I caught Sytrius looking at me with a small smile. His eyes sparkled red too, only a little dimmer and completely out of sync with the rest of the demons as he was absorbing my sexual excitement. I returned his smile and placed a light kiss on his lips, forgetting just for a second about the ultimate purpose of our being here.
The guards’ touches meanwhile changed to lighter, wider strokes along the skin of the woman as she was riding the last waves of her orgasm. I noticed that the red glow around me was completely gone now. It was because the demons closed their eyes, their heads tilted back with an intense pleasure written on their faces, as if they were taking a moment to savor what they had just been given.
I was expecting the woman to be released at this point and be carried away or wheeled out of the room on the table. The guards, indeed, unlocked the restraints, releasing her arms and legs one by one. They then gently massaged each wrist and ankle where the restraints left their marks on her skin. She sat up on the table afterwards and stretched through her arms and back, not in a hurry to leave, looking comfortable being naked in the room full of men. She must be one of the women that Andras told me about, I realized belatedly, the ones who come to the base on their own terms.
The woman then turned over and stood on all fours on top of the table. Tossing her long hair over her shoulder, she lifted her face towards Ianuarius. Even blindfolded, somehow, she knew exactly where he was. She said something in Russian to him. He nodded without saying a word, and I saw the two guards approach the table again. One of them carried a handful of items, some of which I recognized as a coil of silk black rope, nipple clamps connected by a chain and something that looked like a feather duster. The rest of the items I just couldn’t name because I had never seen them before.
“Again?” I asked Sytrius, my eyes wide, remembering how badly it could have ended for me the last time if it wasn’t for him.
“It was her wish,” Sytrius replied calmly. “Ianuarius would never deny her that.” He then answered the unspoken question, putting my concern for her life to rest. “They would never harm her; she is precious to them.”
Chapter Forty Three. The Hearing.
Without any clocks or windows in the room, I wasn’t sure how much time had passed since we arrived.
Apparently, the first time was just a warm up. The guards made the woman come a few more times after that. Using tools and sex toys that I had never seen in action before, they wrung orgasm after orgasm from her until finally, one of them wrapped her fully satisfied, languid body into the red silk and carried her away.
The hearing began immediately. There was no intermission or any kind of introduction to get ready. Sytrius squeezed my hand briefly right after the table was wheeled aside and lowered me from his lap onto the bench before getting up.
“Sytry!” The booming voice of Raim resonated through the room and startled me after the nearly complete silence during the Feeding prior.
Without replying, Sytrius walked down the stairs and into the centre of the room where the table stood just seconds ago. He stopped in front of the two Grand Masters in his usual semi-military stance: legs parted wide, hands behind the back with shoulders squared and the chin raised defiantly. He had his favourite army-green cargo pants on and a black t-shirt similar to the one he wore when I first saw him in his cave. He never got a chance to put his gloves back on after he held my arm during the Feeding. The gloves were now stuffed into one of his back pockets.
I slid all the way to the end of the bench I was sitting on, just to be closer to the stairs from the balcony in case I would have to come down too. My position was at the opposite end from Grand Masters. Facing them, Sytrius had his back to me, and I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I could, however, hear every word thundering from Raim’s mouth.
“I demand Soldier Sytry to be sentenced to two hundred years in Inferno for his desertion and for the theft of the property of Western Council!” announced Raim.
Two hundred years? Property? This guy was even worse than I thought! And I did have a rather low opinion about him to begin with!
My blood pressure rose, making my hands sweat. Feeling suddenly too hot, I had to pull my sweater off.
None of the Council members was standing. They all remained sitting in the same lounging positions they were in during the Feeding. Actually, they had more similarities with a bunch of spoiled rich kids from a fraternity who gathered for hazing of a new member than with a serious assembly gathered to decide the fate of the love of my life.
I heard Sytrius reply. His voice was calm and determined, filled with quiet strength. Needing to hear what he was saying, I got off my seat and walked down the stairs off the balcony with the intention of getting closer.
“Wait here, Alyssa,” whispered Andras as he blocked my way by placing his hand on the railing in front of me. “No need to bring their attention to you yet.”
“Please, I need to know what he is saying,” I pleaded.
“He had just requested a delay of his sentencing, basing it on the fact that the laws are outdated and need to be revised. He will be asking to be tried under new laws, whenever they are in place,” Andras explained quietly to me and added, “It’s his best bet. I’ve submitted my proposal. Chances are that by the time the new laws take effect, Sytrius’s crime will no longer be considered of the same gravity any more.”
“You will be tried under the laws we have! The laws that were in place when your crime was committed!” Raim dismissed Sytrius’s request abruptly. “I also demand that the Source you stole be returned to Western Council immediately!”
My eyes flew open wide when I realized that he was talking about me. He wanted to take me back to the dungeon! Surprisingly, I didn’t even get scared. I just got incredibly angry!
I met Andras’s eyes and saw a concern in them. Concern for me? I looked back at Sytrius. His hands were now fisted at his sides, his back tense. He raised his voice so that it was loud enough for me to hear him now.
