“To the dance floor.” I shout out, loud enough that some of the people in the club turn to look at me. I give them a glare back and take Thalia’s hand.
This has to be believable. They have got to think that I don’t have a care in the world at the moment. I push passed the sweaty people in the crowd and for once, I don’t feel her come to the surface. She doesn’t want to come out to play. I can smell the sweat, the alcohol, even the sex in the air and she doesn’t take the bait. I know she is waiting patiently.
I push passed another group of people. Their sticky bodies rub against mine, closer than usual. I want to push back, to throw them from where they stand. But I feel eyes on me. Watching me. Tracking me.
I feel the whispers over my skin, the soft touch of magic that caresses my skin. It’s unlike Jacin’s, where his blended with mine, where my magic absorbed his and combined. No, this one is gentle, it flutters over my body, until it scratches me, digs it nails deep into my skin. I want to let out a screech of pain, but before I can open my mouth, the pain is gone, and the gentle caress is back.
My eyes shoot in all directions. No one is paying me attention. None that I can see. My eyes continue to search the groups of people, as I tug Thalia onto the dance floor with me. Until my eyes meet his. My stomach does a flip. I want to run from his attention, even though to anyone around us, it wouldn’t look like it.
“I see you.”
Hades.
I watch him, the women dance seductively around him, grinding against him, as he grabs at the one woman, who falls onto his lap, grinding her naked body to his, which is still fully clothed. The other women that surround him are topless and they too grind up against him. But his attention is on the naked woman on top of him. I watch as he gently nips at the woman’s neck, I can almost hear her moans of pleasure echo throughout the club we are in. His hands squeeze and plucks at the woman’s nipples, as she arches her body into his touch, while he spreads her legs with his knees, exposing her to the entire club.
But she doesn’t care.
Her moans echo through the walls of the club.
“Enjoying the show?” His voice caresses my skin.
I don’t bother to reply. My eyes are torn from the scene before me as Thalia gets my attention.
“Don’t look into his eyes.” She says to me as we start dancing. “Hades is dangerous. You don’t go near him unless you are doing a deal with him or you want your life to end.”
“Those women seem to be having a good time.”
“Oh, they are, I assure you.”
“For now, don’t be fooled. Stay away from him Natalie and don’t make eye contact.” She warns me again.
“Listen to your friend. I’m not a good man.” Hades voice echoes in my ear.
“I never doubted that for a second.” I say out loud without meaning to.
Hades laughter echoes in my head and I refuse to give him anymore of my time. They aren’t supposed to know that I know Hades. So, I start to dance, dropping my guard. It’s now or never. I’m finally giving them the opening that they were looking for.
But they don’t know me.
I’m supposed to have the crown of thorns and bones and I won’t bow to anyone.
The air around us moves, I feel the magic in the air running with chaos. It leaves as abruptly as it arrived.
“They are here.”
I don’t flinch when a hand comes over my stomach. I don’t flinch when I’m pulled up against a strong body and I don’t flinch when his hand comes to my throat.
Instead I giggle. I’m drunk after all and I grind myself into the stranger that is behind me. His body doesn’t budge though. His grip tightens on me and I feel a prick in my back.
I don’t flinch.
Thalia starts to fade. Along with the music. Along with Hades voice.
“We will be waiting.”
Is the last whisper I hear and then I’m out. I no longer feel anything. I feel at peace.
~Jacin~
Defeated.
For the first time in my long years.
I’m defeated.
There she hangs, only feet away. My mate. Natalie.
How the fuck could they let her be taken. She was supposed to be protected, always.
Where the fuck is the brotherhood?
Chapter Twenty-Four
“They come, only when I call.”- Natalie
~Natalie~
I come to slowly.
I feel myself floating.
The strain in my arms is making itself known. My head wants to flop back from the heaviness of it. I feel the enchantress inside me fighting to gain control of our own self. But whatever they have used on me to get me into this state is strong. Stronger than I thought it would be and it’s a lot stronger than I thought I could handle.
