One of the commanders — braver than the rest, older, a scarred demon general who had served through three wars — looked up. His face was carefully blank. His eye twitched.
Nora stopped.
The crow flew.
Its wings beat against the air — a sharp, startled sound that cut through the silence. The bird launched from the windowsill and disappeared into the red sky of the demon realm. It would fly. It would land. It would report what it had heard to whoever had sent it. And what it had heard was:
'One of the five heavenly demons was made to lick a human's cock.'
Nora's head dropped.
Her chin hit her chest. Her ash-grey hair fell forward, covering her face. Her hands gripped the cracked armrests. Her shoulders shook. The trembling was visible — the heavenly demon's body, the body that had never been touched by a man, the body that had been above such things for her entire ancient existence — was shaking.
"YOU BASTARD!"
