KING OF THE UNDERWORLD: Lucien and Scarlett (Earthbound Series Book 1)

by V L Peters

  I had to get out of this office. I needed a shower.

  I wanted Lucien's smell off me. It was lingering far too long. It was a combining mixture of his cologne, his own body odour, and some sort of body wash. It was just too much for me to handle.

  I slowly made my way to my room. I started to get this feeling that I was being watched, I stopped and turned around nothing. A shiver went down my spine. I turned and hurried down the corridor. I felt the hand on my shoulder even before it touched me. Long Skelton like fingers was curled around my shoulder, their dark red nails were like an Eagles talon. She dug them into my flesh, drawing blood, causing me to cry out. I knew she had left a mark on my skin. I did not have to turn around to know who was behind me, I could smell her perfume.

  I'm surprised it's taken her this long to approach me. I'd give her a chance to leave me alone, but only one. I was not that much of a fool. I let her spin me around as if she had the upper hand until we were face to face. The hatred for me that was written across her face was frightening, it caused me to take a step back from her. I knew I'd made a stupid mistake, with that one movement, triumph lit up her eyes. I stood, watching her, my gaze never wavering. Waiting for her expression to change. She was going to try to physically hurt me. Even kill me. Trying to talk her down wasn't going to work, I knew that I hadn't any choice, but to fight. Not a word fell from her lips.

  I saw the switch, how couldn't I? I watched as her eyes started to turn a deep blood red, she raised her arm towards me before curling her fingers into the palm of her hand, pulling her arm back towards her chest. I felt a tightness close around my throat. It felt like a hand was gripping me, tightening until I couldn't breathe. I felt my eyes start to bulge out of their sockets as her grip tightened around my throat. I gripped the imaginary arm with both my hands trying to unsuccessfully drag it away, as I felt my feet start to slide towards her. Fuck this, I thought, as I called my witch forth. I felt her raise from deep down inside of me until I felt her under my skin. I felt the changes coming upon me.

  As she continued to raise up from within, changing my features and the tone of my skin. I knew what the demon would see in front of her. My Skin tone breaking to become the chalky white of my witch, hair turning silver-grey as would turn the irises of my eyes, silver with a black line rimmed around the edges. Two substantial dark circles would be the last thing to appear around my whole eye sockets with the marking across my forehead. She was the one now in control.

  She wants to play, well let's give her a taste of who and what she is really facing, I heard my witch say within me as she laughed, the sound of her crazy laughter ringing in my ears. My witch stopped struggling, letting the Demon Aria drag her closer. Letting my whole body go limp until they were practically chest to chest. Then with a strike of her hand, she jabbed, fingers extended, straight into Aria's throat. She started to cough, clutching her own throat, which caused her to lose the invisible hold she'd had around mine. Aria Staggered backward from the impact, leaving my witch standing there, never giving her the chance to try to strike back. The blast came inexpertly, shooting from the palm of my hand as my witch held it up. You could see what looked like a red flame, light up the whole corridor, shooting out from the palm of my hand, and blasting across the room until it landed on Aria's chest. Causing Aria to lose her balance, lifting her body clear up into the air and soaring backward until she hit the stone wall behind her. She charged towards her, never giving her the chance to stand and to retaliate.

  "Bitch. How many warnings does my human have to give you?" she spat out as she grabbed her by the throat and lifted her with one arm. Hitting her head repeatedly off the wall as she told her, "Now I'm not going to kill you. Not today, at least, and my human wouldn't be happy with me if I did that. Heed my warning, for I'm only going to tell you once. Go near her again, look at her the wrong way, and I will not hold back. I will kill you. Now fucking go before I change my mind!" she tells her as she releases the grip she has around her neck. You could see a red outline of my fingers, were my hand had held her up, marking her pale skin. She slips down the wall onto her backside, before scrambling onto her feet and running down the corridor. As she comes to the corner of the hallway, she pauses, then stops and turns her head. A smug look crosses her lips as she looks back at me before carrying around the corner.

