One Apocalypse (The Dark Side Book 4)

by Kristy Cunning

“From all the fucking digging we’ve done these past two days, they’re unbeatable in your condition,” Kai goes on, visibly working hard to keep his own temper in check.

  Still, I continue to punish them, not giving them any say in what I do. Eventually we’ll all get on the same page, but I can’t just be their doormat who allows them to dictate what I can do, while they keep all their own secrets and do their own thing without me.

  Ezekiel has been weird ever since Gage confessed his love to me, even though he’s more angry than weird since he confessed his own love for me.

  Lamar is a tattletale. I should have been more specific about what betrayal means. Although…he tried to get me to lay out parameters…

  “This is what I get for being dismissive and lazy,” I grumble to myself, flipping to the next page.

  Death ripped the virgin’s dress from her body, as Conquest clamped her hands in the shackles mounted to the wall. She sobbed, hating them for making this exciting, when it was nothing more than a deal for survival.

  “Do you want our protection?” he asked her.

  My thighs tighten in anticipation, eager to hear the debauchery from this chapter.

  “Or should we let them come get the little jewel thief?” Conquest added with a dark, devious smirk, knowing her body could be defiled by them, or mutilated by the mob if she were ever found and arrested.

  Her options were limited, and the lesser of two evils laid before her in the form of trading one sin for another. She should see it as survival and not something she held with anticipatory hunger. Her pure heart was quickly getting less and less righteous—

  I snort, unable to help myself. I bet the old me couldn’t write those lines with a straight face. Lesser of two evils? Pure heart? Less ‘righteous?’ Even as a ghost with amnesia I knew better than to assume I had a pure heart. I’m curious how different it is when being mortal.

  Conquest cupped one of her breasts, his head dipping as he surprised her by sucking a nipple into his mouth. She cried out, startled by the abrupt sensation, the chains rattling above her head as she squirmed.

  Death shoved her legs open, freeing himself from his trousers, as his thumb slid into her wet slit. This time she cried out from stimulation and overwhelming pleasure from such a simple touch.

  This was for survival, she kept telling herself. Even as she swallowed down a moan and forced her body not to arch into their touch.

  Devilishly handsome, and sinfully desirable, they taunted her with the wicked ways of man. She dared to dabble on the dark side, so long as she didn’t have to admit how much she enjoyed it.

  Death dragged her legs over his hips, and with no mercy for her chastity, he shoved himself—

  “Hey!” I shout as Jude rips the book away from my hands. “That was just getting good! Like really good! We were being our usual wicked, horrible selves! Give it back!”

  Kai grabs my wrists, and in a surprising move, he forces me to the floor on my knees.

  What the what?

  Jude slowly takes a seat in the chair in front of me, dark eyes on mine as his jaw tics. Unlike the others, his eyes have started alternating between the cosmic blue and solid black. Right now, they’re certainly not cosmic blue.

  He undoes his pants, freeing himself, and I work hard to not swallow my own tongue when he gives himself a gentle stroke.

  Kai ties my hands behind my back as I remain on my knees, my heart thumping in my chest with pure excitement.

  “You’re not my favorites,” I remind them in a breathy tone.

  “We were in this entry,” Jude says as he drops the journal to the table beside him, shoving his pants the rest of the way down.

  All that firm, smooth skin lined with toned muscle in all the right places…

  My mouth practically waters.

  He pulls his shirt off next, tossing it aside, as Kai rips my dress down the front. Jude’s gaze dips to where my breasts are exposed, as Kai finishes ripping the dress off completely, leaving me bound and naked on my knees.

  I could go phantom…if I wanted to get away.

  There’s a pulse in every erogenous zone on my body right now, because everything on me is hyperaware of everything they do.

  “We could give you every single fantasy in these journals,” Kai whispers next to my ear as he shoves me forward.

  With my hands bound, I can’t catch myself. My face lands in Jude’s lap, and he roughly shoves a hand in my hair, lifting my head so that I’m forced to look up at him.

