by Unknown
“What was your intended bargain with my lovely other half?” she asked, looking at Cerberus as she spoke.
Now the question ran through my mind again. Did I want to come home or did I just want rid of Abaddon? Would admitting to a bond give her other ideas? Hell, I thought, let’s go for broke.
“We’re bonded. Break it and you can have him,” I said.
Abaddon tutted in disgust inside my head.
Cerberus swallowed another laugh and his eyes crossed. All six of them.
Lilith turned and walked slowly to me. I think she was afraid of falling over, being top heavy with the boobies.
“Surely you want more than that? Don’t you want to come home? I could broker a deal on your behalf and we could have you back causing mayhem in no time.” Her eyes were black holes as she stared at me with evil intent.
I considered what she said. The decisions were getting harder and harder. I could return, have full use of my powers, be back to people who knew and… well… hated me. No change there then. I stuck to my guns. Even if Lauren and Selina hated me too, I was quite fond of my humans. And there was Gerwyn to think of, I didn't doubt for a second that he would come to take me back, by force if necessary. A warm glow settled in my stomach and I quickly squashed it down. Now wasn't the time to get mushy.
“I’m good where I am thanks. I just want Abaddon out of my head.”
Lilith walked over to me and looked me in the eye.
“We can’t do that, Lauren. Return Abaddon to me now and I shall personally see to it that he’s too busy to visit your thoughts ever again.”
“Don’t do it, Natalia,” I felt Abaddon’s fear. He was afraid of Lilith? Was I missing something here?
“I don’t have him on me Lilith. He’s in a safe place.” I put my hand in my right pocket and my fingers curled around the vial containing my return potion. Like lightening, Lauren reached across and grabbed my arm, pulling my hand out of my pocket as her fingers dug into my flesh. Her eyes lit up as she saw the vial in my hand. I tried to wrench my hand free but she was too strong. She grabbed my hand in both of hers, trying to prize the vial out of my fingers. I squeezed tight, hoping to shatter the vial but the glass was too thick. Lilith eventually managed to take the vial from me and her eyes shone red as she laughed, releasing me. She had my ticket home in her hands and this could go one of two ways. I was hoping she’d think it was Abaddon. Then I was hoping she’d open it in my presence. Otherwise, I was fucked.
She threw the vial in the air and caught it, laughing. “So nice of you to bring a gift!”
She wrapped her talons around the cork, her bright red finger nails trying to pull it free from the vial but she couldn’t get a strong enough grip. Finally, in frustration, she slammed the vial down on to the floor, breaking it open and a pink glittery mist mushroomed out and engulfed us. Gerwyn was such a show off.
I materialised back in Gerwyn’s little kitchen, relieved to have gotten out of there. Lilith would be after my blood now but hey, I’d been here before. Many times.
Gerwyn sat looking at me from the table, half way through his evening meal.
“Hello there, poppet! How did it go?”
I slammed myself down into a seat and rested my head on my elbow.
“Satan won’t see me but Lilith turned up.” I looked up at the ceiling. Don’t ask me why. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded.
“Tell you what, lovely?” Gerwyn said, confused, with his fork half way to his mouth. Abaddon was suspiciously silent.
“Abaddon has been doing the dirty with Lilith, Satan doesn’t want him back.” I snapped.
“That’s not true, Natalia. None of it,” Abaddon finally said.
“Oh? So you’re telling me you didn’t shag Lilith?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“So why does Satan think you did?” I snapped. Gerwyn just looked at me, even more confused.
“I don’t know. And if you don’t let me out of the vial, I don’t have a cat in hell’s chance of finding out. You have to let me out, Natalia.”
“What’s going on?” asked Gerwyn, looking alarmed.
I explained what Abaddon had said.
“Let’s just stop a minute and think this through,” Gerwyn stood up and went to the fridge to pull out a bottle of white wine.
“Satan thinks Abaddon has been slipping it to his girlfriend, Lilith is desperate to get her hands on him and Abaddon denies it all and thinks someone is setting him up?”
