by Laura Hawks
He had expected something completely different. Legends abounded about the gems’ Guardians. The fiercest of their line, women were reputed to be the ones appointed to safeguard the precious artifact. Hidden secretly for so long, many believed the gem was strictly a folk lore told to children to help them sleep at night. Only the eldest of the Gods were aware of the truth of those tales. Only one had known the family entrusted to keep its secrets, Nanaboojoo.
Keeping her under surveillance, Mani couldn’t help but understand how she pierced Mel’s reserve and touched his heart. There was something about her which drew one to her- that wanted to protect and keep her safe. She appeared so helpless, so gentle. A man couldn’t help but wish to aid her in every way possible.
He clandestinely followed her everywhere throughout the complex, keeping close to her as he bid his time. Soon, she would retire and he would then make his move, begrudgingly completing his assignment. He tried to sense the gem of power. If he were able to just retrieve it, he would have no need to hurt the wolf but he couldn’t feel it in this form. He would complete his assignment and retreat, leaving Jes to deal with the rest of whatever plan the God devised and had put into motion.
Mel purposefully avoided Clarissa all day. He had some decisions to make and dealing with her was the last thing he needed to break his concentration. He sat in his study, shuffling reports from one side of his desk then back again. He knew Clarissa couldn’t stay with him but he had never wanted anything quite as much as her beside him before now. He had to finish training her. He had to know she would be able to look after herself once she was returned to the upper realm.
It still astounded him that he could care so much for anyone. In the thousands of years of his existence, he had closed his heart off to all good emotions. He had been burned one too many times to know better. He had been betrayed too often to expose himself to such pain. Worse, doubts he planted within his own mind played out over and over again, growing exponentially.
Growling in frustration, he pushed the papers off his desk with a sweep of his arm. Staring at them for a few minutes, he was about to flash them back to his desk in a neat orderly pile when a knock and a slight opening of his door broke his concentration. Snapping his fingers, the reports returned to his workspace just moments before Clarissa peeked her head inside the room and asked if she might enter.
Standing, Azamel waved her in. He steepled his fingers in front of him, his forefingers rested lightly upon his lips. His eyes followed her as she moved closer to his desk. Had he been paying any attention, he would have felt the strange presence that accompanied her. However, he was too focused on what he needed to do to contemplate anything other than his current situation. “I’m sorry to disturb you. Shara told me you did not wish to be interrupted at all today but you missed dinner. It’s nearing bed time and I was concerned you wouldn’t get any rest tonight.”
His eyes narrowed as he moved to rest his folded hands across his stomach.
“I have survived centuries without mothering. I highly doubt I need it now.”
She stopped, stunned.
“I’m sorry if I was a bit worried. I guess I should have known better. I just wanted to be sure you were going to be okay.”
She had thought over the past week that they had moved past this cold reserve but it appeared she was incorrect in her assumptions.
“There is no reason for you to worry over me like some mother hen. I have lived an eternity and managed just fine thus far. You need not concern yourself with regards to my wellbeing.”
Clarissa’s eyes narrowed, her nostrils flared and her lip curled in anger.
“Well excuse me if I wanted to make sure my lover was faring well. I would have thought I was entitled to some concern about you considering the time we spent together over the past month and more so during the past week but I surmise from your response that I am gravely mistaken.”
She leaned closer to him over the desk, her hands gripping the edge tightly.
“Why did you even bother to bring me back here? Was I just an amusement for you, a release for your sexual urges?”
Her eyes widened as the words of Shara rang in her head and realization crashed in around her.
“It was to keep the Gem of Avarice around. Gods, I was such a fool! You put me through hell with your training exercises. You made me relive over and over again the death of my family.”
Clarissa pushed herself away from the desk.
“Why must you play games with me instead of coming at me outright for the stone? At least then I would know how to defend myself.”
She held up her hand as she saw he was about to speak.
