by Eve Newton
She stands up as well and stalks closer. “You need him. I see how your rule is failing.”
I waver for a moment, her words making me doubt myself, but I shake it off. No ancient bitch is going to rattle me or my faith in myself. I open the door and gesture the way out.
“Let me tell you a couple of things, Leviathan. For starters, if you ever go within a thousand meters of Sid again, I will nail you to a wall and peel strips of your skin off painfully slowly. Then I will dig your heart out with a spoon and eat it while I get Shax to bleed into your gaping wound, incinerating you from the inside out, torturing you to the point where you wish that Great-Gramps had never made you out of that primeval ooze from the Hell swamps out there. And secondly, I am Lucifer now. Hell, and everything in it is mine, kitty-cat. Including you. Including him. Now get your ass out of my house before I decide to torture you after all. Know that if I catch sight of you, or even a whiff of your cheap perfume, here again, I will shove you into that painting with your precious master and find a way to burn it. Are we clear?”
She gives me a scathing look. “Quite,” she clips out. She saunters past me but pauses before she leaves. “You are making a big mistake, Annabelle. Lucifer will rise again.”
I reach for her, but she shifts to her cat form and scampers off down the hall before turning to mist and then disappearing.
“Little shit,” I mutter and slam the door, just to make myself feel better.
One thing has been made noticeably clear from this conversation. I am the only one that can release Lucifer from his painting prison. I hold all the power here and now she knows it and soon he will as well.
I slip out of the room and look at Shax’s door. It’s quiet in there. I risk pushing the door open for a quick glance to make sure he is okay.
He is still but he is frowning. The pang of guilt stabs me in the heart. I walk over to him and kneel at his side, brushing his hair out of his face.
I’m startled when a female pushes the covers back on the other side of the bed, just waking up. I didn’t even see her or sense her there. I give her a questioning look, but she says nothing.
“Who are you?” I ask.
“Sh-Shade,” she stammers, looking at Shax in panic.
“Hmm.” I have never seen her before, and I can’t tell what she is.
I stand up, reassured that Shax isn’t going through anything too torturous with Sid in his head. Razor was flinging himself all over the bed after only a few seconds. Shax is still, peaceful.
I look at the female again. She cowers from me. “You know who I am?” I ask her.
She nods.
“Tell him to come and see me when he wakes, please.”
She nods again.
I get up and flame back to my bedroom.
So much has happened in the last few days and I’m feeling drained.
I curl up on the bed and wait for Sid to return to me. I wait for tonight until I return to Aleister. I wait to hear back from Elijah. I just…wait.
26
Shax
I wake from a weird dream. It was like someone was sifting through my thoughts, looking for something.
I turn to the side to see Shadow sitting there, giving me a worried look. My concern immediately goes straight to her. “What is it?” I ask, sitting up.
“Annabelle came in. She saw me,” she whispers.
My heart thuds. “What did you say?” I ask carefully.
“She asked who I was, and I said Shade, like you told me to if anyone saw me.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
I breathe out. “Okay, it’s fine. If she didn’t press you straight away, she won’t.”
“She thinks I’m just another slut you’ve taken to your bed?” she asks, with more than a bit of bite.
I give her an angry look. “That was your idea,” I spit out and then immediately regret it. “I’m sorry,” I mutter. My head is thudding bad after getting drunk last night. It was a bad night until Shadow showed up. I groan as I remember using my knife to cut myself in front of Annabelle. She is not going to let that go. I’m going to have to come up with something to say to her that she will believe.
“Fuck,” I mutter, putting my hands over my face and flopping back to the bed.
Shadow climbs on top of me. “I’m sorry too, Shax. I know you want more from me.”
I ignore her, until she takes my cock in her hand and starts to run her hand down it gently. She slips it inside her, and I pull my hands away from my face.
She has a look of ecstasy on her face as she rides me, increasing her speed until she is bouncing around, her tits jiggling in a way that makes me grow even harder.
