by T. O. Smith
So, when she moaned my name, I knew she was ready.
And I proceeded to claim my queen.
✶ ✶ ✶
Bela was passed out on her belly with her arms folded under her head, soft snores escaping her parted lips. Her entire back was burned with the outline of my massive wings, officially marking her as mine. Anyone that came near her would be able to sense me. They didn’t even have to see her mark to know who she belonged to.
I could sense Cerberus on the other side of the door before he even knocked. With a displeased grunt, I covered Bela’s body up and moved towards the door. He was rubbing his chest when I opened it. “Her bond—"
“We’ve completed it,” I told him. A genuine smile crossed his lips. “She’s officially your queen.”
“Everyone will want to meet their queen soon.” He reminded me.
“And they will – once she goes through her last phase. Until then, she is mine to keep. I will be selfish with her as long as I can.” I told him.
He laughed and shook his head before he turned away, walking back up the corridor. I closed the door and moved back to the bed to slide in next to her.
I pulled her into my arms. “Sleep well, my queen,” I whispered.
✶ ✶ ✶
BELA
Lucifer held my hand in his as he led me through a darker part of the castle. “What are you showing me?” I asked him. “I hate surprises,” I grumbled.
He shook his head and rolled his eyes at me. “Woman, asking me fifty billion times is not going to make me tell you what I’m showing you.” He told me for the umpteenth time.
But it didn’t stop me from trying.
I huffed in aggravation, which only brought a small smile to my king’s lips.
It wasn’t fair that he looked so perfect.
Suddenly, loud screeching filled the air, the same screeching that used to sound through my head. I cringed back against the wall, my face screwed up in pain. Lucifer’s wings ripped from his back and wrapped around me, dragging me to him, hugging me tight to his body. Cerberus appeared in front of us. “The demons are checking it out,” Cerberus informed Lucifer. “But there’s danger.”
Lucifer looked down at me. I nervously looked up at my king. “I need you to go with Cerberus. He will keep you protected. I need to find out what the fuck is going on.” He told me.
I clutched at his now ripped shirt, shaking my head. “Don’t leave me,” I begged him. My heart pounded hard in my chest with fear and worry – worry that something would happen to him.
I couldn’t lose Lucifer.
He pressed his lips to mine in a hard kiss. I whined low in my throat. “I am immortal, my little demon. Go with Cerberus.” He ordered.
He thrust me towards Cerberus. I reached for my king, my bottom lip trembling as tears burned down my cheeks. “Go,” Lucifer ordered. “I will come for her when the threat is eliminated.”
“Luc!” I screamed, stopping him right when he was about to disappear. I grabbed his face in my hands and leaned up on my tiptoes, pressing my lips to his in a hard, demanding kiss. He growled, his wings wrapping around me again, holding me tight to his body as he held my face in his hands.
“If you get hurt, I will destroy Hell,” I warned him when we parted our lips.
He smirked at me, that smirk that lit my soul on fire and made her dance for him. “I wouldn’t expect anything less, my little destroyer.”
He disappeared. Cerberus grabbed my hand in his, pulling me back in the direction I had come with Lucifer. “Where are we going?” I asked him.
“Lucifer created a protective room for you the moment he found out about your existence,” Cerberus explained. I hurried after him, my shorter legs barely keeping up with his long-legged stride. “He and I are the only ones that know about it.” He informed me as we hurried along the corridor. “No one can get in except for you, me, and Lucifer. If they try, they’ll burn as they try to cross through the barrier.”
I tripped trying to keep up with him. With a grunt, he swept me up into his arms, his pace quickening even more. “Cerberus, will he be okay?” I asked him, so worried about Luc that it made me sick to my stomach.
“Your king will come back unscathed, my queen. Do not worry. Lucifer has been in war before and came out the victor, not a single piece of dirt on him.”
“I wish I could feel him with me,” I whispered.
“You will – soon,” Cerberus assured me. “Right now, your bond is building inside of both of you – finally completing. He can feel you. He’s always been able to feel you. But as his mark settles and heals, you will feel him as well. Everything he feels, everything he thinks, you will have access to. And once that bond cements, you will then be able to call upon everyone in Hell at your will.”
We suddenly stepped into a room. It was comfortably and tastefully designed and set up. Cerberus gently set me on my feet.
The ground shook at that moment, and Lucifer’s thunderous roar shook the castle right after. Cerberus grabbed me, keeping me from falling as he held me steady.
A scream of pain tore from my lips as I collapsed to my knees, the ground opening up beneath me. “Lucifer!” I screamed, panic clawing at my throat. All that was below me was hot, boiling lava.
Cerberus tightly wrapped his arms around me as the liquid, scorching heat engulfed us both.
