Aequitas Betrayal

by Mason, a. c.

  The razor sharp edges of his teeth sliced through the first few layers of her skin.

  A raspy moan caught in her throat. Nearly delirious from the euphoria flooding her, she wiggled on his lap as her outer thigh rubbed against his cock.

  “Stop teasing...” Discomfort made her voice sound strained. “Bite me, mark me, possess me.”

  His teeth sunk into the soft skin of her throat. Their assault tore through arteries. Warm blood gushed from between his teeth into his mouth.

  Heavy moans played in the air of the small chamber. Her body trembled as she climaxed from this victory.

  The release of pressure allowed her blood to flow freely into his mouth, and he swallowed her ecstasy in.

  Auria laughed.

  He gulped down the last of her, then a lap of his tongue on the openings stopped her fluid.

  “What’s so funny?” He licked the taste of her from his lips.

  Her laughter carried a sinister tone, and as she arose, her expression grew stoic.

  A large explosion came from outside and the entire chamber shook.

  Grant stood, lifted her out of the water, and rushed to the opening. Dust came roaring at him.

  He shielded his eyes from the incoming debris. “What have you done?” He whipped his head in her direction. A fog invaded his head as his vision blurred.

  Chapter 17

  Auria climbed the stairs and walked to a number of towels on a bench by the far wall.

  “Nothing, Grant. I don’t see how I, your helpless little lamb, can do much of anything.”

  Lifting a towel, she wrapped it around her body. “You injected my blood with the ability inhibiting serum. I can’t be held responsible if it affects you adversely, can I?”

  “You knew.” He placed a hand on the wall. Water slid down his perfect form as he dropped onto the stone. His chest labored as he struggled to catch his next breath.

  “Unfortunately I’ve always known. I just tried to influence the outcome. My arrogance.”

  “I will make you pay for this, over and over again.” Another blast caused him to fly back and hit his head on the stone floor.

  “Yes, my love. And I will never stop fighting to help regain what is good in you, to help Etienne bury the hatred and poison in him.”

  He lay unconscious on the ground next to the cave wall. So peaceful looking. She smirked.

  Despite the sparse lighting, she could clearly make out that the passageway appeared sealed.

  Gently, she stroked her tummy. “How are we going to get out of this?” Then came piercing pain in her back again. Sweat beaded on her face, and she put a hand against the wall in front of her for support. A desperate cry escaped her lips. No. Time seemed to crawl before the pain finally let up.

  Grant’s eyes fluttered. Too good to last, of course. She lifted her gaze to the ceiling as she shook her head at her predicament. Wonderful.

  “Auria.” The cruel inflection of his voice sent a shiver through her body. Flashes of Etienne speaking her name ran through her mind. Malicious. What did she expect him to be like after he knew she’d tricked him into ingesting the serum by drinking from her?

  “I’m sorry. I tried to merge with him, but the rage and pain within is...”

  Etienne? But her fleeting hopes were soon replaced by disgust. If Grant wanted to play games, she could play, too.

  “I don’t know why you’d bother. Do you believe Etienne meant anything to me?”

  Using the wall behind him, he rose to his feet.

  “Do you have any idea what it’s like? What being trapped inside, while he touches you–– what it does to me?”

  Every part of her ached as the words sunk in. “Enough.” How dare he remind her the touch making her feel pleasure didn’t belong to the man she loved.

  “Auria, I don’t want to hurt you. I need to help you get away from us before...”

  Tears formed in his eyes.

  “No, no, no. I won’t let you have the satisfaction of creating turmoil inside me.”

  Holding his hand out, he moved toward her. She backed away. “You know that isn’t what I want. When I stepped out of the house the day the war began, I hoped they could keep you safe from us, from me. Each step away from you, what we’d shared in our time together tore my insides. Grant tried to regain control but I resisted, knowing once he took over, the others would protect you.”

  “Etienne.” Just to breathe out his name hurt her entire body.

  “I know.” His arms wrapped around her. “You’ve been remarkably strong.”

  The light stroke of his hand in her hair felt like heaven. The warmth of his touch penetrated through to her scalp.

  “I can’t.” Through her heavy breaths, his touch melted her. “I can’t do this without you. Our babies need you, and I need you. I don’t know what I’m doing.” Her voice sounded weak, incapable of anything of consequence, not her own. Nestling into his strong arms, a sense of belonging calmed her fears.

