Chapter 15 – Zanae
15
ZANAE
T he Devil shows up, donning a black suit with the top button of his shirt undone. Our gazes collide, and he smiles proudly as if aware of the irritation he would cause to me even before arriving.
Animosity and irritation fuel my steps as I approach him.
He shouldn’t be here.
It was supposed to be only Nikolai and me.
And I can’t stand how he’s making himself so comfortable.
“Is it too hot in hell for you to come here?” I ask, trying to maintain my role with perfection.
His gaze meets mine, icy yet strangely amused. “Pretty annoying to be alone there. What about you? I thought you preferred burying yourself in books.”
Jerk.
A smile tugs at my lips. “Always out when there are assholes to hunt.”
We must keep up appearances, keep it casual and low-key okay Z?
I try to keep smiling as if we’re just having a normal conversation with someone normal. But it wasn’t the case.
“I hope I am your next target then,” he grins, taking a sip of his vodka.
“Maybe you forgot, but I have better things to do. You’re just in my way.”
“Is that so? Try and move me.”
I draw closer, pressing the hidden blade I retrieved from my bag against his chest, my other hand gripping his neck suggestively to conceal our true interaction.
He felt warm between my hands, the ink covering his neck was silky, velvety, lethal.
“Move, Elijah. I’m on a mission,” I murmur against his neck, my fingers trailing lightly over his skin.
I can feel his heartbeat just beside his Adam’s apple.
So calm, even when I threaten him.
He takes another sip, unfazed, his hand finding its way to my bare back, pulling me closer brutally, my blade cutting through the fabric of his shirt.
“Zanae, next time you grip my neck like that, you better finish it and suffocate me with your mouth,” he says, his fingers tracing my spine before stopping at the nape of my neck where my pulse beats. “And remember, I’m watching you. Keep those pretty amber eyes less flirty if you don’t want me to burn down this whole place,” he whispers against my ear, biting my ear-lobe slowly before departing to join Niko.
I’m left alone, flushed, angry, furious.
Why is he like this?
He had the audacity to mess with my head before a fucking mission. Niko doesn’t seem surprised to see him here, as if he was even expecting his presence.
The jazzy music filled the venue, wrapping me in the vibrant crowd.
I needed to focus.
No Elijah. Even if I can’t stop thinking about the way he touches me. Or the way he looks at me.
Stop Z.
Tonight’s event was the Polish succession, a night without my father or his allies, for they are our enemies.
Naevio approached me with a smile that hinted his attraction. I had already smiled at him a couple of times, I was alone and didn’t have the look I have normally, the usual one that practically screams, ‘stay the fuck away from me’.
From a distance, Elijah watched, his eyes never leaving mine, the green disappearing when he noticed Naevio coming closer to me.
They’re pitch black now, it’s not the forest I see in them anymore, it’s the purgatory.
“You look absolutely breathtaking. May I?” Naevio asked before pressing a kiss to my hand.
I responded with a soft smile. “Thank you.”
“Do you mind if I join you?” he demanded, gesturing toward the empty seat beside me.
I shook my head, giving him permission to sit.
Our conversation was boring, but I had to play with interest, and flirt with him even though he was quite irritating. He needed to believe that I was drawn to him.
In a soft, sultry whisper, I leaned in close to his ear, my gaze locking with Elijah’s, “Tell me, what’s the most exciting thing you’ve ever done?”
Naevio’s eyes sparkled with desire as he responded with a smirk, “Well, tonight might just top the list, beautiful.”
I chuckled, my eyes glancing toward the Devil at the end of the room, who couldn’t hide the jealousy in his gaze.
He couldn’t hide his possessiveness, which is quite the paradox knowing how much he despised me. His gaze was intense, as if he could snap my neck with just a look if I continued flirting with Naevio.
Speaking of him, he continued the conversation in a more personal direction, oblivious that every word he spoke was another piece of the puzzle I was assembling for the Zennites and myself.
“You’re different from the women I usually meet at these events,” he remarked, licking his lips.
Disgusting .
I laughed softly. “Well, I’m flattered. Life is too short to be ordinary.”
Internally, I cringed at playing this role, silently congratulating myself on my performance. Well done, Z.
He grinned, “Absolutely. So, tell me, what does an angel like you love? What keeps you entertained?”
I released a faux-sensual sigh, “Oh, there’s something about danger and mystery that gets my heart racing.”
Half true.
Here I am, seeking the gaze of the man who wants to end me, simply because he makes my heartbeat accelerate, and the sensation makes me feel alive.
Elijah observed from afar, his jaw clenched, struggling to contain that weird possessiveness he had with me.
I could sense it in the way his head leaned toward me, in the way his long, veiny fingers gripped his glass, in how he took a sip, then another immediately after. Even Niko seemed to sense the tension, gently grabbing his shoulder as if to prevent him from tearing Naevio apart.
Always smiling, as if he loved this feeling of possession over me, he continued to tap his hands rhythmically on the table, 1-2-3...1-2-3.
Seated across the room, I offered him the most innocent smile, slightly running my fingers over my skin, my arm, my shoulder, feeling his gaze never leaving me as he traced the same patterns with his eyes as my fingers.
He simply grinned, readjusting his pants, spreading his legs slightly wider.
Was he turned-on?
Oh he totally was.
