I thought about it before I answered. “That’s why I’m telling you. If you’re truly offering to help me and there’s no secret agenda, then you should know what you’re getting yourself into.” And here I was telling someone I just met like it was the easiest thing in the world. Although I didn’t really know Sebastian, something felt almost right about confiding in him. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I had a clue about what right felt like. Nothing I’ve been through had been normal, more like I’d walked through darkness, escaped still slightly twisted, and finally…there was light.
“It’s no big deal. Same ole, same ole down here in the Underworld, only a different demon getting too evil for their own good.”
“Really? Just like that, you go around saving people?” I muttered, deciding to stand up. I was careful not to touch him as I did.
He walked into the kitchen with a shrug and I followed. “I always kill people, ascend people to Heaven or descend them to Satan himself. All part of the job.” He opened the fridge and faced me. “Can you cook?”
“Can you?” I countered with an arched brow.
He grinned. “Can you hand me a glass? The cabinet to the left.” I moved around him and tiptoed to reach a cup for him. Just as I was handing it to him, I saw the way he eyed my hand and the sneaky way his eyes lifted.
“Nice try.” I placed it down on the counter for him to grab so he couldn’t sneak and touch my hand.
He breathed in and wiped his face casually. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Uh-huh.” For the very reason of how desperate he was to touch me, I had a feeling I could trust him about wanting to keep me safe. How else could he find another chance to touch me if something happened to me? “You know what? I think I can trust you…somewhat.”
“I think you’re going to let me touch you before the night’s over,” he said while pouring a drink into the glass.
I took a step back. “Is there somewhere I can sleep?” I asked quickly.
He turned his head and watched me. “Why are you so against me touching you?”
I sighed. “It’s not safe. I steal magic and power, the very essence of anyone that’s not human.”
“From touching them?”
I nodded. “The werewolf at the hospital? That was me. He accidentally bumped into me and when I grabbed his arm, he died instantly. That’s how Julius was able to finally track me down after all this time. He sensed my magic.” I tucked my hair behind my ear and tried to smile. “He did this to me, this is what he made me into by altering my magic. I don’t want to kill anybody and even though I know you’re an entity, I still don’t know what I could do to you,” I warned him.
“You don’t steal anything from me, you give me energy instead.”
His smoldering stare as he stepped closer scared and thrilled me all at once. I held my hands out quickly. “Please, don’t,” I told him.
“I’m cursed, Izzie,” he whispered, taking another step closer. I couldn’t help but see that he too had demons that haunted him. It was all in his eyes.
“Cursed?” I frowned.
“You know the sins, right? Wrath, gluttony, lust, envy, and all the rest? I’m cursed with the sin of sloth.” I took a step back every time he came near. “All of my siblings are cursed with a different sin.”
“How?”
“The Devil.” Another step. I finally bumped into the wall. With nowhere to go, I swallowed and waited as he continued. “I sleep, Izzie. Not just sleep, sometimes I don’t wake up for months because of it. Never once have I been able to wake from it as soon as it happens until you touched me.”
“That’s awful,” I whispered. “But, I don’t understand what that has to do with my touch. It might have been a short nap.”
“I don’t think so.” He loomed over me.
“Sebastian, it’s your safety I’m worried about.”
“Here.” He placed the cup between us. Once I grabbed it without letting our fingers touch, he pulled back. “I’m not worried, so hurry up and touch me whenever you want.”
Every time he managed to make me feel something, anything, that made my stomach dip and my core tighten, the darkness grew and begged for him as well.
My hands were reaching for him as he walked away, I pulled them back to myself but the need to touch him grew worse.
Twitchy fingers. Twitchy fingers.
Not only was I physically attracted to this guy, so was the darkness. To give into one would mean giving into the other. What was with him? What was with me? What was us?
______
Heat slid across my leg. Not heat, a touch. I shifted and moved away from it but it slid between my thighs. At first, I couldn’t place if this was a dream or reality, but I still pulled away and the hand gripped my leg until it hurt. I winced, eyes opening with complete awareness.
I couldn’t see anything, but I didn’t have to see him to know he was there. I jerked forward but another hand came down over my shoulder, holding me down. “I’ve missed you, Isabella.” I felt his presence everyone.
My skin crawled. “Julius,” I hissed through the darkened room. I hated the very thought of having his touch on my skin again, but my darkness had no problem. In fact, it pulled me further into myself with its need to have Julius again. He created the darkness that tried to control me, in a way, he was its master instead of me. I had no control over it but he did. My disgust rolled into fire. I pulled what magic I could into my palm while I still could and began to whisper.
“Now, now,” he tutted. “I didn’t miss and search for you this long for you to try to blast me with magic.” He leaned into my ear. “Look how happy the darkness is to see me.” He laughed softly.
No. No. NO.
Why was the darkness so happy?
I squinted my eyes shut even though I already couldn’t see. It wasn’t my sight I wished to block out, but him. He was in my head, buried within the darkness and I hated it. Disgust rolled off me in waves.
I remembered where I was and opened my mouth to scream for Sebastian, but Julius cupped his hand over my mouth. “Don’t go yelling for the sloth. You think he can help you?”
