by S Lawrence
“Where are your steady surgeon hands, Citlali?” I grumble as I try to stop the shaking.
Finally, success, the key slips in and I turn it. Stomping the gas, I back up and spin the wheel. My head almost hits the glass of the window, and I slam on the brakes. Calm the fuck down, girl. Jesus, you’re going to kill yourself.
And there, stuck under that thought, is my fear. Not that I am but that he is meant to. What if I am a sacrifice?
It seems ludicrous, and yet my people made human sacrifices long after the world believes we stopped. Would Sitara do that to me?
I don’t even want to think it but… I’m not taking the chance. The tires throw mud and gravel as I push the pedal almost to the floor and race away. Everything in me is screaming… HIDE!
I drive like I’m possessed to my home. Parking in the garage, I stumble out of the truck in my haste. She knows where I live. All rational thought has fled my mind. All I know is I must get away from her and him.
Punching the code on the alarm, I unlock the door and step inside. Closing it, I fall against the cool steel. The adrenaline starts to crash, and I begin to cry, emotion flooding my brain.
She is my only family. How could she betray me like this, leaving me to him?
As the first tear falls onto the tile of the floor, I push away from the door, determined and heartbroken as I make my way through my home to the bedroom. Grabbing a bag, I begin to throw things in it. I don’t pay attention to what, just grabbing things that I can barely see through the tears.
Freezing, I close my eyes and focus. Sitara has an energy I noticed years ago. I got very good at knowing when she had come to visit.
I haven’t been fast enough. Whirling, I decide to face her, to demand answers as to why.
Too late, I realize my mistake.
“Who are you?” He smiles, and I’ve never seen anything so purely evil.
“My name isn’t important to someone like you.” The look he gives me tells me he thinks even less than that of me. “What you should ask is what am I?”
I don’t give him the satisfaction. He waits, watching as I stand in silence, my brain going a million miles an hour as I try to figure out a way to get away from him. I feel physically sick just being in the room with him. How could I have ever mistaken his energy for Sitara?
He crosses to the window that looks out at the mountain where I had left Arkyn and the safety of the temple. I run. I don’t look back. I’m out the door in seconds, making my way past my truck, never slowing until he appears right in front of me.
A blood curdling scream tears from my throat as I stop. The force of my body plus the abrupt stop has me falling forward. He just watches as I crash into the dirt and rocks, a grin blooming across his face as I try to scramble away the instant after impact.
I can taste blood in my mouth, and my hands are leaving dark imprints on the dry ground.
He stalks me. There is no other way to describe his almost slow-motion steps as he comes at me. I draw a breath as the scream dies away.
“You going somewhere, human?” Human. All my suspicions are confirmed with one word.
“Get away from me. Sitara…” His laughter makes my skin crawl.
“Sitara will do nothing. I knew she kept a pet but I couldn’t find you or her, until today. Thank you for that.”
I’m shaking my head in denial. No way I did something to alert him to my location.
“You spoke to one of those filthy demons.” He answers my unspoken question.
Arkyn. The man before me nods as he sees me figure out who he’s talking about.
“Which one was it?” So you don’t know everything, asshole. The seconds tick by, and I watch as he begins to get angry. He’s on me in the blink of my eye. Literally.
Open, he’s a few feet in front of me. Blink, and he is squatting right over me. His hands whip out, grabbing my arms just as I try to force my body back.
“You will tell me…” He spits as he speaks, his face inches from mine. “Eventually.”
Just as I feel my very cells seemingly break apart, I send him a message.
‘Tell Sitara I’m sorry. I should have trusted her.’
Chapter 5
ARKYN
I hear her again, the absolute terror and regret clearing the darkness surrounding me.
I start to swim towards the surface, towards consciousness. A feeling of urgency has my adrenaline rushing through my body.
It takes an enormous amount of effort to pry my eyes open, and when I do, I see the woman materialize at my side. The woman that had taken Charlie from the parking garage.
The one who has watched us.
A new emotion joins the fear for the one who has been connecting with me. Anger.
Her eyes connect with mine and she starts to gasp, but it’s cut off when my hand locks around her throat.
“Who are you?” I demand while my eyes bounce around the area. “Where the hell am I?”
It’s my turn to be surprised when I feel her power surge and my hand is forced from her skin.
Delicate fingers brush over the skin reddened from my grasp.
“I’m the one who saved you. Who saved Charlie. I’m trying to help you all.” An answer without an answer.
Pushing up, I keep my eyes on her. “What are you? You are no angel and you certainly aren’t a demon.”
She sighs as I swing my legs over the side of the stone altar I’ve been lying on.
“Listen, lady, answer or not. I need to go. Someone has been connecting with me and she’s in trouble.”
Her eyes widen and then close, and I watch as she becomes extremely upset. Her eyes open and the fear there makes me dial my anger back some.
“Did you heal me?” She nods but is distracted, and I feel her power expand. I know she searches for the other woman. “Is she like you?”
This time her head shakes from side to side. “Are you Sitara?”
When her eyes lock onto me, I see my first glimpse of the real being standing before me.