“Please, don’t bother telling me otherwise. It’s obvious that has been your intention from the start. You wanted to put me off my guard in such a way that I would be unaware of your preoccupation to obtain the artifact for which I am responsible.”
Mel’s eyes narrowed as she continued to rant. “I warned you from the very beginning it wouldn’t be easy. No one will be able to use the pain of your family’s deaths against you because you’re becoming immune to its effects. As for wanting the stone, I’m tired of having this conversation with you over and over again. I won’t lie and say it doesn’t interest me but I also am fully aware of the potential damage it can cause if utilized by another. I have sworn to help you protect it. I don’t know what more you fucking want me to do. If you don’t believe me then why did you agree to return here with me?”
“I came because I believed you when you said you loved me. I should have realized it was just the heat of the moment. Maybe I don’t want to be immune to the deaths of my family. Maybe I want that additional push from the pain it afforded me. I came back with you because I knew I needed to learn,” she lowered her voice to a whispered, “and because I wanted to be with you.”
Mel froze, his heart leapt to his throat. He kept his features stoic, not wanting to let her become aware of her words affecting him in any way. How desperately he wanted to jump over the desk and push her back onto it, kissing her senselessly, enjoying all the pleasures her body could afford him. Instead, he was being forced to give her up. In response, he looked away from her.
“I’ll finish your training before you return home,” he said emotionlessly.
Stunned, Clarissa took a stumbled step back as if he had slapped her in the face. ‘He could get rid of me so easily? He is that bored with me already?’ She lifted her slightly trembling chin proudly. She would be damned if she gave him an inkling of how much he had just hurt her. She spoke softly and calmly, “Finish showing me the techniques I need to utilize my powers to the fullest extent and I’ll leave soon so as not to infringe upon your generosity or time any longer than necessary.”
Clarissa spun to leave the room but then stopped with her back still to him.
“Understand, you won’t make me so weak that I’ll leave the stone in your hands, nor will I stay in this hell any longer than needed to complete my education.”
Azamel snorted. “There are hells that are a lot worse than this realm which I govern. I told you before I don’t want the stone, so fucking drop it already, Sweetheart.”
She turned back to face him.
“Why don’t you just grow up and pull that stick out of your ass! You’re so pompous it’s ridiculous. Everyone wants the stone, even you as you have repeatedly admitted. I truly didn’t take you for a liar until now.”
Without another word she was out of the study and back in her assigned quarters, her fists clenching and unclenching with her ire.
As Clarissa prepared for bed, her conversation with Azamel kept recurring in her mind. Shara’s words also repeated themselves over and over and she wondered if the servant wasn’t correct in her warning. She replayed every moment since Mel carried her back from the South American jungle where Xon met his demise at the executioner’s hand.
After weeks of training, they reappeared to lure Xon to the jungle where they first met. Clarissa well
remembered seeing Azamel for the first time as he stretched out against a tree. She followed Azamel with her eyes as he set up the parameters. He was unwilling to deal with Xon’s henchmen so the border Mel established would keep them out.
They had not touched, kissed or made love after the one night weeks earlier, after she had healed him. Mel had been keeping track of Xon’s actions and knew the demon was extremely anxious to get the stone together. So much so that he would easily make mistakes and that was what Mel relied on. The border set, the trap laid, Mel returned to Clarissa’s side. “Are you ready?”
“Yes. As ready as I’m going to be.”
“I’ll be near. Stay focused. Stay alive.” He started to move to her and steal a kiss and then thought better of it at the last moment. He faded out, leaving her alone in the lea.
Clarissa sat and waited for Xon to show. Although she told Azamel she was ready, being a guinea pig did not sit real well with her. She had the dagger in hand. She needed to have it here so the portion of the gem Xon had managed to obtain would resonate with its power and indicate her location. Since she no longer had the protection of the Nether Realm that Mel’s abode resided in, she would be easier to find. She rested against the tree in a similar pose that Mel had taken when she came across him all those weeks prior.
