Immediately, crisp, chilled air hit my burning skin, raising goose bumps on my arms. I crossed and rubbed my hands up and down over them to try and ward off the chill. At that point, I wondered if it wasn’t so much the cool air but my sudden nerves about what I was going to encounter in the room.
“After you,” Caleb announced, leaning against the doorframe. His arm stretched over the width of the open steel door.
The room was bright. Everything in the room was white—white walls, white ceiling, white furniture, although sparse, with only cabinetry along the walls. The whole setting was reminiscent of a stark, clean hospital. Well, except for the giant glass sarcophagus-looking object propped up on a huge, wide pedestal that rose up from the floor in the middle of the room. From only a few feet inside the door, I was too far away from it to see what was inside. But I knew. Even if Caleb hadn’t told me the body was here, I would have known. Nergal’s presence radiated everywhere in the room as if he were standing alive in front of me. It tugged at my soul like a negative and positive charge too close together. The connection was imminent. I was no longer chilled. I was energized and needed contact.
Everything in the room faded away except the glass tomb. Stillness. The only sound seemed to be the pulsing rhythm from within me, a steady droning thump, like a heartbeat in my eardrums. I stepped without falter, or hesitation, toward the body of the beast that once gave me sleepless nights filled with nightmares. When I reached the side of it and peered inside, my breath caught at the sight of the body that lay prone within. It was Nergal, looking like the last I’d seen him, lying still, eyes shut, appearing as if he were in a peaceful sleep.
It seemed a natural instinct, setting my hand on the glass and closing my eyes. The pulsing drone quieted, and I was weightless. My soul had shed my body and was floating in this space, existing on its own. The experience was incredible, making me feel… invincible.
Cassandra. I’ve waited long for you to come, said that all too familiar voice.
I’m here now, my mind responded.
I brought you here. I chose you. You have power within you, but with me, you’ll have more than you can possibly imagine. More than any other being in this universe. More than enough to fulfill our destiny.
Our destiny, I mentally repeated. The words fit. Right, and a surge of longing, determination, and power emerged when hearing them.
The power is yours, Cassandra. You alone will rule.
But Caleb… I thought.
Caleb is a mere tool. I used him to bring you to me. His power fades in comparison to yours, to what you will have. But you must retrieve the Sword to complete your transformation. Only with the Sword will you retain the ultimate power I have to give you. Find the Sword, Cassandra. Find it and take your destiny.
And Caleb? I asked the voice.
Once you have the Sword, kill him.
His words gave me extreme pleasure. I could practically feel the blade of the Sword entering Caleb’s flesh and taking his essence, and I would smile down on him as the glow of his eyes faded to black.
The Sword will be mine, I assured him, or maybe it was me I was reassuring.
Good. Now go before another finds it.
Inch by inch, the weight of my body lifted as my head began to take in my surroundings again. The room returned to focus, and the pulsing throb faded to nothing. I sensed Caleb behind me, behind my left shoulder, but he was silent. For a moment, I panicked, wondering if he might have heard us. Somehow, I knew my conversation with Nergal had been private, so I brushed the thought away.
I withdrew my hand from the glass and stared at Nergal’s body for a moment longer, not wanting to turn around and face Caleb yet.
Much too soon, Caleb leaned in and wrapped an arm around my waist. “He spoke to you?” he whispered.
“Yes,” I answered.
“What did he say?”
I paused for a moment, wanting to choose my words carefully. “He showed me our destiny.” I knew Caleb would think I meant his and mine, together.
“You know how long I’ve waited so long to hear you say that?”
“I only needed to be shown the way.”
I sensed him nodding behind me, his head lightly brushing against the side of mine. Then he leaned down and placed a kiss on my temple. I let him.
Nergal had used him as a tool. Now, he’d be my tool.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Caleb and I ended up back in the library. Who led whom, I couldn’t remember. We both knew where we were going and what needed to be done. Only I knew our goals were completely different. Or so I hoped.
