Her Demon Prince (Forbidden Fantasy) (28 page)

"Prepare to
join your mother, angel."

Galaden's
crystal-blue eyes glanced at his mother's decapitated head before turning his
piercing gaze on his half-brother. "Take pleasure in my death, traitor
brother. Show Phoebe how you love to kill. Cut my throat like you did
Rachael's. Show her the demon in you. Let her see the beast."

Phoebe saw Agrat
recoil as the pain of Galaden's words sliced through him. The prince's
expression turned to a snarl. "I do not enjoy killing. I did not harm the
healer. Curse you and your vengeance."

"Stop!"
a voice cried out, sounding through the studio like a chime.

Phoebe glanced
from Galaden to the direction of the voice to see Cassiel appear with Daniel
and Rachael. Both had an arm around Rachael as she wobbled, unsteady from the
teleporting.

"Agrat. No!
Don't kill Galaden," Rachael cried, her expression horrified. "I know
you didn't commit the crime that Galaden accuses you of."

"Healer,
how do you have this knowledge?" Agrat asked, not taking his gaze off
Galaden, nor the blade of his dagger.

"You know
that is not true, my love," Galaden said to Rachael. "The demon is a
murderer."

"I had a
vision when I was in a coma. A demon disguised himself as Agrat. He arrested me
and took me to the king. He wore a helmet and the same armor that Agrat wears
now, but he was cold, so evil, so unlike the prince."

"Father, it
was Snarcus who framed you," Daniel said.

"The prince
is innocent," Cassiel said.

"Snarcus?"
Shock resonated across Agrat's face.
The dagger waivered.
"Snarcus pretended to be me?"

Rachael broke
free of Cassiel and Daniel's support and stepped forward. "The man who
arrested me wore a helmet, but his hands were claw-like. His blade twisted. It
wasn't you. I saw it in the dreams I've had all my life, but I never made the
connection until I dreamed the scene again in my coma."

The angel's
crystal-blue gaze moved to the decapitated head of his mother lying near him on
the ground. "My mother and the prince were the only ones who knew about
Rachael. I told the queen of my love for Rachael. I begged her to intercede
with our father, the king."

"So now you
see who betrayed you," Agrat said, his voice dark and low.

"I am
sorry," Galaden said, looking up at Agrat. "All these years, I've
hated you. Wrong. So wrong."

Agrat knelt, dug
his fingers into Galaden's hair, gripped it and placed the blade across the
angel's throat. "So you offer me an apology?
Too little.
Too late.
I suffered because of you, angel. You
scorned my love because of your treacherous mother's lies, leaving me alone.
When I found Phoebe, you took my kingdom and my woman. I became stone for three
thousand years."

"Father,
don't kill your brother," Daniel pleaded.

"Agrat, no!
You will never heal if you cannot forgive," Cassiel said.

"Agrat,
stop. Galaden's mother manipulated him. Please forgive him his mistakes,"
Rachael cried.

"This must
be done, Healer," Agrat said, the lines of his face stern, his eyes
glowing with righteous anger. "You have cleared my name but not Galaden's.
He says he fights the vow, but in truth, Phoebe will never be safe while he
lives."

"I believe
Galaden won't harm me," Phoebe said, walking forward. "Please put the
dagger down, Agrat. Don't wear the blood of your brother on your hands. I know
you. When your anger has cooled you won't be able to live with yourself."

The lines and
planes of Agrat's
face hardened
until he looked
savage. The blade of his dagger dug into Galaden's skin so a line of crimson
opened up on the angel's throat. "It is too late," he growled.
"I must have vengeance."

When his eyes
changed from glowing red orbs to flames, Phoebe knew his anger had reached
fever pitch. Would he stop? Could he stop himself from killing Galaden? Phoebe
didn't know. She wanted to run over to him and pull him off Galaden, but the
man in front of her with the dagger was more demon than human in his fury. He wouldn't
hurt her, but he would slice that blade across Galaden's throat in a heartbeat
and they would both be sprayed with the angel's blood.

