by S J Doran
He tried to roll on his side to face her, he shifted a scant inch and pain blasted through him, making sweat prickle across his brow. He gave up and let his head fall back to the rough stone floor.
“Hold my hand again.” He noticed if his eyes were closed, the pain was more intense. Instead, he watched her delicate hand slide back into his and grasped it as tight as he could. He wanted to be touching her always.
“You feel it?” He asked and she nodded tightly in response.
He only hoped she couldn’t sense the source of his pain. He already had enough shame. He didn’t want her to know how bad it truly was. His cowardice, biting his tongue, nodding his head, letting stuff happen... the kinds of things he let happen.
“Now imagine you’re breathing it in, letting it wrap around the very particles of your being.” He watched her. It was better than thinking. “Like the feeling of that first sip of water when you haven’t had any in days, feeling it run through your body, spreading through your insides…”
She moaned and arched her back. He knew it wasn’t a sexual response, but his body was so attuned to hers, his erection hardened so fast he got light headed. Her scent… he craved it so fiercely. Her lips— just to feel them once.
She groaned again and turned her head toward him, blinking open her eyes. “I understand.”
Cass nodded, his cheeks flaming, praying she wouldn’t look down.
“Cass.” She said on a rush of breath. “I could feast off you forever.”
She fed off his pain, freeing him of it and his body relaxed, lust taking over.
He stifled a groan. “I should go before Az discovers I’ve snuck away.”
Her brows drew together, her lips pursed into a scowl. His thumb went to her mouth, a response so conditioned it was reflex, and brushed across it.
Wishing it was his mouth. His tongue. He choked back a groan.
“It’s okay if you want to take care of that here.” Her now glowing eyes wandered down his body to the obvious bulge in his pants.
They didn’t discuss sex with each other, both avoiding the subject, though it was there, between them in every breath they shared. He needed her. One day, she would be his. Assat shi. His wife.
Az never left them alone together. As though they could manage to do anything with six inches of bars separating them.
“I wouldn’t mind.” She pressed closer to the bars and trailed her fingers down his side. “Do it. I want to see.” She huffed out an exasperated breath, “I can’t reach.”
He eased his hand down, another wave of pain blasting through him with the movement, another hiss of pleasure from her. She was still feeding off him- his pain coming in waves, and washing right through into her.
“I will be able to understand the stories now.”
She looked him over, knowledge shining in her gaze.
She couldn’t know what he had to do...
He could feel her eyes on him.
He untied his pants and reached his hand down, wrapping it around himself, shaking with pain- he could sense her lust now, and it was driving him mad.
Her hand reached as far as it could, tugging at one side of his pants, and despite the agony of every shifting movement, he used his other hand to ease them down.
“Your pain…” she moaned huskily, and his erection throbbed.
He slid his hand up and down slowly, her hand gripping his other arm, claws digging in.
“Yes.” He grunted, speeding up his movement. “Harder.”
Her tiny claws dug in deeper, her breaths no more than pants, his body one pulsing ache. None of it distracting his impending orgasm in the slightest.
How had he never felt her lust before? How would he ever go back...
“Mm, yes… I’m gonna…” he groaned.
“Yes. Yes, do it.” She growled back.
And he came.
Blinding waves of ecstasy overriding the pain wracking him. He fell back, breaths sawing in and out, her claws still embedded into his arm.
“By all the Hells, Cassius.” A voice hissed out from the shadows, followed by a higher demon, one that oozed with power— his tutor. Forever keeping them from being alone together.
“What are you doing down here?” The demon yanked him to his feet and Cass nearly crumbled with the pain of it.
“Stop Aza, can’t you see he’s injured?” Her lovely voice shouted, angry on his behalf.
He grabbed up his pants, trying to jerk free of the demon’s grasp- he needed her.
“You can’t do stuff like that with her,” The demon gestured down Cass’s body. “She’s young and doesn’t understand.”
