Raem had heard enough. Angel perhaps feared the light of Taal—even the fake light of an imposter—but Raem had always served the silver god. He thrust his lobster claw into the light, grabbed Sharael's throat, and sliced through his neck.

The silver head clattered to the floor.

Sharael shrieked. He shifted again. The silver head bloated and melted, took the form of Issari, of Sena, of Laira, of a waterlogged boar, of a rotting dragon, of a skull caked with charred skin. The headless body convulsed, changing from woman to man to animal to demon.

"Grab him!" Angel cried to the demons across the hall. "Add him to the walls. Pump him with blood."

A thousand demons screamed and flew toward the fallen Sharael, reaching for the head and body.

Sharael still lived. Smoke blasted out from the demon, and he shifted again. The body became that of a great dark bird, feathers oily, talons serrated. The headless bird grabbed the severed head—it was still changing forms, the transformations so quick they blurred into one another. With a great shriek, the towering vulture flew across the hall. Demons tried to reach it, but the bird's wings and talons held them back. With a last, echoing screech, Sharael flew through the doors and vanished. Only the demon's final cry lingered in the hall: "You will break, Raem Seran! The Throne of Tongues will be mine!"

"Find him!" Angel shouted. "Bring him to me! Break him!"

A thousand demons cried out, scuttled, leaped, wept, screamed, and drained through the doorway in pursuit. Globs of saliva, pus, and fat remained behind them. The demons' cries echoed in the hall, a last reminder of their presence.

Angel trembled with rage. She tossed back her head and screamed so loudly that more living sacks burst upon the ceiling. The red rain showered. Flames burst out from Angel in rings, searing the demons stitched into the walls and floor. The Demon Queen spun toward the priest, the only demon remaining.

"Wed us!" Angel screeched. "Wed us now!"

The priest bowed its great, thorny head. Its eight eyes blinked with sucking sounds.

"Angel of the Abyss. Raem the Half-Mortal. You are now joined in unholy matrimony, and may you—"

With a scream, Angel swiped her arm, knocking the priest aside. She spun toward Raem, grabbed his shoulders, and leaned down above him. Her eyes burned, blasting out white light. Her jaw unhinged, and her tongue unfurled to lick him from navel to forehead.

"Now give me another child," she hissed.

Face dripping, Raem smiled. He wrapped his tentacle around her and pulled her close. "Let us find a chamber to—"

She knocked him down. "Now!"

With blasts of smoke, a twitching tentacle, and leaking lava, they copulated beneath the Throne of Tongues. All around them, faces leered and the screams echoed.

Raem smiled as he consummated his marriage, as the heat of the Abyss flowed through him.