I’m almost mesmerized by the swirling opal colors of those eyes. I know her entire appearance is a mask of her power, hiding her true form. Those eyes though, they hold the truth.
“Where did you hear that name?” Her voice carries power, and I can tell if I didn’t answer her willingly, she could rip the information from me with almost zero effort.
“The last thing I heard was ‘Tell Sitara I’m sorry. I should have trusted her.’” I watch her crumble.
“Yes, I’m Sitara. I left her with you, hoping she could draw you back.” She looks at me, and I see knowledge. She had known what I had chosen. “I hid the first of her line and have protected them all along. I chose to live among the First People, loving their beliefs and way of life. I came south as they did. I healed when I could. Her people built this temple for the healer. For me. I was the healer for many tribes. It was where I first saw you.”
I stare at her. “When?”
“Long before this world was discovered.” She has watched me for hundreds of years without me knowing.
That’s my first thought, and then shame overwhelms me. She has seen my failures.
“You didn’t know your task, so how could it be considered a failure?”
I refuse to answer. “Who is the woman? How do I find her?”
“Citlali. I have raised her since she was a baby. She is the last descendant of Raphael.” I feel my mouth fall open. “And as I had hoped, if she connected with you, she is your Chosen.”
I blink and I feel like it is in slow motion.
“Mine.” I stumble over the word, but my demon almost purrs in satisfaction.
He has been silent for a very long time, resigned with failure like I am. We both get very angry as we realize she has been stolen from us.
“The Fallen?” I look at her and I can see the red of my eyes reflected in her pastel ones.
Her head shakes. “No. They alone couldn’t hide her from me.” She pauses, swallowing as h
er eyes begin to fill with tears.
The woman is dead. I’m ready to dive back into the darkness.
“I’m afraid only one could hide her from me.” Not dead, I realize as a rush of relief pulls me from the edge. “My brother.”
Her demeanor and the fear in her voice steal some of my happiness at hearing the woman is alive.
I refuse to fail her.
Chapter 6
DAGEN
It’s too much. I’m going to lose her now.
I pause just across the threshold as she stares at some couple dressed as, I think maybe foxes, doing I’m not sure exactly. Her mouth is hanging open, and I can see the shock stamped across her face.
“We can go,” I murmur, grabbing her arm and pulling.
“What? No way are we leaving.” She spins looking up at my face, Sin is in full effect. “We are so checking all of this out. And you are showing me whatever it was that you wanted to see or…” She pulls her lower lip between her perfectly imperfect teeth as she pauses, and my heart is pounding. “Do. We are going to have so much fun tonight.”
I don’t know what to say. She grins as she grabs my face and drags me down for a kiss that is filled with every dark thought I’ve ever had. That kiss, that devouring of my fears, frees something in me. Then she breaks away, spinning to face the room once more.
“Mr. Winter, we have your table just this way.” I glance to my left at the man that has materialized there while we were distracted. “If you’ll follow me.” He starts away, not looking to see if we obeyed his request.
He leads us through the main part of the club. We pass people covered with silken ropes, some hanging from the ceiling, a man strapped to a Saint Andrew’s Cross, blindfolded and gagged. Behind sheer curtains that hide nothing are multiple couples fucking. One woman catches my eye and winks as her partner pounds into her from behind. Male and male, female and female, every way, any way is represented.
Charlie’s eyes bounce around the room, trying to take it all in, even after we slide into our semi-private area. A low velvet couch with a high tufted back curves around a glass table. Drinks appear almost immediately, and she reaches blindly for a glass, not willing to miss a thing. Taking her hand, I direct it to the mint julep waiting for her. She never looks, just brings the glass to her lips, sipping.
The moment the liquid hits her tongue, her eyes turn to mine, and what I see in them takes my breath for a moment. Love. Unconditional.
“So, what are we looking for?” She whispers, smiling over the edge of the glass, her eyebrow raised.
“Anything that you want,” I answer noncommittally.
“No. Tonight isn’t about me. It’s about you, so what do you want?” She sets her glass down and scoots against my side, leaning her head against my shoulder. We present an interesting picture, I’m sure.
Her eyes travel over the room as she waits for me to answer. I notice when she pauses briefly on a beautiful couple. The man is kissing the woman’s neck, but both are looking at us.
“Do you want them?” She murmurs, still watching them. “They want us.”
I agree with her assessment. “Are you sure? We can just watch, no need to join any others.” I give her an out, not wanting to lose her to my darker desires.
“Dagen, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t willing.”
“And if I want him?” I hold my breath, waiting for her answer.
“Then take him. I’m sure she won’t mind.” She smiles at the woman as she raises her hand. I watch frozen as Charlie, my perfect other half, beckons them over.
The man straightens, a satisfied gleam in his eyes. The woman starts our way, hips rolling, the scent of lust rolling off her like a storm.
The man’s dark eyes lock on me, and I see interest.
Charlie holds out her hand. She does not choose one, instead waits to see which will come to her. I do nothing, making it perfectly clear who is in charge of what happens tonight.
I’m surprised when the man crosses in front of his partner. Taking the hand that is outstretched, he pulls Charlie away from me. My muscles tighten for a moment.
