The Inferno

Chapter 3 The Awakening

T he second his fingers touch my skin, I’m considering finding the creator of the truth serum and burning them alive.

Tingling sensations shoot along my spine and I attempt to ignore it by firing out questions to whoever will answer.

“Are ancient runes bad?”

“It depends,” Sai responds, his voice sounding focused and intent on the task at hand. It’s actually quite attractive listening to him absorbed by my mark whilst delicately caressing my skin…

“Depends on what?” I have to keep the questions rolling, I cannot sit with my thoughts whilst this serum is running through my veins.

“Who put it there and why,” Julien answers.

I’m not ready to look at him yet, his hungry gaze is still embedded in my mind.

A low vibration pulls me from my thoughts, they land upon Dark Eyes who has an identical device to the one Sai held yesterday. He brings it up to his face and locks his gaze with Julien as he does.

They hold that gaze for a moment I consider almost uncomfortable, as though he’s delivering a stern message. When the demon looks as though he’s about to speak, he disappears. Like a blip in the matrix. I stare at where he was, gazing at the empty space for any evidence he was ever there.

Only one thing makes it clear he was. The second he leaves, the dynamics in the room shift.

Julien stands.

My eyes shoot to him and watch as he moves across and takes the demon’s empty seat, directly before me. He is taller than the demon and fae, meaning I have to tilt my chin a little higher to maintain his predatory gaze. Having experienced his speed and strength first-hand, I don’t dare look away.

When he begins to lean forward, my muscles tense and power coils, flares, pieces of it begin flickering like electric currents ready to latch onto something.

“What are you doing? ”

“Nothing, yet.” Julien slowly tilts his head to assess me and I lower my gaze in an attempt to warn him.

Then my hand appears in his grasp.

I instinctively push myself back, my coils flowing to my arm in a supportive cover as I try to wrench it away from him. During my desperate movement, I forcefully slam into Sai’s hands and part of my body edges up into his lap.

Sai grunts from the sudden impact, his hands stilling on my skin but not stopping me from pushing further into him.

Then his quiet voice is by my ear. “If you wanted to sit on my lap, all you had to do was ask.”

Julien's fingers barely grasp my wrist whilst I strain to remove it, and it becomes clear the only reason I’ve been able to move is because he’s followed forward when I’ve pulled back.

“Let go of me,” I growl the words and my power pulses in response, surrounding me in a wave of heat. This contact is too much, his fingers pressed against my pulse, Sai’s soft hands; warm hard chest, Julien's tentative touch; his focused eyes.

I decide it’s time to leave, except the moment I try to stand, I realise I can’t. Sai’s power hums in warning, layering over mine like a blanket of concrete, solidifying me to the spot.

“Red, I really need you to stay still,” he murmurs, it’s barely a whisper and even in my panic, I decide I really like this version of Sai’s voice.

My eyes widen as I stare down at the vampire before me, who is still gripping my hand but is raising it to his nose like a bouquet.

“Well, I really need you to tell Fangs over here to stop touching me,” I urgently whisper to Sai.

I feel the fae’s movement stop for a moment; I’m assuming because he’s looking over my shoulder at the vampire currently inhaling my wrist like an obnoxious perfume advert.

“Nah, he’s not doing any harm and I’m not his keeper.” Sai’s voice is still a deep whisper as his hands resume their previous work. “Unless you wanna give me a good reason to stop him?”

“Because he looks like he’s about to bite me.” My breathing hitches when, due to my words, Julien's eyes slide up the length of my arm and lock with mine .

“You think I care if he bites you?” Sai questions with a small laugh that rumbles in his chest and makes me very aware of how close our bodies are.

Responses float to mind, the serum helps me choose the one it considers most truthful.

“Yes, and I think Dark Eyes would too.” Julien's eyes shoot above my head and assumedly meet with Sai’s.

Sai’s soft laugh is the first reaction followed by Julien's small smile. A smile that makes me look twice because I’ve never seen him smile like that before and my power heats.

But I remember I hate them, no matter how they look, no matter how their skin feels against mine, no matter how my coils flare in response, so I scowl at them, waiting to hear the punchline.

“Is that what you’ve been calling him all this time, Dark Eyes?” Sai quizzes me whilst his fingers begin to dip a tad lower than I expected.

“Demon Man, Mr Impatient, the Dark One.” The nicknames fall out without consideration, I don’t even try to keep them in at this point. Then, new nicknames, ones I’d never consciously thought, seemingly sprout from my imagination. Unable to stop myself, they spill from my lips. “Cheekbones, Stubborn, Arrogant.”

