would undo the effects of aging as well.
She jerked upright and stared at Meph with wide eyes.
“Oh my god,” she whispered.
He stared back at her. He looked surprised. She could have sworn he did. His face was a skull and his eyes glowed out of empty pits, but somehow she could read him plain as day.
“I’m healed,” she told him. “The light healed me. I feel fine. I feel better than fine. I feel amazing!”
His head came back slightly as if he was startled by her outburst.
“It’s because of you,” she said in amazement. “If you hadn’t dragged me to this cave, I never would have figured it out. I would have gone to the hospital and gone on with my life and never let go of the anger. And if I hadn’t let go of the anger, I would have blocked my power forever. No immortality for me! Nope, I’d be regular old Iris for the rest of my short mortal life. Holy shite, Meph!”
His head cocked this way and that.Oh god, he’s cute.
“You saved me,” she told him, beaming at him. “You’re my hero. My knight in shining armor. I fucking love you.”
And then she put her hands on either side of his face and planted a kiss on his horrible, terrible mouth.
Meph went perfectly still.
Iris quickly pulled her head back, feeling a little embarrassed. She had just kissed a skeleton monster on the lips. Or whatever he had for lips, which weren’t lips at all, but just a slash through his face full of teeth.
He stared at her. That face didn’t seem capable of expression at all, yet somehow, she was learning to read him. Maybe his eyes were a little bigger than usual.
“Sorry,” she muttered, cheeks heating.
He continued to watch her.
“So you don’t like kissing, then. That’s okay. You don’t have to. Lord knows the other Meph likes it enough for the both of you.”
Not for the first time, her heart gave a tiny pang that “the other Meph” was still out of reach. She couldn’t resent a single thing about this Meph, who’d given up everything he knew for her, but, though she felt a little guilty, she still missed the Meph that would’ve made her laugh until she forgot to be worried about anything. She’d taken that Meph for granted when she’d had him, and by the time she’d realized it, she’d lost him.
Stop thinking like that.Meph’s demon was still Meph, just another side of him, and he was no less deserving of love. In fact, it almost seemed like he needed more love. Like his demon was the ugly, sad part of him that he’d locked away and ignored.
