"I accept you."
Hearing his answer, the demonic Lilith froze. The squirming worms on her face seemed to still. Her entire spider demon form was motionless, like a statue carved from purple stone and flesh.
"Lies," she whispered, her voice cracking, completely devoid of the thunder it had just possessed. "You must be lying. You saw me. You felt the revulsion. No mortal—no one—would look upon this and speak those words."
Vahn shook his head, a strange, grim certainty settling over him.
Yes, at first, he was repulsed. His instincts screamed at him to look away from the disgusting sight before him. But then, suddenly memories from another life surfaced: his life on Earth. The loneliness, the constant rejection, the way that so-called perfect society had cast him aside like he was unworthy of belonging.
He knew that feeling all too well. The ache of isolation. The desperate wish to be accepted just once, without masks or conditions.
And in that moment, he understood her.