They laugh together; it’s a dangerous sound. It’s deep and savage and I feel my skin begin to burn , which I assume is due to Sai tampering with my mark and absolutely nothing else.

“Now you’re just describing him.” Sai’s chuckle slowly dies out. “Do we have nicknames too?” his tone notably darkens as he murmurs that beside me.

I really do not want to answer that. He senses it when my body tenses and my free hand begins to clench. “Bright Eyes, Crazy Fae, Dimples. Red Eyes, Mr Aloof, Fangs.” My heart pounds at the fear of their reactions.

To my complete surprise, they laugh again. Julien's deep chuckle causes a strange sensation which I blame on his thumb currently teasing the pulse point of my wrist.

“Wow, I’d like to petition for a better nickname,” Sai murmurs, his fingers now running gingerly down my spine. “But I’m glad you like the dimples, Red. ”

I want to be anywhere but here, someone drag me into the pits of hell and let me burn, anything to get me away from this moment, from them .

When Sai’s fingertips graze my spine again, a slight burn lingers in their wake. “How does that feel?”

What a loaded question.

A plethora of words are on the tip of my tongue as I answer, “Fine, it burns a little.”

He immediately halts, his fingers remaining on the bottom of my spine. “Has it felt like that the entire time?”

“No, it’s felt nice.” At my response, my eyes widen to the point they sting. My mouth opens, then closes and I already know what’s coming.

“Oh really ?” Sai’s taunting tone is back in full form, I can hear the sickening smirk from here, can imagine the dimples... then my mind catches up and remembers he asked another question.

“Yes.” I internally scream and squeeze my eyes shut. “Stop, don’t you dare ask me another question.”

Sai’s laughter rumbles all over me and I feel the heat building in my cheeks. “Sorry Red, this is just too much fun. Now, about this wolf—”

“Stop,” I grind out, eyes shut and teeth clenched as I force myself to breathe. “ You wouldn’t be asking these questions, and you wouldn’t be touching me, if your boss was here.”

My eyes pop open, that wasn’t the right thing to say either.

“ Boss , you think he’s our boss?” Sai’s teasing voice is right against my ear, his breath brushing a strand of my hair against my cheek.

“Yes.”

He tuts and when he shakes his head I feel his hair brush against my face.

“You’ve got it all wrong, Red. Sure, Dark Eyes likes things to be done a certain way, he’s a very particular man, controlling, dominating, stubborn you might say.” I can hear his laughter dying to escape with each word, but he holds it back. “He tries to keep us focused, keep us on track… But he knows he can’t control us. I’m sure you’d love to know what we’ve said about you.”

I swallow. My throat has suddenly become immensely dry. A part of me is dying to know what they’ve said, eager to hear what they’ve planned to do with me, and I wonder if that’s an effect of the truth serum or something else entirely .

“I do. So why don’t you tell me?”

His light laughter rumbles through my skin and I pull on my power, forcing it to push away from him, to create some distance from this nightmare.

“Maybe another time, Red.”

I’m so focused on the action of leaving; on hearing his response; on realising he hasn’t really answered my question so I need to ask in a different way… that I don’t notice Julien pushing up the sleeve of my dress.

“Hey!” I shout, waving my free hand to gain his attention. Red eyes peer up at me, his gaze full of fake innocence. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m inhaling your scent,” Julien replies, matter-of-factly, as though this is a business meeting and I’ve asked for the latest figures.

Sai’s fingers begin a new route near the nape of my neck and I can feel the goosebumps rising with the feather light touch. Whilst I watch in horror at Julien lowering his lips as he skims my forearm. Every single nerve feels alight, my body seems to burn heavenly under their touches. The sensations of pain and pleasure begin to mingle until they’re impossible to differentiate and my heart thuds wildly.

This a dangerous tag-team. They’re taking it in turns to keep me distracted, off-balance, they’re manipulating me again, and it’s working. But this time, I’m uncertain what reaction they’re hoping for.

“Why? You said it was tainted,” I manage to ask, trying to ignore Sai’s delicate touches which I’m not sure are completely accidental any more.

“It was but now it’s mixing with ours, your heart is racing, and you smell divine.” Julien doesn’t even look up as he speaks and continues his trail along my skin, his lips barely skimming my arm as he murmurs something in French.

