The Pentagram Child: Part 1 (Afterlife Saga Book 5)

by Stephanie Hudson

  It never would make sense!

  We sat down and thankfully Draven kept some reasonable space between us, knowing now how much I needed it.

  “Tell me about your job?” He asked making me snort in disbelief.

  “You’re kiddin’ right?” I said referring to such a mundane question after what had just happened between us. He just shrugged his shoulders and then gave me a small laugh before saying,

  “Well I think it’s a safer subject…unless you’re about to tell me you’re now working as a Demon hunter or even worse, for Lucius!” He said looking at me sideways, smirking. I laughed trying to hold back another snort and failed.

  “Well he did offer me a job as his personal masseuse.”

  “He what!?” Draven shouted and I smirked back at him before assuring him with,

  “Teasing,” making him relax again.

  “Not funny.” He warned even though he was smiling again.

  “Ah come on…it was a little.” I said nudging his shoulder and my heart couldn’t help but soar when his smile grew into a full blown grin.

  “Ah don’t tell me, the new job you have is as a comedian.” He teased, nudging me back.

  “What, you don’t think I could be? I’m funny!” I said pretending to be offended. He straightened his face but he still couldn’t keep the humour from showing by the cute creases by his eyes, as he leaned in and whispered,

  “Hate to tell you this sweetheart but you are more goofy cute than funny.” I shrieked dramatically as my mouth formed an ‘o’ and slapped his muscle bound arm for effect.

  “You lie!” I hissed not wanting this teasing to ever end. He then nearly stopped my heart as for the first time in what felt like forever he graced me with that trademark bad boy grin of his before leaning into me again and saying,

  “I lie.” To which we both burst out laughing.

  “Well it just so happens that I have repented my wicked ways by becoming a very respected pillar of the community, therefore giving up my life of sin working for the Prince of Lust…” I said waggling my eyebrows at him when calling him ‘Prince’

  “Nice.” He said laughing at my dramatic pause or from what I called him.

  “…and I have become a Librarian.” The look on Draven’s face was priceless as he nearly choked.

  “You’ve what?!”

  “It’s true, they were hiring at the Library next to Wakewood Hall so I applied.” Draven took all this in and I watched in fascination as his face changed with an emotion I couldn’t describe as it was one I hadn’t seen on him before. If I was to guess though I would say he looked uncomfortable and I had no clue why.

  “Draven are you…blushing?” I asked in shock as he had indeed turned slightly red on his cheeks.

  “Of course not.” He denied shifting his weight on the seat. I couldn’t help but giggle at the sight and proceeded to tease him further…what can I say, it was just too good an opportunity!

  “You so are! Oh my God, it’s the cutest thing…” I got so excited I got up on my knees on the couch and then said in a deep voice with a pretend microphone in my hand,

  “This just in, Dominic Draven, Master of the Universe has been witnessed blushing like a girl with her knickers showing and…” I tried to carry on but Draven quickly made a grab for me and I found myself giggling once more into his hand that he held over my mouth. He leant down to my ear and whispered,

  “One more word and I will have to punish you.” His eyes were bright with delight as they stared down into mine and I couldn’t stop laughing into his hand. He lifted his other hand in warning, hovering it over my side and I wrestled to get away from him in excited panic. His hand kept coming closer and closer, clearly enjoying me squirming and it was only then that I realised I was nearly fully beneath him. Unfortunately this was also the time when reality kicked in and I realised we weren’t back over a year ago when this playfulness was the norm. No, I knew I should put a stop to this but oh God how I wanted this to never end.

  “Do you surrender?” He asked just before his fingertips were about to make contact with my sensitive sides and begin his tickling torture. I nodded frantically making his grin deepen and when they touched me I screamed out in laughter. He then stopped just as quickly to say,

  “Sorry what was that?” Turning his ear to the side and listening to where he still had his hand over my mouth.

  “I mmm said yeesss” I mumbled out.

  “Nope, sorry didn’t get that.” He said and then went to tickle me again. I scrunched up my face waiting for it and when he burst out laughing I opened one eye a crack to see him staring down at me with a soft look in his eyes…oh and they were also ringed with purple. Shit, but I knew what that meant. Draven was getting turned on.

  I decided enough was enough before it went too far and from that one look alone, I would say we had crossed that line at the first round of teasing. So to get him to release me I licked his palm, shocking him enough to pull back.

  “That was a sneaky trick.” He said shaking his head slightly as if trying to get rid of some inappropriate thought.

  “When means must.” I said straightening up and smoothing back my loose hair that had gone crazy in the fight.

  “So are you gonna tell me what you were blushing about?” He raised one single eyebrow at me and Jesus if it wasn’t one of the sexiest sights alive!

  “I don’t know, do you want to be writhing beneath me again?” He countered and soon I was blushing scarlet. Was it just me or did the air get thick in here damn fast?

  “Now who’s blushing?” He stated and was soon staring at my bottom lip held captive by my teeth.

  “Draven, I don’t think we should…”

  “So tell me, exactly how exciting is life as a librarian?” He said interrupting me and I knew he did it on purpose. Well if he wanted to change the subject first then I was happy to comply.

