16
Lucifer doesn’t come back during the night. Not that I’m waiting for him to show up or anything. Definitely not. I’m merely hoping he won’t.
But his departure leaves a stain in the room, a mark on my being that definitely wasn’t there before. It doesn’t just hang in the air, tense like a mine waiting to be exploded, instead, it follows me, watches me, and it’s almost as if he’s standing right beside me with that same intense look he wore just before he left.
I’m ashamed of the amount of times I turn in the bed just to see if he’s there.
He fed off me. He touched me, in a way more intimate than I ever thought possible. He reached into my soul and brushed the very thing that makes me human with his evil-dipped fingertips and I can feel its chill, its poison spreading through me. I can still feel him.
He didn’t leave. Not entirely. He’s still here somewhere, hidden within the room. Hidden within me. Though I can’t see him, I feel him, sense him, I can almost smell him and the faint smell is driving me insane.
I twist and turn in the bed, clenching the sheets to keep from tearing my hair out in frustration. I shouldn’t have allowed him to touch me in the first place because now look at me. A panting, wanting mess.
That’s what I get for being weak, if only for a moment. The sight of him laying on the bed like that, the mighty Lucifer, the devil himself, the demon who embodies everything evil and impure, wounded on the bed before me. Delirious with the fever he must have been having with the way he was talking. There’s no way the man who had said all those things – about mastering self-control and feeding with consent – is the same man who rules over the very creatures I set out daily to destroy. Absolutely no way.
Which makes me even angrier because I should have known better. And I was still fooled by it. The memory of it makes me clench my jaw so tightly, I’m afraid I might break my teeth. Now, I’m tainted. Something about my soul has changed. I don’t know what it is but there’s no doubt about it.
And to make things worse, that craving, that longing … it just won’t go away.
Sleep takes forever to claim me but, at last, I fall under its comforting warmth and, for a while, it’s blissful.
Flashes of images race through my dreams. I see Natalia, dead against the cold, hard ground while her blood warms her body.
I see Mr. Black, standing by the window of his office, hands clasped behind his back, talking to a shadow that, without having to actually look, I know is my mother.
I witness pain stand stark on his features before I’m being shaken awake by a rough hand on my shoulder.
My eyes pop open instantly and I roll over slightly to see that the hand is actually a foot. Merlidon’s foot, to be exact.
Annoyance stabs me and I scowl, grabbing his foot and pulling him over my body so that he falls on the bed in one fell swoop. I hop on top of him, whipping the small dagger from my boot sheath and putting it to his neck. “You should think twice about treating me like some disgusting vermin, demon. If you value your safety.”
A slow smile spreads across his face – which, oddly enough, makes my stomach light up. “It won’t be hard to admit that you might be a step above disgusting vermin. Melody.”
I sneer at him. I sense the other two in the room but I don’t want to face them – or rather, one person in particular. I focus on the black eyes of the annoying demon beneath me. “Funny. I couldn’t say the same about you.”
“A vermin who likes to straddle.” His smile becomes teasing. “I think there’s something else you would like to tell me.”
“Over your dead body.” I roll my eyes, climbing off him, trying to shove aside the betraying thoughts that course through my head. Fuck, I know it’s normal to react like that sitting on top such a devastatingly attractive guy but it’s still annoying. There should be a rule against being that good looking.
I push the dagger back into its sheath, not paying attention to any of them and instead, getting up and making my way over to the only mirror in the room.
“Looks like you had a good rest,” I hear him say behind me, the smirk evident in his voice.
“Lovely,” I respond dryly.
“Dreamt about me?”
“Of course I did.”
I hear him stand. I hardly notice it though because I’m too aware of another pair of black eyes watching me intently.
Merlidon comes to stand behind me and I can see the mischief written all over his face. Clearly, he’s in a great mood. Or at least, in a good enough mood to pester me. “I hope it included sweaty nights?”