I relax only when he slides onto the couch and pulls her to him. I watch, growing hard as he kisses her all the while keeping his eyes locked on mine. His partner climbs onto my recently freed lap and hums when she feels my hardness press into her core.
Seconds tick by, turning to minutes, as hands roam over heated flesh. I bury my fingers into the woman’s hair and pull her head back hard, testing her limits. She pants in response, and I smile at her partner as I sink my teeth into the flesh of her shoulder.
Her cry draws Charlie’s eyes, eyes that are clouded with need. Her hand is working over the man’s dick through his pants.
“Dagen.” I only need to hear that and I raise my hand. An attendant appears instantly.
“A room, please,” I murmur as I release the woman’s neck. She will carry the mark for a while.
We all rise as the attendant nods and turns to lead us to a more private venue. We barely make it through the doors before we come together a mass of desire and sin.
None of us are interested in wasting time. Clothes are removed, and the man’s face turns almost feral at the sight of Charlie stripped before him.
I am suddenly not sure of my willingness to share. She senses my mood immediately and turns to me and the woman, taking our hands and drawing us both to the bed. At the edge, she turns to us both, and I just watch to see what my woman is about to do. She smiles at the man waiting behind us, blowing him a cheeky kiss as she lays back.
She keeps at the edge of the mattress, while drawing the woman with her. I understand and I feel myself harden even more as I stroke over my dick.
The woman takes her place, turning to face me while positioning her core over Charlie’s face. It’s my turn to glance back at the man, and if I thought he looked feral before, now he looks savage as he stalks toward me.
“Dagen.” It’s a moan as Charlie reaches up, gripping the woman’s hips and drawing her core down to her mouth. Her tongue flicks out, and as I watch her draw it through the woman’s soaked folds, I position myself at Charlie’s equally wet channel. I slam inside my woman, watching as she slips two fingers in the woman and fucks her in rhythm with me. The woman lets her eyes fall closed as I reach out and roll her hardened nipple between my finger and thumb. I mirror the action on Charlie’s and hear her moan against the woman’s mound.
I feel him draw near, then feel his heat at my back. I have a moment of apprehension, but then he is pushing me forward. The woman takes my mouth as he lines up at my opening. His hand reaches around and he slides his fingers through Charlie’s lips, gathering moisture on them. I feel the moisture coat me just before he pushes in.
I lose my rhythm as he pushes further until he is fully seated, and then we all begin to move. Moans and grunts fill the air along with the sounds of flesh slapping against flesh.
I’m not going to last. It has been too long, and I feel Charlie’s body tightening around me. The woman begins to keen and her body stiffens. She shakes as Charlie continues her assault until finally she falls to the side. Turning as she does, she locks her mouth on my woman’s, kissing her deeply, while her fingers play over Charlie’s small breasts. I brace myself on my arms over them as he pounds into me. Each time, the force of it pushes me deeper into Charlie’s swollen, velvet channel.
As she tightens even more around me, I feel my orgasm begin to build and I reach back, jerking him even harder into me.
He fills me as I fill her, and she explodes, screaming...my name.
Chapter 7
CITLALI
I wish he would kill me for real.
How long has it been? Hours? Days? Weeks? Maybe months? I don’t know.
I know the things I feel aren’t real. He has me trapped in some place where time doesn’t exist. I’ve died hundreds of times in nightmarish ways. Each time, I wake up and another horrifying day of fighting for my life begins.
<
br /> They all end the same—me dead.
I just woke and glancing around, I see this time I’m on the beach. I’ve learned not to venture into the water. I try for the countless time to reach Sitara or Arkyn.
Nothing.
I’ve reached my breaking point and I hate him for it. Hopefully, it has been years to get here. I’d hate myself more if it only took him hours to turn me into this.
I will not fight the death, instead I’m going to enjoy the sun while I have it. Not every rendition of the day has sunlight or the sound of waves crashing against the shore.
I let my eyes close, refusing to watch for the death I know is coming. I quit playing his sickening game and let the fake sun warm me.
I didn’t see it.
I awake to ice and snow. I didn’t fight it when it arrived.
I awake choking on water and let it pull me under.
I wake tied to a bed. I feel my old resistance try to struggle to life but I shove it down. I will give him no satisfaction.
‘Arkyn? Can you hear me?’ I call out, keeping my eyes closed even when I hear footsteps approaching. ‘I wish, well, I wish we could have actually met. That I could have brought you back. I like to think you could have stopped him.’
I find myself talking to him day after day. Telling him stories from my life. If he had been able to hear me, he would know just about everything by now.
I picture him, making his eyes dark even though I’ve never seen them. In my mind, he’s smiling, his hand held out just waiting for me to take it, offering me salvation from my hell. Even though I know it is a delusion, I still reach for that life line.
For just one instant, I feel the warmth of his skin. ‘Citlali?’
I jerked my head at the sound of his worry-filled voice. ‘Arkyn?’
I wait and wait for an answer, but it never comes. Maybe I imagined the first one. The door begins to open, and I turn my head as my heart begins to pound. Arkyn stands there, outlined by light.