“I did not steal her. She came all the way here with me willingly. She is a free woman, and you can not have her back!”
Raim rose from his chair. He was furious! He pulled in a lungful of air, puffing his chest out. I wasn’t sure if it was his posture that made him look bigger now or if he indeed could make himself physically larger, but he was looming over the whole proceedings now. His beautiful face was distorted with rage. Thick veins protruded on his neck and temples. The red glow had disappeared from his eyes completely; now they looked like two icebergs capable of freezing to death anything they looked at.
“You will not defy me, Soldier!” His voice reverberated through the room, bouncing off the walls and clanking through the chains under the ceiling.
I clasped my hands together and pressed them to my chest, truly terrified of this man. No, not a man, the true demon that he was!
Sytrius stood his ground, however. Seemingly unafraid, he moved his head side to side stubbornly.
“She will not survive at the base. You can not take her again!”
“She was not meant to survive! All humans die!” Raim boomed in reply. “Her time was up months ago!”
“No! Not her. Not now!” Sytrius shook his head again. “I will assent to your sentencing and give myself up without a fight if you let her go free immediately and relinquish all future claims on her!”
“No!” I heard before realizing that the word came out of my own mouth. What was he doing? Was this his plan all along? To sacrifice himself in order to ensure my freedom?
I forgot that by nature I would rather avoid confrontations at all cost, that I preferred to stay in the background, if I could, and work on a compromise from a distance. My blood boiled! Without thinking, I squeezed behind Andras, who was still blocking my way with his arm in the front, and ran into the centre of the room.
Ianuarius – who until now remained in his chair, watching the proceedings with impassive indifference of a spectator – tilted his head to the side and looked
at Sytrius with mild curiosity.
“Would you do that for her?” he asked him and reminded, “She will die anyway. Sooner or later they all die.”
“No!” I replied instead, placing myself between him and Sytrius. “You can’t take him! I won’t let you! He is mine!”
“Alyssa!” Sytrius grabbed me from behind and pulled me into his chest. “You need to go, angel,” he said quietly into my hair.
“Are you the Source?” The curiosity in the voice of Ianuarius increased significantly. He straightened in his armchair and pushed his hands into the armrests, leaning forward towards me.
“No,” I said with determination. “I’m no one’s Source. My name is Alyssa, and Sytrius is mine!” I moved my eyes from Ianuarius to Raim, meeting his icy glare. “I love him. You can’t take him!”
“Human love doesn’t last!” Raim roared back at me. “A woman’s heart is more fickle than her emotions! And her loyalty is much shorter than her miserable, human live!
Just for a fraction of a second, I saw something dark and painful churn inside his eyes, and I knew at that very moment that he would never let either one of us go.
It was not about upholding the law or maintaining order. For Raim, it was much more than that; for him it was personal. Sometime during his long dark life, he had something special and lost it. I glimpsed the pain of the loss inside of him. There was no hope, no longing that I had seen in other incubi. I would not be able to reason with him. For whatever evil once committed against him, he was determined to exact his revenge on Sytrius and I now. That was why he haunted us through Canada so persistently. That was why he made sure to be here now, and why he would never listen to any logic or common sense. In his mind we lost before we even started.
“You love him?” Ianuarius moved his gaze from Sytrius to me, and his eyes narrowed. I recognized that look: he was verifying my words by scanning the emotions inside of me. I straightened my back, standing taller and letting him look. I had nothing to hide.
“Yes, and he loves me too! Deeply…” The last word came out in a whisper as my voice broke off. My eyes filled with tears of frustration. I was unable to accept the possibility of losing Sytrius, even as I was losing all hope of saving us.
“Demons cannot love,” said Ianuarius, raising one eyebrow at me as if challenging me to dispute his statement.
“But he can! You all are capable of more than you think. You have been absorbing human emotions for centuries. You can feel a wide range of them yourselves by now,” I said with force and conviction I felt so strongly. “Sytrius loves me with all his heart! Passionately, selflessly…”
“He is an incubus! A demon, incapable of love!” Raim moved on to me, signaling to the guards on this side of the door to come closer. “He stole you, and he fed off you! He broke the law, and he will be punished in accordance with our laws. Now!”
I felt Sytrius’s arms release me, and he pushed me gently behind him, towards Andras, who waited a few steps back. Then Sytrius moved away from me, giving himself space. His hands clenched into fists again, and he braced himself for the attack.
He was going to fight, I realized and remembered his words in the car on the way here “I am strong now.” He was strong, stronger than any of the incubi in the room. But there were so many of them here…
Only two guards in uniforms remained inside the room since the third one carried the woman away after the Feeding. A few more uniformed guards lingered in the doorway. With my amulet inside, they were unable to enter at the moment, but they would all rush in as soon as Andras took me out of here.
Even without the guards, there were still at least three dozen demons in the room. All against one. Sytrius would never win.
Winning was not his objective right now, though, was it? He just wanted to give Andras enough time to get me to safety.
As if to confirm it, Sytrius tipped his head signaling Andras to take me.