“Of course it did.” I catch his eye in the mirror as I lift my hair up into a ponytail. “I got really sweaty trying to castrate you. It was a job well done, though.”
He grimaces but the humor is still clear in his eyes. What’s with these demons and finding everything I do amusing?
Merlidon opens his mouth to say something but then he steps in. “Enough,” he says, tone curt. “We should get going. We don’t have much time.”
I turn to look at him. And pause.
He isn’t dressed in a fitted black suit anymore. Instead, he wears black armor that clings to his toned muscles and sculpts every curve and plane of his body. It leaves much to the imagination, however, and my brain wastes no time in picturing the things that are hidden beneath it, much to my chagrin. By his side is a long black sword, the same one I saw him use during the fight with the demons, its shining blade glowing unnaturally, as if it can sense my eyes.
The other two are dressed in similar ways, and look just as handsome. I turn my gaze to Lucifer, not sure if it’s really the best option.
He’s staring at me as well, though his face is a blank mask. I know his mind is running as fast as mine is, but I don’t try to think about what he might be thinking. At this point, I don’t think I’m even capable of thinking.
Fuck, what the hell did he do to me?
I straighten my back, looking him dead in the eye and instantly regret it. His gaze becomes thoughtful and I want to step back, wondering what was going through his head. Shit, I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.
“Where are we going?” I ask them, though I know exactly who is going to answer. And I’m hoping for it.
“We’re going to find Jezebel. She has some play in all of this and I intend on finding out what it is.”
His tone is cold. Hard. I’m not sure if it’s directed at me but I take it like it is anyway. Indignation flares on my skin in response and I revel in the feeling. This. This I like.
“Who is she?”
The question hangs in the air. I look expectantly at him, then the others. No one speaks until Lucifer straightens and says, “An old friend of ours. You’ll see soon enough. We should go.”
And with that, he walks out. The devil leading his pack. I don’t follow immediately, because, well, I don’t belong to him. Plus, as long as I’m still capable of rebelling, I’ll do exactly that. No matter how innocent the things are they ask of me, no matter how much they also work toward my benefit, they need to remember I am not their little lamb.
Folding my arms over my chest, I notice Merlidon and Brotus haven’t budged either.
I look at them. Merlidon looks about ready to burst out laughing at the look on my face and Brotus, well Brotus just looks like he always does. Handsome, at ease, but still stern, somehow.
“You heard him, human. Let’s go.” Laughter springs to the surface of Merlidon’s face and he shakes his head, walking by me as he heads to the door.
“By the way, Melody. Sit on top of me again the way you did earlier and you better be prepared to follow through with what a position like that incites.”
“Is that a warning or a threat?” I hiss.
“Let’s consider it a dare,” he says, “we all know how fond you are of rebelling.”
I don’t answer. Partially because all words fail me and partially because of the hypnotizing smell of his cologne.
Brot
us steps forward, practically shoving Merlidon out of the way. as soon as he’s gone, it’s Brotus’ presence that has another unwarranted effect on me. “We should go,” he suggests.
I don’t look at him. I only follow in angry wake of the two annoyingly attractive demons. Of course, Brotus follows suit.
They’re already headed down the hallway, the opposite way from the room Natalia had been in, and Lucifer’s head is but a black dot in the distance. His strides are long and purposeful, as if he doesn’t really care to allow us to catch up. I don’t mind the distance he creates between us. I’m actually glad for it. I don’t want to be close to him at all, not after what he did to me. Not when my body doesn’t know how to keep itself sane in his presence.
Brotus’s shadow falls over me as we walk, keeping close though I’m sure he could have bypassed me a long time ago.
“Is he always like that?” I ask him without looking.
He doesn’t look at me either. “He is a good man.”
“Demon,” I correct testily. “But that’s not what I asked you. Who’s Jezebel?”
“An old friend, as he said.”
“But is that the truth?”
“As much of the truth as should be said.”
