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The caress of talon tipped fingers tripped over her skull. The feel of wind moved through her hair, the creature’s nails teasing a lock of blood-matted sable. “Have you not learned how to bleed them without using your teeth? It is not difficult to open a vein.”

Why was it touching her, lightly following the shell of her ear with a claw?

Petrified, Pearl tried not to breathe, not to move. Still the red-eyed monster explored, dipping his yellowed fingernail lower to explore the curve of her throat before pulling away.

Moments later, across the room there was a wet sound, a squelched squeal from the human.

The screaming stopped.

“There, I have done it. His throat is open. Drink.”

Pearl refused to budge.

Another threat was issued. “Do you wish me to force you, child? Obey me at once.”

Her disgust was obvious.

“So be it.” The thing took her by the hair, tilting her head back. Something hot and wet dripped on her cheeks. Papery lips fell on hers, the devil’s mouth opening so coppery fluid might pour from him to her.

Gagging, Pearl tried to push him off. It was no use. He was going to drown her if she didn’t swallow. Obeying, blood went down her throat like acid all the way to her belly. The instant the demon pulled away, she retched, every last drop spit up on her lap.

“I see...”

It drew away, Pearl curling into a sobbing ball on the cot.

She didn’t need to see him to k

now what the red-eyed monster was doing. Sounds of slurping, of human pain, mixed together until the dying man’s stuttering heartbeat told the story.

When it was done, a corpse thudded against the floor, and once again it slithered closer. “Shall I offer a female? Can you drink from them?”

In sharp jerks, Pearl shook her head.

A smile altered the monster’s growl. “What of children, babies... do they not tempt you?”

She was going to throw up again. “God, help me.”

Again he dared to lay his hand atop her head, to finger the spot where chunks of hair had been ripped out by his minion. A laugh layered the devil’s offer. “And what of me, do I entice your attention?”

Pearl vehemently refused, shrinking from the feel of unyielding arms slowly encircling her shoulders. The cot creaked, the weight of the demon settling close enough those glowing red eyes hovered inches from her face.

When instinct moved her to struggle, to kick and scream as if she stood even a chance of forcing the vile thing from her, the devil seeped into her mind. He manipulated her just as he’d done when she’d been dumped before his throne—slipping behind her barrier of fear—taking it away until his prey lay still and calm.

He had her quiet. He had her controlled. “Tell me your name in this life.”

Torn lips parted. “...Pearl.”

“And you find me so repulsive, Pearl?” The creature did not require a reply. Instead he offered a lesson. “I offered you dark, so you might not gaze upon what you openly recoiled from at first sight, and still you cower. I offered you food, the comfort of my presence, a gentle touch... yet still you dare to refuse my attention”—the red-eyed demon let that horrid gaze go to her ruined mouth—“my Pearl.”

Powerless, she unfolded when his body shifted against her, bowing back at the feel of a light grip about her throat. Unable to see beyond the glow of his eyes, she could only feel—the chill of him, the whisper of his breath on her face.

Pinned to the mattress, Pearl lay listless while his fingers both crept and cradled. He moved her at will, laying her head to the crook of his shoulder, her legs entangled in the tattered fabric of his rotting garments.

“So lovely...” He was more enraptured than she, fingertips ghosting over the arch of her brow, teasing the fringe of her lashes.

The icy touch receded, but not before the tatters of her jaw were made to part.

There was a crunch, a sound similar to the snaps of splitting wood, and the thing began to bleed. Having rent its own tongue straight down the middle, it laved it against the roof of Pearl’s mouth, over her teeth, until the sweetest flavor she had ever tasted began to trickle down her throat.