Sacrifice of the Septimus: Part 1 (Afterlife saga Book 7)

by Stephanie Hudson

  It was also when I stopped breathing for a short time. Hammer Hagen quickly showed us all how he got that name and he put his head down and charged Draven head on like the bull he resembled. Draven quickly skidded out of his way, sliding to the side and just under the beast who was trying to impale him. Then he thrust a hand up under his belly as he went past, extending one of his blades and embedding it into the side of beast who ended up at the other side of the ring howling in pain.

  “Oh man, I had high hopes for this guy.” Sophia said and I couldn’t believe she sounded disappointed.

  “You still might win look, he’s not done yet.” And Pip was right, he might have a hole in his side but this dude looked like he still had a lot more to give. This was proven when he abandoned the ‘head down and charge’ technique and exchanged it for one that used his blades at impossible speeds. All four arms moved their swords in a certain way where together they became a blur of burning amber blades, one that resembled a helicopter propeller running through the flames.

  “Oh God I can’t look.” Ari said again gripping on to me harder and this time putting her face into the top of my arm. Meanwhile I couldn’t keep my eyes from the sight of what was happening in that ring and thankfully in the end I didn’t need to. Draven saw this and grinned before letting both his own blades grow. Then he hit back every blow Hagen threw at him. It didn’t matter how fast he spun those blades because every time Draven hit one of them, it would throw the rest of them off sync, slowing him right down. Draven only had to do this once because before Hagen could build up speed again, Draven simply knocked it back out of alignment.

  You could see from the snarls and roars of anger from Hagen that this was really pissing him off. It was at this point that Draven used the beast’s anger against him and as he reared back his four arms to growl at Draven that was when Draven made his move. He kicked out, hitting him square in the chest and the sound of bones crunching had the whole place cheering Draven on even more. The hit to the chest propelled the beast backwards, flinging his body across the ring to land hard against the ropes.

  “YOU WANT MORE?!” Draven screamed out to ask the crowd and they all started chanting,

  “MORE, MORE, MORE!”

  “It’s been two minutes thirty-five.” Sophia told Pip who was bouncing next to me still hoping he would finish this in twenty-five seconds.

  “Sorry Hagen, they asked for more…time to bleed, my friend.” Draven’s demon said and I shivered at the chilling sound. Hearing this Hagen became enraged and dropped his blades, instead using his hands to gouge claw marks in the ring floor, using this new killer grip to charge once more at Draven.

  “Bring it!” Draven said taunting him by holding out his arms and letting his own blades disappear back up inside of him.

  “RRRAAAHHH!” Hagen roared and it was loud enough to make everyone place their hands over their ears, along with the four of us. Then the pissed off Hell’s soldier charged, running at a greater speed this time. Draven side stepped just at the right time and in two single moves it was finished. Draven had kicked out the beast’s leg, snapping it nearly clean off, making blood spurt up in a spray and just as he went down Draven said,

  “Give my condolences to your Master for his loss of victory,” then he grabbed his horns and with one swift twist, he broke his massive neck, killing him instantly, sending his soul back to Hell. As soon as the beast fell with a deafening thud on the mat, the crowd went insane with joy and excitement.

  “KING OF KINGS! KING OF KINGS!” They chanted and Pip shouted,

  “Yes!” making Sophia groan.

  “Three minutes and ten seconds is closer than five, so pay up, sister,” Pip said doing a fist pump, rejoicing in her own victory. I couldn’t help but smile, even if I did feel slightly sickened by the carnage but seeing Draven being cheered on by his people was a lovely sight to witness.

  “Remind me never to piss off your husband.” Ari said and I laughed saying,

  “It’s Pip’s you really have to watch out for.” She looked at me as if I was crazy and said,

  “What? I thought he was the guy in the glasses.”

  “Oh he is.” I told her and she looked to Pip so see she was smirking back at her.