“Stop,” I demand, attempting to keep my voice hard and level but still hearing the apprehensive hilt.

To give Julien credit, he does stop. He stops with his full lips hovering just before the hollow of my arm, lingering over the sensitive skin, as he peers up at me.

At that moment, the neon lights shine through the glass behind me again and drown him in an ethereal glow. His hungry gaze stares up at me like I’m the only thing he’s ever seen and it’s paralysing. We watch each other for a moment, assessing each other, planning our next move.

If this was a game of chess, this would be ‘check’.

Until he says, “Do you really want me to?”

Checkmate.

My power rumbles under Sai’s and attempts to burst free but his powerful barricade is steady. I grit my teeth as the slicing pain begins from avoiding Julien's question.

“The pain will just get worse,” Sai’s voice is barely audible, his fingers now cautiously tracing the edges of my ribs and I know, from the countless times I’ve stared at that ominous mark, not a single part of it reaches there.

“I don’t want you to bite me,” I manage to stutter out, it’s enough to stop the pain but both men are fully aware of what those words don’t say.

“Why?”

“Because it hurts and it’s my body,” I quickly answer, frowning at Julien incredulously.

“Little Empath, my bite would cause the very opposite of pain,” Julien purrs across my skin before placing his lips directly into that sensitive spot.

My stomach feels light, I’ve lost the ability to speak and I bite my lip to ensure no noises escape.

I try to close my eyes to stop myself watching, but I can’t, I want to watch him. Watching as he worships my skin with his lips makes a very dark and ancient part of my power stir. Knowing my scent has lured this powerful creature to me makes my marking burn.

A darkness that was always hovering just beneath the surface in wait, now blooms.

A darkness that screams for chaos and admiration like a vengeful God. A darkness I hadn’t felt for a long time. Maybe never.

“What the fuck was that?” Sai’s voice is alert and Julien's eyes are now intent on mine.

They both felt it and he asked a question.

“Something dark,” I respond, staring down at the skin Julien touched which seemed to bring it to life. “How did you feel it?”

“It called to us,” Julien states, his tone giving nothing away as his eyes stare at the same spot on my arm .

“What caused it?” Sai asks, his fingers have completely stopped and I can instantly feel his power lifting.

“I don’t know, it was something Julien did. I don’t think I’ve felt that part of my power since this mark. It felt familiar but far away…” My thoughts and speech are blurring into one as I try and piece the sensations together.

Without a clear intent any more, I move off Sai’s lap and stand. Julien lets my hand fall away. I feel my power pulsing now it’s free but I feel something new there too. Something urging me to reach deeper, to seek it out and let it loose.

My back burns.

“Erm, Red, does your mark normally glow?” Sai’s confused voice makes me turn to him.

“I’ve never seen it glow.”

Sai’s sight moves above my head to Julien and then an expression I’ve never seen from him flickers across his face.

“Red, I need you to put whatever that was back where it came from.” Sai’s cautious tone makes my power flare.

His eyes are not focused on me but Julien who approaches me from behind, only stopping when I feel the cold buckle of a belt against my bare back, then a strong arm around my waist.

“Julien, mate... come on now.” Sai’s voice attempts to remain calm but there’s a nervous laughter with it. He stares at Julien's arm, which is now pulling me back and pinning me to Julien's stomach.

Normally, my power would instinctively react to this contact, pulsing with a giant force to protect me from the threat, repel it, but now it seems to be lingering with uncertainty. This new element actually liking the feel of Julien's skin against me, wanting more, much more.

“Wait, no. Listen to me, you can’t. You know you can’t.” Sai’s eyes flicker from the tight grip around me, my face, then up to Julien. His voice lacks any mirth as he says, “Julien, you’re not thinking straight.”

The change in Sai’s tone unsettles me slightly, my power takes in his reaction and the emotion of uncertainty sullies the air. I attempt to step forward but Julien holds me tight and my widened gaze seeks out Sai.

“What’s happening?” I ask in a haze.

“Julien is being controlled by whatever was released. You need to put it back, now .” His piercing eyes focus on me before rushing back to Julien. His stance is tense, ready, as though at any moment he’ll need to pounce.

I squeeze my eyes shut, take a deep breath and focus on this new fragment of my power. I shake my head, physically forcing myself to push these thoughts and power somewhere else.

But it refuses to listen.

“It won’t,” I gasp, not from exertion but confusion at my power’s lack of compliance. “Why are you so concerned? Why are you telling Julien to wait?”

