In fact, the beast moved forward, only to pass her by.
But what convinced her was the fact that the beast reduced the weight of its grandiose presence to let her feel better. She could breathe again, almost normally, and even move.
A huge blaze suddenly erupted, illuminating the great hall and startling the young woman. It was a great light-blue fire, shimmering and devouring, which enveloped the corpses and seized all the spurted blood and flesh around them, making them disappear, leaving no trace.
Then another form of radiance caught Nicole's attention. It was the beast. He was in the process of transforming himself, abandoning that incredible beastly appearance to take on the form of a tall, but very slim, and perfect man.
When it was over, he turned to the young woman and plunged his gaze into hers. A deep, fiery gaze, that she would have expected to be black, but which was a brilliant spring green like the surface of a dew-drenched sapling. May she, too, be devoured if this wasn't poetry.
Now she was rambling. Just because a man of such beauty and virility as she'd never met had saved her life and was staring at her intently, she was losing her mind like a fool, imagining all the sexual positions she could take while making love to him. She noticed he was trying to catch his breath. The outcome had been decided in advance, but given the stubbornness of these foul creatures, this beast of Ozak must still have put some effort into reducing them to ashes.
Nicole shook her head in an attempt to compose herself, breaking the almost animal-like enchantment this visual exchange had given them.
Oh no, a simple glance had been enough to make her lose her mind, when would it be when the moment came to…
She gasped when she saw a bright glow and turned to discover that it was a bluish trail of fire that was engulfing the corpses of the victims slaughtered by the beast.
"Uh, I was just thinking figuratively about the ashes, but hey…" she couldn't help but remark.
"Who are you?" His voice was even deeper and more bewitching than she'd expected, different from the one he had in his beastly form, so much so that you'd think she was dealing with two distinct people. "Did you hear my question? This is no time for daydreaming. I asked you who you are."
Nicole waited to see if he intended to tear her to pieces before allowing herself to answer. "You're not going to kill me?"
"That depends."
The young woman sighed, so exasperated that she even managed to forget her terrible fright for a while. "Please don't. I've had more than my share of proposals this night." She pointed to the chief's corpse engulfed in magical flames, of which only a few bones remained. "The man who offered you this sordid bargain and whom you had bestially killed also offered me a deal. A deal he had no intention of keeping, so…"
"Then you should never have come here."
"Here in your dilapidated building or here in this nameless kingdom?"
The sovereign shrugged. "Both."
The young woman could hardly contain herself. "Because you think I had a choice!"
"I suppose not, but now you do."
"And what are those options?"
He didn't answer, but the look in his eyes spoke clearly for him. Nicole didn't know what to think at that precise moment, adrenaline still coursing through her veins at high speed. So, she carried on as if she hadn't noticed a thing, even though she knew it couldn't last.
"And speaking of choice, how did I get here, and why?"
"You really don't remember anything?" His eyes wouldn't have allowed any lies to come through, which frightened the young woman.
"No, but it's coming slowly."
"Then wait until all your memories come back." He gave a most annoying chuckle. "I'm guessing it won't be…pretty."
"Because it's always the woman's fault, huh?"
"For me it is."
And he really seemed to mean it. Nicole was exasperated, but still scared of him, she'd rather continue playing it safe.
"You seem to like clichés."
The monster regarded his visitor intently, then shook his head. "No, not clichés."
She met his eyes again, this time blazing like the flames they'd just created to get rid of his waste and reflecting the same red glow as her own.
Ordinarily, she would never have thought, let alone acted, like this, but everything ordinary was totally absent from this place and this moment. The adrenalin coursing through her veins would last for a long time to come, along with those other, more indefinable emotions. And above all, she doubted she'd ever want someone as much as she wanted this sensational, magical person.
She smiled inside.
What would happen between them was inescapable.
Never was fate's plan clearer than at this moment.
"Would you like me to thank you for saving my life, at least if that was really your intention."
"Who knows. But my intentions saved your life in the process, so in the end, it all boils down to the same thing, doesn't it.?"
"I'll give you that. So, you really want to be thanked?"
"Of course I do. Isn't that the way it should be?"
Nicole shrugged with feigned casualness to hide her total lack of experience with this sort of thing.
"Then tell me how."