The room had become warmer than before. I looked at the fire still burning in the hearth. Was it bigger, hotter, or was it the anticipatory state I seemed to be in?
Caleb handed me a drink, and I took it without hesitation. I gulped the fiery liquid, the burn down my throat and belly almost imperceptible, seemingly matching my body’s temperature. It did nothing to dull my senses as the others had, but I didn’t expect it to, didn’t want it to. I had a mission now and nothing would cloud my vision toward it.
“You need to let me go with Braydon to get the Sword,” I said bluntly. I couldn’t risk Caleb reading any thoughts of my deception. The less time I spent talking with him, the better. This had to happen fast.
His eyebrows shot up. “Look at you,” he said with a stupid grin. “So eager now.” He was standing at the side of the fireplace, his elbow resting on the mantle, drink in hand.
“I am.” I set my glass down on the table next to the sofa. “I’ve had a taste of the power I can have, and now I want all of it.”
“We can have.”
“What?”
“The power we can have, Cassie. Together.”
“Yes, of course,” I said, mentally slapping myself for the blunder.
Caleb eyed me, the way he does when he’s trying to read me from the inside out.
“Why can’t I hear your thoughts anymore?” he asked.
He couldn’t? Not at all? Interesting.
“Why can’t I read yours?” I countered.
“Because I don’t want you to. I don’t let anyone in my head.”
“Well, I don’t want anyone in my head either.”
“So, you’ve learned how to block it.”
Had I? I hadn’t put any effort into blocking thoughts. I’d only hoped he couldn’t hear them. It couldn’t be that easy. I’d wished that a gazillion times before.
He was still studying me as if I’d become a new specimen he was trying to identify, and it was starting to make me edgy.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I didn’t know I was even doing it.”
“Your powers are growing faster than I anticipated. Being in Nergal’s presence has obviously made you stronger.” His eyes took on a lustful gaze. Caleb set his drink on the mantle and sauntered toward me. “I like it,” he said with a growl. “I don’t, however, like the fact that I can’t hear your thoughts.” When he stood directly in front of me, forcing me to look up to meet his gaze, I didn’t dare look away for fear he would see that as an admission of guilt over the deception.
“Why, because you don’t trust me?” I accused.
His hand came up, and he cupped his fingers around my neck as he stroked my cheek. “I want to, Cassie. I really do.”
“Then let me prove it to you. Let me go to Braydon, on my own. He’ll take me to the Sword, and I’ll bring it back to you. I promise. You can trust me now.”
I wasn’t lying. I would bring it back to Caleb, but not on the terms he had planned. I remembered him telling me the devil was in the details, but there was no need to remind him of that now—not before I had him exactly where I wanted him—with the hilt of that Sword sticking out of his neck.
Shit. I needed to be careful with those mental images. I wasn’t certain how this mental blocking was working or how long it would continue. If he knew…
“Too risky,” he said. “But I can think of a way.” His thumb
moved to my lips and he brushed it over them, back and forth, while his glowing gaze locked onto mine. “You want to prove your loyalty to me, Cassie?”
Oh, God. I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know what he was implying.
“You think me being in your bed will prove my loyalty to you?”
His eyes lowered to my lips, and he put pressure on the bottom one with his thumb, causing my mouth to open slightly. His tongue darted out, and he wet his bottom lip as he stared.
“I think you in my bed is definitely a step in the right direction, a step I will thoroughly enjoy.” He angled his head and leaned in until his lips were a mere whisper from mine. I sucked a breath in anticipation. “You’ll enjoy it too, Cassie. Immensely. I’ll make sure of it.”
This was going to kill me, but I didn’t have much choice if I was going to get him to trust me enough to let me get at the Sword. At one time, I would have refused to sacrifice my body to such a vile creature as Caleb. Now, with ultimate power over everything and everyone, I’d sacrifice almost anything. My body was mere flesh. Ultimate power thrived on the soul, paying no heed to the flesh. The soul could live with or without the penetrable shell. Ultimate power survived only on will and determination, and I was oozing with them both.
