by Mila Young
“It’s safe to walk about the cabin now,” he announces. “The weather is clear. Minimal cloud coverage, and wind speeds are normal. We should arrive at our destination in just under three hours.”
The ding, ding chimes again to signal the end of the radio transmission, and only then does Aria lift her head to look at me again. This time, her cheeks are kissed with pink from embarrassment, and she rubs her glossy lips together.
“Sorry about that,” she whispers as she starts to climb off me and takes her seat across from me again. The second her warmth of her body is gone, I frown.
“Nothing to be sorry about,” I say. “Take-off and landing are always the most troubling parts. Especially if you’ve never flown before.” And sudden turbulence, but hopefully we won’t experience any of that on this trip.
She nods and leans back in the chair, her spine still uncomfortably straight and rigid.
“How are you feeling now?” I ask, knowing I still need to tread lightly with her.
She says on a long exhale, “I think I’m okay… For now, at least.”
“Good.”
Her gaze drops to her lap, and another tense silence stretches between us, reminding me of our dreadful car ride. I’m not sure I can endure another three hours of tense nothingness like that.
Ask her something. Something about her.
Glancing around the plane, I scramble for something else to say to keep the conversation going. But the only thing that comes out of my mouth is, “How are you doing?”
She looks up, brows pinched in confusion, and I want to punch myself for my stupidity.
“You just asked that…” she says, still eyeing me.
I rub a hand over my face. “Yes, well, I meant in regards to things in general. With your shadow and what happened with Sir Surchion.”
I grind my teeth and wave for one of the attendants to come over with a drink. I need it. But as obvious as my blunder was, Aria doesn’t seem to notice.
“Oh.” Hesitating, she licks her lips. “I have nightmares still, mostly about falling into darkness… but I’m sure those will go away. They usually do.” She trails off, but her words aren’t lost on me. She’s used to traumatic things happening to her. She’s lived a hard life—that’s obvious—but like always, she’s come out of it on the other side. She’s survived. She doesn’t dwell on it, and that takes a great deal of strength.
“I haven’t let Sayah out—willingly—in a while,” she continues, her gaze focused on something beyond me, glazed over by her own thoughts. “After what happened in the warehouse, I’ve… I’ve been afraid to.”
“Sayah?”
“That’s the name I gave her, my shadow, when I was younger. We’ve always been like friends. Helping each other. At least, until recently…”
The stewardess comes over pushing a cart. She hands me my whiskey and asks Aria if she wants anything. She politely turns the offer away.
Once we’re alone again, I say, “Because she’s been escaping on her own.” I take a quick sip of the whiskey and instantly relax at the familiar, silky fire that races down my throat.
Aria nods, and her lips twist into a frown. “I used to be able to control her. She’s always listened to me. I don’t know if I’ve lost control of her, if she’s gotten stronger, or if I never had control over her in the first place.”
I can see where her fear comes from. This shadow creature does appear to be living inside her. Living through her. To find out she has no control over it…
Aria lifts her hands and stares at her palms. “When she manifested in the warehouse, my body started to glow, and it felt like I was covered in pins and needles, like when your foot goes to sleep.”
She glances at me to see if I can relate, which I can’t, but I have an idea of what she means so I wave for her to go on.
“She was draining me and getting more and more solid. I don’t know how else to explain it, but I got so weak. Then I blacked out.”
“That’s when we came in,” I say. “We saw you fall. Unconscious.”
“I’m terrified it’ll happen again,” she confesses. “I’d rather not let her out if I can help it.”
“What happens if she slips free? Like before... in my office.” When we were wrapped in each other and riding the high of our orgasms.
As the need rekindles within me to relive that moment, I take another sip of my whiskey, hoping to quash the fire. When it comes to this girl, I’m not sure anything will ever truly be enough.