“I’ll kill myself before I let you take me,” I muffled into his hand.
“Take you?” He chuckled again. “Oh, sweet Isabella, I have no plans to take you when you are exactly where I want you.”
What did he mean?
“I don’t even have to do anything. I just have to sit back and let the darkness do it for me,” he added, tightening his grip on my thigh again.
My magic breezed out of my palms but dissipated before it even got to him. Even now, he reigned over every part of my magic. The light from my magic lit up the room just enough for me to see the sinister smile on his face before it died out.
“I’ll let you be for now, but for old times’ sake.” He trailed his hand further up my thigh, and I tried to clamp my legs shut. “One thing though… Stay away from the sloth. As for everything else, go right ahead.”
A brilliant blue lit up next to the bed, illuminating the entire room. I looked over and saw that it was a glowing sword. Sebastian stood with it in his hand, the intensity of the sword revealed his sharp features. His expression was murderous. “You must be Harvest,” he stated right before he swung the sword out above me. I sucked in a breath as Julius moved. “I’d say it’s about time we met.”
Only I already knew Julius was gone because the darkness was screaming for him to come back or for me to follow. I raised up quickly and cupped my ears.
“He left,” Sebastian stated what I already knew. The light came on and the darkness screamed more. I saw why when I glanced down at my skin and saw that the darkness was at the surface. It was disgusting. It moved around like snakes across my skin.
“Are you okay?” Sebastian moved closer to the bed.
I freaked out when I thought he might touch me. “Don’t come any closer,” I said, still cupping my ears. “Please turn the light back off!”
He
quickly did as I asked. The bed creaked as his weight dipped onto the bed. “What did he do?”
I hated how concerned he sounded. It scared me because it felt sincere somewhere deep inside me. I shook my head, tears sliding down my cheeks. “This is what he already did to me. I’ll be okay once the darkness goes back into my skin,” I bit out.
“Jesus, Izzie,” he sounded angry. “I’m going after him.” He moved from the bed.
I got up from the bed with him. I took a deep breath and thought about what Julius had said. “I have to leave,” I muttered quickly, sounding more like a robot than an actual person. “He wants me here. I can’t stay and be a part of whatever he’s planning for you.”
“Whoa, calm down now.” Sebastian blocked the door. “Have you thought that maybe he wants you to leave so that you’re on your own?”
“I can’t chance it.”
“Izzie,” he exhaled. “I can’t, no, I won’t let you go now that I’ve seen your fear.”
We stood there in complete and utter blackness for minutes. I knew that because it took that long for the darkness to settle. I felt like maybe Sebastian was giving what I needed by doing nothing but standing beside me as I tried to pick up the pieces of who I’ve been the last decade. Who I became by getting to be myself instead of the evil inside me or what Harvest wanted me to be.
I moved my hand over the light switch and flicked it on when the darkness quieted inside me. His eyes were on mine the very next moment. I didn’t miss the way he studied my body as if to see if something was still crawling through my skin. “You saw, didn’t you?”
“What was it?” he asked.
“The darkness inside me,” I hissed. “You saw.” What he must think of me now…
“Yeah, I saw.” His eyes hardened. “And?” With his lack of reaction, I was left without a proper response. I had expected maybe something different. “I have something like that, too.”
I was stunned. “Really?”
“Well, yours is tame compared to mine.” He smiled at me. “Those black squiggly lines that you’re so ashamed of running across your skin like snakes, that’s nothing.”
“It’s not what evil looks like,” I huffed. “It’s what it does.”
He held out his hand and a pair of black gloves materialized in it. “Why haven’t you thought of gloves?” he asked me.
I took them from his hand. “Because I’ve been in the human world until now, and I can’t hurt humans and that’s the way I like it.” I tightened my grip on the gloves. “Thanks.”
“Maybe you should tell me more about Harvest. He had red hair, right?” I nodded, and his jaw ticked. “Would he have reason to harvest children and eat their hearts?”
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “But he’s capable of doing anything to get what he wants.” I put on the gloves. “Lucifer’s reign.”
“Sleep,” he whispered, walking toward the bed and dropping down on the floor. He propped his arm on one knee while he left his other leg straight out. He leaned his head back and sighed. He looked exhausted. “You’re coming with me tomorrow.”
“What?”
“I’m not letting you out of my sight now,” he reopened his eyes and spoke. A thrill ran through me from his words. His heroism was sexy and continued to throw me for a loop. I’d never been protected. Only given away. Trained and beaten and used, but never met someone that wanted to help me.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked again suddenly more self-conscious in hundreds of ways.
“If you need a reason to help someone, Izzie, then you’re living wrong.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “Turn off the light and climb back in bed.”
I did as he said and slipped under the covers and fell asleep on the side of the bed he was propped up against. I couldn’t see him in the dark, but that didn’t stop my eyes from trying to see him as I drifted off…
Nine
Sebastian
A gloved hand stirred me awake by shaking my shoulder. My neck cracked as I rotated it around. I groaned, ignoring the familiar sleepiness of my curse approaching. It made it easier to do with the stiffness I felt all over and Isabella behind me. I dozed off when I hadn’t meant to, which meant the curse was near already but not enough that I couldn’t be woken.