  He cants his head to the side as he stares down at me like I’m his to own.

  “If you drop this silly idea of challenging all your siblings,” Jude says as though he’s finishing the offer Kai started.

  He leans over to my ear abruptly, and I cry out a little from the slight pain in my scalp when he forces me to meet him halfway.

  “You’ll never have a need go unmet ever again. It’s your one chance to snap your fingers and have me do anything you want me to do to your body,” he adds in a whisper that sends chills drifting down my body.

  The temptation is surreal. The old ghost-girl me would have caved on the spot without an ounce of hesitation.

  Especially when Kai spreads my legs and moves in between them from behind, rubbing himself against me in the most unbearably teasing way.

  Jude smirks down at me as he lifts back up, as though he can see it written on my face how much I want the two of them right now.

  “Let’s give her a taste,” Kai says as he drags his lips across my shoulder.

  Jude’s hand goes down to my jaw, forcing my mouth open, as he works his cock inside it.

  I moan around the tip, licking it, and he sucks in a breath before plunging me down farther, releasing my jaw as he grips my hair once again.

  I don’t waste time. I’ve wanted to try this on them. In all the journals, they always love it when I do this.

  “Fuck,” he hisses, his grip on my hair tightening, as I work my mouth up and down.

  Without warning, Kai shoves in from behind, surprising me into a moan/gasp. It’s hard to focus on two of them at once in this way, and I’m really unpracticed with my part.

  Kai, however, works my body as though he’s tuning an instrument, strumming it tightly to make it play all the perfect chords his fingers and dick want to pluck.

  Jude makes a rumbled sound of pleasure, his head falling back as I work him, seizing the control he tried to steal, and refusing to smile about it just yet.

  Kai seems to lose himself in me, his arms closing around me as he begins pounding into me with less and less finesse.

  A startled cry escapes me, but I renew my efforts on Jude, trying to get him to the quickly encroaching cliff that Kai is hurdling me toward, as the devilish Conquest manipulates my body into feeling too many sensations at once.

  Jude’s grip in my hair tightens even more, and he moves his hips just a little, trying not to be too forceful, showing a surprising amount of restraint that my virgin mouth appreciates.

  His hips jerk suddenly, and…thar he blows…

  He spurts into my mouth, and I swallow him down like I do have greed in me, wanting to savor every ounce of power I have over him in this moment, as he surrenders without realizing it.

  His body goes slack, and he makes a pained sound when I continue to suck.

  He forces my mouth away, dragging me to him as he drops to his knees before me, kicking the chair out of the way in the process. His lips crash to mine. It all happens in such a seamless, swift motion that I barely register it happening, as he kisses me like he’s starving for affection.

  I’m forced to break the kiss and cry out as my own orgasm boulders through my body, and I bury my face against his throat, as he holds me up, allowing Kai to wring out every last sensation he can offer.

  Kai grunts, hips getting off-rhythm, as my body shudders in the throes of the delicious after-shocks.

  Conquest stills abruptly, wrapping his arms around me, while the two of them keep me from
sinking to the ground in a mushy puddle.

  Jude is still quivering a little, his arms wrapped around me as he holds me too. I’m very fucking happily trapped between them in the embrace.

  “Please don’t do this,” Kai whispers close to my ear. “Don’t put us through that.”

  As if they break the spell with those words, I go phantom, zapping away from them, freeing my wrists, and cleaning myself up as I go whole and give them a wink. They both stare at me with a little stunned surprise in their eyes, as though they can’t believe I’d walk away at a time like this.

  “You should have a little more faith in your girlfriend,” I tell them as I turn and walk out.

  I do love orgasms, but not enough to back out of a fight I know I need to have.

  As much as I’d love to stick around, they reminded me of something important. I have a big day tomorrow, and I need some practice before I squash my hell-spawn siblings like a fragile surface bug.