  That was too easy, my omega tells us. Aria's up to something, she's meant to be a powerful demon, and she didn't even put up a fight! She didn't even say anything and what was that look she just sent. Something does not feel right. I had to agree with her as does my witch. Something wasn't right, and I had to find out what. I pulled back on my witch, feeling my body slowly changes again as I carried on to my room. I just knew she'd go running to Lucien telling tales, but would she tell him I'd changed or had just attacked her? Only time would tell.

  ◆◆◆

  LUCIEN

  Once again, I was interrupted. He was lucky I hadn't kicked the Shit out of him. I'd noticed how he'd stood there starring at Scarlett as I'd tried to block her from his line of sight. He had stood with his beady little eyes, his tongue practically hanging out. I had had a few complaints about him, yet there wasn't anything in concrete. He was being watched. Just to see if their claims were justified. If they were, he'd be out. His Alpha could deal with him. Even though he was a shifter, he was not that powerful, not only that he was a slimy little fucker. I had also noticed her reaction to him. Something was wrong there, and I didn't like it. It will be something I'd be questioning her about later. I can still taste her on my tongue. I had to leave her once again. I want to get back to her and finish what we started, but this must be taken care of first.

  "Damien, what the fucks going on?" I demand as I stride towards him. The little shitty shifter not far behind. Damien's standing there with another two of my men, who seem to be covered in blood. I quickly realise with relief; it's not theirs. Fuck could it get any worse. As I approach, they both nod in my direction before leaving.

  "The Soul Keeper was found. Dead," Damien tells me as we reach him to where he's standing.

  "Fuck!" I roar out, hitting the wall, causing the brick to crumble. This wasn't good. I had needed him to find out were Scarlett's sister was and who he'd been working for.

  "I haven't finished." Damien tells him, not showing any kind of reaction to his fist hitting the stone wall, "a nasty assed Soul Eater was in the house with him,"

  Bloody hell, they were even worse than the Soul Keepers. You had no chance at all of returning if one of them got their hands on you, at least with a Soul keeper you had that chance, no matter how slight. "Shit, did it hurt anyone?"

  "No, we got lucky. He's in the holding room. He's not going to last long," Damien told me as we walked, "I don't think he was the one who killed the soul keeper. He was gutted from chest to groin."

  I shrug, I don't give a shit about what's happened to either of them.

  The soul eater had to be questioned. Was it a consistence that they were found together? I very much doubted it, "how long do you think he's got?"

  "If you want to question him and find out what the hell, he was doing with that Soul Keeper you had better do it now. He's not going to last much longer. A day maybe two at the most. He muttered a few inherent words, nothing was making sense, but the word witches were heard,"

  Shit in the next forty-eight hours, I was going to be overrun with witches, naturals, and humans. I hated the thought, but it was a necessary evil. I needed to question him and find out what the hell he'd been doing with the soul keeper before they arrived. It wasn't very often; you'd find them together. It was a known fact they'd rather kill each other on-site.

  "Why is he being held in the holding room?"

  "We still got that fucker Eddie Marshal in the Dark Room," Damien reminded me, fuck I'd forgotten about that fucker.

  "Get rid,' I ordered. I had gotten what was needed from him, "make sure the dirty fucker suffers. In the meantime, get the clean-up crew lined up. Then ge
t the soul eater to the darkroom, I want it done in the next hour."

  Damien doesn't say a word pulls out his phone dials and starts shouting out orders.

  "Alf." He says down the phone, "Get rid of the vermin and get the clean-up team in there." He pauses, listening to what Alf was saying, "Are you fucking kidding me! Yes now. Fuck Alf stop winging; just do the fucking job. It needs to be cleaned within the hour," he tells him before hanging up and shoving the phone back into his pocket. 'Fuck that asshole. One day I swear to God, I'll end up killing the fucker," Damien tells me with a frown on his face.

  "He's a little shit," I agree, "but he's a loyal one,"

  Damien scoffed "he might be loyal, but he's a fucking asshole,"

  Catching sight of the shifter standing behind me, he narrows his eyes, curling his top lip up; he snarls, "I told you to go back to the Monitor Room once you'd followed out your orders. So why are you still here?" he demanded, taking a step towards him. I turn, looking at the shifter behind me. Damien standing at my side.