I thought his lips had been too close before, but now, when I asked, “So if I give you my body, you’ll trust me to go get the Sword?” my lips brushed his with each word.
“Our coming together will be so much more than you giving me your body, Cassie,” Caleb whispered against my lips. “You will give me your soul and its commitment to be mine.”
With that, he urged the back of my head forward with his hand, forcing my lips into his hard, needy kiss. He ravaged my mouth, wasting no time on a sweet, tender buildup. No, he devoured me instantly, his tongue plunging in and invading my mouth. He tasted of whiskey and desperation, smelled of it too. The desperation claimed me, something he’d been declaring to do for a long time.
His frenzied hands frantically slid down my back and stopped on my ass, where he squeezed my cheeks hard in his palms while pulling me toward him. I crashed into his body and instantly felt how eager he was for me. His large, hard shaft dug into my pelvis and stomach, causing me to move my mouth away to take a breath. I wanted to be disgusted, but my body hadn’t caught up to my mind, and a wave of pleasure shot up from my core, a sigh escaping my lips along with it.
Caleb stilled his movements, and I opened my eyes. He was fixated on me, his eyes so clouded with passion, even the glow that normally happened in this aroused state appeared glazed.
“You like that, baby?” he asked, his voice low and husky.
When I didn’t answer, he circled his hips into mine, creating a new wave within me. Reflexively, I moaned again.
The corner of his mouth slid up into a self-assured smirk. “Yeah, you like that.” He moved to my neck and began suckling the side of it, making a trail with his tongue and lips from the sweet spot under my ear to the top of my collarbone. When he worked his way back up the other side, his hands found my breasts, his thumbs circling my nipples through the material of my shirt.
I was lost in the sensations of my body until his lips stopped at my ear and said, “I bet you’re drenched for me, aren’t you? I bet you can’t wait to feel me inside you. I can’t wait for it either, baby. I’m going to make you scream my name all night long. Lie back on the couch, Cassie.”
He pushed, urging me backward to the couch, but I dug my heels in and put my hands on his chest to stop him. “Wait, what? Here?”
“Yes. Here. I want you now. I can’t wait.”
I knew I’d gone too far in this game to be able to stop it without a fight to the death. But I wasn’t ready. My body was out of control, and I needed my mind to lead this show. I needed to slow him down, slow me down.
“And after, I can go with Braydon to get the Sword?” I asked.
It had worked. I saw his mind working around my question, trying to wrap itself around my game, as he studied me. While trying to catch my breath, I kept my gaze fixed on his, showing him he could read me all he wanted. I had nothing to hide. Nothing he would know about until I was ready, anyway.
Finally, he smiled back, rubbing my arms from shoulders to elbows. “You’re so persistent, Cassie. That’s hot. Really hot. But I’m persistent, too.” He tugged me against his chest and locked his arms around me. Hovering over my lips again, he said, “You prove to me you truly want to be my queen in every way, and you can have anything you want.”
He kissed me and slid his hands down to my ass again. With a small squeeze pushing me into his hard length, he sent my body back to the sensual charge, my mind once again losing the battle with my body. His hands inched lower, to the backs of my thighs. He grasped them in each of his hands and, all of a sudden, I was wrapped around him, legs around his waist, arms around his neck, clinging to him. He lifted me and started carrying me backward toward the couch.
This was it. He was going to take me. Right there and then. Was I ready for this?
Almost out of breath, I pulled my lips away from his and asked, “Would you really take your queen for the first time on a couch like some hormonal teenage boy?”
It stopped him, and I applauded myself once again. The ego was an easy target to manipulate, and Caleb was all ego, all the time.