  Chapter 6

  GAGE

  Rafael seems sort of lucid when I sit down across from him, even though I can tell he’s agitated.

  I’m not sure what made me believe this was a good idea, or why the other three agreed to come along without argument. Now that we’re alone in Purgatory with the archangel who killed Paca, and is now training her for a battle she shouldn’t have to fight, I idly wonder if our girlfriend has made us as reckless as she is.

  “What’s this about?” he asks with an edge of ire he struggles to contain.

  “Paca’s fighting her siblings tomorrow if we can’t talk her out of it—”

  “Been there. Tried that. Got fucked in both the literal and metaphorical sense,” Kai butts in.

  Rafael looks about as horrified as can be expected.

  Jude elbows Kai, who simply rolls his eyes.

  “I do hope you have a more important reason for this summoning, considering how very much inappropriate it is for the Horsemen to summon an archangel,” Rafael bites out, eyes back on me like I’m the one in charge of this shit show.

  “We need a way out of that cage if it all goes wrong. I’ve made peace with the likelihood we’re going to have to fight a being that shredded your champion. We’re unable to make peace with dying for a righteous cause, because we don’t find anything all that heroic about this battle. We need a back door,” I tell him, cutting to the chase.

  His lips purse, the ire fleeing ever so slightly, as he leans back and drags a hand over his beard that seems to change from day to day in length.

  “That’s a reasonable request, given the antiheroes in question,” he states dryly. “I have an amulet that will release you from the cage, but I’m not sure how well it works.”

  We all give him a bland look.

  He blinks at us.

  “It’s not as though anyone can go in and test it without needlessly risking their own life,” he points out. “But, theoretically, there’s no reason it shouldn’t work,” he adds.

  It’s hardly enough to ease our worries, but it’s better than nothing.

  “It was created for our champion, as a means of emergency exit, but he refused it because he was brave,” he goes on.

  “Says you. Dying when you can live to fight another day sounds stupid to me. Especially when you don’t really achieve anything, and that was his only purpose…” Kai lets the words trail off when Rafael shoots him a murderous look. “We’ll agree to disagree,” Kai adds with a smartass smile.

  I scrub a hand over my face, wondering why in the fuck I didn’t come alone.

  “Why is Paca challenging her siblings?” Rafael asks me, cutting his eyes back in my direction until they level me. “Why won’t she tell me definitively if she’s going to do this or not? She keeps acting as though she’s going to, and then says…if instead of when every time she mentions the upcoming battle,” he goes on.

  “Paca does whatever Paca thinks she’s supposed to do, and it doesn’t always make sense. And sometimes she’s fickle as shit, but she’s got a lot on her mind right now. Obviously,” Ezekiel chimes in. “It’s a big commitment to state you’re going to save the world when you’re designed purpose is to destroy it.”

  The angel glares for a moment, before his expression calms and he shrugs a shoulder, as if to say, fair enough.

  “But she’s battling with you, she’s studying Jahl, challenging her siblings, and preparing for war. It’s safe to say we’re certainly in this, whether we like it or not,” Jude states as he takes a seat in one of the chairs that suddenly appears.

  Rafael stays quiet for a moment, and then an amulet appears in my lap.

  “Be sure you’re all together if it’s used. Once ejected, it’s fairly hard to return to the cage. It could take a few hours to reopen it. It’s an intentional design flaw,” he goes on. “Of course, if you beat it, I’ll simply open the cage and let you out. I’d advise against using the amulet unless it’s an emergency.”

  Great. Even our backup plan is risky. Life used to be simpler when we had no clue who we were.

  “Thanks,” I tell him as I stand, pocketing the amulet.

  Just as we turn to leave, I hear Jude ask him, “What made you decide this is her responsibility?”

  I glance over my shoulder to see Rafael unsurprised. “Because she’s The Apocalypse. We all knew she’d be too vain to allow someone else to end the world. I just had no idea the crazy lengths she’d go through to get out of doing it herself.”