Minutes had ticked by. Hours passed and still Xon did not show. She remembered how anxious and stiff she had gotten as well as how sore her ass was as a result of sitting for so long in one position. She stood and stretched as she easily slipped into movements she practiced over and over again with Mel during their time together. She pivoted when she found her arm grabbed and pinned behind her. Reacting on instinct, she spun, stuck her foot behind his and reversed the hold. Twisting again slightly she flipped her attacker over her shoulder to land at her feet.
Xon sputtered as he sent an energy bolt towards her from his prone position. Clarissa dove, landing near the tree that supported her back only a few moments ago. She quickly rose to her feet, her mouth slightly agape at the monstrous demon that stood where she was just minutes before.
Xon was huge, eight and a half feet tall and pure muscle, with puckish green skin, a sharp barbed tail and brown pointed horns. He sensed her gaze and his bright yellow eyes turned towards her. She swallowed at the imposing figure he made.
Guardian and demon stared at each other briefly. Xon then spoke, his voice resonated throughout the woods, “You can beg, you can plead, you can say please as much as you want. You’re not getting it back, Guardian.”
She looked at him, trying to find her voice, before her fury boiled over at the damage he had done thus far. Her friends and her place of employment had all been damaged or threatened because of Xon’s greed. She stood before him with resolve, strength and stubbornness. “I’ll do none of the above. You stole my property and you will give it back, dead or alive. The choice is yours.”
Xon laughed. “Then I choose death. Yours!”
Xon threw a fire ball at her which she dove to dodge, only to land near his tail. He slashed the barbed appendage at her and it sliced across her chest, her blouse shredded. The barbs were poisonous and she felt the toxin seep into her open wounds as it slowly paralyzed her. She struggled; her breathing became raspy as the demon slashed at her again. She deflected his tail the second time and stabbed his ribs with her weapon, giving him a deep cut. The first bout of venom oozed into her body, weakened her and Clarissa knew she would be unable to avoid his next attack until she was unexpectedly pulled back out of harm’s way.
Mel moved in front of Xon as he gave the demon a foul glare while fear for Clarissa ripped through him. “Stay away from her! What the fuck is it with you assholes? Do you have some book on demons which state you all have to be fuck ass ugly and stink to high heaven? No amount of bleach can get rid of that smell.”
Xon gaped at him. He would have been fearful of the judge if not for the partial power of the gem that was still within his clutches. “Fine then you can die first and she can watch as I take you out.”
“Close your mouth, your breath is even worse than your stench.”
The executioner lifted both hands and before the demon could move, he sent an energy blast that caused Xon to fly fifty feet away into a group of trees and shrubs. Mel didn’t stop to see where he ended up as he went to check on Clarissa worriedly. Waving his hand over her wounds, he healed her, pulling all of the toxin out of her body. She was still breathing heavily, trying to recuperate from the poison, yet grateful to him for his assistance. She scrambled unsteadily to her feet and stood beside him as Xon stormed back towards them. Both Mel and Clarissa prepared themselves for battle and her vision was dead on. Standing next to the handsome stranger fighting the demon to retrieve the stone as it had been foreseen.
Clarissa used her telekinesis and called to the portion of the gem that Xon had, watching as it came to her. Xon tried to grab it back into his possession but Mel tackled him to keep him away from the stone and the Guardian. Although immensely smaller than the demon, Mel was ancient power. He wasn’t called the executioner for nothing. In the blink of an eye, Xon was down on his knees as Mel grabbed his neck in a vice like grip, squeezing slowly. The voice that left Mel’s lips reverberated, a deep demonic sound echoing through the clearing, “You have been found guilty for several crimes, the least of which was attempted murder the Guardian. Your sentence is death.”
