by Eve Newton
“What for?” I ask, pulling my robe tighter around me. It had slipped open during my sleep, and truth be told, I’m growing weary of Luc’s rejection.
“I’m going to tell you what the ritual is for,” he says to my astonishment.
“Come again?” I splutter.
“Don’t make me repeat myself,” he whispers, leaning forward.
I leap out of bed, now completely awake. “Let’s go,” I say, clapping my hands.
Luc chuckles at my enthusiasm. “How about a shower and some clothes?” he says. “We will have dinner first.”
I cast a glance down at myself, only then remembering I’m still dressed in a white, fluffy robe, which also happens to be splashed with blood from my fight with Yasmine. Which, by the way, I’d have preferred he let me win rather than swooping in and rescuing me. Asshat.
And, why has he not told me that I look a fucking mess? Double Asshat.
“Hm,” I murmur, a bit embarrassed.
“Wear the red dress,” he says as I turn away.
“I don’t have it,” I say.
Luc stalks over to the closet and pulls the double doors open. Inside, the only item of clothing is, of course, the red dress.
“I’ll take it in here,” I mutter, taking it off the hanger and am about to head into the bathroom with it, but as I step back, I bump into Luc. He is standing so close to me; I can feel his breath on the back of my neck.
“You look so beautiful in that dress,” he murmurs.
I freeze.
What the hell is he doing to me? Is this some kind of test to see if I’ll refuse him?
His hand brushes my hair off my neck. He bunches it up into a tight fist, pulling only slightly on me so that I gasp, and my head is forced back a fraction. My breathing becomes ragged as I pull against his grip to turn my head slightly to the side. My lips are millimeters from his, all he has to do is press his against mine and we would be kissing.
I part mine ready to accept him, but he forces me to face the front again, pressing a soft kiss to the nape of my neck instead.
An excited shiver goes all the way down my spine as I feel his lips on my skin, and then I let out another gasp, this one a strangled mixture of a moan and a hiss.
I can feel a light flick on the back of my neck, so soft yet quickly darting, tasting my skin. I know without looking that it is his real tongue. The one he hides from his minions, the one that he has let loose in my presence only once before for only a second. His forked tongue.
It makes my knees go weak as I imagine seeing that serpent’s tongue grazing me and once again, I turn my head to the side, pulling harshly on my hair that is still so tightly wound up in his fist.
He gives me a close-lipped smile as I fix my eyes on his luscious mouth.
“Show me,” I whisper so quietly.
“Get dressed,” he whispers back and releases his hold on me.
I stumble, my breath a quick pant as he has turned me on so incredibly with just one, light kiss. If I thought I was falling for him before, I know now that I have hit the ground hard and I can no longer deny my feelings for him, or that I have feelings at all for that matter.
I love him and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.
Sometime later, I exit the bathroom and smooth down the skirt of the dress. My nerves are shot. I’m trying not to think about what this ritual is all about, but the curiosity is consuming me.
I catch a glance of myself in the mirror and I know I look damn good, having taken great pains with my hair and make-up. Something has changed in Luc and it isn’t just about him telling me the reason for the ritual. He feels something for me as well, I know it and hopefully he will stop denying it now.
I flick my hair over my shoulder and lightly press my hand to the back of my neck. I can still feel the soft flick of his tongue and it gives me goosebumps. Thoughts of that tongue teasing my clit, make me go damp and suddenly I wish Evan was here to take care of that. I hope he made it out of here after Yasmine attacked him.
His words resound in my head as I slowly head for the stairs. If Luc knows about us and he hasn’t confronted me about it, what could that mean?
I take the stairs cautiously as a pang of nerves suddenly hits me. I have never been nervous a day in my life before, but now my palms are sweating, and my heart is racing. I pause at the bottom of the stairs as a realization overcomes me. Luc tried to sweeten me up before with that kiss, his tongue—oh, that tongue—his gorgeous smile and compliments. This isn’t about him waiting to tell me I have beguiled him with my beauty and strength, oh no, this is because what he has to tell me is so heinous, he thinks I will try to back out.
I gulp.
I have thought of every single reason I can come up with as to why he would be doing this with me, and while some of them may be more depraved than others, there isn’t a single thing I wouldn’t do. So, this is more. Something I haven’t thought of because I’m incapable of imagining such a terrible act. And that… that terrifies me more than anything else because I’m no slouch in the depraved and disturbed department.
Crap.
I don’t know if I should keep walking or turn and run. Not that I would get very far. Luc will hunt me down and find me within seconds, I’m sure. Or worse, he’d send Darius after me.
I decide to keep with it. Maybe I’m making this all up and Luc is acting weird because he loves me.
Yeah, right!
I put my left foot in front of the other and make my way super slowly down the hallway with the artwork.
My heart slams in my chest when I see that the portrait of the woman, I surmised was Evan’s twin, Jezebelle, has been removed and in its place, is a painting of me.
I peer at it curiously. How did this get done so quickly? It is of me crawling out of the fire ring and that happened only this morning. Shit gets done quickly around here.
I nod my head at the painting. I love it and I feel honored that Luc has hung this in the place of the beautiful dark-haired woman. But once again the happy feeling I have is rained down upon as reality punches me in the gut.