  “Oh it’s thrilling, no honestly…one minute it’s all Economics 101 and Moby Dick the next…I really don’t how I endure all the excitement. You know I sometimes find myself going home giddy.” I said making him roar with laughter.

  “I can only imagine.”

  “Oh and I really must thank you.”

  “And why is that?” He asked, again raising a sexy eyebrow my way.

  “Because you gave me a glowing reference.”

  “Oh did I now?” I nodded making him chuckle and once again shake his head at me.

  “Now that I would be curious to read.”

  “I bet, it was a doozy and very gushing with praise, if anything you were a fool for letting me go.” I said before I realised what I’d said. His smile dropped and he looked down at the floor for a silent moment before raising his eyes to mine once more.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t…well…ok you know I have no filter from my brain to my mouth right?” I said trying to lighten the mood after my slip up. What was wrong with me? What was I saying, I knew what was wrong with me and so did my subconscious that wanted to continue to make him suffer for ever leaving me! Yeah, that was it.

  “I am fully aware I deserve far worse, Keira. There is no need to hold back in sparing my feelings, as you could not say anything that I have not already tortured myself with.”

  “Draven…” He silenced me with a slight shake of his head and a smile that this time didn’t reach his eyes.

  “What are we doing, Draven?” I bravely asked after I had given him the minute he needed. He lifted his head to look at me and raked a hand through his hair to push it back from where it had fallen.

  “I don’t know but if I was to venture a guess I would say finding a truce.” He said softly and I could tell he was testing the waters with his reply.

  “So, friends then?” I asked not being able to help sounding hopeful. Because as crazy as I must be right now, I had no wish to behave in a way I was completely entitled to. Yes, I could have been a bitch and yes I could have told him that I hated him and cried about it for the rest of my days. But wh
ere would that have left me when all my tears had dried up…?

  Regrets, that’s what. Burning regrets that I could never take back. No matter what this man had put me through he had still saved my life. He had brought me back to myself after I left a part of me back in the cold damp prison all that time ago. He had shown me a love I knew I would never find again and so what if he never followed through with it and fought till the end for it. Because the reality of it all was a question I asked myself once. Was it really better to have loved and lost or never to have loved at all?

  Well, I had my answer then and I had my answer now. Because you don’t go to Hell and back for a man and ever…EVER… stop loving him, no matter what he did to you, it just wasn’t possible. And trust me I had spent the last ten months, all three hundred and fourteen days to be precise, trying to do just that. And one look at Draven again and I knew that I had wasted every single minute trying.

  So with all this in mind and even with the broken heart and hurt that had all but ripped me apart, I still couldn’t fully give him up when given the chance. So I would take it. I would take it even though I knew we would never be to each other what we once were. Because at the root of it all, I would never be able to forgive him and Draven would never want me enough for me to be able to forgive him.

  “If that’s what you can give, then that’s what I will take.” He said replying after processing my question. I smiled up at him and held out my hand.

  “Then let’s shake on it.” His lips twitched as he fought a smile and took my smaller hand that was quickly dwarfed in his own. He slowly shook it all the while locking my gaze to his with an expression I couldn’t read. I sucked in a shaky breath at the intensity of his touch and his look combined then quickly tried to take my hand back. His fingers tensed as I pulled and for a minute it felt as though he would never give me up but then the reality of that statement was like falling through the cracks on an icy lake. The look on my face must have registered because he let me go and he didn’t look happy about it.

  I cleared my throat and tucked a stray bit of hair behind my ear before trying to find equal ground between us again.

  “So…you saw your dad, how was he?” I asked before quickly remembering that they’d had a fight and asking this probably wasn’t the smartest of questions. Thankfully though, he didn’t look too pissed off.

  “Let’s just say he was definitely better before I turned up and kicked his ass.” He responded dryly. I slapped him on the arm and scolded,

  “Draven!” To which he just raised his eyebrow at me.

  “You shouldn’t be fighting with your dad.” I said frowning and deepening that frown when he smirked at me.

  “You know having a powerful Demon King for a father isn’t ever gonna mean we go fishing, fix cars together and drink beers over talking about life…right?” I narrowed my eyes at him and then snapped,

  “Oh but it means you have to beat the crap out of each other, trying to prove something with your dicks instead of your heads uh?” One side of his mouth quirked up at my response making me want to smack him upside the head.

  “Firstly, he most certainly did not ‘beat the crap out of me’ and secondly, I believe I haven’t thought with my dick since I last had you naked beneath me.” He added seductively and then had the bloody cheek to wink at me making me roll my eyes purely to cover up the reaction I wanted to give him, which was to fan myself at the bitter sweet memory. I couldn’t think of anything witty to say so in true Keira fashion went with something lame instead.

  “Whatever…and anyway, since when do you ever say words like ‘Gonna’?... Carry on like that and people will get the mistaken impression you are down with the humans and becoming a cool dude.” Ok so it might have been lame but I felt a little skip in my heart at how good my come back sounded.

