There wasn’t a long a sordid process, no bones breaking, not his human body bursting apart to reveal the demon underneath. No, Jayden simply grew, well, that and changed skin tone. All his limbs began to elongate at the same time; his head and muscles grew larger; and black horns protruded from the sides of his head somewhere between his eyebrows and ears. Black metallic claws sprang from the fingertips of his remaining hand as a new hand began to grow from the bloody stump. His skin went from a pale white to a deep crimson red almost the exact color of blood, to match the swirling vortex of his eyes. Ancient runes and tribal tattoos decorated one side of his body, starting from the nape of his neck and leading all the way below the waistband of his leather pants, pants that along with the matching coat grew right along with him; a birthday present from his parents. A perk of being born amongst the hierarchy class of demons; not only the clothes but also the now forked tongue, and the rare horns. Once his transformation was complete, he let out a laugh so quiet and sinister and filled with malice he knew it sent chills down the other males’ spines.
Before anyone of them could speak, two more beings were in the ruined doorway. Looked like the cavalry was beginning to arrive. Only one was able to speak, as the other was in wolf form, but the accent he spoke with was so deep the only one who seemed to be able to make out his words was Adorjan. “Well, you have been busy.”
“Dad!” Adorjan practically flew into the man’s arms while the wolf snarled low and lethal.
She leapt over to where the wolf, that must have been her pup, lay like a broken ragdoll and began to lick at his wounds, healing them in the process. When she had transferred enough energy to him, Jason opened his eyelids to find her staring at him, which made his eyes open that much wider right before rubbing his face all over hers.
The incubus, Raziel, didn’t have such a reunion with anyone.
Over from where he stood watching all the sickening sweetness, Jayden cleared his throat before saying in a dark, foreboding, and guttural smoky tone, “While I don’t even hate to interrupt because you’re making me nauseous over here, I think I need to point out we really don’t have time for this shit. We’ve got things to do, someone to save, and a bitch to kill. Shall we get on with it?”
20
Almost There
Once Tialanna and the guard crossed the portal to the human realm, she, Grimm, and Bran felt a weak sense of where Jelissa was, and it grew stronger with each step they took. The same was true for the other parents she had allowed to come with them. Which meant whatever spell had been used to keep them cloaked must have been weakening. Even though that would indeed make things much easier for them in finding exactly where they were better than any map could, it could also mean something was happening, and none of them knew whether it was something that would help, or deter them that much more.
“I don’t like these little earpieces. What if somebody needs to like poop or something and broadcasts that thought without even realizing it?” Tia and Anya stopped mid-step when those words fell out of Elyssia’s mouth. Had it come from anyone else, they would have chocked it up to nerves, but they knew their little sister was dead serious. They were saved by Darvyn who had also been walking with them; he took the reins in an attempt to reassure her the likeliness of that happening was slight to nil.
They had already decided and agreed they would not use magick to reach their destination; no flashing, no flying. Those with speed, the vampires and the shifters, would go on foot; the shifters were to shift to their animal form beforehand. Everyone else would use the vans left behind by the cleanup crew, a group the Vampire King ran that deleted any magical, mostly vampiric, mishaps that took place on this side of the portal. They had a few stashed on Belle Isle, glamoured to remain hidden from human view.
The sisters would remain together, since they truly were stronger together, both magically and physically. They would go on foot, keeping Elyssia arm and arm in between them, her feet off the ground, as Tia and Anya used their vampire speed. Deelah wouldn’t be shifting at all since her and Genie were riding with the mages; they had been sent ahead already. Having been grounded, quite literally, Bran and Kierra would be in one of the vans, even though Chandler had kindly offered to give Bran a piggy-back ride. Good thing Chandler was a vampire, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to duck the fist that came for his face in response. Grimm would be in wolf form leading the rest of the wolves, with the exception of Deelah and one other. The missing vampire’s father, Ferenc, and the werewolf’s mother, Deborah, would be side by side.
The incubus father, Lucian, had also gone ahead before everyone else. He had stopped Tia before they had even left the castle grounds, seeming to have melted out of the shadows just as they all were pouring out of the war room upon reconvening earlier. Lucian cleared his throat to gain Tialanna’s attention as she was the last to leave out of the room. When she turned to look at him, he bowed slightly before addressing her. “My Queen, a word, if
