Ixchel could drop the godly charade at last. In the bargain, this mortal put up a good fight. Getting anything in the deal out of the little power she still had was short of a miracle. What really mattered was yet to be seen nor felt.
Alba's green eyes had lost a fair bit of their glow, for she stalled the poison no more, letting it run through his bloodstream up to his brain.
Possessing another's body and soul… It had been a while.
No feelings in the world could compare. How she had missed that transcendental dizziness, taking in the stolen glances and the smiles, the melancholic pain, the bundled frustration contained in those memories…
His broken mind became a heavenly course she could feast on for the many weeks to come before they inevitably found a replacement. He shook his head, acting unphased as the muscles of his arms visibly twitched. She knew better.
"I'm fine, but I don't feel any stronger. Quite the contrary actually," he said as blood also poured from his mouth now.
"Let me take care of that," she said.
She pushed down on his shoulder and forced him to his knees. Face-to-face, she could feel his heart beating faster when she drew her face closer to his. His breath also grew ragged under her touch (that, and the effect of the toxins).
With age, Ixchel's brand became awfully corrupted, so much so that it would poison and kill any mortal in the branding process.
"Now, I know it probably hurts, and you're scared, but if you don't want it to get worse… I'd suggest you close your eyes now."
"…Want to… See," he forced the words through gritted teeth.
She shrugged.
Alba had chosen the worst moment to be acting "manly". His eyes widened and his lips parted in horror when the skin of Ixchel's vessel split open and revealed a torrent of darkness beneath, reshaping itself into a faceless, wide maw eating Alba whole before he ever had the time to scream.