  “What can I say but I must like you rubbing off on me in a way that sticks.” He said in a purr that growled the last word. I gulped at how it made me tingle in all the best places. Of course this feeling was enhanced by the way he ran a single fingertip down my arm when he spoke these hypnotic words. I should have pulled away from him and from his dangerous touch knowing what it would do to me when I no longer had it again. But the simple fact was it was next to an impossible task. It was as if just as soon as I was in his presence he had me, held tightly and bound in a net he cast just for me.

  Instead of doing what I should have which was flee, I was simply left with a nervous laugh that told him all he needed to know…He had caught me and caught me good.

  “So what’s next, talking Scouse and wearing shiny trackie bottoms?” I asked just for something to say as I tried to process all his unrestrained flirting, flirting that if I had half a brain I would have put a stop to already…well nobody could say I had done everything the smart way when it came to Draven so why start now?

  “If it makes you bite your lip at me then I will even perm my hair.” He commented making me burst out laughing to the point I had to hold my ribs and tears formed. He laughed with me and as I bent over rocking as the laughter wouldn’t leave me he took the opportunity to rub my back softly.

  “You like that idea I see.” He said and I started snorting in between my madness at the very idea of him in a shiny shell suit from the eighties and a mini afro!

  “Oh please…” I could barely speak though the giggles making him smile down at me.

  “Oh please?” He asked making it sound so sexual that it sobered me enough to get the words out.

  “Oh please tell me that you have a hideous purple, pink and green shell suit hiding in the back of your wardrobe along with some used hair curlers?” At this his eyes widened and he shocked me when he said,

  “Fuck no!” Then he looked at me sideways, a bit sheepish at swearing in front of me so freely, so he added a quick,

  “My apologies.” I smiled at him and patted his thigh without thinking and said,

  “I think that response was more than warranted…I mean what were we thinking wearing those…? I even think Libby has a picture at home with all four of us wearing matching ones at the airport before going on holiday!” I said shaking my head thanking the powers that be that I was only a toddler at the time and liked to think I had no say in the matter!

  He nudged me making me look up at him and for a minute he looked lost in some emotion I once again couldn’t place but just as quickly he recovered before I could place it.

  “I bet you looked adorable.” At this I released another very unladylike snort and replied,

  “Draven, nobody looks adorable in a shell suit…in fact I am pretty sure it’s illegal to look serious in one.” I joked and silently blessed this witty banter for granting me the opportunity to see Draven’s devastating grin that was nothing short of breathtaking. That was the thing with Draven. Around everyone else he was such a serious character most of the time so that when I got to be the one to make him smile like that, it felt like I had achieved nothing short of greatness…well now, wasn’t that just a foolish thought to be thinking?

  I dragged my bottom lip between my teeth and decided to punish that, seeing as smacking myself on the forehead was far too obvious. What was I thinking feeling like that? He wasn’t mine any more and more importantly, which I really needed to keep reminding myself, is that he never would be again! His smiles weren’t mine any longer and my need to receive them should remain dead and buried where he had placed them and I was now keeping them.

  “Hey, what is it?” His voice wasn’t the only thing to bring me back to the now as I felt his fingertips under my chin pulling my gaze up to his.

  “What are you torturing that poor innocent lip about this time, huh?” He asked searching my eyes and without taking his touch from my face his thumb gently prised my lip away from my teeth.

  “I…I guess…” I tried to find the words to speak my mind and be brave enough to be honest without bringing back the pain.

  “Tell me, Keira.” His tender coaxing was too much to beat back
the truth…so the truth is what I gave him.

  “I guess…like this…It’s just easy to forget, that’s all.” I felt my shameful blush bloom across my skin, skin he was still touching and made no move to stop. He let his hand glide from my chin down the column of my throat, feeling my heavy and nervous swallow for himself under his strong and determined hold. I watched as he closed his eyes as if in pain but not before seeing the flash of purple flames ignite. I wondered briefly if he had tried to hide it from me?

  “That it is.” He said so softly that it crushed something inside of me enough to make me wince at not being strong enough to get a lock down on the pain. He dropped his hand and I couldn’t tell you if I was relieved or close to begging for it back.

  He suddenly got up abruptly as if he needed to put space between us and my paranoid mind flooded itself with self-doubt and was plagued with the question ‘could he no longer stand to touch me?’ Jesus! But what was I doing to myself with these thoughts? This was precisely why it was far easier to muster up the hatred for what this man had put me through and focus solely on that! So with that in mind I straightened up and took a few deep breaths to get my emotions under control and in check.

  “I have something I need to talk to you about, Keira…something of great importance and something I will have to ask of you to listen to until you fully understand its seriousness.” He now took on this other side of Draven that was so much a part of him it would have bled from his pores if it could have and that was pure, raw and commanding… power.

  I just nodded having one of those ‘oh shit’ moments that made me wonder after only hours of having the Dravens back in my life, what shit they had brought with them this time?!

  “Alex Cain isn’t the man you think he is, Keira.” Draven stated folding his arms across his chest and standing there looking very much like the living God and King he was. This, however, had absolutely no effect on cooling the blood that now start to boil beneath my skin. I closed my eyes and threw my head back against the couch and started to laugh with not one shred of humour creating the sound.