“In a nutshell,” Abaddon said in my head.
“You got it,” I confirmed.
“Why would someone set him up?” Gerwyn poured the wine into two glasses and handed one to me. I emptied it in one go and handed the glass back for a refill.
“I don’t know but Martina’s in on it,” Abaddon said.
“Who the fuck is Martina?” I asked.
Gerwyn looked questioningly at me.
“She’s a succubus and she’s the reason I got trapped in the first place. She has definitely got something to do with all this.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
“Stop!” Gerwyn shouted. “This three way conversation thing is not going to work.” He snapped his fingers in front of my face.
“Somnum,” he commanded and instantly, I fell asleep.
I was standing in a field full of poppies and the sun was shining. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and a light breeze caressed my skin. If this was Gerwyn’s idea of a joke, it wasn’t funny. Give me thunder and lightning, any day of the week.
“It’s nice to finally see you in the flesh, Natalia.”
I spun around and came face to neck with a very, very muscular man wearing jeans and a black shirt pulled taut against his chest. So taut, I could see his six pack. I raised my eyes to his face. He. Was. Stunning. All I could do was stare at him as the heat rose up my neck. Dark, sultry eyes screamed sex at me as his lips held a promise of ecstasy. I couldn’t stop staring at them. The urge to stand on my tiptoes and bury my tongue in his mouth was almost painful. Abaddon. In the flesh. And he wasn’t just hot, he was steaming. The demon of my childhood dreams.
I fought to control the wanton urges coursing through my body. It would not do my cause any good to show any kind of weakness with this demon. Besides, I didn’t do Lilith’s cast offs.
“You can’t even leave me alone in my dreams?” I asked him, trying my best to appear un-phased by his magnetism but my voice was husky with desire. His delicious lips formed into a smile and his eyes hooded. I felt heat swell in areas it hadn’t for a long time.
“Now why would I want to do that? At least here, we are on an equal footing.” He raised his hand and captured my chin, tilting my head and looking deeply into my eyes. My insides turned to jelly.
“You know, you really are extraordinarily beautiful, for a demon.” I felt my face flush and my heart rate accelerate. I pushed his hand away and took a step back.
“We’ve got more important things to talk about, don’t you think?” I said, glaring at him.
As quick as lightening, he stepped forward and pulled me into his arms.
I struggled against him then kneed him in the balls. He laughed, still holding on to me.
“It’s a dream, Natalia; you can’t hurt me in a dream!”
“Yes, but it’s my dream, dickhead, I control it,” I head butted him, catching him smack on his perfect nose. He went down like a ton of bricks.
He rolled about the floor for a good minute, his hands clutching his face. Eventually, I started feeling sorry for him and I waved my hand over him, soothing the pain, the relief evident in his face.
“That was not nice.”
“Well, you asked for it. How many times did you sing that fucking song?”
He laughed, still on the ground, crushing poppies as he rolled on to one arm and looked up at me. I debated what to do but then gave in and sat down beside him, crossing my legs.
“You need to let me
out, Natalia” he said at last, a frown on his face. My eyes turned to his lips again. Oh fuck, sanity, please return. I pulled my eyes away from him and focussed on the poppies swaying slightly in the breeze.
“I let you out and then what? We’d still be bound and I would lose whatever bargaining power I had. Besides, what’s to say you won’t come after me, Lauren and Daniel? We’re responsible for you being in the vial in the first place, remember?” I needed to remind both of us that we weren’t in this together. We were still enemies.
“No, you aren’t responsible. Martina is the one responsible for that.”
I looked at him, confused. “What do you mean?” I stared at him as his eyes burned red and a muscle in the side of his face throbbed. He was good and angry. And fuck me if he wasn’t even sexier than ever. I swear I almost came just looking at him. It had been far too long.
“Do you really think three damned souls could command me to assist them?” he asked me.