“That part of your power has brought out his animalistic urges, it’s like he’s a newly turned vampire with no awareness or self-control, just driven by need and want,” Sai states, he takes a cautious step towards us but Julien steps back with me and Sai grimaces. “His thoughts are erratic. I’m trying to speak to him but he won’t listen. What I can hear is his clear intent to take, mark and turn you.”

A cold sensation sweeps through my body at those words, ‘mark’ and especially ‘turn’.

I grip Julien's arm tightly with both hands, digging my nails in and turn to look up at him. I feel the shift in my eyes, the pupils expanding until all is consumed with black.

When Julien finally turns to peer down at me, his eyes reflect mine perfectly, the image is one of a terrifying creature, but rather than be scared, my stomach feels light and my power hums like it’s the most beautiful thing it’s ever seen.

Unlike Julien, my power hasn’t consumed me, and even though it seems to like this version of him, it does not like the ideas running through his head.

“No,” I say. The word sounding deeper and heavier as it reverberates around the room. “No marking, no turning.” Julien seems to hear that, his head tilts as he assesses me and I hold his intense gaze. “I don’t want that.”

His eyes flicker between red and black as he listens, I feel Sai moving closer but Julien never takes his eyes from me.

“Why?” Julien's voice always held a deep timbre, one that seemed to vibrate the air and sink into my bones. But now, it echoed, doubled, made my coils shiver with delight and slither around his arm.

“I don’t want to belong to anyone and I don’t want to be a vampire.” My voice also seems deeper but it is nothing in comparison to his. “And I don’t think you really want that either... I think I’d annoy the shit out of you.”

I can feel the pull of the dark softening as wisps of red flicker in his gaze, then his lips tilt into a barely-there smile. “How so?”

“I don’t listen, I’m strong-headed and I’ll try to kill you the first chance I get.”

Shit.

Julien's soft laughter, whilst in this particular form, really makes me question my sanity. The soft rumble it creates races over my skin and my coils tighten around him as though afraid he’s about to let go.

Then, his grip softens.

My coils suddenly recoil and dive back into me. The intense burning of my mark is thankfully soothed by the cold fabric of Julien's shirt. Although it has loosened, his warm arm still encases me.

My eyes shift back to red and Julien's quickly follow, but his sight remains on me.

“I’ll enjoy watching you try.” The echoing has dissipated but his voice still rumbles through me, that small smile still in place.

I take a deep breath, all the while trying to ignore the way my coils are eager to reach out and cling to him.

“Julien, please can you let me go?”

I feel his body move slightly, but only enough to lower his lips to my ear. After Sai’s admission, panic flares in my stomach at the distance between Julien's mouth and my neck.

My eyes widen, my power coils and I tense in preparation of his next move. “Not yet, especially not when my name is on your lips,” he murmurs.

My worried gaze seeks out Sai but his taunting smirk indicates whatever had happened to Julien, taken over him, had now finally ended and he was simply enjoying the circus show.

“An hour.” I hear Dark Eyes’ voice before I see him.

He casually steps out of the darkness like a liquid shadow, forming with each step, before scanning the scene before him, one hand tucked into the pocket of his pants, the other holding the same device. The soft light emitting from the screen highlights his harsh features as he speaks, “I was gone an hour. ”

At this very moment, Julien's strong arm is still wrapped around my waist, Sai is just a few feet in front, grinning, my dress is still unzipped, and who knows what expression is upon my face.

The demon levels both men with a heavy glare, before settling his distaste upon me. Julien, finally, slips his arm from me and I quickly take a few steps away from all three enforcers.

A silent conversation ensues. I tentatively watch whilst pushing the shoulder of my dress up and curling my fingers inwards, closing the zip and finally hiding my mark again.

With it fully covered, I release a soft sigh of utter relief but now feeling heavy and exhausted, more than I ever have from physical training. I’m also dying to escape this room and these men.

I begin manoeuvring my way towards the door, my eyes glued on the three as I take very cautious, quiet side-steps, edging along the wall until I’m almost at the door.

“Enough.” The demon’s dark voice echoes around the room, his sight flickering between the two men before turning to face me. “Where are you going?”

I groan as the serum burns, nibbling away at my stomach, forcing me to speak.

“Work. I still have the rest of my shift to finish and you all seem to be busy having a telepathic conversation. So, can I leave, please?”

“Do you not understand the severity of what you have done?” His gaze cuts into me, coldness sinks into my bones, intensifying the heavy ache already there, and I instantly become defensive.