But I feel her, pushing the toxins from my body. She is weakened. But not to the point where she will ever lay down and give up and neither will I. I manage to push my head forward; it flops down to hang in front of me and I see the floor beneath my dangling feet.
It takes a few moments for my eyes to adjust. My vision I realize is blurred. The floor beneath me comes in and out of focus. I shake my head, trying to clear the path for my vision. Slowly, I see it starting to alter. Slowly everything becomes clear.
I look down at my dangling body and thankfully, I’m still clothed. It was really getting old waking up naked.
“Finally, I was beginning to wonder if Harold over here was a little too rough with you.” A voice says to me. I’ve heard it before. I can’t place it, I can’t put a face to it, but I have heard it before.
I try to lift my head. It feels as if it’s held down by a ton of bricks. I shake my head again. I need to push the toxins out faster if I’m going to get through this.
“Wakey, wakey, Little Lady.” The voice says again. Why would he call me that? How would he even know?
“Fuck off.” I grumble out. My neck finally starting to obey my commands and I lift my head to the man.
“That is no way to greet one your hosts, now is it.”
“Yeah, well this is no way to treat your guest.” I grumble out. My vision now blurred once again from the sudden rush of blood to my head.
“Darling, you are not our guest. You are our new little toy for a while, until master arrives.” Another voice says too close for comfort, I shake my head to clear my vision.
It finally does.
That motherfucker.
I look passed the blonde man in front of me. My eyes latch on to familiar eyes instead.
Fucking Eric.
“You traitorous bastard.” I say to him; but my eyes latch onto the body behind him.
Jacin.
He looks defeated. His eyes take me in, but they gloss over. He shakes his head and I faintly hear him mumbling. If he is trying to call them. Now is not the time. I have to wait for this master of theirs. I have to wait to see who is behind this all. If I call too soon, we might never know who is responsible.
“Natalie, I never wanted this to happen.” Eric says to me and turns to look at the blonde man in front of me. “You said she wouldn’t be hurt!” He shouts at the man. I feel the tension building inside the room. It’s the same room from my dream walks and Jacin is still hanging in the same place he was before.
“Does she look hurt?” The man shouts back and pushes Eric out the way, he stumbles a few steps back from where he was standing. “But she will feel pain, while her mate watches on from the other side of the room, too weak to help her, too weak to save her.” The man goads Eric.
“Like fuck you will lay a finger on her. You said to me that she was to be used as bait, but we had Jacin already, so why the fuck is she here? “Eric shouts back at the man.
“She is here for payback. She will feel everything our loved ones felt when he refused to do anything about it.” The man says and my eyes flick over to Jacin. His eyes haven’t left me. The way the man is speaking it’s as if Jacin held some sort of power over people, like he c
ould control the actions of them.
The blonde headed man comes up to me, I don’t move. He really doesn’t scare me. His fingers run over my stomach and I have to hold back the sensation to bring up the contents of my stomach.
“Maybe sweetheart, we should have turns fucking you before we cut you up into little pieces.” The man’s says out loud, ensuring Jacin hears every word.
Jacin growls out, but my eyes don’t leave the disgusting dirtbag before me.
I smirk.
“Is that the best threat you got? To fuck me in front of a man chained to a wall. He is barely conscious.” I hiss out at him. “Come back when you have a better threat or when you grow a dick worth my time.”
“You think you are clever, Bitch. We are going to have fun ripping your body apart.”
“That I have no doubt. To rip a body, limb from limb, has some sort of satisfaction in the act. An act that I will gladly take part in on your body if you don’t back the fuck off.” I hiss into his face.
He smirks.
I smirk back.
He will meet the reason why you don’t fuck with another persons’ mate. Why you don’t threaten another person that belongs to another. Whatever Jacin did or didn’t do for these people, he must have had his reasons for it. But right now, those aren’t important, what’s important now is getting to him.