She glances down again, color hitting her cheeks. She knows exactly what I’m referring to. I don’t know why, but her moments of innocence like this make me want to grab her, crush my body against hers, and kiss her shyness away. Draw that ravenous hunger that I know she’s capable of back out.
Heat prickles across my skin, and I’m suddenly uncomfortably hot under my jacket. Shifting in my chair, I drain the rest of my whiskey in one final gulp and place the empty glass on the table beside me.
Her gaze drifts out the small window where crystal blue skies and white clouds race by. “She’s never been able to leave my body without my command. Whatever’s happening, I don’t see how it’s good,” she says.
I have to agree.
“We’ll figure it out,” I tell her. It’s something I’ve promised her before, and it’s a promise I’m willing to keep. I’m not exactly sure how, but I’ll find a way.
She sighs, still not looking at me. Her shoulders slump as her worry takes hold. “I don’t see how. I’ve been searching for any clues to who I am for years...”
My heart clenches knowing this is affecting her so. I hate seeing her full of turmoil over something she can’t control.
Before I realize what I’m doing, I lean forward, reach out, and rest my hand on her bare knee. Her gaze snaps my way, her entire body stiffening from my touch.
Shit. I’ve made a mistake. I pull away, instantly regretting my poor attempt to comfort her.
Why am I so terrible at this? To claim her on my office desk comes with no doubt, but the idea of bringing her ease when she’s distressed has me blanking.
If Dorian were here, he’d be laughing at how much I’m struggling. I’ve never tried to form a deeper relationship with another person before. Especially a woman. Sex and souls were all that mattered once we were cast to Earth, and I’ve gotten both in abundance and without challenge. There was never a need for anything else.
But with Aria, I want more. I have her soul. Our sexual chemistry is hotter than an inferno, but I’m still unsatisfied.
I want all of her.
A small smile flickers across her lips. “It’s okay, you can leave your hand there,” she whispers, and then adds, “your touch is just so warm.”
“It’s the hellfire,” I reply, glancing at my hands and settling my hand back on her thigh. “It runs through my veins.”
“Is it like that for all demons?” she asks. “Dorian and Elias, too?”
I nod. “Yes, but more so for me, since I am an original sin demon and…”
“The son of Lucifer,” she finishes for me, carrying no judgement in her tone.
I clench my jaw. Even though it’s true, I still despise hearing it out loud. It’s a part of myself I wish never existed.
“Sorry, I know you guys aren’t really on the best of terms,” she says.
“That’s an extreme understatement.”
“I just can’t see Lucifer, ruler of the underworld, as daddy dearest with seven kids…”
I gesture to the stewardess for another whiskey. “That’s because he wasn’t. And we also were never children.”
Mouth agape, she waits for me to continue, but I wait for my drink and take another mouthful when it arrives. It slides down my throat, but it’s strong enough to settle my unease.
“I never had a mother, like other souls do,” I decide to start with. Our lineage is a complicated one, so simplifying it for Aria will be a challenge.
“No mom? But how were you born?”
she asks. A legitimate question, considering.
“We… weren’t.”
Her brows pinch as her confusion grows. I continue. “I don’t know what Lucifer’s reasons were for creating us. Maybe to help expand his kingdom and have someone to watch over all seven levels of Hell for him. There’s no way to know for sure, but my father created us by splitting his own soul into seven pieces. He ripped us one by one out of his own most sinful attributes.”
“Pride, Greed, Lust, Sloth, Wrath…” She struggles to remember the others.
“Gluttony and Envy. Yes,” I begin. The next part I hate to admit. “We are pieces of him.”
“But you aren’t like him,” she says quickly.
I run a thumb along the rim of my glass, my attention drifting past her to the back of the jet. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”
I know what she's trying to do. She’s trying to make me feel better, but she doesn’t understand the workings of Hell. Or how dangerous Lucifer really is. She can’t even fathom the power he possesses. There’s a reason God threw him out of Heaven and imprisoned him down below. But Lucifer then turned around and made Hell his kingdom instead.