What the hell does that mean? I glance at him, scowling. “Do you always talk like this?”
“I speak the words I am allowed to say.”
“Which means he won’t allow you to say certain things, huh? He made it seem as if he was some benevolent ruler.” I huff in disbelief.
Brotus’ eyes fall on me, intense. “Lucifer is many things.”
As well as the man the stories say? “I doubt a benevolent ruler is one of them.”
His eyes shift away and he shrugs, impassive. “No one is perfect in anything.”
I crook a brow at him. “You’re perfect at going around me. I can’t seem to get one straight answer out of you.”
“Does it matter? You think of us as untrustworthy demons. Would you believe anything I say anyway?”
Touché.
I don’t say anything simply because I don’t have anything to say to that.
“He fed from you.”
I nearly freeze in shock. I stifle the urge, pushing my feet though I can hardly feel the floor beneath me anymore. “Where the hell would you get that idea?”
Brotus shrugs, a movement that seems more forced than it should have been. All of a sudden, his aura changes, bolstering with something out of place. But, almost as if I imagined it, he says, “I can tell. He’s more energized than before. And you have the mark.”
“The mark?”
He stops and I stop with him. Brotus touches the side of my neck and I feel the electricity of it travel through my entire body. His finger lingers on the spot Lucifer’s lips had grazed, the same spot I could have sworn was burning me all throughout the night. “He’s marked you right here,” he whispers, his eyes narrowing with something that resembles desperation. But then he pulls away, quickly as though slapped out of a trance.
My hand flies to my neck as he steps away and continues walking. I follow behind him, trying to find my words. “He fucking marked me,” is the only thing I can think to say. A familiar red haze falls over my vision. “He fucking marked me? Since when do people get marked by feeding demons?”
“Most don’t,” Brotus answers with immeasurable calmness. “The only time a human can be marked by a demon is when their life essence is incredibly compatible with the energy the demon is radiating.”
“Like we’ve …” I’m afraid to say the word but, luckily Brotus picks up, shaking his head.
“Not mated,” he says. Then he whispers, “But close.”
I don’t want to hear anymore. The spot he touched is burning now, pulsating in response to the image of his broad back a distance away from me. Without thinking, I touch my neck again.
He marked me. Lucifer, the King of Demons, marked a hunter who’s only goal in life is eradicate the demonic population.
Fate is a cruel bitch.
“He’s lucky,” Brotus continues. “He hasn’t fed in a while.”
“The poor lad,” I push out, sarcasm dripping off my tongue but Brotus just ignores me.
“Another day and things would have been very bad.”
“I figured.” That’s why I did what I did. It was the only reason I even let him come so close to me.
Yeah, Melody. Keep telling yourself that.
“Yes, Merlidon and I have not fed as well.” And then, to my deep surprise, Brotus looks expectantly at me.
“You must be out of your fucking mind.” If Lucifer feeding off me left such a massive impact, I don’t even want to think about what letting two other demons get that close to me would lead to.
Brotus shrugs, the movement somehow elegant despite his size. “I expected as much.”
“You had the gall to even ask such a thing.”
“I thought I would try my luck.” He shrugs again. “My apologies.”
I nearly tell him there’s no need to apologize. He’s merely hungry. Despite his stoic face, I have no clue if he is as close to collapsing as Lucifer was. Hell, Merlidon could be on his last legs this very moment. But Hell will freeze over before I let them pass me around like corn on a stick.
So, I keep quiet and, after what feels like forever, the endless hallways finally come to a close and the front door looms ahead. Lucifer doesn’t pause for us to catch up. Instead, he throws the door open, showering the entrance with a blinding, unnatural light. I squint as I step through the door, holding my arm over my face while I struggle to see.