“Human fucking is so much better than mating in Griffin form,” she pants.
She doesn’t realize how much that stabs me in the heart. I knew she must, but we have never talked about it.
“Hmm,” I murmur as she slams down on me again and again until she shudders, her nipples hardening, her mouth dropping open in a silent scream as she uses my dick to make herself come.
“Oh, yes,” she moans and climbs off me, ready to leave.
“Wait,” I say, grabbing her hand.
“Oh, sorry, you didn’t come,” she giggles and climbs back on top of me, fucking me until I spurt inside her. It is less than exciting. Passionless and only done as an after-thought to her own pleasure.
I feel sick.
She doesn’t love me at all.
She is using me.
I fall into a pit of despair until she leans over and kisses me sweetly in that way she has that makes me think, this was just an oversight.
“Move to Earth with me,” I blurt out.
She sits back on me with a surprised look, which then turns to fear, and she climbs off me to get as far away from me as she can.
“I can’t do that, Shax,” she whispers fearfully.
I get out of bed and go to her, taking her hands. “You can. I can take you somewhere that you can shift and be yourself and no one will know.
“But what about the other Griffins?”
I can’t help but think that she is talking about one in particular. It angers me again, my hangover getting the better of my emotions in a way that I’m just not used to.
“It won’t be forever, I just need to get out of here, see who I am without the influence of Hell and Annabelle,” I tell her quietly.
She gives me a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“I’m a Dark Angel,” I point out. “There is a part of me that despises all of this. I need to go somewhere neutral to see if that side is stronger or if the dark side is. I can’t do it here. I’m going and I want you to come with me.” I pull on a pair of jeans and yank a t-shirt over my head. “Come with me,” I say. “Please. I need you with me.”
“What happens if you decide the other side is stronger?” she whispers.
“I have options,” I say vaguely, leaving out the bit about Vazna. He is my secret to keep right now.
“How long will you be gone?” she asks.
You.
That says it all.
I shut off completely. I don’t know if it’s the hangover, the idea of being free or that I’m just past being hurt by this female that makes me say my next words. “As long as it takes to do what’s right for me for a fucking change. Get out, Shadow. I can’t deal with you and your commitment issues right now. I could give you the world if you’d let me, but you don’t want it, so fuck off and don’t come back.”
I turn my back to her, wanting to take it all back, but knowing that I can’t.
I hear a soft sob, but when I turn around, she is gone, out of the window and out of my life.
“Dammit,” I mutter, wishing that my head would stop banging.
I drag the door open and bump into Annabelle. “What?” I snap at her.
She blinks at me. “I heard yelling…”
“Yeah,” I growl. “What of it?”
“Your one-
nighter want to get more comfortable here?” she asks, with a raised eyebrow.
“Leave it,” I snarl.
“Shax, is everything okay?” she asks tentatively.
Nothing about my sister is tentative. She bulldozers her way through life and it works for her. It has to. She is Hell’s Ruler, after all. It makes me suspicious and I remember the dream I was having before I woke up.
“What are you up to?” I ask her with narrowed eyes.
She adopts an innocent look. “Why nothing. I came to see if you were all right, that’s all. If you can’t be bothered to reassure me, then I’ll leave you to it.”
She spins on her heel and I feel guilty for being an asshole. I grab her hand and stop her, pulling her to me and taking her in my arms. “I’m sorry. I’m having a shit day.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Maybe later. I need to clear my head.”
“About that…”
“Later, Belle, okay?” I cut her inquisition off before it even gets started. I just can’t deal with it right now. My heart is breaking, but at the same time, I feel free. I’ve made up my mind to leave Hell and see what else is there for me.
All I have to do is figure out a way to tell my twin sister that won’t hurt her.
Fat-fucking-chance.
27
Elijah
I look at Killian sleeping. We were up all of last night fighting over Annabelle. I’m worn out, but I hate the way we left things. It was a stewing silence until we eventually fell asleep.