Remembering the letter Maverick sent to Dorian, my gut twists with anger and worry. If my brother knows about Aria, there is no doubt in my mind my father does, too. And if he discovers the power she holds, he’ll either see her as a threat and kill her, or worse—take her for himself. Demon contracts mean shit to the Lord of demons. She isn’t safe.
I don’t want to scare her, of course, but Lucifer’s ruthlessness and drive to get what he wants knows no bounds. He’ll do whatever it takes, destroy whoever he has to, and I suspect it won’t be long before his prison of Hell won’t be strong enough to hold him anymore. If he manages to escape, then we are all doomed.
“I don’t believe it,” she says, but I catch the hitch in her voice that reveals her uncertainty. “I don’t.”
“Then you’re hopelessly naive.” I lift my glass to my lips again. I’ve tried for so long to separate myself from my father, to be my own man, but it won't change the truth of my creation. As much as I despise it, Lucifer will always be a part of me. “I am Lucifer's greatest sin made flesh.”
“Yeah, but you’re not vicious. Or cruel. A royal pain in my ass sometimes, but not totally heartless.”
“I very much am all those things.”
“Not with me.”
I pause. Her words shock me, taking a moment to fully sink in. “You have no idea what I’m fully capable of.”
Being on Earth has definitely changed me and shifted my views of the living, but Aria has softened me in other ways. There’s no denying it. I tell myself I’ve kept her alive this long because of her mysterious gifts, but that’s not true, now is it? Deep down, I know it isn’t. I’ve let her stay around because I wanted her to. Because I wanted her. Plain and simple.
I’ve known it all along but didn’t want to admit it. It’s just like with this trip. I told Dorian it was to find the spine, but the idea of being alone again with Aria was just too tempting.
She’s my weakness. I can see that now. Which makes me vulnerable.
And that’s one thing my father could never say. He never felt a thing for anyone else besides himself in all of his existence. Not for any of his mistresses, not for any of his subjects or his children. He never loved a soul.
I look up at Aria, who’s sitting quietly across from me with big, dark eyes full of concern and a small, hopeful smile. My chest instantly warms. It’s such a strange and unfamiliar feeling, that my lips curl up on their own.
Maybe she’s right, and I’m not an exact replica of Lucifer like I’ve always feared.
Because there’s something I’ve realized I have that he never will.
Chapter Fourteen
Cain
“Where specifically are we going?” Aria asks while staring out of the window of the pearl white Jaguar. The moment Aria and I landed, I hired a car that would make Dorian jealous. It roars each time I shift gears, and we glide down the road.
Now we’re heading as far from the city as possible. Woodlands flank both sides of the road. We left the freeway thirty minutes ago, and with fewer cars on the road, Aria’s curiosity piques. She’s been asking me where we’re going since we left the airport.
“It’s a surprise,” I answer and glance over, expecting her to meet my gaze. She doesn’t disappoint, and I can’t help grinning at her. Her eyes widen with expectation that I’ll tell her everything.
“I love surprises. Tell me more.”
It’s tempting to drag this out, to tease her until she begs me, given how much fun I can have. Those are the times to make deals with people, as they are most likely to agree to anything. I’ve always been curious about humans’ inquisitiveness and the trouble it gets them into.
But as I veer left and turn down a dirt road, the liberty of time has vanished for such luxuries. “You’ll find out soon enough,” I assure her, which sends her back to staring outside the window at the wild forest with overgrown shrubs and lofty pines.
“Give me a clue,” she insists.
“I think you are going to really like it.”
She glowers at me over her shoulder. “That is not a clue.”
“And I never agreed to feed your curiosity. We’re almost there.”
She stiffens. “See, now that’s a clue.” She swivels in her seat to face me. “Could be a number of things. Nod if I get it, okay?”