Then, there was pain.
Just pain.
SEVEN
Pain.
All I could feel was excruciating pain.
And it burned.
Every time I screamed, lava filled my mouth, burning my insides. I felt like I was slowly boiling inside.
Cerberus was holding me tightly, dragging us somewhere, but he seemed completely unaffected.
I couldn’t breathe. Everything hurt so fucking much.
Black spots were dancing in my vision. I was desperately hoping I would black out – that this agonizing pain and burning would finally go away.
And finally, when I thought all hope was gone, that darkness completely took me in, wrapping me up in its comfort.
Then, there was nothing.
✶ ✶ ✶
LUCIFER
I roared out in rage. I was losing her. I could fucking feel it. All I could feel was her pain and burning. It was fucking agonizing, and that was saying something because I had an extremely high pain tolerance.
Lucifer! Cerberus suddenly shouted in my mind.
I almost collapsed where I stood in relief. I hadn’t been able to locate him, either, and I’d been hoping that wherever she was, he was with her.
Where is she?! I shouted at him.
Her mother had tried entering into Hell, had distracted me from my queen just long enough to make her disappear from me – to try to kill her.
We’re in the seventh circle, my king. My heart stopped in my chest. She couldn’t survive that. She wasn’t made for it yet. I’ve gotten her up onto some rock above the lava, but she’s dying. Cerberus told me. I could hear the panic in his voice.
I appeared in the seventh circle, my roar sounding throughout the area, making the ground I was standing on shake with my rage. Demons poured out of the ground, ready to please their king. “Find my queen.” I snarled.
I couldn’t feel her, meaning I couldn’t locate her myself. Which meant that her mind had shut down, completely blocking everyone and everything out so she would no longer be in pain.
Cerberus, where the fuck are you at? I snapped through my link with him.
I don’t know. He told me honestly. And I can’t get us the fuck out of here. The only way out is through the lava, and it’ll kill her if I do that. She’s already barely hanging on.
I wanted to paint the fucking earth with her mother’s blood for this shit.
I closed my eyes, trying my damnest to feel her. I needed to feel her fucking presence. I was going to lose my fucking mind if I didn’t. It was my only hope of finding her.
Then, there it was.
The tiniest, little flicker of light within me. It was barely lit, but she was fucking holding on for me.
I’m coming, my queen. I promised.
Focusing on that tiny little presence, I allowed myself to teleport to their location.
I’d never been sick before in my entire existence, but as I stared down at Bela, vomit rose in my throat. She was no longer a demon; she had human skin, and it was burned, melted in some spots to reveal the bone beneath. Her cheeks each had holes in them, and her entire body was smoking, her once beautiful hair now gone.
But, through some fucking miracle, she wasn’t bleeding. I didn’t know whether to be worried or thankful that she wasn’t losing all of her blood. It was probably the only thing keeping her alive.
“No,” I whispered hoarsely. I dropped to my knees beside her, tears sliding down my cheeks. This couldn’t be happening. “My queen,” I whispered, “please, fuck, hang on for me,” I begged her. I gently lifted her body into my arms, cradling her close to my chest. Cerberus jumped into the lava, going on his own to get out of the seventh circle.
I wrapped my wings around Bela’s body and closed my eyes, taking us to our chambers. I gently laid her body on our bed, being extra cautious to not accidentally hurt her. I wasn’t feeling any of her pain, but I didn’t know if her mind was blocking her pain from her or if she was still feeling it.
Silently, I called on Rufus. He was a doctor a few centuries ago before he sold his soul to me to save his family from the plague that was killing everyone at that time. With much studying, he had been able to keep up with the medical times, but he still relied heavily on herbs and natural remedies, which tended to help a lot more than medications doctors these days chose to use.
“She’s going to need antibiotics first.” He told me as soon as he stepped into the room. “Emma,” he called on his nurse, “I need an IV stand and an IV, and I’ll need it compounded with antibiotics and pain relievers. I want to keep her under as long as possible considering the extremity of her injuries.”
“Is she going to live?” I quietly asked him as I stood aside – not too far from her, though – to allow him to look over her injuries. She was completely naked due to her clothes being burnt off, but there was nothing I could do about that. I tamped my jealousy down. Now wasn’t the time nor place for the green-eyed monster inside of me to rear his ugly head. My queen needed medical attention – something I could not do for her no matter how much I wanted to.
A soft glow emitted from her back as he slowly rolled her onto her side. My mark was perfect. Not a single thing had happened to it. My eyes widened in shock.
How the fuck did this happen? And why in the hell was my mark glowing?
Rufus looked up at me, a small smile on his face. “Your mark is keeping our queen alive.” He told me. I breathed a sigh of relief. “She’s not leaving us, my king. She will live. It will just be a very, very long road to recovery.”