There had to be
a better way to stop this feud.

"Rachael.
Leave!" Galaden cried, his face wretched, grimacing with pain as his hand
clutched his throat in a futile effort to protect himself. "Take her away,
Cassiel. I beg you. Do not let her see my death."

Cassiel shook
his head. "No. Rachael will not leave you any more than I will. You must forgive
my father."

"Please,"
Rachael said to Agrat, stepping forward. "I beg you. I love Galaden."

"Stay back,
Healer," Agrat growled. His voice had become deeper, unearthly.
"Daniel? Take Rachael and your mother away. Galaden must die."

Phoebe quavered.
The prince was wild with killing lust. His body was smeared with Galaden's
blood and from the look on his
face,
he would readily
bathe in it. Uncanny fire, white hot, burned in his eye sockets, sparks flew
off his body. Marauding and dark, he seemed barely human. A fierce trembling took
over her body. Real terror made the spit dry in her throat. "I love you,
Agrat. I would risk my life for you but I must live free of fear. If we have
any future together, I need you to show me the man in you. I'm begging you to
find forgiveness. If you cannot do it for yourself, do it for me."

Agrat's head
moved toward Phoebe’s voice. “Princess, you would reject me?” he asked, clearly
cut to the heart that the woman he would give his very soul for was challenging
him.

“I want the
gentle, protective man I love back, not the terrifying demon,” Phoebe cried.
She could feel tears welling at her eyes. "Come back to me, please. I miss
that man. I love him so much."

"I must
kill him," Agrat said.

"No. You do
this for revenge. You spent three thousand years trapped in a statue. You do
this for yourself and I can't be with you like this. I can't love the warring
elemental demon so full of hatred he can't forgive a brother he once loved for
a terrible error of judgment. I must have the man back, the one who loves and
listens to me."

"It is too
hard," Agrat roared, the veins strained in his temple and neck.

A desperate
grief sent Phoebe's heart to her throat. "You suffered but I suffered too.
I lost you, but you came back to me and made me love you again. I don't want to
be afraid of what you might do when enraged. I have to know you can resist
killing. I want to marry you. I want to have children with you, but I need to
know our future children won't see you like this. I don't want you to kill
Galaden. You loved him once. Choose, Agrat. Vengeance or me."

Agrat stood,
flung the dagger away from him, so hard that it imbedded itself in the wall. He
threw his head back and bellowed, a raw keening sound of pain, of tragedy, of
suffering. The fire in his eyes grew larger until his face disintegrated and
the flames consumed his neck, his torso, his arms and legs.

Phoebe stood
before him, her whole body trembling. Shock resonated through her. She couldn't
move, though the heat seared her skin.

"Oh shit."
Daniel raced forward and grabbed Phoebe by the arm, pulling her back against
the studio wall.

Galaden rolled
away from the demon, but his movement had become slow and awkward as his skin
greyed, the texture and color of concrete.

Cassiel raced
forward and dragged his father from Agrat's reach. "What's happening,
Dan?" he asked.

"The prince
is pissed off," Daniel said, his eyes wide with awe.

"I think I
got that," Cassiel said.

"This is an
elemental on a bad day.
A really bad day.
He's losing
it and everything in his path is going to fry. We gotta get outta here
fast," Daniel said. "You think I've got a fiery temper when I'm
pissed? You
ain't
seen nothing like an elemental lose
it. Not that I have, but I've heard fables."

"I didn't
think Agrat could do the full fire thing," Cassiel said. He bent and
hoisted Galaden to his feet, but the angel's body had turned putty colored and
stiff so that he could not walk.

"I thought
only full elemental demons could," Dan said, edging toward the studio
doorway, his arm tucked protectively around Phoebe.

"I suggest
you don't take that conversation up with him right now," Cassiel said,
pulling Rachael behind him with his other arm, while he dragged Galaden toward
the studio doorway.