  “She did this to get stronger. Had to,” I argue.

  He leans back, snorting out a laugh. “I’m sure she looks very strong to the four of you. You’re all shells of a past life. I’m not sure what Paca had in mind, but her execution is very much off the mark. I may struggle against her, but there was a time when I wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  “Anyone ever tell you that you’re terrible for morale?” Kai asks him very seriously.

  Rafael looks over all of us.

  “On the off chance she did do something miraculous I’ve yet to see, you should get on discovering what it is. The clock is ticking, boys. A decision needs to be cemented. A plan needs to be drawn. And life as you know it needs to be savored. Same for everyone, even if they’re not stepping into that cage.”

  He stands abruptly, adjusting his sleeves.

  “At least you’ll have a chance to die for a purpose—”

  “We’re not righteous enough to give two shits about that,” I remind him.

  He flicks his gaze back up to mine.

  “I envy the power the five of you possess. If I could save the world at the cost of my life, I’d do it freely. Nothing would make me happier. But I can’t. Unfortunately, that girl went and made it all much more complicated than it had to be. But it is what it is at this point. Tell her I’m ready for another match whenever she is. And she’d better fix my balance as she promised to do. The Apocalypse can’t be deceptive, or it screws with her neutral balance.”

  With that tiresome lecture out of the way, he turns and leaves.

  “A little gratitude and understanding shouldn’t be so much to expect from an angel,” Kai states as though it’s his duty to point it out.

  “He talks in circles like he’s trying to be empowering and realistic at the same time. It comes out as a buzzkill self-righteous bunch of bullshit,” I say dismissively, moving away from the meeting area we can’t siphon from.

  “What about tomorrow? How do we stop it?” Jude asks.

  Again, when did I become the leader of this shit show? No thank you. I hate responsibility of that caliber.

  “We don’t,” Ezekiel answers, not looking back as he walks faster.

  “What?” Kai asks in disbelief.

  “If we try, Paca will just make it that much harder on us. I don’t have time for the argument we’re about to have. Don’t forget her rule about not discussing this tonight. I promised Paca a foot massage, so I’m out,” he says before he disappears.

  Even I stumble over my own feet at how casually he says th
at as though it’s not a big deal.

  He disappears the second he’s out of the sacred area, and we all stand and blink.

  “Did he really just ditch us to hurry back to massage her motherfucking feet?” Jude asks very quietly, sounding both horrified and shocked.

  “Yes. Yes, he did,” I answer on autopilot.

  That son of a bitch will be her favorite for-fucking-ever if he’s going to play this game that way. I’ll never have her to myself again.

  “Where the hell are you going?” Jude asks me as I lift the navigation device, trying to figure out which part of Hell I need.

  “To find some damn bath salts.”

  “Will someone please say something that makes sense?” Kai asks.

  “Why the actual fuck are you buying bath salts?” Jude asks almost at the same time.

  I glance back, preparing my siphon, as I answer, “Because I don’t know how to give a massage.”

  With that, I disappear, and go on the search for Lamar, since the navigation is pointless unless I know what Hell has to offer.

  We really are her motherfucking harem, aren’t we? Unbelievable.

  Chapter 7

  JUDE

  “Quit brooding and acting like I’m going off to die,” Paca says in a bored tone. “Show me what good cheerleaders you can be.”

  She disappears, and I snatch vacant air when I try to siphon out with her.

  “Damn her for going off on her own,” I growl, cursing as I run a hand through my hair and pace back and forth.

  Ezekiel and Gage are quiet, both of them sitting in our Royal Section seats. They look like they dread this with everything in them, yet they aren’t even trying to talk her out of it.

  “Why the hell aren’t you two helping us?” Kai snaps.

  “Because it’s pointless to try to change her mind,” Ezekiel states flatly, cutting his eyes toward me. “She’s been passive aggressive about all of this. That means someone has done something really big to piss her off.”

  Why do all three of them stare at me?