I gently sat on the end of the bed, staring at my queen. She was still so beautiful despite her burns and the condition of her body.
“How long do you predict it will take her body to begin to heal enough for you to allow her to wake?” I asked Rufus.
“It’ll be a while, my king.” He told me in an apologetic tone. I frowned. “But she will recover. It could be months before I allow our queen to wake; it all depends on how fast her body heals.”
Emma came darting back into the room with multiple towels, a medical bag, and an IV stand with an IV already dangling from it. “You’ll need to attach it inside of her elbow for now,” Rufus instructed her. “When it gets closer to time to allow her to wake, we’ll move it to the back of her hand. Go ahead and stick her. We need to start the medications as quickly as possible.” He began to work as he spoke to Emma. “She’s not bleeding – our king’s mark is keeping that from happening. But we need to do a skin graft procedure.” He looked at me. “She doesn’t have enough skin to take from. I will need yours. You’ll heal right after due to your immortality.”
“Her body won’t reject it?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “She wears your mark. You’re the only person we could take it from without snatching a human match from Earth.”
I nodded and stood up, unfastening my jeans. “Do what you need,” I told him.
✶ ✶ ✶
Cerberus knocked lightly on the open door before he stepped in. I had a blanket draped over my queen’s naked body. She was lying flat on her back, her chest slowly rising and falling with steady, even breaths. The medication in her IV line was keeping her knocked out.
She looked . . . peaceful . . . almost.
Cerberus dropped to his knees in front of me, bowing his head in shame. I sighed, feeling extremely tired and worn out from everything that had happened. “I am sorry I did not protect her, my king.” He said quietly.
“Off your knees,” I grunted. He looked up at me in question but obeyed my command. “You got her out of there. You didn’t leave her side. And you reached out to me the first moment you could. You saved her life, Cerberus. You’re the reason she’s laying in front of me right now.”
He was quiet for a moment, seeming conflicted with my words. “What did Rufus say?” He finally asked me, deciding to let it go, knowing better than to question my decisions.
“He’s leaving her in a coma-like state with pain medications until she begins to heal more. Letting her be awake right now would be the equivalent of being tortured in the second circle.” I told him quietly. Cerberus paled. “He did a skin graft procedure for her burns. She’s covered in bandages and ointments under this blanket. But she’s going to live. My mark is keeping her alive, and it kept her from bleeding out.”
Cerberus shook his head. “I failed my queen.” He said quietly.
“Cerberus,” I said, drawing his eyes down to me, “you did not fail her. You protected her, just as you were supposed to.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t move quickly enough.”
“You didn’t let go of her.” I countered. “You did good, Cerberus. Don’t beat yourself up over this shit.” I drew in a deep breath. “I should have known better than to leave her alone. I felt the magic in the air. I should have been smart and realized that she was in more danger away from me than she was with me.”
Cerberus sighed. “She’s going to be scarred, my king. She’s going to hate herself.”
I shook my head, reaching out to gently run my fingers over her forehead, one of the only parts of her not covered with some kind of horrible burn. “No,” I said quietly. “I will love her through all of her scars, and so will our people. She’s a warrior. She survived the seventh circle of Hell as a human.”
Cerberus knelt beside the bed and grabbed her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “Please forgive me, my queen.” He said quietly.
He gently placed her hand back on the bed. With one last nod in my direction, he stood back up to his full height and strode from the room.
I looked over at my queen, running my eyes over her face. Leaning forward, I gently placed my lips on hers. “Sleep, my queen. I will be here waiting for you.”
✶ ✶ ✶
I watched Rufus as he changed Bela’s dressings. She still looked content and peaceful, not feeling anything that he was doing to her, for which I was thankful.
If she were awake right now, she would be in agony despite her immortal state.
She had gone through her last change to become my queen. Everyone in Hell could feel her presence now, but she was still very much human despite her immortality.
Which was why she was healing so slowly.
My mark on her back was still glowing two days later, being her life support. It pulsed whenever I touched her. And now, that mark was not allowing anyone but me and Rufus to touch her. When Cerberus had tried to, he’d been knocked into the wall on the other side of the room.
Her power was beginning to make itself known, and she wasn’t awake to learn how to control it.
I brushed the tip of my finger over her nose, watching the light as it pulsed from the mark on her back. “I have all of the time in the world for my queen,” I said quietly. I looked up at the doctor. “Thank you, Rufus.”
He nodded once at me, his eyes flashing with surprise, but only momentarily. I wasn’t one to thank anyone for anything, but he was saving my queen. I could never repay the debt that I would owe him for this.
“No need to thank me, my king. I would do anything in the world to help our queen.”