I stroke his face gently and his eyes fly open.
“Sorry to disturb you,” I say gently. “I couldn’t resist.”
He briefly gives me a warm smile, but then he sighs as it disappears.
“Why can’t you see this my way?” I ask him quietly.
“I see that she is fucking with you,” he growls, getting up out of bed. “Why don’t you see that?”
“I don’t think she is,” I reply stubbornly, turning to face him.
“Dammit, E. This arrangement that she wants you to enter into will kill you. Don’t deny it to me, because I know you.” He holds his hand up as I’m about to protest.
I rub my hand over my face, my eyes closed for a second.
They fly open when I’m slammed against the wall, a hard hand to my chest. Killian drops to his knees and pulls my sweats down. He takes me in his mouth, sucking me, grazing his teeth down my length and back up again. He licks my tip and then circles his tongue around me before plunging his mouth over me in a deep throat that makes me groan.
He pulls back. “Does she suck your cock like this?” he asks.
I look away as I can’t answer that.
“I see, she has never sucked you off,” he mocks, tugging on my cock harshly.
“We’ve fucked twice, once there was no time and second, well…there was no need.”
“No need for this?” he asks and takes me in his mouth again.
“Fuck,” I moan as I can already feel my balls aching for a release. He is the only one that can blow me this good.
“Lian, please,” I pant as he speeds up.
He holds my hips in place, pressed against the wall, as he fucks my dick with his mouth.
Just as I’m about to burst, he takes his mouth away from me. “Can you go without this, E? Will you miss it if you choose her?”
“It’s not about choosing!” I snarl at him. “I want you to offer yourself to her as well. We can all be together. I don’t have to lose you.”
“Not going to happen,” he snarls back. “She is an entitled little bitch that needs a male to put her in her place. Only you won’t do it!” Taking me back in his mouth, he blows me until my knees buckle, and I come in his mouth in hot spurts that he swallows quickly and then stands up.
“Kneel on the bed,” he rasps.
He is going to punish my ass now and I want him to so badly, I want to beg.
He opens the nightstand drawer and pulls out the lube. He squirts it onto his fingers, and he presses them to my ass hole. He circles it gently, inserting his finger inside a little bit at a time, stretching me, making me wait for his huge cock. He is bigger than me and that is saying something.
He lifts his foot onto the edge of the bed and then I feel him against the puckered hole. I breathe in as he isn’t going to go easy on me. He rams into me with a loud grunt, digging his fingers into my hips. I brace myself, bunching my fists into the rumpled bedding. He buries himself balls deep in my ass and then withdraws only to slam back inside me again and again. He is panting hard and so am I. I can feel myself getting hard again and grab my cock in my hand to pump away, needing another release.
“Walk away from her,” Killian rasps, “and you can always have this feeling.”
“No,” I grit out. “Come to her with me.”
“Walk away from her or you will lose me. Am I making myself clear, Elijah?”
“Don’t give me an ultimatum, Lian, please.” I’m almost begging him now.
“You can’t have us both, make a choice,” he says before he lets out a loud groan, coming in my ass as he pulls on my hips.
He withdraws and then he is gone before I can flop to the bed, to finish myself off. Closing my eyes, I lie flat on my back, letting my cum gush out all over me as I jerk off.
“Fuck,” I moan.
“Hmm,” her voice murmurs from above me.
I open my eyes to see her wicked green ones looking down at me with raw desire swimming in their depths.
“Have you decided what to do yet? I’m growing impatient,” she adds.
“I’m still trying to convince Killian to come to you and ask that you take him as your lover. He is stubborn.”
Her eyes flash and narrow to two slits. She leans over me, placing her hand on my dick and then running her fingers over it.
“I don’t want him,” she says, suddenly gripping me tightly and starting to jerk off my still hard cock. “I only want you. You must give him up, Elijah, if you want to be with me.”