Yep, Luc is definitely trying to butter me up.
I don’t want to hear what he has to say now that he is going to such lengths to make me happy.
I turn away from the painting and pass the one of the horned creature. Then, I stop dead and look at it quickly.
I could’ve sworn it just followed my progress past it by turning its head. I glare at it, but it is still looking away from me. Then I jump as the painting moves and the beast stares directly at me, giving me a leer that freaks me the fuck out.
With a muffled yelp, I pick up my pace and enter the dining hall, flushed and breathing heavily.
I calm my nerves when I see Luc sitting at the head of the long table with Jasmine, Yasmine’s sister, standing behind him, looking grimmer than ever. Luc watches me as I stride confidently towards the other head of the table where I sat the first night I came here. There is no place setting and I frown down at the table, but then Luc clears his throat and motions to the seat directly to his left.
Under the withering gaze of Jasmine, I take my seat and place my black napkin on my lap. Two big, silver platters, with domed lids over them, appear in front of each of us.
“Dismissed,” Luc says quietly to Jasmine, never taking his eyes off mine. “Your grieving is getting on my nerves.”
My eyes widen slightly and then go briefly to Jasmine as she exits the hall with bad grace.
“So,” I say. “What is this all about?”
Luc must be able to tell I’m nervous. I have a sheen of sweat on my brow and I know my body language is stiff. Thank fuck for deodorant or my pits would rival the stench of the actual pits.
“Eat first,” he says.
“Okay,” I say and indicate the platter. “What are we having?”
“Whatever you want,” Luc says. “Just lift the lid.”
“Hm,” I say and remove the lid with a flourish.
In front of me is the biggest, juiciest cheeseburger I have ever seen. I grin at him as he looks at it with mild horror.
“Oh, you don’t know what you are missing,” I tease him as I pick it up with both of my hands and take a huge bite out of it.
He watches as the gooey cheese and relish splats onto the platter and he shudders. “Pass,” he grunts.
“So, what are you having?” I mumble as I chew.
Luc sweeps the platter off to the side and picks up his silver goblet. “Nothing,” he says. “I prefer to watch.”
“I remember,” I say and take another big bite.
He keeps his eyes on me as I polish off the burger and then lick my fingers delicately, before I wipe them on the napkin. I pick up my goblet and sit back, replete with a happy smile.
Luc
I drum my fingers on the table. I’m not very eager to get this show on the road. I know the Dark Oracle said I had to tell her so she could choose to carry on with me, but I’m not sure if she is going to be happy about it. Demons have no maternal instinct. It isn’t programmed into them as breeding isn’t an option, except in the rare case of Jezebelle and her twin. I have no idea how Axelle will feel about carrying my child and the danger that the pregnancy will put her through. I would rather just leave her in the dark until it’s too late.
“Well?” she asks and takes a sip of her wine.
“You had a visitor today,” I say instead.
She freezes with the goblet at her lips.
She doesn’t deny it as I thought she would, or try to start explaining, she just sits there regarding me, waiting for me to say something else.
“I know you are seeking something from him that I’m not giving to you, but is it more?”
“Uhm,” she says, licking her lips. “What if I told you that I want to keep seeing him?”
I shrug. “Do you love him?” I choke out.
She scoffs at me. “I love you, you fool. I do however have feelings for Evan that are…surprising.”
My heart thumps at her words, but I don’t say anything. I don’t know what to say.
Yet.
I was hasty bringing this up. I wasn’t prepared for her honesty.
“What I am about to tell you can go no further,” I say after several long, tense minutes, where I needed to focus on the matter at hand. The Evan thing can wait. “I will cut your tongue out of your head if you utter a word of this to anyone.”
“Understood,” she says, putting her goblet back down on the table and then placing her hands in front of her as if awaiting trial.
I lean back in my chair, bringing my hand up to my chin to assume an air of casualness that I don’t feel.
“Your essence, and your body, is being prepared for a very special task, Axelle. Something that is so very important to me,” I start.
“I know,” she interrupts me quietly.
“Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t be telling you this now, but it has been advised that you require this knowledge for the next phase,” I add.
“Okay,” she whispers.
“Should you survive the next two phases, Axelle, you will have come through the trials necessary to conceive and carry my child—my son—until it is time to expel him from your womb.”
There I’ve said it, and I wish that I hadn’t.
Axelle’s shocked look makes me clench my fist and bite my tongue so that I don’t say something reassuring and well, quite frankly, lame.
“I beg your pardon?” she splutters, her hand shaking violently. She claps her other one over it and shakes her head. “A b-baby? No, this can’t be happening.”
“Oh, but it is,” I say, trying to remain calm. She is losing her cool rapidly and that tells me everything I need to know.
She doesn’t want to do this for me.
“No,” she says, standing up. “I can’t do that.” She holds her hand up to stop me from saying, once again, that she has no choice now. “I have thought of almost everything that you could ask me to do. I was prepared, Luc. I was prepared to enter into any arrangement that you required of me. Dark Priestess of an elite coven to bring forth Armageddon? Yes, I was in. Sneaking into Heaven to steal the key to the Pearly Gates? Sure, totally up for it. Replace Darius as your personal guard? Absolutely! Even if I did end up looking like a hideous freak! I was prepared to do all that and more for you, Luc. But this? Oh no! This is too much!”