Grabbing me under my arms, he pulled me off him to set me back on my feet. With an apologetic glance, he stroked my cheek. “I’m sorry, baby. You’re right. You deserve to be treated like the queen you are.” He bent forward and picked me up like a husband would his bride before carrying her across the threshold of a new home.
I let out a whoop of surprise, but he placed a tender kiss on my temple to settle me. Then he whispered in my ear, “Let’s go back to our quarters so I can ravish and worship you good and proper.”
I barely had a chance to catch my breath when everything went black.
***
The smell of vanilla and lavender hit me. I was still in Caleb’s arms and when I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a super-sized bed taking up a quarter of one wall. Candles surrounded it, on tables at each side and in elaborate wall sconces above, as if outlining the bed with a flickering glow, causing the dark, satin bedding to shine with their reflections. It was a vision of seduction. Instead of making me feel all warm and cozy, as it was most certainly intended, the scene gave me chills.
“Someone is sure of themselves,” I said, without looking back at him.
“I may have been a little hopeful. One can never be unprepared for momentous occasions such as this.”
“Wow. You must have gone through a lot of candles.”
His chest rumbled against me. “It’ll be worth it.” He nuzzled his nose near my ear. “You like?” he whispered.
“It’s definitely more romantic than the couch. Set me down so I can see everything.”
He did as I asked, albeit very slowly after turning me to face him so my body slid down the length of his. It didn’t go unnoticed that he hadn’t lost his… enthusiasm for what he anticipated was about to take place in this room. As if he read my thoughts, the corner of his lips lifted into a sinister smirk when I looked up at him.
“Easy, cowboy,” I said before turning out of his arms and putting some distance between us.
The bed was undoubtedly representative of the room itself, bigger than it needed to be and covered in luxurious extravagance. Mirrored walls, armoires, wet bars, vanities, sofas, chairs, desks, wall-mounted televisions, and a token fireplace, were the most obvious items I spotted as I did a three sixty in the middle of it all. Surprisingly, the fireplace wasn’t blazing. All the others had been. It probably had to do with the number of lit candles around the room and the heat they were already giving off.
Three of the four walls included doors. Through one, I could faintly see a marbled countertop housing a porcelain sink. The bathroom. The other door was closed. I approached it and stopped in front. Eyeing the door hand
le, I didn’t grab it, curious to see how far my new powers extended. I closed my eyes and mentally willed the door to open. With barely a thought, and much easier than I’d expected, it worked. I opened my eyes to see the door slightly ajar and couldn’t help the satisfied grin from lighting my face.
Taking a step inside, I couldn’t see anything except the plush, light-colored carpeting that continued from the main room. When reaching the wall behind me, near the entrance, I felt nothing. I was just about to turn to see if I could spot a light switch when the room suddenly lit up around me, causing me to jump in surprise.
“They’re basically on the same frequency as the doors,” Caleb’s deep voice resounded from behind me.
I glanced back at him and nodded. The room was the size of my apartment, and every wall was covered with racks and racks of clothing, only spaced enough for a long vertical tube light to be attached to the walls around them. Clothes hung on racks or were folded neatly in piles on top of them. The room held more clothes than I’d seen in some clothing boutiques. Hundreds of pairs of shoes lined small cubbies underneath the racks near the floor. The place was a woman’s wet dream closet. Well, most women.
“I only have this wall,” Caleb said, breaking my trance. When I looked his way, he was motioning toward the right side. That section was all men’s clothes. “The other two are yours. If you require more room, more closets are located in the rooms down the hall.”
More room? How could I possibly need more room? I barely had enough clothing to fit one corner of this closet. Hell, I only really had the clothes on my back if we were being technical.
“Whose clothes are all these?” I asked waving a hand toward the dresses and other items hanging on the left side of the room.
“They’re yours, Cassie. I had them brought in for you. My queen won’t do without, I assure you. Anything you want is yours. If you find something that doesn’t suit you, or you need something else, you only need to tell me, and I’ll take care of it.”
Angel Of Fate (Fate Series Book 3) Page 19