I don’t respond, but she continues. “A picnic? We’re staying in a cabin in the woods? There’s an exclusive, fancy hotel out here? A zoo?” She huffs when I remain silent. “Am I getting close?”
Smirking, I can’t help but admire her tenacity. I pull the Jaguar off the dirt road and kill the engine. “We’re here,” I say in a victorious voice, which I know will only push her to ask more questions. Something about her eagerness has me smiling.
My little Aria straightens, chewing on her lower lip, staring at me, then outside into the woods. All I can see around us are trees, though it’s getting darker outside. “There’s nothing here. I can’t believe you brought me to the middle of nowhere.”
“You need to learn patience.”
She rolls her eyes as she swings open her door. “Yeah, yeah.”
“Here, take this," I say before she gets out, grabbing a flashlight.
She purses her lips, staring at it. “What's that for? Are we hiking? Is that what this is all about?"
I can’t help but laugh as we both climb out of the car.
By the time she shuts her door, I’ve strolled ahead to where the dense trees thin out. The dirt track ahead has long been overtaken by the forest. I trample through overgrown grasses, and all the while Aria fiddles with the flashlight, not looking where she’s going. She bumps into me, then lifts her head.
Except it's not me she sees. Her gaze swings to the clearing in the trees before us, at the building I brought her to, suffocated by woods. But it’s still intact.
Her mouth drops open. “Holy shit!”
ARIA
I stare at the enormous, dilapidated hospital. Four floors of gray walls stained by years of running water and dirt. Metal bars cover the windows, some of which are shattered. From inside the building, there is nothing but darkness. The only saving grace about us going inside there is that the sun hasn't fully gone down yet.
“You don’t like your surprise?” Cain asks me. When I glance over, he’s waiting expectantly, and I blink back, unsure at first how to react. His idea of a surprise is bringing me to the hospital I was born at? Yeah, it’s great, but when he said he had a surprise for me, I was envisioning going to a movie, or driving to a cliff to overlook the sunset, and maybe chocolates. Definitely chocolates. Not visiting the Amityville house.
“It’s… different. And probably has ghosts.”
I finger the flashlight he gave me. I am convinced I need more than one measly light to enter the place that belongs in a horror movie. And to th
ink—this is where I was born, yet it freaks me out.
“We’ll be lucky if ghosts are all we find in there,” Cain answers. It’s like he’s trying to reassure me, but he does a terrible job.
“Can you sense anything in there with your demon feelers?”
He looks over at me with an arching brow. “‘Demon feelers’? What are those?”
“Your spidey senses, you know. Since you’re from Hell, can you sense other creatures from the underworld? Better we don’t walk in with any surprises.”
I chew on a hangnail. I watched way too many horror movies growing up, and now my imagination is on overdrive. You'd think with the shadow living inside me and dealing with demons, I'd be impervious to a scary building.
You’d be wrong. I am shaking like a leaf because I hate the idea of anything jumping out at me in the dark.
Cain's hand slips into mine, our fingers interlacing, his warmth spreading over me. “You don’t have to fear anything while you’re with me. I thought after I caught you researching this place, you might want to come and see it personally. Never know what we might still find.”
“That’s actually a really nice gesture. Thank you.” It’s also a tiny bit creepy, but the good factor of his deed far outweighs the scary factor. I won’t deny, there is a reassurance in having a demon of sin in your corner. But does that also make him a target for benevolent spirits?
Taking a deep inhale, I follow his lead as he steps over wild grass and approaches a small gap in the wire fence surrounding the closed-down hospital.
As Cain pulls the looped wire aside so I can step into the grounds, I ask, “We’re trespassing, aren’t we?”
“As long as we don’t get caught, we are fine. I will get us inside,” Cain says as he slides in after me. “Then I can let you know if I pick up anything with my demon feelers.” He smirks, and I can’t help but laugh.
“I see what you did there, and I’m super impressed you tried to make a joke.”
“Tried?”