  He stutters as his little black eyes widen, taking a step backward "Iiiii had heard about the Soul keeper and Soul eater. I wanted to make sure everyone was ok," he replies, his hands risen palms showing as if in surrender. That could be true, though something was off with his statement; he was telling half-truths. Sneaky fucker.

  Damien looks at him, taking everything in before he tells him to get the fuck back to where he's meant to be.

  "I don't trust that fucker," Damien tells me as we watch him slither away back down the hallway, "I can't take to him and somethings just not right. I can't put my finger on it though,"

  "He's being watched. A couple of the women have come to me and complained about him. He makes Scarlett uneasy,"

  "Good, I get the feeling he's up to no good. I noticed a couple of the women try to avoid him as much possible. I was planning to question him, but I haven't gotten around to it, with everything going on. You could send the fucker back to Jacob. Let him deal with him," he says as we watch him till, he's out of our line of sight.

  "No. If he is up to something. I want to find out what it is. Then I'll decide what to do with the little fucker,"

  "I guarantee he's up to something. What? I haven't a fucking clue. So you and the little witch Scarlett," he asks, turning to look at him. Raising an eyebrow and a smirk on his lips' 'you a thing now?"

  "Fuck, yea, she's mine," I admit. I wasn't the type to show my feelings to anyone. Least of all to my men. In their eyes, it was a sign of weakness. Damien, I trusted him enough to admit to him how my feelings had changed.

  "Good, it's about bloody time. You've been moping around for bloody days. I was getting fucking tired of it," Damien replies, leaning back against the wall behind him, staring at me, "what are you going to do about Aria? She's not going to be happy. You know she's going to do everything in her power for you not to be with Scarlett".

  I groan, she's grown into a bigger bloody problem. One I have to deal with sooner rather than later. Whether I was with Scarlett or not. She's acting more and more unstable. I need to get a grip on what's happening around me.

  "It doesn't matter if I class Scarlett as mine or not. Fuck, can you believe even my beast wants her? Even if I leave my mark on her skin, stating to every fucker who serves underneath me that she's mine, I won't have no choice, I will still have to appease Aria and try to keep her away from Scarlett. She's showing too much interest in her. Turning up inexpertly. Fuck, how did she even know that I got a witch staying here? I never told her. I know you would not think of doing so. I think she's got an informant. Someone male or female who I believe is loyal to me and is passing on inter to her. She's got someone in the inside. She's up to something." I confess to Damien turning my head to look at him.

  "Shit! How long have you thought she was up to no good?" Damien mutters, frowning a pissed look to his face "why didn't you bloody tell me this? Why the fuck haven't you even told me how you feel or what you suspected? And I don't really know her. But I can't see Scarlett being happy about you still being with Aria. No matter the reason. What woman would?"

  "I didn't want to believe the woman I've classed as mine, was a traitor. It was something I had to acknowledge and admit to myself,"

  "And now?" he replies.

  "Like I said, Scarlett's mine, and I'll do everything in my power to protect her. I might have to do things that will bring a bitter taste in my mouth, but do them, I will. I won't let anyone harm a hair on her head. Aria isn't mine anymore. Truth be told she hasn't been mine for years," I tell him. I wasn't going to fucking lie anymore, its time he knew how I really felt. "And if Scarlett happens to find out…. then she will have except that I'm doing it for her own good and for us to be together,"

  "Thank Fuck. I've kept my mouth shut for years as everyone else has, and you know why? Because of you, Lucien. Yea, we are bastards and nasty fuckers to boot, and for years she's been everything to you. You have done everything she abasically asked of you, can you say the same for her? The thing is she's a twisted cunt, always has been. She's bat shit crazy, and it's like you've been asleep for years with your head buried in the bloody sand, and now it's like you've woken up and smelt the bloody roses and you've realised what a cunt she is. That you have figured out what everyone else did years ago," he tells me, for the first time telling me what not only he but everyone else thought of her. Did it shock me? No. He carries on, "but Scarlett. Don't be too shocked if she won't accept you reasoning," he tells me, shit I knew he was bloody right the fucker.

