by Dahlia Lu
When she came to him dressed in nothing but another man’s jacket, drenched in Damian’s scent, it overwhelmed his rationality. His father had entrusted him with Ragnarok, the power over life and death of all beings in existence. He came so close to using it because he couldn’t think properly. He’d known she’d taken lovers, but he never wanted to see it, hear it, or even know about it! The possessive male side of him couldn’t take it.
When she came to him in that state, he was so close to pinning her down and letting her know who she truly belonged to. But he couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t let himself do that. He refused to be controlled by his misguided feelings. Amidst his rage and the battle for self-control, he couldn’t see the situation for what it was. Nala was genuinely troubled, and she came to him for help. She asked for a few minutes of his time, but he didn’t even give her that.
He’d turned her away. He’d left her at the mercy of the agonizing level of discomfort he knew all too well. He’d overestimated her ability to handle the situation. She’d been so strong about everything that he thought she would just shake it off like she always did. But the fact of the matter remained. Immortal or not, Nala was a woman. She possessed all of the vulnerabilities of her gender.
Trent placed a hand over his chest. His heart was beating wildly. It had become such a bother that he wished he didn’t have the damn thing.
He’d been so occupied with his thoughts that he hadn’t realized it was raining until a pink umbrella sheltered him from the raindrops. He halted and turned to the young blonde holding the umbrella over his head. He appreciated the kind gesture, but a little rain has no effect on his physical body.
He said to her, “Thank you kindly, but I will be fine.”
He continued to walk and, strangely, she continued to follow. The umbrella was big enough to shelter the both of them from the rain. Did she really intend on walking with a stranger? He turned to her. His blue eyes met her expressive chestnut ones.
“What is your name?” Trent asked out of curiosity.
The girl smiled tenderly at him with uncanny familiarity. He was momentarily stunned by the sweetness of the smile. He felt an instant connection that he couldn’t explain. “Raya,” she replied. “My name is Raya.”
Friend… her name means friend.
He had a friend once, but that was so very long ago.
“I like that name,” he said, almost to himself, and then to her, “I think I owe it to you to walk you home.”
“It’s only a few blocks away. When we get there, I can let you borrow my umbrella.”
He followed her pace. “Do you always come up to strangers?”
“Only the ones I think that are harmless.”
He chuckled at the comment. “What makes you think that I am harmless?”
“It’s just a feeling.”
“If that’s the case, then I don’t think you should be too reliant on your feelings.”
“Why? Are you a psychopathic serial killer?”
“No, but nothing good ever happens to the people around me.”
“Why?” She asked curiously, her large brown eyes gazing up at him.
“I supposed it’s because I’m destined to be alone.” After all, he’d been alone for a very long time.
“I don’t believe you.”
Amused, he smiled. “You don’t believe me?”
She shook her head. “Nobody is destined to be alone. I’m sure you have a soul mate out there somewhere.”
“The problem is that I do have one.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Why is that a problem? You do not like the idea that two people are made for each other?”
“Having their feelings forced upon them by the hands of fate? Being molded and manipulated by an outside force? No, I do not.”
“When you say it like that… it’s not very romantic.”
“It is not,” he said firmly. “If I had a choice…”
She was listening attentively. “Yes?”
“If I had a choice, it would never be her.”
She lowered her eyes and asked, “Is the person you are talking about that bad of a person? Is she really that detestable in your eyes?”
“On the contrary,” Trent said. “But then again, not all things are black and white.”
“Oh!” She cried when a strong wind turned her umbrella inside-out and escaped her grip. “My umbrella!”
It skid onto the street and was crushed under a car.
“Run!” She grabbed his hand led him down the streets.
He went along, even though he was already soaked.
Chapter Two
Amara let out another sigh after she paid her bills online. The balance in her account was exactly two hundred forty five dollars and thirty-three cents. She’d neglected her job in the past months, and that meant no pay. Without pay, she couldn’t keep up with living expenses. If she couldn’t keep up with living expenses, she had two choices: run back to her mother and ask for help, or sell the apartment and then rent another place to live.
“I’ll just have to sell the apartment,” Amara decided.
Lizzie turned to her from the kitchen. “Wait, what?” She closed the refrigerator door and rushed into the living room.
“I’m running out of money and I need to sell the apartment,” Amara repeated. “I wonder how much this place is worth now.”
“But…” Lizzie frowned. “If you’re going to sell the apartment, then where am I supposed to go?”
“Um… home? Or rent another apartment.”
Her friend rounded the sofa and sank down on the seat. “But…”
“What?” Amara asked, taking a bite out of a piece of honeydew.
“Are you really selling the apartment?”
“I have less than two fifty in my bank account,” Amara said, turning the computer screen toward Lizzie so that she could see the balance. “It can’t be helped.”
Lizzie began to worry her lower lips. “But I have nowhere to go.”
“Seriously?”
“I got kicked out of my home since I was sixteen, and I don’t have a steady job.”