“I understand.” She whispered, her face against the bars, her arm pushed through and reaching for him.
“You’re playing right into their hands, little fool. She was put here for a reason, until we figure out why, getting attached is not an option” The demon hissed, giving Cass a hard shake.
Cass looked over to her, saw the sadness flash in her eyes before she turned from him.
“She’s going to be my wife, Az. Don’t dare make her feel shame for this. The only reason we aren’t married is because she’s still in this cell. I want her freed.” Cass pulled himself up to his newly towering height.
“Rash young Prince.” Azadiel pulled him back from her cell. “You can’t say things like that. If they hear you speak such, you will be signing her execution. She is not for you.”
He looked back to her, the color of her eyes burning an unreal shade of turquoise.
Cass rather thought she was perfect for him. Made for him.
“She haunts your soul, self-proclaimed king, and yet your mind is blank of these memories.” Jareth’s cold voice jarred him out of his memories, but didn’t release him from the thrall his mind was locked in. “How very peculiar, perhaps corruption has maddened you, as it did with your father?”
He roared in his mind, cursing the vampire. He had NO RIGHT to those memories, certain that they were no delusions. They had felt too real to be fiction, the pain, the shame, the pleasure… her. He heard their voices echoing, his power surfacing once more, and once more his mind rolled, oblivion beckoning.
Memories kept flashing, he kept fighting the vampire’s hold on his mind, his own power ensuring he didn’t sink into one as deeply as that last. His body still throbbed with the remnants of pain- and betrayal. His mind roared with it.
Only one female he knew with that color eyes.
She knew. She hadn’t told him.
“She is not for you.” The demon’s voice echoed from the memory.
Impossible. They were bound by oath to one another.
“Ah ah, princeling,” the vampire whispered across his thoughts. “Show me where your father is, and I’ll release you.”
His body was vibrating with power, burning through the numbness of the alcohol, feeling off-kilter from the addition of Fae-blood. His control…slipping.
He could scent… her, the vampire was just a cold void in his mind. Rifling through it as though it were a trash heap and he was looking for treasure.
“Mara.” He was trying to speak, not sure if it was working. She kept that from him? Had it been her, or had he succumbed completely to madness?
“No.” the vampire responded. “Asmodeus. Where is your father, princeling? Where have you hidden him away?”
Cass’s thoughts locked on his father at the suggestion.
“You’re all I have now.” His father was standing over him, speaking with pity all over his expression. “Born of a vessel barely worthy of my seed.”
Then he was trapped, his father’s hand around his throat as his other hand landed against his face. The pain of it making his eyes water. Then he was a young boy, landing in a heap against the wall as his father’s fist made contact.
The memories were flashing in snippets, out of sequence- this was not how any of those times had been-
Cassius’s mind folded once more, and he found himself standing behin
d his father, facing off an Archangel that shone with as much brightness as his father seeped dark.
Asmodeus was trapped in a celestial sigil, keeping him locked in place, and Cass out. Not that he had wanted to reach him. This was it, the day of his father’s reckoning. A culmination of nearly a century of herding him towards his end.
“I don’t like that it has come to this, brother.” The angel spoke, and Cass was startled to see the respect on its face. “I don’t understand why you would seek to collapse the realms. We thought you were satisfied.”
Anger vibrated from his father, but there was no recourse, nothing he could say to redeem himself. Words were meaningless measured against the proof the celestial courts had been presented with. Still, he kept his chin high and never spoke a word. Something inside of Cass was feeling similarly like… guilt.
“When you realize your mistake,” Asmodeus spoke slowly, “I will expect groveling.” He turned to Cassius and looked him over, slowly, taking everything in. “Find your strength, son. You’re all I have left.”
There was a blinding flash and Asmodeus was gone, and Cass was left with the angel.
“Where did you send my father?” Cass swallowed and avoided its eyes.