The light from outside closely resembles sunlight but without any of its warmth. After a while I get used to the shine, and I look up to see that the sky is as red as rubies, a brighter red pooling in the very center of the sky until it resembles a moon ten times the size of the one I see on most nights. Black objects streak across the red canvas, carrying cries of horror in their wake and are nearly mirrored by the unsightly shapes that litter the street we stand next to.
This is offshore?
I look expectantly at Brotus but he ignores me and, instead, follows behind his king.
That king decides to stop at the side of the street to wait, clearly unperturbed by the heat of the ground while I am struggling to keep the unforeseen beads of sweat from stinging my eyes.
I approach him, crossing my arms although I’m incredibly aware I look like a petulant teenager who didn’t get her way. I got my way of course, but that’s exactly what I’m not happy about. “Where is this Jezebel? I thought we were going to teleport.”
“Merlidon and Brotus are much too weak to teleport. Luckily, she’s not very far from here. So walking won’t be a problem. Unless you’re too tired, if that’s the case – “
“I’m fine,” I say, cutting him off before he can offer up one of his men to throw me over one of their shoulders like a damsel in distress.
“Okay.”
As he turns to go down the street, I quicken my steps and follow him more closely. “Lucifer. That answers my second question but what about my first?”
“You asked the question already and I told you an answer.” His tone is matter-of-fact. And even though I know he’s not really willing to give me anything more substantial I still press on.
“The answer you gave me was not a very sufficient one. Who is Jezebel?”
His jaw clenches. The Lucifer of yesterday is long gone. This one is cold, powerful and in control. That’s not to say he isn’t just as attractive…unfortunately. “Patience, Melody.”
“Don’t talk to me like I’m a child, Lucifer. I don’t care who the fuck she is to you. I want to know who she is because I know she’s of importance, current situation aside. I’ve heard her name before. Stop behaving as if she broke your heart and get to explaining.”
His eyes snap to me, smoldering. “You have the balls to talk to me like that, Melody?” he whispers. Just that one sentence sends a thread of unease through
me and has the lingering demons nearby scurrying for cover, as if they know their king is about to unleash something fierce.
Because I’ve lost all common sense, the words that slip past my lips next do so without hesitation. “Well if the King would stop being a little bitch, maybe I would have a reason to talk to you a little better.” I ignore the glare, and ignore the way my skin crawls with something akin to fear at the feel of it. Fuck, no doubt if I was anyone else, he’d slice me open and suck me dry in no time. For whatever reason, Lucifer has decided to keep me around. And, because of that, keep me alive.
But Hell if I’m not going down without a fight when he decides I’m of no use to him.
I press on, not giving him the time to act on his anger. “I’m not very sure, but I think I heard her name through one of the Christian tales. I don’t really follow up with the bible so I could be incredibly wrong. Was she a seductress of some sort?”
“Of some sorts,” he answers, tone clipped.
I ignore it. “Succubus?” He shakes his head. My eyebrows raise in response. “Something else?”
He doesn’t respond straightaway. Nearby, I’m aware of the demons lurking in the shadows, snarling at me as I pass but staying rooted in their spots in light of their King. Venom drips from their mouths, a few bold enough to spit them out at me as they hiss ‘hunter’ as if it was a curse. I don’t pay attention to any of them.
Lucifer commands the entire street as well as the very air I’m breathing. It’s as if once his foot graces the sidewalk of this seemingly regular, albeit eerie, street, it is now his and everything that traverses it is under his control. The set of his shoulders reveal barely constrained irritation, no doubt directed at me though he shoots an audacious demon a look I swear should have killed him on spot. With the way the demon scurries away in fright, there’s no doubting the fear Lucifer puts in him.
Benevolent ruler, my ass. This guy has all these demons in the palm of his hand. With one snap of his fingers I’m sure they will bend over backwards to suit his will. I don’t know why I allowed myself to think otherwise.
I’m about to say something again when Merlidon steps up next to me. I sense rather than hear Brotus come behind me. Large demon. Light feet. Again, I’m not surprised.
Hunting Darkness Page 11
