The Incubus System Chapter 1546. Ants
The Incubus System Chapter 1546. Ants
She had already demonstrated something that apparently wasn't common among the angels I'd encountered. And if I truly ended up moving against Aurelion, having Lysathiel beside me could mean the difference between challenging one king and accidentally declaring war on an entire species.
But I couldn't force that choice.
I wouldn't.
If I wanted her loyalty, I needed her to choose it.
The same way I wanted everyone around me to choose.
My shoulders gradually loosened beneath the warm water. I needed to stop to think.
“Ethan…”
My eyes opened.
I turned.
Emma stood at the bathroom entrance.
She had quietly undressed, leaving her clothes behind before stepping into the warm haze filling the room. I could see faint marks remaining on her skin from earlier.
My marks.
Something inside me softened immediately. There was no seductive performance in her expression now. She simply looked at me with that same gentle certainty she'd had when she caught my sleeve.
“I’ll join you.”
I watched her approach through the steam.
When she reached me, I lifted one hand and touched her cheek.
Emma leaned into my palm without hesitation. That small movement affected me more than anything else tonight.
I knew this wasn't about sex.
Despite the fact that we were both naked beneath the warm shower, despite everything we'd already done tonight, none of that seemed important anymore. Emma simply remained close enough that her warmth blended with mine, her hands resting lightly against my sides while water streamed over both of us.
I brushed my thumb over her cheek.
Emma watched me for several seconds before her expression softened. “You’re disappointed.”
The words came so suddenly that my hand stopped.
“What you saw tonight.” Her gaze remained steady. “With the angels. With the Light Dimension.” She hesitated before adding, “I think the image you had of them is gone.”
I breathed out slowly. There wasn't much point denying it. “It wasn't just me. All of you were disappointed.”
That had been obvious from their reactions.
Before tonight, angels had still existed somewhere between mythology and Puriel in their minds. Even after everything that happened, Puriel remained the closest reference most of them had for what an angel actually was.
And Puriel could be difficult. But she listened.
“Our standard is Puriel, after all,” I murmured. “And she wasn't like what we saw tonight.”
I looked away. Water struck the back of my neck. “Compared to all of this…” I exhaled heavily. “Puriel is much, much better.”
Saying it aloud brought the disappointment back. Then cold, exhausted anger.
“I feel like they really look down on us.”
Emma's fingers shifted slightly against my waist.
“Humans. Demons. Anything that isn't them.”
I remembered those signatures scattered throughout the city.
The disgust. The contempt. The effortless certainty that they were standing above everyone else. It wasn't even hatred sometimes. Some of them looked at humans with something worse. Indifference.
“I understand demons more,” I admitted quietly. “And that's probably a terrible thing to say.”
Emma didn't interrupt.
“Some demons see humans as food. Blood. Energy. Whatever they need.” My jaw tightened. “I hate it, but I understand the logic behind it. They're predators. Humans are prey to them. There is a reason, even if the reason is cruel.”
I finally looked at her again.
“But those angels tonight… Why did they look at humans like ants that didn't deserve to live?”
Emma had no answer.
Neither did I.
“They didn't need anything from those people,” I continued. “They weren't hungry. They weren't defending themselves. Those humans weren't threatening anyone. Some angels simply enjoyed having someone beneath them to judge because they considered those humans unclean.”
My voice remained level. That surprised even me. There was no grief breaking through my words. Only disappointment sharpened by anger.
Maybe that was why Emma listened so carefully. She could tell I'd already passed the point where shouting would help.
I lowered my hand from her cheek. “When I became an incubus for the first time, do you know what I thought? I thought demons were evil.”
The confession tasted strangely bitter now.
“I tried to hide what I was. I covered my identity because I was afraid of what being a demon meant. I thought if people knew, they'd immediately assume I was dangerous.”
I gave a quiet scoff.
How ironic.
I'd spent so much time fighting against that image.
Proving that being a demon didn't automatically make me evil.
Controlling my instincts.
And then the light arrived carrying exactly the moral superiority I'd once assumed it deserved. Only to behave no better.
“It feels ironic,” I said.
More than ironic. Humiliating, almost. Not because they had fooled me. Because I had wasted so much energy trying to satisfy standards they apparently didn't apply to themselves.
I leaned back against the tiled wall. “And I feel stupid.”
Emma immediately looked up. “Ethan—”
“I tried to make peace with them.” The bitterness finally entered my voice. “I kept thinking there had to be a way to explain everything. If they observed me long enough, they'd understand. If I showed enough restraint, they'd realize I'm not whatever ancient monster they decided I should represent.”
My eyes narrowed.
“What was I trying to prove?”
There was no answer.
Because there had never been a finish line.
Emma stepped closer. Her hands rose to my face. Then she kissed me. Softly.
When she pulled back, she remained close enough that her forehead nearly touched mine.
“I understand, Ethan.”
My eyes stayed on hers.
“I understand why you're angry,” she whispered. “And when you said you stopped caring…” Her fingers gently traced my cheek. “That's when I knew you'd had enough.”
Something inside me loosened.
She understood the difference. I hadn't stopped caring about people. I had stopped caring about convincing the light that I deserved its approval.
Those were completely different things.
I took Emma's hand.
Slowly, I brought her knuckles to my lips and kissed them.