  “Right,” Ari whispered clearly confused. It didn’t take long after this for Marcus to jump in the ring, grab Draven’s wrist and hold it up to once again get the crowd cheering.

  “OUR WINNER!”

  “Right my pretty little uglies, we have a rare treat for you tonight.” This was when my blood ran cold and Ari’s hand became a vice on my arm.

  “Well it looks like we are up, ladies.” Sophia said and I couldn’t believe how quickly that had come around.

  “If you please my King of Kings, take your seat and enjoy.” Marcus said holding out an arm for Draven to take a seat. I could see Draven’s sceptical look from all the way back here. But he played along, jumping over the ropes and annoyingly accepting a towel from one of the demon hussies.

  This was when Jared stood up and suddenly silence descended over the arena, something that made his commanding voice easy to hear and I thought I would start trembling.

  “As our welcomed guest to my humble little establishment, and champion of our nightly games, our King of Kings we have a surprise in store for you,” he told him and Draven nodded in respect to his public welcome.

  “See here we believe that every winner deserves a prize and boy do we have a deliciously pure one lined up for you tonight, so please, sit back and enjoy.” Jared said and everyone clapped, cheering and looking around to see what was coming.

  “Right time to do your thing honey, let’s go get ‘em’,” Sophia said pulling me out from behind the poison apple head cart and leading me to where we were to make our entrance. I looked to Ari who was also being dragged by Pip and thankfully, being this far back, no one took much notice of us, still with their eyes glued to the ring.

  I don’t know why but I didn’t expect it all to happen this fast and from the look of things I wasn’t the only one who thought this way. It was just one song, that’s it, one song that I could hopefully lip sync or maybe I could just pop out of nowhere and shout surprise!

  “You know, I am thinking this might not be the best idea…I mean couldn’t we just say that we followed them here or something?” I said trying to get either Sophia or Pip to listen but unsurprisingly they weren’t co-operating. If anything it seemed like they wanted to do this and I had to wonder if this wasn’t their plan all along, as some kind of Hen night initiation process or something.

  We walked to a covered tent area that was obviously where all the acts stood ready to go on stage. It was a small walk away from the ring but a longer distance to run screaming out of the exit, which was all I could think about right now. I tried to ignore all the funny looks we were getting and instead looked over to Ari who looked close to hyperventilating. I knew how she felt, especially when all we could hear from the crowd around us was,

  “BRING ON THE GIRLS! BRING ON THE GIRLS!

  “You will be fine.” Pip told me unconvincingly, when I grabbed her by the top of the arms and said,

  “I can’t do this.”

  “Yeah but what about me, what do you want me to do?” Ari asked and Sophia handed her a mask and said,

  “Put that on.”

  “Oooh, do I get one?” I asked thinking I might be able to do this easier if no one knew it was me.

  “No but you get to drink this.” Pip said handing me a smoky green drink that smelled as if it was strong enough to power my car.

  “Now let’s do this.” Pip said nodding to the drink in my hand but instead of drinking it I decided there were more important things to ask…like,

  “Uh shouldn’t I know what I am supposed to be singing first?” I said in a panic and she stuffed a giant feather fan in front of my body hiding most of me at least. However, hearing her answer didn’t just double my dread, it also made me want to go running out the door screami
ng for mercy,

  “Oh, didn’t I tell you…”

  “Tell me what?”

  “We have a sexy dance to do first.”

  Chapter 32

  Performance of a Lifetime

  Needless to say that after this I started to neck my drink until there was nothing left. I started coughing and choking at the vile burning taste that I swear killed important cells as it went down, before eating into my stomach lining the second it touched the sides. It started to take effect straight away and my head started to feel kind of strange.

  “What did you just give me?”

  “Liquid courage,” Sophia answered and even though said like this it just sounded like regular alcohol, in a place like this I knew better.

  “You mean in the psychological sense right?”

