by Eve Newton
He nods because what other choice does he have. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
I squeeze his hand. “Thanks.”
I leave my room and pause outside Shax’s. The sounds of Death Metal and intense fucking come through the door. I roll my eyes. Must be the Bacchus Demon whose blood he drank. I’m completely shocked by his behavior lately. First his comments about wanting to leave this world, which are not uncommon, but hurt me to the point where I have to ignore him and pretend he’s joking. Now this. Shax is a complete control freak. He doesn’t ever lose control. This is the first time I have ever seen him drunk.
I need to have words, serious words with him and soon.
I walk away as now definitely isn’t the time for that. I slip into an empty room down the hall and sit in the plush black armchair, my head in my hands.
“Sid?”
“Yes, Annabelle.”
“Are you okay?”
“Do you believe me?
“Yes, of course. I know you wouldn’t hurt me. But who is ‘she’? You know her?”
“Leviathan.”
“Do you know what she wants?”
“She is the one who burned me, scarred me with the fires of Hell.”
“Oh, Sid.”
“I don’t know what she wants from you, but whatever it is will be about Lucifer. She was fiercely protective.”
“Thanks for the warning.” I grit my teeth. No Demonic bitch, no matter who she thinks she is, is going to make me cower. “I’m going to get Razor now. Will you still help me?”
“Yes, of course. Are you okay, Annabelle? I felt your fear.”
“I’m fine. It was surprise, not fear.”
Silence.
Okay, so trying to con the fear Demon with “surprise” is a foolish move, but no way am I ever admitting that it was fear I felt in that nightmare. Fuck. That.
“Wait here.”
“I’m in your head, I’m not going anywhere,” he says.
I growl and stand up. I loosen the belt on my robe slightly and pull it open a bit wider at my tits.
I flame down into the sin bin and land next to Razor, slumped in a chair in a dark corner.
“What do you want?” he snaps at me.
“Is that any way to talk to your Queen?” I ask, sitting down next to him and crossing my legs. The satin robe falls away, exposing my leg to him. I lean forward. His eyes swivel to take in all that I am exposing to him.
“You got that Hellhound asshole to attack me,” he pouts.
“I didn’t. He acted on his own accord.”
“Your pet brought him to me,” he points out. “I thought we were cool.”
I try not to grimace at him and rip his head off in the process.
One, two, three, and smile.
“We are. In fact, I want you now. Upstairs.”
He looks up. “Upstairs?” he practically chokes out. “In your bedroom?”
“A bedroom,” I hastily inform him.
He regards me with those yellow snake eyes. He smells a rat. I have to dangle a bigger carrot to this ass.
“I want your true tongue to taste me as I come,” I whisper to him, leaning in even closer. He stinks. I try not to shudder.
He parts his lips and slips his forked tongue out of his mouth. “Let’s go, sweet-thing.”
I take his hand and flame out with him. I shove him back to the bed and crawl on top of him, pinning him down. “You are mine, remember, sweet-thing,” I growl in his face. “You do what I tell you too.”
“I can do subbie for you, darlin’. As long as I get up that pretty cunt again, and this time make you come, you can do whatever you want.”
“Oh, so glad you said that,” I retort and place my hands on either side of his head. I fire a wave of magick into his head from my hands, making him go unconscious from the overload to his brain.
“Sid. Are you there?”
“Yes, give me a few minutes.”
I climb off the Serpent Demon and go instantly to wash my hands. His hair is all greasy and he stinks of sweat, stale booze and cheap sex.
“Ugh,” I mutter. If Sid wants to possess this asshole, we are going to have to do something about his whole body to make him decent.
I sit back in the chair and watch as Razor starts to mutter and then fling himself around the bed, his cries getting louder.
“Fire,” Sid says quietly. “He is afraid of being burned for eternity.”
“What?” I splutter, and then laugh out loud. “A Demon scared of Hell fire?”
I realize my utter faux pas when I’m met with a stony silence.
“Aw shit, Sid. I’m sorry, I misspoke. I don’t see you that way, I forgot.”
“It’s okay,” he says softly. “Soon, you will be able to forget completely.”
“Are you sure you want him?” I give him a repulsive look.
“You can make him pretty,” he replies.
“Okay, well, fire. I can do that. I will torture him for a while in one of the firecubes downstairs.”
“Good choice. I will be inside him, feeding from his fear. Next time you see me, I will be whole.”
“What about Shax?” I ask, chewing my lip.
“Come for me when you are ready to violate your brother’s mind.”
I nod, feeling awful for even thinking about it. What kind of sister am I?
I take hold of Razor’s hand gingerly and flame us down to the dungeon. I throw him into one of the firecubes that burn constantly with the fires of Hell. He will wake up surrounded by the one thing he fears the most, unable to get free and know that I put him there.
I smile, a slow, some might say evil smile and then I flame back out to Drescal as horny as a Succubus in heat.
25
Annabelle
The next morning, I sit naked at my dresser, brushing my hair slowly.
Drescal sweeps my hair up from the nape of my neck and kisses me all the way down my spine. I shiver in delight.