  “I know. It’s okay to be afraid. I trust you to do what’s best for our boys, despite being alone.” Pulling back, he looked at her. “I want to get you back to the others, to Deimos before you go into labor, and he regains control.”

  “But—”

  “No, listen to me. If we don’t, I’ll take the babies from you, and the last thing I want for our sons is my influence on them.”

  How could he speak of handing her over to another man? “I can’t listen to you speak as though you are him.”

  “Grant and I are one. I’m not proud of what I’m capable of, but you need to accept this about me.”

  The thought seemed too horrible. How could he ask this of her? Could she accept the monster he was? A monster herself, she’d been blessed with Etienne. Her breathing slowed as she gazed into the warmth in his eyes. “I do.”

  “In time, you’ll love even that part of me. I know it’s hard to believe, but this is what will be needed to tame him.”

  Could she love him when she could feel parts of Grant inside him? How could he sound so sure, when she wasn’t? He spoke only what he knew to be the truth. She would learn. Grant she could deny nothing, but Etienne she handed herself to freely. She nodded in agreement. Inside, she didn’t know how that would be possible.

  “Before the serum took effect, I received a message from Gabriel saying our systems went down. I assume it’s your rescue party. Grant suspected they would come to save you, so we have a trap set. We have one thing in our favor. He didn’t expect you to outwit him.”

  “Typical.” Men rarely expect to be outwitted, but that gave her an edge.

  “We can take the back way and get to the others.” He took hold of her hand and led her to the rear of the chamber.

  “Oh.” Stopped in her tracks by a wave of pain, her grip on his hand tightened as she allowed the sting to move through her.

  The caress of his hand stroked her back. “That’s right, you’re doing great.”

  The discomfort let up, and she leaned into him. How she needed him. “Etienne, the little one, he isn’t ready, he’s too small.”

  “I don’t believe that. He’s strong like you, a fighter. Now, come.” He let go of her hand and pressed the rock, grabbed a torch from the wall. “This way.”

  The steep slope led further into the narrow rock passage. The walls appeared black.

  “Etienne, bring the torch here.”

  “What is it?” He lit the area she’d been asking about.

  “What are the walls made of?”

  “Jet. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? The only problem with the stone is the inconsistency in the strength. The luster is gorgeous. We must keep moving.”

  “Okay.”

  She kept pace a few steps behind him, and as they neared the end of the passage, could see light. A stabbing pain forced her to stop once more.

  He carried her and sped up his pace. She squeezed his forearm as she cried out from the pain.

  “I see them ahead.”

  Dei
mos approached with four other males, weapons drawn. The rescue party surrounded them.

  “Auria is in labor. You need to get her out of here.” Etienne set her down, and Deimos stared at him with murderous rage.

  “Deimos, do not hit him. Doing so might only make Grant surface.” She stepped between them.

  “Walk over to me.” Deimos held out his large hand, keeping his weapon pointed at Etienne.

  “I can’t portal out,” she said as she obeyed.

  Etienne lifted his hands up. “Please, take her from here before I regain my senses.”

  “Promise me you won’t harm him.” A heaviness seeped into her.

  “I can’t.”

  At once, she backed away from him. “I need your word.”

  “You should know better than to ask this of me.” He launched forward and grabbed her forearm, pulling her against him.

  She struggled against Deimos’s chest as he tightened his grip.

  “Stop. I won’t have this from you.” The ground and the air shifted around her. She twisted but Deimos’s glaring eyes ended even the idea of such a move.

  “I will hunt you down, my lamb,” were the last words she heard as she transcended through time and space. Collapsing into the being that held her, she relaxed, safe in his devoted arms.

  ****

  Auria’s eyes fluttered open at the scent of the man she loved dancing in the air around her.

  Oh, but that man never existed, and the cold hard truth came stabbing back at her. She sat up, alarmed.

  The makeshift basinet her sons lay in stood peacefully beside the bed. The sight provided relief. The feel of Deimos’s warm body next to her calmed her.

  “You’ve adjusted better than I would have predicted to being a mother.” Grant’s voice broke her momentary reprieve, sending her into panic mode.

  Tied and gagged, Deimos lay beside her. Thankfully not dead, but knocked out. She lifted herself upright.