Before Clarissa could even take another breath, a bloodied head rolled at her feet as Xon’s body toppled over. She jumped back slightly, tucking the portion of the stone the demon had found away before Mel stalked slowly towards her. She watched the executioner, uncertain yet afraid he no longer had a reason to stay and would leave her or cast her out. Or would he try taking the stone from her now that he had no excuse to remain for Xon and protect her? Could she let him go without telling him how she felt about him? She was in love with him. She loved the way he growled, infuriated, cared and forced her to come to terms with what was inside her heart as well as what she wanted. She would die for the protection of the gem of power but she wanted a life not just an existence. Most of all she desired to spend her days and better yet, her nights with this demon she should detest and fear but instead loved with all her being. She was terrified that he would walk out of her world and she would never see him again without his ever knowing how much she cared for him.
Mel did not stop as he approached her. Instead, he pulled her to him, capturing her lips passionately with his. She held him close to her, returned his passion with a heat of her own. He pulled back momentarily, his voice husky and low, “You’re coming home with me. You still need to be trained and you need to be protected and I’ll do both. If you let me or tell me no now, I will leave you alone forever.”
Mel swallowed as apprehension of her answer enveloped his entire being.
It took her a moment to get her head wrapped around everything but the one thing she was sure of was she wanted to be with Azamel. She had nothing else to go back to, no one who wanted her, except him. And for once, she desired something for herself.
“Don’t leave me, Azamel. I need you.” She paused, unsure if she should continue and yet realizing she needed him to know. “I love you.”
Azamel released a breath he had not even realized he was holding until it expelled from his lungs He smiled as he bent down to scoop her into his arms.
“I love you as well Clarissa and I will be by your side for as long as you will have me. Longer even, for I don’t think I could ever let you go now. The thought of saying goodbye to you touched a part of me I have not felt in eons, nor did I not believe I could feel ever. You have awakened something inside of me and I cannot give you up.”
Cradled in his arms, she hugged him tightly as he flashed them both back to his place in the Nether Realm, where he could keep her and the stone safe, or so she thought. Now she wondered if it was just all a ruse to get her to come to this realm of his, isolate her and take the stone when no one else would know
or even be aware of it until it was too late.
As she climbed in bed, she removed a sheathed dagger from her thigh, putting the whole holster tucked under her pillow then curled up on the bed. She wondered if this would be the first night in over a week she would sleep alone. The thought saddened her and yet, she realized she should not have been surprised. Closing her eyes, she drifted to sleep.
The entire time Mani had hovered within the shadows. In his ethereal form he remained with her, biding his time and his opportunity. Now it had finally arrived and he needed to get to work.
Chapter Four
The corridor was long, dark and dank. Piecing her skin with razors and slicing her open, the walls closed in on her. Even still, she had to keep moving. Clarissa had to get out of this hell she found herself in. Pain wracked her body, tearing itself from the inside out as much as from the outside in. She ran as fast her legs would carry her. It didn’t prevent the barbed whips that slashed across her face and form as she passed by, trying to escape the blades. As she got past them, she was immediately hit by lightning bolts. The pain seared through her, causing her to scream out. If Clarissa stopped, she would be dead. Despite the agony she endured, she continued to run as fast she was able, though really more or less stumbled. With her mind trapped in this place of tortures, she remembered Azamel’s words about sending her someplace worse than hell. Is this what he was talking about? Was she dead? Was this her eternal damnation and her punishment for not doing her duty, not fulfilling her destiny?
The last thing she remembered before finding herself lost in this world was curling up and getting ready to fall asleep in the opulent room Azamel had given her to stay when she first arrived. She had woken here, wherever here was, to feel barbed whips across her body. Men stood around her, covered in black clothes, sheathed in darkness. Flashes of metal shimmered as the whips with silver spiked tips slashed at her form. Startled into alertness, she scrambled to her feet and somehow managed to get past the creatures and their whips as she ran from them, fully aware they were hot on her heels, their wicked whips lashing in search of her already torn figure.