“Can I see you later?” he murmurs.
“Perhaps,” I answer coyly.
He chuckles. “I’ll take it. Are you sure you’re okay after last night?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Promise.”
“Uhm, when you see Shax, tell him I’m not an asshole, okay?”
I snort with amusement and turn to face him. “Why don’t you tell him yourself?”
“Ha, I’m afraid of him.”
I give him a narrow-eyed look. “Are you saying that you aren’t afraid of me?”
“It’s difficult to be afraid of you when you are sitting there with your tits on display.”
Placing the hairbrush carefully down on the dresser, I then launch myself at him, flattening him on his back with my hand at his throat. I squeeze, feeling his cock grow hard underneath me. “What about now?”
“I do love you throwing me around, making me submit to you. It’s the highlight of my day.” He gives me a smug smile.
I sit back and remove my hand from around his throat. I pout at him. “You’re an ass.”
“I know,” he says, sitting up. “Any chance of a quickie?”
“No,” I say, now the smug one. I get off him and go back to brushing my hair.
He kisses the top of my head. “I love you, sweet Demon. I will be down the hall later if you need me.”
“Thanks,” I mutter and then he is gone, leaving me to contemplate what the Hell I’m going to do about Shax.
His attitude is worrying me, but I need that information from his head, sooner rather than later. Deciding to get on with everything I have to do today, I hurriedly get dressed in a stretchy black strapless dress and flame out to the dungeon. I see Razor, fighting to get away from the fire, but it is of no use.
“Annabelle!” he cries when he sees me. “Get me out of here!”
“Nope. This is what you get for messing with me, Razor.” I give him a steely-eyed glare with my arms folded.
“What? I thought we were cool?”
&nbs
p; “Not cool,” I grit out. “Not even close. You are a first-class cunt and honestly, getting you out of the way for this also deals with the problems you are causing by stirring up a faction. You won’t be leaving anytime soon.”
“You bitch!” he screams, his terror overwhelming him.
I breathe it in and smile. “Sid? You there?”
“Yes,” he says, appearing next to me.
He isn’t whole, but he sure as shit doesn’t have far to go.
“You look good,” I say, giving him a lingering kiss before leading him away from the firecube and the screaming Demon inside it.
He looks away shyly and then clears his throat. “You require me to enter your brother’s head now?”
I nod. “I know it’s a horrible thing, but he won’t give me what I need.”
“I may be some time. If he is anything like you, I will have to work for the information.”
“Oh?”
“I was in your head for days before I came upon, well, you know…”
“Ohhh?” I growl now a bit annoyed.
“Sorry,” he whispers.
I sigh. “It’s fine. Come, let’s get this done and then you can return to your host.”
He nods warily.
We flame out and I leave him outside Shax’s door. “I will come to you when I know.”
“Okay,” I whisper and then he dissipates into mist and floats through the door.
I press my hand to it and whisper, “I’m sorry,” before I flame out and down to Gregory’s office. I need to make sure he is okay after yesterday.
I knock softly and he opens it after only a couple of seconds. He beams at me.
“Hey,” he says, stepping aside to let me in.
“Hey, you okay?”
“Yes, perfectly. I had the best night’s sleep since I got here,” he replies.
“Oh, good. Uhm, what do you remember about yesterday?” Please say the kiss, please say the kiss.
He shuts the door behind us. “I remember being in the nightmare with you and then waking up this morning.”
“That’s it?” I ask, the disappointment hitting me hard.
He nods.
“Oh, well, good then that you’re okay.”
“Are you okay? You look a little shaken.”
“I’ll live. I’ve got a busy day, so I’ll catch up with you later if that’s okay. I just wanted to check in on you.”
“I will be here,” he says with a soft smile.
I stare at his mouth briefly, but then drag my eyes back up to his. “Sure.”
I hastily leave before I pounce on him and corrupt his innocent soul. I have another stop to make to try and ease the aching in my heart that is getting more persistent as the hours pass.
I flame out to the top of the tall building where I found Aleister the first time. He is perched on the ledge in human form and he turns his head towards me as he senses my presence. He leaps down, and in two giant strides is in front of me and kneeling at my feet. He takes my hands.
“My Queen. You came back.”
“Aleister,” I murmur, gazing down at him. “Of course. I feel this connection between us.”
He lets out a sigh of relief. “Will you act on it?” he asks.
“Well, that’s up to you. You see, I already have two males that I have claimed, and I hope that a few more will agree to share their eternity with me, and them. I am here to ask you if you will be one of them.”
He gives me a confused look. “I don’t understand.”
“One me, many males,” I say with a soft smile. “I will understand if you think about this and decide it isn’t for you, disappointed, but I’ll get it.”
“You want me to be one of many males that attend to you?”
“Indeed.”
“Oh.” He looks down, but he stands up. “How will that work?”
I shrug. “I don’t know yet. Sometimes together, sometimes not. I want you on your own.” I give him a seductive look that he definitely appreciates.
“I see.”
Okay, then. He is giving me nothing here. I would make a joke that it’s like he is made out of stone, but c’mon. It’s too easy.