“What the fuck do you want?” I ask the man next to him, who is watching me, his eyes roaming over my body as if he thinks he will get close enough to touch me.
“Got balls I see. You clearly have no self-preservation.” He says to me and a sick smile crosses over his face. Lowest of the lows here clearly. So, it won’t matter when I take their heads, I’d be doing the women of the world a service when I do.
“Hhmm, you have my mate. You really shouldn’t have taken him from me.” I say to him, my eyes flash white and the has the sense to take a step back. “Clearly you do have some self-preservation.”
“Bitch, I wouldn’t be so fucking cocky. You are the one that is chained up and you will take everything we have planned for you, you will scream for your mate, while he hangs there, so fucking drugged that he too can only listen to you scream.”
“Hhmm, when I scream you little fucker, I scream his name and for all different reasons.” I bite out to him and he moves closer to me. I allow it, I allow them to think I really am defenceless.
“Maybe you will scream my name for those reasons before we cut you up nice and good.” He whispers into my ear.
“I told you, come with a new threat and a dick worth my time.”
“I’ll show you a dick worthwhile, Bitch, you will take it all. And you will scream for me.” He hisses into my face; his nose is so close to mine. All I have to do is lean back and smash my forehead into his face, it will do enough damage that it might even improve his looks.
“When I scream today, you will regret it.” I hiss out to him. “Now get on with it. You are wasting your breath if you think I will get wet for you, asshole.”
He steps back to where the other men are standing, the lot of them undressing me with their eyes. Their pathetic excuses for dicks are hard beneath their pants as they run their hands over themselves. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.
Another man enters from the door on the far side of the room. He rushes over to the group of men who seem to be fighting about who gets to go first. Unlucky for that fucker is all I can say. A movement to my side catches my attention and I watch as Eric comes over to me.
His eyes are panicked as he looks over to the group of men and then back to me.
“Natalie, I’m so sorry, I didn’t think this would happen. If I had known I wouldn’t have-.” Eric tries to say to me as he looks between me and the group of men. He knows what they plan to do, what did he think it would have been different if they got their hands on me?
He should really just stop now; it’s getting embarrassing for him as the group of men stop their hushed talking and look to me and Eric
“Wouldn’t have what?” I scream at Eric. “Just shut up. You are as good as dead anyway.” I hiss out at him as he shakes his head at me. Anger boils from deep within me.
“Natalie, please.” Eric says to me as he comes closer to me. “I tried to warn you. Please. It was real for me.” Eric pleads.
“What was real? You are fucking delusional!” I shout back to him in shock. Is he really doing this? Is he really confessing his love for me right now, as I hang from chains across the room from my mate? Fuck he is even more stupid than I thought.
“Natalie, please.” Eric steps closer. Close enough though. His mistake.
I kick my heeled boot out and it connects with his face. I hear the sick snapping sound of bone breaking.
I watch as he falls back to the floor, his painful moan echoes in the room as he goes to grab hold of his jaw.
“Now will you shut up?” I ask him as blood pours from his mouth.
The men stare on in shock and then start laughing. Eric wobbles to his feet as blood continues to pour from his broken jaw. I’m sure he bit his tongue off when I kicked him. At least he will just shut up now. His moans of pain are drowned out from the laughter, until the door swings open hitting the wall in the process.
The men go dead quiet. And in walks the devil himself.
Their Master.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Meet your destruction.” – Natalie
~Natalie~
A clapping of hands echoes in the stone room we are in, my eyes snap towards the sound and I lock eyes with another blonde headed man who has a sick grin on his face. “I can see why you were chosen to be his mate.” He purrs as he walks further into the room.
I recognise him. I’ve definitely seen him before. And it all clicks. The man from the club. The man that I didn’t pay much attention to because I was so angry at Jacin. He was there and now he is here. He is the one that took Jacin.