“No! You can’t, please! His only crime was to love me! He was keeping me safe!” I screamed at both Grand Masters, grasping at straws, running out of time. I felt Andras’s hand land on my shoulder to pull me away. “The real crime was committed when I was abducted from my home and locked up by you!”
“Your acquisition was sanctioned by your own people and was executed following the rules outlined in the treaty,” Raim retorted coolly. His anger had subsided. He was sure he had won.
“What good is the treaty if nobody benefits from it? Can’t you see? My people are suffering, and your demons are starving!”
“Alyssa.” Andras took me by the shoulders and carefully but firmly maneuvered me backwards toward the door.
“No, Andras! Please!” I turned to face him, knowing that if he decided to use force to carry me out of the room, I would stand no chance. “I can’t leave! They will cage him! Burn him!” Tears were running down my face freely now, but I wasn’t noticing them.
Andras shook his head at my plea, unyielding. His eyes shot from me to the centre of the room, watching for any incubi who might get past Sytrius to me. I saw more demons coming down from the balconies, closing in on Sytrius from both sides.
“You can’t take him!” I screamed at all of them on the top of my lungs, as Andras finally grabbed me around the middle ready to carry me away. “You’re not taking the father of my baby away from me! We are having a baby!” I kicked at Andras in desperation while he hauled me towards the door effortlessly. “Let me go!”
“Alyssa. What are you saying?” He didn’t let go off me, but he stopped halfway to the door and put me down to look me in the face.
“I’m pregnant, Andras!” I hissed at him and twisted out of his arms, using the moment when he remained frozen in shock. “Let me go!”
Once free, I sprinted towards Sytrius again, making my way between the demons surrounding him in a solid circle.
Something had changed, though. The demons stopped advancing on him, and he wasn’t fighting with anyone when I got to him. I immediately circled my arms around his middle and pressed myself to him as close as I could.
“I’m not letting you go,” I said resolutely, feeling an odd sense of calmness settling in with this decision.
“You promised,” he reminded me in a whisper, even as his arms pulled me closer and his fingers sank into my hair.
“Is that true?” Ianuarius rose from his chair too now. I realized he was referring to the words I had just yelled at them.
“Yes.” I nodded, a side of my face pressed firmly into Sytrius’s chest with my ear against his thundering heart inside. “I’m pregnant, and Sytrius is the father of my baby.” I said the truth, as simple as it was.
“It’s impossible!” Raim exhaled.
“Look at her,” said Andras, coming from behind us and entering the circle.
“His life force is inside her…” Ianuarius stated, looking at me as if he had finally solved a puzzle.
“Stolas! How can it be?” demanded Raim, and I looked around to see whom he was addressing by this name.
“There is only one explanation,” I heard Andras reply, and guessed that Stolas must be his demon name. “He is no longer immortal. He is…”
“Forgiven!” Raim finished for him and stepped back until his legs hit the edge of his chair. His brilliant blue eyes were open wide, and I saw a deep longing inside them now as he kept his gaze on Sytrius.
“He can no longer be sent to Inferno. Even if he could cross dimensions, he’d be incinerated the moment he gets there,” continued Andras quickly. “His sentence was supposed to be exile, not death.” He stepped back towards us then, and I heard him whisper hurriedly over his shoulder to Sytrius, “Take her out of here.”
“He is no longer one of us,” I heard Ianuarius say slowly, as if thinking out loud. “He cannot be tried by our laws.”
Sytrius slowly moved us behind the circle of the demons and towards the exit.
“I demand a full access to the archives to search for a precedent…” Andras’s booming voice
was the last thing I heard from the incubi meeting room when Sytrius lifted me with one arm swiftly and made a run for it.
Alfarr met us at the top of the stairs from the basement. “The car is in the front. We’ll call you with any news.”
With my arms wrapped tightly around Sytrius’s neck, I held on to him as he carried me out of yet another incubi base.
Chapter Forty Four. The Forgiven.
The adrenaline was still buzzing in my veins when Sytrius strapped me into the front passenger’s seat of the small car waiting for us at the exit.
Thoughts were running through my head in a complete chaos, colliding and merging with each other, coming and going at random with a neck-breaking speed. With my heart pumping blood at the rate that made a swishing sound in my ears, I couldn’t focus on any of them.
One thought was more persistent than the rest. It wasn’t even a fully formed thought, more like a feeling of relief mixed with disbelief. He is here! We are safe!
Sytrius drove in silence with one hand on the steering wheel. He gripped it so hard I was sure he’d break it. With his strength, it wouldn’t take much to actually break the flimsy thing.
His other hand was on mine, holding it gently but firmly between us.
At some point, I stirred to remove my hand from his grip for a second. I needed to take my gloves off. The warm summer temperatures hardly warranted a pair of leather gloves. My hands were getting too hot in them, with sweat beginning to gather between my fingers.
I started to pull my hand from his tentatively, but he only squeezed it harder in his iron grip, making it absolutely impossible to escape. I relaxed my hand again, letting him hold it, no longer caring about the gloves.
He was here. We were safe.
Demon Mine Page 34