“I never really thought about it,” I said, bemused. “But now that you bring it up, it does seem a little odd. So how did that happen?”
He pulled himself up to a sitting position, his arms resting on his knees. He didn’t meet my eyes and for that I was grateful. It was like herding cats trying to reign in my demon who wanted to swallow him whole.
“Martina and I had been on a date and I was taking her home. We got to her front door and then I was jumped. Next thing I know, I was trapped in a vial.”
I felt a strange discomfort in my stomach at the thought of him dating another demon. Was I jealous? I filed that one away for later but to say I was shocked at myself was an understatement. This demon had tried to hurt my friend and had then invaded my head. I had no business being interested in him in any way other than getting rid of him. That thought sobered me enough to command the control over myself I so desperately needed.
“How long were you in there?” I asked.
“I’m not sure but it must have been at least a week. I went from angry and wanting to kill everyone to despairing I’d ever get out. Finally, I was released into your friend, Lauren, only to be sucked back into another vial. I tell you, my life’s been a barrel of laughs lately.” He looked at me; his eyes were almost back to their normal chocolate brown colour now so I took it the anger had passed. My lady bits twitched again and I tore my eyes away. They landed on his lips. Soft, slightly swollen, juicy.
“I don’t understand, why do you think this Martina had something to do with that?”
“She was too keen to get me back to her place. I should have known there was a reason beyond my devastatingly handsome face and sexy ass” he smiled, ruefully. Oh shit, I hadn’t even seen his arse yet. If there was more, I couldn’t be sure I wouldn’t jump him right here and now, dream or no dream.
I looked at the bulge in his trousers and gasped. He caught me looking and laughed. He was truly, truly beautiful when he laughed and I watched in awe. I quickly came to my senses, remembering we had serious issues to deal with. Think Lauren, think death. That should do it. Then a thought occurred to me.
“The spirit who put you inside Lauren did it because they wanted her dead. You would have been mad enough to kill her when you got out, why didn’t you?” I asked.
His eyes darkened. “I’m not stupid, Natalia. I realised why they’d put me in to your friend and I wasn’t about to be used. Besides, by the time I soaked up enough of her energy, you already had me in another vial. You were too quick.”
“Look, three evil spirits wouldn’t be able to trap you, even with the help of a succubus. Who else would want to remove you from Hell? And what has Lilith got to do with all this?”
He sighed, dragging a hand through his dark curls. “I don’t know, Natalia. And unless you let me out of the vial, I don’t think I can find out.”
It was the bucket of cold water I needed. Another bid for freedom. He was charming me because he needed my help. Maybe he was using a little more than charm!
“Not happening. I’ve told you, you’re my bargaining chip.” I glared at him.
He snorted and sat forward, putting his hands on my knees. “You’ve seen for yourself, he doesn’t want me back. Unless I clear my name, you have no advantage in keeping me here.”
“What, other than ensuring the safety of my friends, you mean?”
“The same friends who rejected you because you’re a demon?” he asked, glaring at me.
I sighed and my shoulders sagged in defeat. “Regardless of their feelings for me, I can’t put them at risk.”
He looked at me in shock. “You really care for these people?”
I raised my chin in defiance. OK, maybe it wasn’t very demonic to actually give a shit about something other than yourself but I wasn’t about to apologise to anyone for it.
“Yes, I do. And I won’t allow you or anyone else to hurt them.” I stared at him defiantly and was amazed to see his eyes soften and a gentle smile appear on his lips. Those kissable lips.
“I’ve just explained to you, I don’t hold you responsible; you or your friends. I give you my word, Natalia.” He reached across and took my face in his hands, looking deeply into my eyes. I melted at the touch then shook myself. He was a seasoned womaniser. Of course he knew how to push buttons.
I looked at him and frowned. He took in my demeanour and within seconds had me flat on my back, his body pressed against mine.