“And I don’t give a fuck.” I say to Lucifer with a sneer. “You need to let us go. Maybe then you might survive.” I warn him, but he just smiles at me as if we are old friends.
“You clearly have no idea who you are speaking to.” Lucifer simply states as he continues to walk further into the room we are both hanging in.
“I assure you; I know exactly who I’m speaking to.” I say out to Lucifer. His stunned look is quickly covered. “And you don’t scare me. I’ve met worse.” I say to him and I have. If I can survive the Reader and whatever the fuck Hades is, I can survive the devil himself. Clearly, my nightmares are made of much worse stories than what he is made of.
“And how would you know that?” He purrs out again, his mask on his face firmly in place again.
“I saw you that night Jacin was taken. I was right there.” I hiss out to him.
“You stood by while your mate tongue fucked another woman? “Lucifer says and he just had to say it like that. “Fuck where do I sign up for that?” He teases me.
“Hmmm, go to hell maybe, I’m sure her soul is floating about somewhere there.” I quip out.
“You killed her?” Disbelief laces his words.
“Daggers through her throat. She made me angry. She touched what is mine.” I say, my warning doesn’t go unnoticed by him.
He smirks at me.
“You have fire, Natalie. A fitting mate for Jacin.” Lucifer says to me as he comes closer. His finger comes up to my arms and he runs his finger down my body. I don’t react. I won’t give him that kind of satisfaction. “You would have ruled with an iron fist. But then you always could. I will hold the power and you could be at my side.” He continues to say to me, as his eyes roam my body.
“Rule what? I’m here for Jacin, not to rule over some fantasy you have going on in your fucked-up head.” I bite out to him. I won’t let him get to me. I need to get free; I want to take him down myself.
I watch as Lucifer assesses me. His head turns from right to left. His eyes move over my body slowly again and once they meet mine
again, his smile turns sinister. He takes a few steps away from me. Then he turns to look at Jacin, who is watching us intently.
“You don’t fucking know, do you?” He questions me, but he doesn’t turn back to me, he still watches Jacin as he hangs there. They watch each other. But they don’t say anything to each other.
“Know what?” I hiss out at him. I’m getting a little annoyed with this whole thing and if he doesn’t do something soon, I will call them in, even though my plan was to have him to myself.
“You have no idea who Jacin is, do you?” He asks me and I freeze and look over to Jacin, who seems to understand what is going on, as he is now glaring daggers at Lucifer. But he is watching me.
“It doesn’t matter.” I say back to him, but it does, it really does matter, I will finally have my answers to whatever people were hiding from me, from the last man on earth I ever thought I’d get answers from.
“Doesn’t it? I see it burning in your eyes to finally get some answers.” He says to me as he turns to take me in, and my eyes flick over to Jacin once more. He is taking me in. But doesn’t say anything to me. I’m not even sure he is even able to.
“It wouldn’t change anything. I’m his mate. So, whatever he is, whoever he is, he is mine and will always be mine.”
“So confident are you. So confident in what your mate is, are you?” Lucifer questions me and I look over to Jacin. I am, it wouldn’t matter what Jacin is, but I still want to know.
“He can’t be worse than you.” I bite out to him
“Ah, and therein lies the deception. Humans think I’m the worst of the worst, thrown from heaven for sins, yada, yada. I’ve heard it all. But what if, dear Natalie, there are worse monsters than the devil himself.”
“You give yourself too much credit. But when I meet one, I’ll let you know.” I taunt him.
“Oh sweetheart, you have, you are mated to one.” Lucifer purrs to me.
“What are you talking about, asshole. Just spit it out already.”
“And ruin the big announcement, no, why would I do that? You’ve waited this long, first you were haunted by him for so long and it took one fucking kiss from him and bam, baby, you spread your silky thighs for him.”
The Darkness in You (The Darkness Series Book 2) Page 24