“No. Wait— what I did?” My voice raises an octave, fingers curl inwards to create fists by my side. “I didn’t do anything!”

“It was your power. You must have some idea.” His narrowed gaze glares into mine, the darkness there causing the room to dim. This time, I hold my ground.

“A power that I know nothing about because I have no memory of it,” I reply, exasperated, angry, and somewhat dizzy. “It was Julien who made it appear, if you want to blame someone, blame him.”

I feel Julien's gaze instantly land upon me, I stay staring at the demon until Julien speaks, his voice a soft, perplexed, murmur, “I am not sure how it’s my fault.”

“You’re not sure?” I scoff, openly rolling my eyes at him, my brain desperately battling the careless version of myself this serum has revealed and losing. “I’m pretty sure it has something to do with you trying to bite me, your mouth on my skin, remember that? Ring any bells?”

The demon’s stare is pure obsidian rage as he slowly turns towards Julien, he creates a pause, time seems to halt, as does our verbal dispute. But only for a moment.

“Yes, but it may have been Sai, he was also touching you; it called to us both.” Julien's eyes jolt to Sai who simply cackles at the vampire’s attempt to implicate him.

His blue eyes are alight, flickering like flames with pure amusement as I note he’s closer to me than I remember. “Mate, I wasn’t the one who went all primitive and was about to slaughter everyone in the building.”

“Slaughter everyone…” I whisper in terror, narrowing my gaze upon Sai. “Why didn’t you mention that before?”

“It didn’t seem relevant.” He shrugs, the action all too casual considering his words and the way he’s now assessing my body with his gaze, a flicker of concern lingering there.

Dark spots form and dance across my vision, I attempt to blink them away and the room becomes smaller, hotter, my body feels lighter. There are too many vibrant emotions overwhelming me, sinking into me, I gasp as my vision becomes blurry.

I mentally prepare another retort when I hear someone moving, but my legs tremble, my power flares to force me upright which is enough to stop the room from spinning but I lose my balance.

Out of the three, I’m grateful it’s Sai who catches me, scooping me up against his chest like I weigh nothing. Too many buttons of his shirt are open meaning my cheek rests against his warm, bare skin. I can feel his markings hum.

“You OK there, Red?” he asks, his voice soft like before, the version I liked.

My power crackles at the contact, feeling his own gliding over the surface of me as though assuring mine it’s not an enemy.

“I feel lightheaded,” I forcefully respond, then add, “stop calling me that.”

I keep my eyes shut. The darkness is soothing and a sharp pain has begun at my temples causing me to wince with each thud of my heart. I feel him move, taking cautious, fluid steps I wasn’t aware he could produce until I’m placed down and sat upright in the corner of the sofa.

I feel off balance, unfocused, blurry.

“If she has accessed a part of her power, one that has been locked away for five years, her body is probably struggling with the sudden change,” Julien informs, his voice also sounding softer than usual.

Maybe I’d perforated an eardrum.

“I’m fine,” I murmur, eyes still shut and wincing every time the sharp pain returns, wanting to remain defiant and strong in front of these enforcers but looking and sounding and feeling completely not fine. Then the truth serum begins to burn at my lie. “I’ve been better.”

I hear Sai’s soft chuckle at my response, I would scowl at him if I had the energy but keeping myself in an upright position is draining my last reserves of power and I refuse to lay down, no matter how amazing that sounds right now.

There’s silence for a while, nothing but the subtle vibration of music and slight wailing of singing every so often. I assume they’re having another private conversation and, for once, I appreciate being left out.

My power curls around me, I feel like I’m under water, floating in a warm current. I almost begin to slip into some type of sleep when my power shocks me awake, reminding me of the creatures still in the room, how this is not at all a time to rest.

“Don’t worry, Red. We’re leaving.” Sai’s soft voice is somewhere but I can’t quite open my eyes yet. I think I manage a nod, maybe even some type of noise, but I’m slipping away. “But we’ll be back.”

“Your loyal mutt is outside,” Julien comments, but I have no energy to respond. He could lunge for my throat and I’d barely manage to look.

It’s instantaneous. The moment they leave, I mean.

One moment they’re here, their presence suffocating, keeping me weighted to this world. The next, I physically feel lighter, cooler. Soft leather is soothing my face as I fall onto it and release a deep exhale.

The door slams open, I barely hear it, and warm darkness slips around me just as his arms do.