With another sip, that same dangerous smirk lingering, he calmly placed his gun on the table.
It was a threat, not aimed at Naevio, but directed at me.
That fucking bastard.
I wanted to laugh at our silent exchange, but I was on a mission, and I couldn’t afford to lose focus now.
Not because of him, because I knew that he was my favorite distraction.
“Speaking of that, Naevio, do you have any family secrets? Something you’ve never shared with anyone. You know I love these kinds of stories.”
The man across from me leaned in, whispering anecdotes about how he grew up in different places because of his father’s job. I absorbed the information, my mind already calculating potential locations.
I nodded, playing like I’m intrigued. But I got bored. So bored.
I gestured towards Elijah, now visible across the long alley, “You see that man over there? He’s been watching me all night. I wonder if he’s jealous because I’m with you and not him.”
Naevio chuckled, not even turning around to see the man I was referring to. “Well, he should be,” he said. “Because I would’ve been furious too if I hadn’t had the chance to talk to you.”
But he’s the only one that matters right now, the only one I want to provoke, the only one I want to unravel.
Self-control has always been my greatest armure. A fortress I built, brick by brick, orchestrating every detail of my existence carefully.
Elijah dismantled this whole resistance and left it in ruins at my feet, exposing my soul bare and bruised to his own deranged spirit.
It felt reckless and almost impossible to like it. His possessiveness and urge to consume every little secret I had, every drop of life that ran through my veins.
But I did. I liked it, I needed it.
The Devil was my greatest temptation, and I was nothing but a sinner before him.
No wonder my demons feel so at home in my head and with him.
Elijah
She’s fucking with my head.
Jealousy is a knot that tightens around your throat and never stops until you burn from the inside. But possessiveness is something else. That need to own, to have something you crave only for yourself, to use and hurt, to play with, to mark and destroy, it’s like a twisted kind of sadism.
I felt the two emotions when it came to Zanae Dellé.
My soul screams that only I will have her and if she denies me, I’ll destroy her and leave her in ruins for the world to see.
If I couldn’t have her, no one could.
But she didn’t know that, so she was pushing me to my fucking limits. I had that urgent need to burn this place and leave her and this little bastard of Naevio here.
My dark angel looked at me while flirting with this man, and I just smiled, because fuck she looked stunning trying to kill me.
“Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Eli,” this fucker of Nikolai nudged me with an amused smile.
“I’m not fucking jealous. I just don’t like the idea of her getting too close to that guy.”
I wasn’t jealous, I was fuming.
He chuckled, “Yeah that’s why you came here, uninvited. Plus, she’s doing great.”
My eyes remained fixed on her. “He fucking better keep his hands to himself before I cut them and give them to the dogs.”
“Come on, don’t be so serious. It’s all part of the plan. She knows what she’s doing.” Nikolai folded his arms, leaning against his chair, “I’ve never seen you like this with anyone. It’s like you’re so much more vibrant when she’s around.”
My jaw tensed, and I avoided his gaze, “I want to fucking destroy her, and then take her eyes out because I can’t stop thinking about them. I can’t just?—”
Nikolai cut me off with a chuckle, “You are still looking at her.”
I still was, and I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her.
I loved not being able to stop. I was jealous, amused, and so intrigued.
A few minutes later her gaze found mine and she just winked at me. A low chuckle escaped my throat, as I finished my glass.
Guess it’s time to reclaim my beautiful nemesis.
I approached them, my eyes bore into her gold ones, interrupting their conversation.
“Get up and follow me.”
This bastard just looked her with them fuck-me eyes, I wanted to stab them. He turned toward me, his face paling. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know she was with you, Dyavol. ”
“Good. Now you know. So stay the fuck away from her.”
I grabbed Zanae’s arm, leading her to a quieter hallway away from everyone.
“Are you enjoying this?” I asked, my tone dripping with desire as my eyes roamed over her beautiful face.
Freckles adorning those pretty cheeks.
She smirked, her voice dropping to a sweet whisper. “I am. Do you like it?”
“Seeing you use a man like this is exciting. But I can’t help feeling a little jealous that it’s not me you’re manipulating with your eyes. I thought you hated me, so why not punish me?”
She tilted her head, her lips curling into a seductive smile. “Do you want me to manipulate you, Elijah?”
My grip on her arm tightened, glancing at this pretty tattoo on the end of her neck. Breathtaking .
“You’re insane, Milaya .”
She chuckled; a deep, sultry sound that spoke directly to my soul. “That’s not an answer to my question. Do you want me to manipulate you?”
Our faces were inches apart, one deep breath and our lips would touch. One fucking step and I wouldn’t stop myself for taking her, right now, right here.
“Are you even able to do that?” I asked, my fingers tracing her arm. Such soft skin… So fragile, delicate, breakable .
She leaned in closer to me, brushing my jaw with her mouth before saying, “You know I can do way more than just manipulate you, Volkov. Keep threatening me, and you may find out,” she said, slipping the gun from my jacket into my hand.
She stole it, and I didn’t even notice.
She hypnotized me.
My smart Zanae.
With that, she gracefully pulled away, leaving me standing alone in the hallway, breathing heavily, grinning and stunned by her attitude.
No one talks to me like that.
She’s just too confident and is certain I wouldn’t hurt her.
And at the end of the day, she may be right.