  “No, she totally means in every sense and it should be kicking in any second now.” Pip said checking my hair and applying another layer of makeup to my lips and cheeks. I was just glad she hadn’t whipped out a stick of mascara as she had already attacked my eyes before we left. It was only now that I looked to my right to see that Sophia had handed Ari the same drink and she was currently finishing the glass.

  “Okay that’s weird, I feel kinda…funny.”

  “Me too.” I agreed with Ari and suddenly I just wanted to sway my hips and flick my hair…what had she given me, ‘attitude serum’?

  “Good news is it wears off quickly so let’s get going should we.” Sophia suggested urgently.

  “Yeah, plus the crowd is getting restless.” Pip said and I peeked out of the curtain to see people were chanting for the next act to come on. Well if they wanted an act, then they were going to get one.

  “Hell yeah! I say we just do it!” I said and Pip and Sophia gave each other knowing smirks.

  “Wow doesn’t take long at all.” Pip said and Sophia gathered us round to give us a pep talk,

  “Right the deal is to keep the feather fans in place to hide our faces as we do our dance and then when the song finishes the next will start and that’s when you do your thing, Kaz.” It was strange but now this plan sounded like pure genius and I knew it was down to the drink. However, instead of freaking myself out about it, I decided to embrace it.

  “What about me?” Ari asked,

  “Show me what you can do with that thing.” Pip asked nodding to the pole she still carried which resembled a long baton. The next thing I knew she started throwing it around, twirling it along her arm and even throwing it up and spinning before catching it.

  “Shit yeah!”

  “Oh I think you will do.” Sophia said after Pip’s approval. Meanwhile my mouth had dropped.

  “Where the hell did you learn that?!” I asked and she just shrugged her shoulders and said,

  “Not sure, just now I guess.”

  “You’re good.” I told her and Sophia coughed, telling me we had more pressing matters to be getting on with and she was right, we so did!

  “Right, let’s go get ‘em girls!” This time I was the one who said this and unbelievably, started leading the way. The trick was not showing our faces but thankfully the lights lit our way and the crowd parted as we swaggered through to a sexy burlesque song I didn’t recognise. But there was one thing about it I could say for sure and that was it made you want to dance and damn sexy at that!

  We all ducked under the ropes like pros and I didn’t know what that stuff was but wow, it made me feel nimble! We walked into the middle and the lights dimmed, shading our faces and making it harder to see who we were. I knew this was thanks to Pip and her instructions to whoever was at the controls.

  So with our feathers in place we started to get down low and flicking our bodies back up, before swaying and dancing, kicking our legs out and swapping one fan for the other so only briefly could tempting parts of our bodies be seen.

  “What’s the matter Dom, do you not like my girls?” I heard Jared shout to Draven and I sneaked a peek to see him looking bored, obviously having no clue that his wife was dancing on stage. This made me really start going for it and I looked behind me to see that Pip and Sophia danced the same steps, like backing dancers…oh yeah, they had totally planned for this!

  Then we all spun round and showed our behinds giving them a wiggle as we let Ari walk past us for her moment to shine… and she didn’t disappoint. We all turned around and danced as one as she threw up the baton like a pro. She twirled it round bending backwards in a sexy pose as it continued to spin in two fingers, then she threw it up, spun and caught it on another spin. I could barely believe it was the same Ari I knew and had to wonder if this was something she’d learnt how to do in her past life.

  Everyone clapped around us and I knew she had finished her part when I saw her strut back to behind us, so she could twirl back in the shadows. Then I retook my place at the front and continued my feather tease, feeling good when I heard some wolf whistling going on. I knew the song was coming to an end and I gathered this was the big reveal. So I got ready, shaking my fans at just the right point before lifting them both in the opposite direction slowly. Then as the last notes played I quickly moved one arm down and the other up just as the lights came on and the song finished.