Her voice has reached a pitch that is making my ears hurt. I knew it was risky telling her, but I really didn’t think she would find carrying my child this offensive. I have to concede that I’m rather impressed with where her imagination has gone to, but it is very clear that she never went where I needed her to go.
“Axelle,” I croon calmly. “I greatly appreciate your dedication to me. I need you to still have faith that you were meant to do this.”
Axelle swallows loudly and shakes her head. “How can you ask me to do this? I’m a creature of destruction and chaos. I revel in pain and torture and now you tell me I have to be a… a… mother?” She says the word with such disgust, I find it insulting.
“Not a mother,” I say defiantly. “Just a vessel.”
My curtness did what I wanted it to do.
It hurts her.
She flinches from my harsh words and I have some hope that she will come around to this news.
“Just a vessel,” she repeats, slowly backing away. “I see. I see.” She turns to run out of the dining hall, but I cannot allow her to go just yet.
“Axelle, wait,” I call out, standing up. I have never chased down a wench in my life. This is so confusing. “Axelle!”
She keeps running, picking up the long dress so that she doesn’t trip over it, ignoring my calls. She reaches the bottom of the stairs and I pause halfway down the corridor. This is ridiculous. She is acting like a child.
“If you think you can break the ritual now, you are mistaken. All males have been dismissed from this house and you cannot leave here,” I say to her quietly and she hesitates, her shoulders slumping slightly.
I knew it! I know her mind and it infuriates me that I do.
“Even Darius is gone,” I add.
She huffs slightly and it makes me angry. She is that against this she was prepared to even take on Darius with his gigantic spiked cock to break the bond. I’m glad now that I put Darius where all traitors to me belong. Locked away where he will never feed from another soul again. Even though he hasn’t betrayed me yet, I would be a fool to think that Jezebelle won’t try and turn him as she has threatened.
Axelle straightens her back and takes the stairs slowly now. I let her go without another word. I want to follow her and tell her of all the things that I’m hiding from her, and myself, and convince her that we can be a family together, but I know better than that. She needs to come to this conclusion herself, and she will. She is just in shock; she will come around.
So, I let her go.
~ CHAPTER TWENTY ~
Axelle
A baby? A baby? He wants me to have his fucking baby? What kind of a freak is he? I pace up and down in my room—my prison—my thoughts racing. This idea had never entered my mind. Why would he want a child? He doesn’t strike me as being paternal in any way whatsoever. Whatever his reasons for doing this, is something I have to find out so that I can understand it better. Not that I’ll agree to any of this. The thought of a little parasite growing inside me, sucking my essence from me to further its own survival makes me run to the toilet to throw up the cheeseburger.
Not a pretty sight.
As I wipe my mouth with a damp towel and push my sweaty hair out of my face, I catch a glance at myself in the mirror. My long, lithe, beautiful body will be ruined by that… thing… that Luc wants me to do. No, I won’t do it. I need to find a way out of here or hope that I die during the next phase.
Just a vessel.
I can’t get those words out of my head. That is all that he thinks about me. I’m not even good enough
for him to want me to stick around afterwards. He will send me packing, probably back to my Admin job, and never even see or think of me again. I don’t know what upsets me more: the thought of being forced to grow the spawn of the Devil, or that he will dump me like a hot potato afterwards.
I really wish that I hadn’t told him I loved him.
After much reflection, I decide it is definitely the spawning part that upsets me more. I strip off the dress, crumple it into a ball and shove it, once again, in the back of the closet along with the shoes. I never want to see that dress again for as long as I have left in this, my own personal, Hell.
“A baby,” I scoff out loud as I whip the cover back on the enormous bed and slide in. “He is insane, crazier than a gerbil on acid. He can go and fuck himself,” I add, and flop back into the pillows.
I want out.
Of that, I’m now absolutely certain. He cannot convince me that this is something that I can do, or want to do, for that matter. Somehow, I have to make an escape from this house and Hell. I’d gotten out once when I wasn’t supposed to, I can definitely do it again, or die trying.
I let my thoughts wander to how I’d accomplished it before. I was full of rage and vengeance at Slade Johnson for rejecting me, trapping me and sending me back here. I clawed my way out, my only thought on how I could exact revenge on that slave and his pathetic, little wife. I growl when I remember seeing them exit the church right before Luc came for me and brought me back here to rot. Such a big part of me wishes that I was still in that fiery cage. It would be so much better than this uncertain, and most definitely unwanted, future that has been thrust upon me.
I close my eyes and try to sleep.
“Hey, gorgeous Guardian Angel guy? If you’re there, you can do that saving thing now,” I mutter out loud.
I wait, but nothing happens.
It’s not like I was really expecting it to anyway. Something tells me that Angels aren’t allowed in Hell, so how would he reach me to save me in the first place? Nope, if I want a piece of that Heavenly hotness, I’m gonna have to get my ass back to Earth. Hopefully with Evan in tow.