I run my hand up his chest and, standing on my tip toes, I grip the back of his neck tightly to draw him to me.
My heart thumps as he parts his lips and ducks his head.
I press my lips to his and I moan softly. I have never felt such an intense bond with anyone, and this kiss has just amped that up by several notches.
He takes me by my hips and pulls me closer to him. His tongue flicks against mine, teasing me, driving me wild. I want to plunder his mouth, taking what I need from him, but the pleasure from the restraint of not doing so is out of this world. I let him kiss me slowly and it is just as sensual as I knew it would be.
“Aleister,” I rasp, clinging to him, pressing my body as close against him as I can.
He wraps his arms around me, deepening our kiss even more. My blood is roaring through my veins, making me lightheaded. I want to throw him to the ground and fuck him right here, right now.
But I don’t.
I use all of my Devil-given strength to pull away and step back.
“I will come to you tonight. If you have decided to accept my offer, we will be together then.”
“Tonight then,” he murmurs.
I nod and then disappear before I lose all of my will power and take what I want from him. It would be a mistake, though. If he turns me down, it will hurt a lot more if we’d had sex.
For some reason, with him, it matters.
Back at home, I pace up and down, waiting for Sid. I wring my hands, biting my lip, knowing that what I’m doing is a violation, but Shax has left me no choice. He is still treating me like I’m a silly child instead of a grown-ass woman and Ruler of Hell at that.
I open my bedroom door and glare at Shax’s closed door. Just as I’m about to close it again, a small feline catches my eye. Black and sleek, it darts across the hall near the stairs and into an empty bedroom.
“What the Hell?” I ask. Cats are not common here. At least not of the small, Earth-like variety.
I march down the hall and into the bedroom where the cat went. I look around but it’s empty.
I wonder briefly if I’m hallucinating when I turn and see a tall, black-haired woman in a slinky purple dress. She is tall, beautiful and very, very evil.
“And you are?” I ask, facing her with my arms crossed.
“Leviathan,” she replies with an almost bored drawl.
“I see. What are you doing here?”
She regards me with her bright blue eyes and sits on the bed, gesturing for me to sit in the armchair by the door.
We look at each other for a few moments. I have no idea what she is thinking. All I’m thinking is, “Shit a fucking brick.” This bitch is cold. She brutally hurt Sid, who by all accounts is a mild creature who dislikes hurting people with an unfortunate match in jobs. It happens on occasion, but not very often. Normally, I couldn’t give a shit, but in this case, I see it as a major fault in the system, one that will need looking at.
“I can see that you want to know why I’m here and why now,” she says.
I don’t answer her.
“Well, you see, your father imprisoned me underground a long time ago and then for some reason, placed Sid on top of my cell. Perhaps he thought we were still lovers, even after he betrayed me. So when he was let out by a clumsy idiot with no finesse for magick, so was I.”
I feel a bit sick knowing that she and Sid were lovers. It is something I will have to find more about from him, though. I don’t trust a word that this bitch says.
I eventually sit, crossing both my arms and legs. “What do you want?”
“What makes you think I want anything?”
“Oh, please, you can’t kid a kidder. You suddenly appear to give me visions of Lucifer. I’m not buying that you don’t want something.”
I’m pretty sure I know wh
at it is, but I want to hear it from her.
“Fine, you’ve got me,” she giggles, caving easily as I knew she would. “I’m here to offer you something that I think you won’t be able to refuse.”
“What’s that then?”
“Lucifer is ready to be released from his prison,” she says, leaning forward conspiratorially as if it is a big secret.
“No shit,” I drawl.
Her eyes flash at my disrespect, but she reins it in. “He has an offer for you.”
I try not to show my surprise. She is communicating with him somehow. Not at all worrying.
When I don’t say anything, she purses her lips in disappointment. “You don’t want to hear it?”
“Not interested.”
“Oh, you have no need to be afraid,” she chortles. “He doesn’t want this throne back. He is proud of you, Annabelle.”
I grimace at her. Afraid. Who the fuck does she think she’s talking to? “That’s nice.”
“He wants to help you, Annabelle. If you release him, he will be your advisor, your right hand. You are so new to this role, while he made Hell what it is…”
She lets that hang there for a moment as if to intimidate me.
“And?”
“And he wants to help you grow. He has no interest in taking back his rule.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you.” I roll my eyes at her.
“So untrusting,” she tuts at me. She flicks her dark locks over her shoulder. “What I’m offering to you is all the wisdom and power you will ever need right out of the gate.”
“I have power. Ruler of Hell, remember.”
“Yes, but Annabelle doesn’t exactly instill fear into mankind now does it? The Demons don’t fear you either from what I’ve seen. Now Lucifer, that is a name that will live on.”
I narrow my eyes at her. I’m not sure if she meant to give the game away or not. That one sentence tells me everything I need to know. Let Lucifer out and he will come for my throne. Simple.
“Sorry, not interested,” I say, standing up.
She regards me closely. “You will do this.”
“Will I? Are you going to make me?” I smirk at her.
She may be powerful but there is no way her power outmatches mine.