  The crowd went crazy and all the men we knew stood up and started clapping and cheering for us. I looked down to Draven to see him barely looking interested and I had to smirk when Jared had to squeeze his shoulder to get his attention, whispering something in his ear. Just as he finally looked up I threw my feather fans away, showing him my sexy outfit with hands on hips. Then I took the microphone that Pip handed me over my shoulder and when my favourite song started I finally had my moment in life to fulfil a crazy dream as I sang out the words and went wild!

  I think this was when he really started to look at me and I almost laughed. I don’t think I would ever forget the look of heart stopping shock on his face when he finally realised what they had been trying to tell him and yes, I was right there on stage singing to him.

  “Workin’ 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin’…” I sang my heart out and heard the girls behind me doing the same thing whenever we reached the chorus. I danced as provocatively as I could and loved the reaction I received from the crowd, one Draven was growling at. The girls behind me carried on as my backing singers, clicking their fingers and side stepping two steps and back again.

  Even Adam and Zagan looked as if they had swallowed something they were struggling to get down and I laughed through the last chorus, where we all joined together and sang it as a three-way group. The end of the song came and if I thought the crowd went crazy before, well now they were unruly and close to uncontrollable. We all gave a bow for our performances and still with the microphone in my hand I lifted it to my lips and said,

  “Thank you everyone, that was a gift for my husband, Dominic Draven.” As I said this I kept eye contact with him and I don’t know which part of him burned brighter, the Angel or the Demon. In the end I imagined it was both that made him stand up, jump over the ropes, take me in his arms and kiss me like never before, bending my body backwards in a movie style kiss. The crowd cheered all around us but they were lost to me and became shadows in all that was Draven. After the far too brief kiss he lifted me up into his arms, released his magnificent wings and flew us both over the ropes. Draven stood in front of Jared and said only one word that came out in a demonic rasp,

  “Privacy.” Jared smirked and pointed to the back of the arena. Draven nodded and jumped down from the raised platform and into the crowd. They parted as he walked through as if they were both terrified of his wrath and in awe of his presence. He cut the distance in no time at all and by the time we got to the wall of curtains I was quivering in his arms. I wanted him so badly, it felt like I would explode, right here right now, coming without him even touching me.

  His wings came forward in a whoosh of air, meeting in front of us so that they could part the sea of material, meaning Draven didn’t have to let me go. On the other side of thi
s was a store room of sorts that led into a private office. Draven kicked open the door with a little too much force, splitting the timber frame so that the door hung limp from its hinges.

  “I will buy him a new door.” Draven said when I gave him a look of shock but his answer made me smile. Inside was a plush looking office but nothing like the one I had been in when I had been trying to convince Jared to take me into Hell. And now I was back again and about to convince him to help me once again, only this time it was another type of Hell I faced.

  I closed my eyes against that thought, knowing that I couldn’t think about that now, not when Draven’s hands would soon be all over my body. It would feel like the ultimate betrayal. So I focused back on the room and smiled when Draven walked us both straight to the large desk. He sat me down on the edge and I parted my legs as he stepped into them. He put both his hands on my neck and used his thumbs to push my face up so he could have my eyes on his.

  “You sang for me,” he told me and I blushed, noting that the effects of the drink had long gone. I bit my lip and bobbed my head up and down in small nods, nervously waiting to see what he thought of it all.

  “You sang for me,” he repeated and before I could tell him yes he crushed his lips to mine, pulling my face closer so he could devour me in just one kiss. His hands were everywhere over my dress, moving down until he grabbed my waist, spanning it with both hands before tugging me suddenly towards him.

  “I can’t wait.” This was my only warning before he found my underwear, tore it off and entered me in one strong thrust. I grabbed onto his bare shoulders and threw my head back in ecstasy. Then he swiped all that was on the desk to the floor and pushed me back so I lay flat against the cold wood. This way he managed to enter me deeper, connecting with all those tormenting nerves inside me. I wanted to come so badly but I wanted him to go faster. No, I needed him to go faster.