“Um… what did you do before you met me?”
“I stayed at boyfriends’. If you sell this place, then I’ll be out on the streets again…”
“I didn’t say you can’t come and live with me when I rent another apartment,” Amara clarified. “I mean, if you really don’t have anywhere else to go.”
Her face brightened up. “Really?”
“But there are rules, Lizzie.”
“Anything!”
“That’s what you said two years ago.”
“I really mean it this time!” She raised her hand for a pledge. “I won’t bring guys to our new apartment, I promise.”
“And about the bathroom time…”
“That’s…”
“I’m just kidding. I’ll look for a place with two bathrooms this time around. When I first bought this place, I’d thought I would be living here alone.”
Lizzie grabbed her and pressed a series of kisses on her head. “I love you! I love you! I love you, you sexy bitch!”
“Alright! Alright!” Amara pushed Lizzie back. “Calm down, girl.”
“So… how are you and Camden?” Lizzie changed the subject.
“What about us?”
“Bow chicka wow wow…”
Amara giggled. “No, but uh, maybe. He’s such an awesome guy, but I think we should get to know each other a little more.”
“Oh really…” Lizzie said, intrigued.
“Well, since I got this month’s bills taken care of, I can go to bed now.”
“G’nite.”
Amara shut down the computer and returned to her room. She switched on the light in her bedroom and dropped the statements on her vanity table. She reached for her earrings to remove them, when she saw the reflection of a man sitting on the chair in the mirror. She whirled around immediately. Her expression froze when she realized Noctis had b
een watching her from the corner of her bedroom. His expression was mild, but his intense blue eyes were radiated an icy rage that sent a chill down her spine.
She eyed the door and then made a run for it.
The door slammed shut on her and it wouldn’t open!
The window! Her apartment was on the third floor but that was the last thing on her mind. She couldn’t open it either. With no other choice, she turned around to face him.
His powerful frame rose from the chair that was dwarfed by his size and approached her. Her heartbeat spiked with each step. Two large palms pressed against the glass window and trapped her in between. The first question she was going to ask was ‘how did you find me?’ but decided that it really didn’t matter. He was already here.
She looked up at him and forced a smile.
“We meet again, mortal,” he said in a measured tone that failed to mask the rage hidden behind his pale blue eyes.
“Yes…” she replied in a trembling voice. “S-so how have you been?”
He leaned in closer and whispered to her ear, “Not very happy, I’m afraid.”
Amara held back a whimper.
“My female fled from me and I have spent the last three months tracking her down.”
“Oh…” Amara breathed, “How unfortunate. What are you going to do with her now that… you caught her?”
“That is an interesting question. I have been thinking about it for months.” He drew back and looked into her frightened eyes. “Tell me, Amara Spelling…” he drawled. It was the first time he’d ever called her by her name. It showed that he knew more now than he did when they parted. “What should I do to let my female know that it doesn’t matter which corners of the world she runs to, I will always be able to hunt her down and drag her out?”
Amara unconsciously gulped. “A-are you going to kill me?”
“You’re afraid,” a hand cupped her face. “Do you have a reason to fear me?”
“I-I…” she choked. Frankly, her reaction seemed pathetic even to herself. She’d rather be dead than pathetic. Amara heaved a breath of courage and met his gaze. “I deceived you. A man like you would never be able to forgive that.”
“You’re right. Why did you deceive me?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why, mortal?”
She gave him a stubborn look. “I. can’t. tell. you. It’s that plain and simple. You can kill me, but you won’t get the words out of me.”
He observed her. She wetted her lips when his eyes became fixed on them.
“No…” he grated softly. “Not kill you. I have something else in mind for you.”
Her heart leaped for joy. She was going to live!
“What is this something else…?”
“How are you going to compensate me, mortal?”
“Compensate what?” she asked, clearly confused.
He leaned in closer and stopped an inch from her lips. “Three months of frustrations.”
She didn’t understand him at first until the thought eased in. At the interpretation, her eyes trailed down his masculine body and then up again to meet his eyes. The memories of his touch brought a bright flush to her cheeks.
“You don’t want me dead. You just… want me?”
He didn’t give her a reply. Instead, he pressed a kiss on the side of her neck. The touch of his lips sent waves of heat surging through the rest of her body.
“So you’re saying that if I sleep with you then you’ll let bygones be bygones? You won’t … kill me?”
He raised his head and frowned at her question. “Mortal, what gives you the idea that this is some sort of transaction?”
“That’s how I interpreted what you’re putting on the table.”
He took a step back. “I didn’t put anything on the table!”
“The premise is that if I sleep with you then you won’t kill me. That’s what on the table! I don’t want to die, so…” she waved a hand over her body, “do what you want.”
“What is wrong with you?!” he thundered.
“Everything, according to you!” She retorted. “Are you saying that even if I don’t sleep with you, you’ll still let me live?”
“No!”
“See?”
