Ethanasios stared down at me, those red eyes glinting with mischief. He must have known I was here. Why he didn't step in, though, was something I couldn't understand. Could what Athan said about him not entering be the truth?
To test it, I drew a step into the room, and he watched without following. His gaze followed me as he cocked his head slowly, to the side. He didn't walk into the room. He just stood and watched me until the back of my legs hit the bed.
I frowned and looked around the room. Athan stepped in with no issues, but it wasn't the same for Ethan.
"What are you doing? Scared?" He teased, smiling.
"I'm not." My shaking legs said another thing, but my lips had something else in mind.
"Then why are you in there?" He folded his arms and watched me with an amused smile on his lips. I felt the impulse to walk over to him and slap the smile off those lips, but I held back. Inhaling, I closed my eyes to ready myself for what I was about to do.
I knew I should have stayed in the room, listened to Athan, and hidden from him, but the urge to know the truth was stronger than my desire to stay safe. After all, I came here just to get killed by the demon lord. Having him do that now wouldn't be a loss. I snapped my eyes open and glared at him.
"Baby?" He called out, teasing me with that smile.
"Don't call me that," I gritted out through clenched teeth and approached the man with the face of Athan but a fucking different personality. When I reached the door, I folded my arms. "I have a question for you."
"Wow. I love your boldness." He smirked, running his eyes from my head to my toes. "You cleaned up really well," he commented, still smiling.
"I —"
"Step out of the room if you want me to answer your question," he cut me off and drew a step back. "Show me that fire in you, and we can talk."
I knew it was bait to get me out of the room, which he looked scared of. Whatever reasons he had, it was obvious he didn't want to have anything to do with this place. It explained why Athan was so certain he wouldn't get me here.
I looked back at the safe space, contemplating just for a few seconds before I stepped out. A foot out, and his smile widened, his eyes got redder, and that fucking fang showed up.
My legs shook, and I gulped, feeling a cold sweat break out on my forehead. I was terrified, scared of the man who sucks the warmth out of every place he showed up in.
"Having double minds? Seemed I overestimated you." He turned his back to me, dismissing me as he walked away. Seeing the way he looked at me and how he had called me a weakling strengthened my weak resolve.
I inhaled and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind me. The second the door clicked shut, he was by my side.
A scream tore from my throat, but I swallowed it down, gulping as I stared up at him.
"What a fool," he whispered, chuckling. "You are so naïve, little one." He reached out to me and placed a hand under my jaw, lifting my face towards him. "Athan will shit his pants if he knew, the one he tried so hard to protect came to me on her own."
I bit down hard on my lower lip to stop the trembling, but my legs took over. My knees went weak, and I collapsed to the floor, clutching my chest. The hallway had gotten colder as the demon Lord had sucked all the warmth.
He was the opposite of Athan. While Athan brought warmth to any place he showed up in, Ethan sucked it off. They were like summer and winter, day and night.
He squatted in front of me and lifted my face so I could look at him.
"What do you want to ask, darling? I will only answer just one question. Think well on what you want to ask." This time, his voice wasn't harsh on my body. Though it was still cold, and it looked like he might snap my neck at any moment, I felt something change.
"I —"
There were many questions I wanted to ask, ones I wanted an answer to, but I knew I had to choose one.
"What are you?" I asked instead.
"That?" He cocked his head to the side, frowning. "You want to know what I am? Is that your question?"
I nodded.
"Okay." He smiled, showing off those sharp canines. I shivered, thinking of how it would feel to have that piece of neck, sucking them and —
"You asked for it." He got up, and I watched him take a step back. My eyes glued to him, refusing to let go.
"This is who I am," he said before he bowed his head.
I stared, frightened as a scream tore from his lips. It was the most freezing of sounds, like the wind blowing on a shutter on a windy day, the sound like legions of demons rushing towards you. But that wasn't what caused goosebumps to erupt on my body.
It was his body. His bones snapped as they shifted. Horrified, I watched as the man who once stopped before me turned into something hideous, a beast. He wasn't a dog. It was bigger and darker. The hallway got colder as it looked at me, red, sharp eyes boring into mine.
I was terrified but also curious. I stared back at the monster as it glared at me.
"What are you?" I whispered, surprising myself when I got to my feet. My knees shook, but it didn't stop me from taking a step forward. My brain screamed for me to run, to return to the room where I was safe, but I couldn't stop my legs. They continued to go towards the beast while I tried to will my body to stop.
Before I knew what was happening, I had already reached out my hand towards it…