“Not you as well,” I complain, enjoying her touch immensely. I let myself imagine what it feels like to have her mouth on me and I grow harder still.
“Make me come, Anna,” I pant as she tugs quicker.
“Tell me when,” she murmurs.
“Oh, uh, now…” I cry and she removes her hand from me, letting my cock stand erect and unattended to my utter misery.
“Him or me,” she states and flames out, leaving me feeling empty and alone.
I can’t stand this. I don’t want to have to choose. Why should I? If Killian would stop being so fucking obstinate, he could see we could have the perfect arrangement. We could both have her and still have each other. I don’t know why he is so dead set against it.
I feel I’m left with only one choice and that is to get them into a room together to talk it out until they come to the decision that I know will be beneficial for all of us. I must make Annabelle see that having War in her corner will only make her stronger and I need to get Killian to see that he can open up himself to someone other than me, which is something that I think he desperately needs.
This has to be resolved as soon as possible. Tomorrow they will face each other, fight it out and then hopefully fuck until they realize that they can be so good for each other, in the ways that they need.
28
Aleister
“Sir?”
I look up from the desk in my private quarters up on the roof, to see my second-in-command, Igor, looking at me expectantly.
“Yes?” I inquire with a frown. I’d asked not to be disturbed. Not only do I have work to do, I have the particularly important decision to make about Annabelle, which still eludes me.
I don’t know how to begin to sort through what she asked of me.
“The Sentry, Master.”
“Oh, of course.” I give him an apologetic smile. My mind is all over the place right now. “Are we sorted?”
“Yeees,” he drawls, wring
ing his hands and looking like he has bad news.
I stand up, the fear that something has happened to Annabelle tearing through me. I blink as I realize that my decision has just been made for me.
I can’t live without her.
“What is it? The Queen?”
“No, the Queen is fine. We have doubled the guard at her residence and have the Sentry alert all over Hell. All of the other Gargoyles have been recalled to the Rooftop and have been warned to stay away from the Queen when on duty, unless it is to protect her.”
“Good,” I growl, still incensed by Murdoch’s behavior the other night. I feel the pain of this loss but push it aside. It is physical, nothing more.
I sit down again, but Igor keeps looking at me.
“Yes?” I press him when he fails to say what is really on his mind.
“Uhm, Sir. I have news that will not be well received.” He holds his hands up, almost as if I’d threatened to kill him and he is begging for his life.
I stand up again. “What is it?”
He leans forward, while still maintaining his distance, making him wobble on his big feet. “Leviathan has been spotted,” he whispers.
My heart stops for just a moment before it starts hammering in my chest.
“Are you certain?” I ask grimly.
He nods. “Quite. I saw her myself around the residence earlier.”
“How did she escape?” I ask, remaining as calm as I can under the circumstances.
“That I do not know, Sir.”
“Find. Out,” I grit out, suddenly getting the urge to throw up.
“Yes, Sir,” he mutters and ducks out of my sight.
“Dammit!” I roar and kick the chair I’d been sitting in across to the other side of the room.
This is the last thing I need right now. Having my ex-wife show up just as I’m finally starting to feel something for another female, is the Fates kicking me in the ass.
I walk out to the ledge and jump up. I look up at the Bell Tower behind me as it strikes one for one hour that the new guards have been on duty. At five strikes, they change. I glare at the residence in the distance, sitting behind twenty-foot-high, impenetrable walls. There is only one way in and that is to be invited. Even though the rooms that sit square around the sin bin are secured with magick, it is a less than ideal set-up. One that I flagged with her, several months ago, but she ignored me. Probably because I sent it on paper. I seem to have had a better response when showing up in person. To top it all off, the dungeons sit under the residence, so however Levi got out, she would have had direct access to Annabelle. I glare at the huge Gothic structure that sits under a sunny sky, but against an orange and black backdrop. Annabelle creates day and night within the residence walls, but the rest of us have the true Hell-scape to enjoy.