“I mean, no! That is not how…” a hand flew to his forehead. “It’s incredible! How is it that you never fail to exasperate me? Why do I put myself through this?”
“Because you’re insane?”
“Exactly,” he agreed with a nod. “That must be it. There isn’t any other explanation.”
She folded her arms in front of her. “Do your thing and then leave!”
“How dare you treat me as if I am some sort of–”
“If that’s not what you came here for, then leave immediately!”
“Mortal. Remember who you are talking to,” he warned.
She mimicked his tone, “I. don’t. care.” Then she muttered silently to herself, “It was the worst mistake I’ve ever made.”
His body became unnaturally still. His brows lowered, casting shadows over his piercing blue eyes. Her hands flew to her mouth, regretting the statement she unthinkingly blurted out.
Ah, crap! The window! The window!
She winced and braced herself when he lifted a hand. Instead of striking her like she thought he would, he jabbed his fingers into his hair.
A long pause of silence increased her anxiety. Not knowing what he would do next had her mentally biting her fingernails. She was too fear-stricken to move.
Should she explain to him that it wasn’t the sex, but the ruining of her own plan and fleeing for her life part? The sex was great. No, Amara said to herself, never. She’ll just have to face the wrath of a half-mad, volatile, killer god with a newly formed scar on his male pride.
Just when she mustered enough courage to meet his eyes again, he vanished from her apartment.
Noctis didn’t know what he was going to do if had stayed in the mortal’s apartment a moment longer. Strangle her! That was what he was to do! But he knew he would regret it. He had to create as much distance between them as possible until he cooled down. He didn’t want to do something he would regret, and he damn well didn’t want to spend an eternity alone.
In the three months since she had fled from him, he had tried to find a substitution for her and failed miserably. No amount of alcohol or blood did the trick. And the sex… he hadn’t had any in three months. He couldn’t get a goddamned reaction to women: it was getting so bad that he thought he’d gone impotent. A few minutes ago, he’d realized that this wasn’t the case.
So, other women weren’t annoying enough?
Noctis let out a frustrated groan.
Spending nights alone was simply despicable. He couldn’t fall asleep to pass the time, and ended up wandering aimless on the streets. The day seemed to have stretched longer than was intended. He thought that things would get back to the way they were once he found her, but it seemed he would have to be sleepless for a while. A shame because he could have sworn he was recovering some of his sanity when he allowed his mind to rest.
Her voice rang in his head. It was the worst mistake I’ve ever made!
Noctis let out a low growl from the back of his throat. He’d rather she slapped him across the face, like she often had. At least that wouldn’t have enraged him to the point that all the fury he’d pent up in the last three months flooded back all at once. She’d deceived him, lied to him … fled from him. Any one of those was reason enough to kill her.
Noctis struggled to calm himself, but it couldn’t be done. It was too damaging of a blow on his pride.
His hands flew to his head when he heard his own voice from deep inside, “Trusting you was the worst mistake I’ve ever made! I regret ever meeting you, Lucifer!”
An image of the past reemerged. He was chained and shackled in the dungeon after he had been accused of regicide. Klahan came to kill him. His full-blooded brother, the man he’d looked up to since he was
a child, came to silence him.
And at that most despairing moment in his life, the Archangel Lucifer also came to him.
“If I give a mortal man the power of the cosmos and set him above all others, what will he do with it? Will he use that power for the ultimate good or become corrupted with the evil that dwells dormant, deep inside his heart? I can grant you immortality. I can even make you invincible. All I ask in return, and it is not much, is the answer to one question – will you be able to cure my boredom?”
He’d made the wrong choice.
Chapter Three
Amara was anxious, awaiting the arrival of Chevalier and her foster brother. Chevalier was first to come home to his apartment. He greeted her with a wave of the hand. He went into the kitchen and brewed himself a pot of coffee. Coffee beans were a staple in his life.
“No thanks,” she said when he offered her a cup. “Not good for the bones.”
He shrugged. He noted her nervous pacing and nibbling of the fingernails, so he asked, “He found you again, didn’t he?”
Amara nodded. “He broke into my apartment last night. Well… I guess he didn’t break in. He just popped in. What do I do, Chevy?”
“Did he know about Kali yet?”
Amara shook her head. “I don’t know what he knows. I don’t think so, though.”
“That’s good,” Chevy breathed easy. “What about you? Did he do anything to you? Are you in any kind of danger?”
“M-maybe,” she stammered. “I don’t know what he’s planning to do.”
Trent materialized into the room. He smelled like he’d just come fresh from a shower. “You need me?” He asked.
“He found me,” Amara quickly replied.
“I see,” Trent said and then nodded. “I will arrange for you to stay at another location.”
“It’s no use. It doesn’t matter where I go, he’ll always be able to find me. This is one serious case of stalking.”
“Tell me what is it that you want me to do,” said Trent.
“Um…” Amara frowned. She didn’t know. “You just make sure our mother stays hidden and safe. I… I’ll deal with him.”