“Yes,” he consented, the amazed confusion returning to his tone. He hesitated, but then when he spoke again, I was stunned by the profound dejection that filled his words. “Though perhaps it would have been more merciful if you had been driven mad after all… for now, you know me as I truly am… A monster.”

I almost recoiled in shock. I pressed a hand against the raw cuts on my chest; the pain that was gnashing at the organ below them was far worse than that on the surface. My gaze drifted from his face. I looked intently at his elegant wings, his tentacled mandibles, his strong arms, his sharp talons and finally, back to his perfect eyes. The colors swirled like galaxies deep within them, so much more than the green I remembered, and yet still recognizable. Still perfectly and unendingly Riley. But they were so filled with despair.

“Madness or no,” he whispered. “I wished more than anything to protect you—to spare you—from my true horror.”

I reached out to him, grasping two of the appendages before me, and they responded immediately, swirling around my wrists. My heart felt like it was swelling beyond my chest. His heart. How could I tell him? How could I make him understand? His haunted visage held no horror for me now. How could it ever?

“No,” I attempted, my voice almost breaking. “No, never.” I shook my head. “My Great One.” I lifted a hand to the flat of his face below his eye, feeling the muscles in his unearthly features respond to my every touch. “No horror. I see only… love.”

I fixed my eyes on his, unwavering, and when I spoke again, my voice finally carried the tender strength I willed into it. “You are beautiful.”

The whisper-smoke feeling at my back gathered against me then, entwining me. I was lifted off my feet by it, and had never felt more cradled and secure. It drew me to him and I leaned forward in anticipation, my heart beating almost through my chest. The delicate, beautiful tendrils of his face caressed my cheeks, combed through my hair, wrapped gently around my ears. Each of their touches was a silken kiss against my skin, enveloping me in a curtain of wriggling warmth and love.

I closed my eyes in bliss, and felt a breeze brush past me. The beating of leathery wings enveloped me like an embrace. A few moments later, arms came around me that at first dwarfed my body, but gradually seemed to condense until they fit me perfectly.

And then soft, ardent lips were upon mine, and I could feel the stars swirling in the cosmos above us in response.

I realized in a distant way that the hands that moved up into my hair were human hands again, but I was so lost in the kiss, it didn’t matter. My beautiful Great One loved me. Loved me.

Nothing else would ever matter again.