  The sound of Damien's phone ringing interrupted our conversation. He took it out of his pocket "yea?" he answered, "we're on our way. Make sure the fuckers secure. We don't want any bloody surprises," he tells them before hanging up and putting the phone into his pocket, before telling me, 'the Soul Eater has been transferred into the darkroom,"

  "Let's go and question the fucker before he slips through our fingers," I tell him as we start to make our way over.

  ◆◆◆

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  DARKROOM

  I felt my Demon rise until he was close enough to the surface for all around me to see. My skin tone changed, to his reddish-brown, the bones of his skeleton pushing up against my skin, trying to push out. His red blood horns curling, rising from both sides of my head as if they are spirals breaking out from my skull. My nose sharpened, becoming more pointed, my face elongated. Spikes sprouted, protruding from both my shoulders that at one touch would slice through the skin as if it was butter. Humans and Naturals alike were shit scared of me, Lucien. What they should be scared of was what now stood before them. I kept him on a short leash for a reason. There were times when I had to cut that so-called cord. This was one of those times. Soul Keepers were one thing, Soul Eaters were something completely different. I needed my Demon for that very reason. I was the most dangerous at this time, anyone who was close by had to be on their guard, even my most loyal men. I did not very often let him come this close to the surface for that very reason, and I liked to get my hands dirty. Circumstances such as this one I needed that extra backup. Damien had seen my demon many times, just as I'd seen his. It wasn't like a bolt out of the blue as it would be for most. They didn't know who or what my Demon was, and I loved it that way. There were only a few that I trusted who knew. Damien was one. We all had our secrets, and I had plenty.

  "Go ahead and question him first," my demon orders Damien; the vocal sound coming from my voice is a mixture of my own and the Demon who lives inside of me. It was more in-depth and rougher than it usually would be. I wanted to be the last one to enter; I had no doubt that he would notice the Demon who stood in front of him. There weren't many who wouldn't. The Soul Eater sat stoke still. Taking stock of everyone who stepped into the room in front of me.

  He sat with bound arms and legs. His pale white face showed no emotion his eye's empty and soulless. Looking into his eyes, he knew there wasn't anything there. He had been up close and personal with many a Soul Eater,
this one seemed… different. I stood behind some of my men, taking in his appearance, he had two small brown horns on each side of his head, and he was utterly bald not one strand of hair was on his head, his eyes were pale pink making them stand out against his skin. His face reminded him of a Billy goat. You could see bruises that had begun to fade, most naturals were quick healers as long as any injury wasn't life-threatening. The other injures were another matter.

  Damien walked forward until he stood just a few feet in front of him, he clicked his fingers in front of his face trying to grab his attention "Did you kill the Soul Keeper we found you standing over?" Damien growled out, he just sat there. As if he hadn't a care in the world. There was nothing, not even a flicker of reaction. 'Listen, you little shit. Either you answer, or we're all going to take turns. So fucking answer the questions. Did you take the woman who disappeared from the Fallen Angel?" Damien demanded.

  There it was what we had been waiting for. A twitch, a slight flicker of recognition if my Demon and I hadn't been watching so closely, it would have been missed. He knew who Damien was talking about, I had no doubt about it. No matter what questions were thrown his way or what was done to him, he didn't show any reaction or emotion. Not one word slipped from his mouth. This line of questioning was not getting us anywhere. It was just pissing me and my Demon off. I let out an almighty roar, my men parted, like the red sea had for moss. Making way for me to walk between them until they were standing on opposite sides of the room, I felt the fear radiate through his body as he recognized the Demon standing before him. He whimpered in shock, his head shaking from side to side. His body started to shake as he began to struggle in his binds, muttering under his breath. I didn't need to touch him; I felt the pain the minute my mind met his. A mere touch of my hand as I stood there with my Demon would cause him total agony. I knew it would take a few minutes, and he would be screaming, beginning me to keep away. It was time I didn't have.