“He has been banished into a prison realm from which even he cannot escape, young prince.” The angel swept over into a bow, “or should I say, King.”
CHAPTER FORTY-Two
oh, you heard about that?
Pain radiated through her in waves, the broken bones in her hand scraping against muscle and nerves, but that excruciating pressure inside her skull had blessedly eased, which allowed her to think.
A quick twitch of the fingers of good hand confirmed she was regaining control over her movements. Excellent. Next, she tried to lift her head back up, the world instantly spinning on its axis before slowly coming to a halt.
Everything inside of her screamed for her to close her eyes and rest, just for a moment. Instead she forced her eyes to remain open, searching for the demon while focusing on the whispered argument between the vampire and Gwynn’s sister.
Jareth was standing behind the demon, his classically handsome features warped as if caught mid transition into his true vampire form. His cheekbones were too pronounced to be human, forehead too high, crimson eyes sharp and luminous, but what really gave the game away was the dagger shaped fangs extended along his bottom lip.
“I have obtained the information I required. The young king’s mind folded like a house of cards, but you already knew that would happen” he turned back to face her knowing he had her attention. “The number of crimes you have committed against me warrant your death, but as Alura reminds me, killing either of you will bring war to my family.”
Amara stopped listening to the vampire, all her attention on the demon to her side as he softly began to mumble in Sumerian, her language, emotion raw in every word.
“Assat shi, you were made for me …”
Dark gods no, don’t let him remember…
Fear threatened to overturn the calm she had forced upon herself. The vampire had just admitted at having been inside Cassius mind. What damage had he done amongst those precious ruins?
Self awareness was a danger to a mind which had been reprogrammed, his mind would shatter without a soul to anchor him, ignorance of his own fate the only thing saving him from breaking. If Jareth unearthed memories buried beneath the rubble of his past, the stubborn demon would try to remember, to re-build—
“You release your hold on him this instant,” the words were no more than a hiss from between clenched teeth, her fear feeding the building rage.
“Now, priestess. Do you really think you have any say in the matter?” Jareth said as he turned to his desk and poured himself a drink.
Amara seethed, she needed that vial in Cass’s pocket. She’d set things in motion, a fall-back plan in case plans went awry. But at no time had she given though at the possibility they would be rendered unable to touch one another.
“Sin,” she hissed, getting no response. “Sin, I need you.”
“Won’t ever leave you...” his words were mumbled and broken, but she understood and her heart squeezed tight once more.
“Just call the guards, they can spend the night in the cells until some of their ambassadors arrive to search for them.” Jareth was still arguing with Alura.
Blood turned to ice at the mention of a cell, her lungs already refusing to expand. Summons and prison cells, any of those two had the power to plummet her into a useless state of anxiety. She would see this mansion and every vampire within it burned to the ground before she was ever again locked away.
“I’ll send word for your brother to come and get her, but I’m not agreeing to releasing the boy.” Jareth blustered, and Mara prickled.
Like hells she would be leaving him behind at the mercy of the Blood Lord. Now would have been a good time for the sin-eater to remember he could summon up a hell-gate. But he appeared to be lost inside his own mind.
With Jareth’s thrall eased and having regained control over her body, Amara slowly slid out of her chair. With a hard swallow she forced down the instinctual yelp of pain as bone scraped along nerve in her hand, all the while watching to ensure the vampire was still caught up in his discussion. Carefully, since the blood loss had left her weaker and woozier than anticipated, she shuffled closer to Cass’s chair.
His hand was colder than hers, his face ashen. If she hadn’t heard his racing heart, she’d have thought the worst. Judging by the pain throbbing through her face, she likely didn’t look much better.
She dug in his jacket pocket, then the other, finally finding what she was searching for in the inside pocket, tucked away with care. Cass had always been thoughtful like that.
Giving into compulsion Amara rested her aching cheek on his leg for a brief moment, trying to comfort the demon while gathering the strength to get back to her chair and pretend that she hadn’t left it. She was tired, so very tired and dizzy. How much blood had she lost?