“Come with me. We’ll find a back way in, find out who is setting me up and why, and I promise you, I will break our bond and sign a contract with the Devil myself not to seek revenge from you and yours.” His lips were inches from mine and I saw the intention in his eyes even before his lips breached the distance and claimed mine. I could have pulled away but I am, after all, a demon. We’re not known for doing the sensible thing.
A zing of heat shot straight to my core as his lips landed, softly at first, on mine. A groan escaped my throat as my lips opened to receive his tongue and my palms found his chest. His hand went to my neck, pulling me into him as his kiss became more passionate. This kiss wasn’t just a kiss, not by a long shot. And I’m not talking about a peck from your grannie kind of comparison; I’m talking about the toe curling, fuck me now kind of kiss. Oh no, this was way beyond that. This was my soul slowly being sucked out of my body as it tightened to the point I swear if we kept going I would embarrass myself and have an orgasm right there and then. And judging by the massive bulge in his trousers, I wasn’t the only one.
I was floating on a cloud of bliss and bitterly disappointed when he gently pulled back, dropping one final, gentle kiss on my now swollen lips. This demon could kiss.
“I have wanted to do that since I tasted your blood, but we have other things to deal with at the moment.” He breathed in raggedly and pushed himself away from me, trying to get himself back under control. I throbbed in some very uncomfortable places so felt no sympathy. Then reality set in.
Disappointment settled in heavy on my chest. Not because he’d stopped the kiss but because I hadn’t. What the fuck did I think I was doing? Not long ago, I’d had the fight of my life pulling this demon from Lauren’s body. If I hadn’t he would have killed her. Now I wanted to jump his bones?
“How can I trust anything you say, Abaddon? You’re a demon.”
He turned and looked at me with one eyebrow raised. I got the irony.
“Then think about what you do know, Nats. Satan doesn’t want me back but Lilith does? Why?”
“Maybe you’re good in bed,” I snapped.
“She wouldn’t know!” he sighed in exasperation. “Lilith has to be in on this somehow. And you know if she wants me, for whatever reason, she won’t rest until she has me. You have the vial now, Nats, but for how long?”
I looked at him, shocked to realise he was right. Lilith wasn’t above sending her minions to retrieve what she wanted. I needed a resolution to this problem as much as he did.
“You hurt my friends, Abaddon, and I swear to you I will end you.”<
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“You have my word, Natalia; your friends are perfectly safe. From me.”
I looked at him and wondered if that counted for me too.
4 - Going to Hell
I came round on the floor of Gerwyn’s kitchen, legs under the table, neck bent at a funny angle and my head pushed up against the bottom of the unit. Gerwyn stepped over me and took a seat, two hot cups of coffee in his hands.
“And the prodigal daughter returns,” she said, smiling at me. “Well get up girl, we don’t have time to lie about!”
I pulled myself up, bending my head to one side then the other to try and free the crick in my neck.
“You could at least have told me what you were going to do,” I snapped, pulling myself to my feet and taking a seat beside him. I snatched up the coffee and took a drink.
“I figured if you let him explain to you, then you could explain to me. All this talking to thin air was starting to freak me out,” she smiled at me. “Besides, I hadn’t finished my dinner and I was hungry.”
I snorted at her in disbelief. “You put me out so you could eat your dinner?”
“Stop whining and tell me what happened,” she retorted.
“Well, it worked. We talked.” I stopped for a moment and looked at her, wondering what she was going to say when I told her my plans.
“And?”
“I want to free him Gerwyn, I need to get him out of my head and since I can’t use him to trade, at least if we can figure out who is trying to set him up, he’ll agree to end the bond.”
I filled Gerwyn in on what Abaddon had told me. Finally, she sat back in her chair and looked at me. Her eyes narrowed and I wondered if she thought I was releasing the sexy demon for other reasons. I wasn’t. I was almost sure of it.
“Well, if you think this is the only way, it’s your call. Where’s the vial?” she asked.
I pulled the red bottle out of my pocket and placed it on the table between us. It was amazing to think that the essence of such a big demon could be housed in such a tiny bottle.