  “Not so fast, my lamb.” From the corner, his frame stepped out of the shadows and wedged himself between her and their boys. He continued to move forward until he backed her onto the bed, and then he took a seat.

  “You remain the only woman fit for me.” He smirked as he brushed away a few loose curls from her face. “Despite your indiscretion.”

  How dare he?

  “I think you forgot my warning about how seriously I took my responsibilities to you and to our sons.”

  She pulled her face from his hand. “No.”

  How could she forget? His warning kept her and Deimos on the move and her waking in cold sweats.

  “And what have you named our sons?”

  “The bigger boy is Jet and the smaller is Onyx.”

  “Not what I would have, but acceptable.” He sighed as he studied her body. “Nearly a year and you still haunt me, precious lamb.” Touching her cheek, he guided her lips to his.

  Frightened by the excitement swirling inside, she put her hands against his chest. “Stop.”

  “Hence our issue.” As he dropped his head, he skimmed her exposed shoulder with his fingertips. “You will not take your rightful place by my side as my wife and mother to my sons. You do not see that I’ve freed our people from oppression, and we need to strike down those who exploited us.”

  “You haven’t, rather you fight the very people you wanted to free and have allied yourself with our enemies.”

  “A necessary evil.”

  “Oh, you mean like when Gabriel sent me to kill your father and had your mother killed. And as when I was told to eliminate you. You were a boy, a very special and different child.”

  “I don’t hate you for what you did. I thank you. I would not be myself if those things had not happened.”

  “No, you’d be Etienne still. I didn’t create the anger in you. Gabriel did, and from where I stand, he controls you because he uses your anger to his advantage.”

  “Silence.”

  “You were a young man grieving his mother when you came up with this scheme for an uprising. We cannot kill all angels and demons because of our enslavement by some.”

  “You’re wasting your time. Your best hope is to swear on the head of our sons and agree to come with me and be a good wife to me.”

  She stared at him. “Or?”

  He strolled to the bassinet.

  Jumping off the bed, she stood between him and their sons.

  “I will take them from you.” He grabbed her and pushed her aside. How could she protect her boys? If she fought back she might harm them. He reached in and lifted the smaller of the two boys, cradled him against his body.

  Onyx stirred in his father’s arms and gave a deep cough. Fluid rattled in his lungs.

  Other aequitas came through portals into the space and veiled themselves in the shadows of the room.

  He leaned in and kissed the babe’s forehead gently before handing him to fingers reaching from behind him. “He is so tiny and needs his mother.”

  “I’ll ask again, what do you want?”

  Grant reached in and lifted Jet into his arms. “You only have yourself to blame, my lamb, that they shall never know you.”

  “Put him down, Grant.”

  A laughed rattled his chest. “No, you would turn your back on our sick child.”

  “You can’t take them.”

  Jet’s sleepy head leaned on his shoulder. “Can and will. The question is, do you love them enough to submit to me for their sake?”

  As he handed Jet to someone behind him, her body ached and his words echoed, the sound of her infant’s cries reverberated into the night

  “Come to me. After I punish you, and you beg for my forgiveness, I promise you’ll have a place in my bed and may mother our boys.”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stepped toward him.

  The spread of his wings unfolded, wrapping around her protectively. He pulled her body to his and groaned. Desire, like a tangible thing, seemed to ripple through the air and blue mist engulfed them.

  About a.c. Mason Born from the union of her Scottish and Belgian mother and an African American and Cherokee father, a.c. Mason’s youth was filled with dichotomies and moving from place to place. She developed a curiosity to explore through writing the seedy side of our nature and desires. Add to that her fascination with theology, politics, history, horror, and erotica. And voila, her distinct voice surfaced. Given her own diverse background, she writes stories that represent the world she grew up in. She enjoys delving into the realms of the unknown and blurring the caution lines. Her stories are the place where darkness meets human desire and fairytales endings are not promised but earned.

  She is fluent in French and English. She’s an avid traveler, including most of Canada, both of the United States seaboards, England and Europe. For the past nine years of her life, she has worked with one foot in the past spanning from 18th century, the Bering Strait theory to modern day and now late Victorian and WWII. She advocates the preservation of our natural and cultural riches for future generations.

  Take a journey with her characters and come face to face with what lays beneath their illusions. Emerge…on the other side changed.

  Website: http://acmason.com

  E-mail: ac@acmason.com

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/acMason

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