Her hands fumbled with the lid of the tiny vial. Open it, get close enough…
“You can’t tell me the prophecy is not about the two of them,” Alura was shouting, had she been any other than the vampire’s bride he would likely have killed her for that.
“Even more reason we should end their lives, that prophecy speaks of the apocalypse!”
“It speaks of a rebirth, or did you glance over the part that mentions enslavement? I will not see the Fae or vampires fall to such fate, set them free Jareth.”
The sound of Alura’s voice was coming closer. She rather liked Alura, she was useful. And since the Fae was making effort to get them free, Amara guessed she ought to be feeling sorry for what she was about to do. Unfortunately for the princess, she wasn’t exactly in a remorseful mood.
The fingers of her uninjured hand gripped tightly around the small vial, clenching her teeth to stay silent as she moved her other hand to grasp on to Cass’s. This had better work.
When she felt a female hand closed over her shoulder, Amara pushed her thumb against the stopper of the tiny vial.
“Stay back from her Alura.” Jareth shouted. Causing Alura to jump and Amara to perk up to see why he hadn’t just grabbed the woman.
He held a phone in hand, one still attached to a cord on his desk. “She’s viperous.” Jareth spoke some frantic words into the phone before slamming it down and lunging for them.
Too late, vampire. She popped the top off the vial, and with a subdued hiss, the liquid within turned to gas as it was exposed to air, ready to react with the toxin that had been pre- laced into the Fae’s favored perfume.
Asurim’s main export consisted of poisons, oils and perfumes sold on every market within the realms. She had scented the familiar fragrance on Alura last they had met. With a little prodding En-Rasputin had soon discovered which vendor serviced Alura’s maids, who faithfully ordered perfumes to scent the fabrics of their mistress’s gowns. By her order, the last
order had been laced with iron powder, a metal the Fae were notoriously allergic to. The substance would have remained inactive, harmless, unless exposed to an agitator. The one Amara had just released.
Alura stood in front of her in a combative stance, coughing once. Then again. Her coughing turned into a fit and she slowly crumpled forward, coughing and wheezing, hands at her neck.
“Warlock whore!” Jareth roared, grabbing her head up by her hair. “What have you done to my wife?”
Despite the pain tearing at her scalp, Amara smiled. The broken bone of her cheek only allowing for a crooked grin as she hissed out her demand “Release us, and I’ll tell you where I hid the antidote.”
“Tell me or I’ll kill the boy king here and now,” Jareth shouted, right in her face before dropping her and wrapping his hands around Cass’s neck.
She stumbled onto the wooden floor, her legs too weak to support her body.
“You let him go,” blood and spittle flying from her mouth as she fought to regain her footing. “Cassius wake up. I warn you Jareth, lay one more finger on him and I will let your wife die. Count on it to be slow and painful.”
Was she truly ready to risk captivity and death for the sake of her demon’s life?
Yes.
“Mara.” Cass mumbled, his gleaming eyes blinking open and magnetizing right to hers. “Mara you’re hurt.”
His brows drew together, his next words choked off as the vampire’s hands tightened around his neck.
“She’ll die unless you let him go." Her voice grew pitched with anxiety, even as she tried to keep her tone even. She didn’t want for Alura to die, she just wanted the sin-eater out of this realm and away from the Blood Lord. Needed him safe, the rest was negotiable.
Jareth spun, and in the moment it took her to blink, he had her hauled up to his chest, fangs bared.
“No.” Cass shouted and jumped to his feet, blue flames licking down his body as the room trembled around them. “Let her go, keep your hands off her.”
His gaze was vacant, his head shaking as though trying to shake off a horrible sight. His sigil on her palm burned with an intensity she had not sensed before, something was very wrong. Whatever he was seeing, it didn’t belong inside his mind. It belonged to the past, to her Cassius.