"It's rage.
Sheer, hideous fury," Rachael said.

Flames consumed
Agrat's body until he stood over six feet tall, a wall of fire so fierce that
Phoebe had to back out of the studio until she reached the opened doorway, to
the small hallway which led to the street. The air in the studio in front of
her seemed to be sucked up by the heat. Her mouth dried and she could barely
breathe.

Daniel stayed
with her, his arms draped protectively over her, clearly trying to shield
Phoebe from the heat. He didn't seem to be affected by the fire. "Cass,
get out of here before your wings catch alight."

"’Bout time
you looked out for my wings," Phoebe heard Cassiel mutter.

The wall of fire
that was Agrat staggered toward Galaden.

Cassiel dragged
his father out of the studio, out of Agrat's line of sight, taking Rachael with
him.

Daniel turned to
Cassiel. "Maybe you should teleport Galaden outta here."

"This must
be resolved here. You know that," Cassiel said.

"Agrat.
No!" Phoebe cried, refusing the leave the studio. Tears rolled from her
eyes and instantly dried on her face. Her cheeks burned and she thought the
clothes would melt on her body but she didn't want to reject Agrat. The others,
except Daniel, stood in the small
corridor which
led
to the street, where the breeze blew in fresh cooling air.

Agrat stopped,
roared again until the concrete under his flaming feet blackened and began to
melt. He altered his direction and ambled like a blind man back toward the
statue of Galaden's fallen angel mother. He snarled, a sound so furious the
walls of the studio shook. He opened his fiery arms and wrapped them around the
statue until it dissolved under him and then he fell forward and the flames
went out. What was left was the naked body of the prince, splayed out on his
face, his eyes closed. Not a burn mark touched his skin.

"Agrat!"
Phoebe raced toward him.

"Phoebe,
stop!" Daniel cried, following her into the studio. "His body will
still be too hot for a human to touch. You'll burn yourself."

Phoebe stopped
but the air was so scorching, she could barely breathe.

Daniel followed
her into the room, pointed his index finger and opened each of the windows in
the studio. Fresh air from the freezing winter day outside rushed in cooling
the temperature and Phoebe could breathe again. The concrete floor under her
feet burned through the thick soles of her boots. She shifted from foot to
foot. She spied the bottle of healing water in the corner of the studio on the
telephone table, raced over and grabbed it. The bottle was hot to touch, but
bearable.

She knelt by
Agrat, but the heat of the concrete floor burned through her jeans, so she
shifted into a squat. "You chose not to kill Galaden. You did it for me. I
know that was almost impossible for you. Please come back to me. Please open
your eyes." She undid the bottle of Cassiel's healing water and dribbled it
onto the side of his face. Steam rose off his skin. She couldn't bear to lose
him, not after everything she'd been through.

Daniel squatted
and turned Agrat over. He put his hand on Agrat's heart. "It's
beating." He opened Agrat's lips. "Try easing a little water in.
He'll be parched."

"Will he
survive?" Phoebe asked, her nerves on a razor's edge.

Daniel grinned
his familiar smile. "Yeah, sure. Elementals love fire. This is the first
time I've witnessed one turn full feral though. Awesome, wasn't it? I mean
,
Father had everyone shit scared. He's pretty cool, isn't
he?"

Phoebe shook her
head, wondering how Daniel could live his life in such a light-hearted manner.
Maybe if she could shift into other dimensions like heaven she'd feel that way
too. "That's not how I'd describe it. Try terrifying and
unpredictable."

"I don't
think so. Father listened to you. He turned and fried the statue instead of
Galaden. His human side must have steadied his temper. Legend tells it that if
the elemental demons on Mount Har Karkom declared war on a tribe, whoever went
up there to battle with them never came back."

"
That
doesn't surprise me
," Phoebe said dryly. Still, she found
Daniel's words reassuring. She had managed to get through to Agrat and her
prince wasn't going to die. She stroked Agrat's cheek, willing him to open his
eyes.