I thought back to how I’d seen the male on top of her in the bed, pinning her down and the anger gave me a boost of energy. I jumped to my feet, then regretted it because I swayed.
“Hey, are you okay?” Izzie asked, voice still husky from sleep.
I said I would protect her, but when my curse hit me I was fucking useless—a burden. If that happened when she needed me… Shrug that gloomy thought away. I needed to touch her again, but if I did that, wouldn’t I be using her? Turning around, I stared at her. “I’m fine,” I told her, letting my gaze travel over her. By now, she should be used to the way I blatantly ogled her. She was a tiny little thing. I’d almost bet both my hands could wrap around her waist, yet… My cock stirred in my jeans. She was really damn cute and getting my hands on her felt more like it was my duty: to get her underneath me. Even more than it was to get my energy. Sure, I needed it but I wanted inside her. Izzie might think my want to touch her was purely my needing energy from her, but that was only part of it. I mean, look at her. Her curves were easy to miss if you weren’t actually looking, they were subtle. Completely delicate despite her being powerful. And those dark eyes and lippy mouth, she was beautiful. I was an entity, but more or less that made me an immortal man and having her around and not wanting to fuck her? I wasn’t even about pretending I didn’t want her.
I was supposed to be helping her like I said I would. Not planning on how I’d get in her pants, but my mind had taken that detour last night in the living room. She was easing up on me, I could feel it. She was no longer hostile, but she was afraid, and she was still wary of me and everything else. It made me curious as to what Harvest had done to her exactly. I’d never seen anything like how her skin was last night. Black lines raced all over her creamy flesh and she had to turn off the light until they were gone… It was bizarre.
I turned to face the bed and materialized a change of clothes for her. “Get dressed, I’ve got Reaper work to do.”
She turned and eyed the clothes. It was a pair of black jeans and shirt. “Are you sure you want me tagging along?” I wondered how long it would take me to thaw her hesitation when it came to me. Not that I minded the adorable way she lowered her eyes and bit her bottom lip when unsure, an obvious contrast to when she was spitting venom at me.
“I’m sure,” I told her. “Besides, you can fill me in on all I need to know about your deadly touch and that ‘darkness’ as you call it.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Because it’s what’s keeping me from touching you and I very much want to touch you.” I’d never been subtle in my damn life. I saw what I wanted and aimed for it. And right now what I wanted was her safety and her. All of her. And instead of spending time on the whys like Izzie did with everything, I accepted things for what they were. I didn’t need a reason to accept that I’d been drawn to her the moment my eyes opened and spotted her next to me. I wanted her, simple as that.
That didn’t stop the knowing, feeling inside me from bursting through. Isabella was more than want. Our static touch was only bringing it to the surface.
Her pupils dilated, and she quickly looked away, tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. “You have no filter,” she replied with a faint voice. The attraction was mutual. I could see it, feel it, like it’s been there long before the two of us had even met.
I smiled, letting her keep to herself for now. “I’ve been told I’m the good guy out of me and my brothers. Barron is the quiet, brooding one that loses his temper, and August is the cunning, devious one.” I headed for the door. “So thank the lucky stars you encountered the good brother.”
“You bring them up a lot… Your siblings, I mean,” she hesitated. “Are you guys clo
se?”
I paused at the door with a hidden smile. “Kind of hard not to be when we all work together.”
“That sounds…nice.” The sound of her voice gave a reason for me to look back at her. She was standing in the same place with her eyes on the floor, a frown on her lips, sadness in her eyes. “I hated my family but it didn’t mean that I didn’t wish for them to be different and for their fate to be different.”
“It was a fire, right?” I asked her. “That killed them.” Like I said, Reapers knew how everyone died.
She lifted her head. “It was my fault. I cried for them one too many nights while with him until their betrayal bled from me into him and he trapped them and burned them alive because he thought it’d make me happy.”
That was fucked up. No wonder she had so many reservations about me and anyone else that crosses her path. “Did it?”
“It depends on what part of me you’re asking—me or the darkness.” Her lips parted slightly before giving me a weak smile.
Did she need space? I looked away in case my hunch was right. “You’re mouthy for a witch that wanted nothing to do with me not even twenty-four hours ago.”
She seemed uncomfortable with that knowledge. “I know.”
I walked out of the room I let her use. “Are you going to make me leave?” I didn’t think I was meant to hear that one.
But I responded anyway from down the hall. “Not a chance.”
Ten
Isabella
“Fading” as Sebastian called it was vastly different from using a portal chip. I was left mesmerized once again the second time I faded with him. While porting seemed to happen within a blink of an eye and you just appeared where you wished to go, fading was different. It was like stepping out of time and coming to a pause in a darkened place. Once we entered that place, it was just us there, and I had just enough time to study the side of his chin, the bone structure and the slight stubble that wasn’t there yesterday. Staring at him made my stomach dip to my toes, and a fire burned at my core that his good looks had no business lighting. It was seconds was all, but it felt like I was looking up at him forever when the light finally came, and we reached his destination.
Bewitching Sloth Page 7
