Chapter 10
SIMONE
Idon’t know how long it’s been. A month? More? Long enough that my friends at Abaddon probably think I’ve been eaten and aren’t bothering to look for me anymore. I wonder what they did with my things. Not that I had that many, only a few comforts I begged Maalik to bring me from the human world.
I probably have more things here now. There’s a bookcase Az is slowly filling with my favorites and the classics. There are playing cards and board games. He even brought drawing pads and pencils, and I started sketching dresses again. I haven’t had the time or will to do that since high school.
And, of course, he brings me the most delicious food—better than I had when I lived with humans, certainly better than what’s served in Purgatory. This morning I had the most delicious fettuccini, brought still warm straight from Italy.
I thought I would be lonelier, kept alone in a cave, with only the Fallen who imprisoned me visiting.
But even though I did grow to enjoy the company of my teammates in Abaddon, I always looked forward to being alone afterward.
I haven’t had the opportunity to be alone much my entire life—first with my crazy family, then asshole boyfriends like Thomas, modeling agents, people at work, other Elioud and the fallen angels at Abaddon.
But I’d sooner face Hell naked than admit to my cocky jailer that he’s given me something I didn’t know I needed.
It’s bad enough that he can see that I’m not immune to him.
I don’t think I’ll ever truly want to be with a man again, not after Thomas and the ones like him who came before. So he’s wasting his time keeping me like a bird in a cage. I keep telling him that, but he just gives me that enigmatic smile of his.
Being pissed off and yelling at him achieved nothing, so I’m going to switch gears. I have no doubt he’s doing everything he’s doing to get into my bed. But maybe I can take advantage of that good side he’s displaying to convince him to let me go.
I put on one of the dresses he picked out—one that mercifully doesn’t have a corset.
In front of the mirror in my little bathroom alcove, I brush my hair and style it in a chignon, then use some of the fancy beauty products he stocked my vanity with.
Satisfied with my appearance, I take a seat at the table and start shuffling cards for a little game of Bataille.
“Az,” I call out, confident that he somehow listens. After all, he knows when I’m awake, when I’m hungry, when I’m smashing the items in the cavern to smithereens.
A moment later, his immense presence fills the cave. His amber and sandalwood scent hits me first, then his deep, seductive voice.
“You summoned me, little fairy? Though I must admit,” he says while sauntering to the other side of the table, “I had hoped to find you waiting naked on the bed.”
He sits down casually, like he didn’t just make a comment that somehow both thrills and disturbs me. His green-gray eyes go to my hands, where I’m still shuffling the deck.
“What are we playing, ma petite fée?”
“Why do you call me that?” I ask, refusing to comment on his expectations.
“Because you are small and ethereally beautiful.” Az winks at me—he’s in a playful mood again today. “You didn’t answer me.”
For a moment, I think he meant I didn’t answer about waiting for him in bed naked. Then I remember he asked what game the cards are for.
“War,” I say simply.
Az’s smile turns feral. “I always play to win, Simone. I hope you’re ready for that.”
I roll my eyes at the arrogant behavior and deal us in.
“So,” I begin, dipping my toes into the pool. “When can I leave this cave and take a walk? It’s beginning to feel claustrophobic.”
The corners of Az’s lips twitch, though he doesn’t take those dangerous eyes off the cards he’s holding.
“You wouldn’t like what’s outside the cave, Simone,” he says nonchalantly, throwing a card down on the table between us. I don’t even look at it.
“Why don’t you try me?” I ask, struggling to keep my voice warm and not turn this game into another argument.
“What is it you’re trying to achieve here, little fairy?
” The look he gives me brings a flush of embarrassment to my face—I’m not fooling him at all.
“You think if you go past these wards, you’ll somehow be free to return to your questionable life in Purgatory?
You think you wouldn’t be dead within an hour, or wishing you were? ”
When my lower lip starts to tremble, I slam the cards down.
The chair tips back as I stand up, falling onto the hem of my skirts.
I try to stomp away, but my dress holds me hostage as much as the man sitting at the table and watching me with one mockingly raised eyebrow.
I pull and pull, until finally it gives way with a drawn-out riiiiip, nearly making me stumble into the bed.
Thankfully, the brute stays silent as I march into the alcove and sit at my vanity, pretending he doesn’t exist. Eventually, his presence fades away, and I’m left alone with my frustrations.
Today, I threw every object I could pick up at the invisible wall between me and my freedom.
Pretty painted plates—smashed to pieces.
Pillows, chairs, rocks—nothing made a dent.
Not that I really expected it to. The only things I left alone were the gorgeous books he brought me over the months, many of them first or special editions. Destroying them felt blasphemous.
I sit in the ruins, looking at the darkness beyond the edges of my prison.
Is it far to the cave entrance, or is Hell just around the corner?
How sad is it that I wish I were being sent on dangerous missions by my mentors, facing demons and manifestations of human sin, rather than languishing here in luxury?
“What have you done, little fairy?” Az asks me, his shadow falling over me a moment later. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t even notice his presence. He crouches by my side, eyes fixed on my hands.
Oh, yeah, I cut myself on some of the pretty porcelain. Oops.
Az takes my hand, tilting it this way and that like the drying blood is fascinating.
“Can you heal yourself?” he murmurs inquisitively.
I scoff. “I can heal myself. I can heal you. I’m better at it than most of the Elioud at Abaddon. Well…” I tilt my head. “I was.”
After a moment of concentration, the cut glows before sealing itself, leaving only a faint line and flakes of blood.
“Curious,” is all Az says.
“It is, isn’t it?” I look up at him and find myself mesmerized by his unique eyes. “I’m sure they’re wrong about me. I don’t think I’m a Cambion at all. How can I be, when I’m shit at fighting and great at healing?”
Az brings my healed palm to his nose and inhales deeply. Then he shocks me by kissing the center of my palm, his tongue gathering the blood. Heat blooms between my legs, that bundle of nerves waking up after being asleep so long, now echoing my heartbeat.
His lips twist wryly. Does he know how that made me feel? Does he know that my body yearns for touch for the first time in years?
“I loathe to be the one to confirm this, little one,” he says. “But you’re certainly Cambion. Judging by the taste of your blood, you might be distantly related to one of my lieutenants, Andras.”
I blink at him, my arousal momentarily forgotten. “Like my great granddaddy?”
Az mercifully lets go of my hand, breaking the spell completely. “Something like that.”
I chew my bottom lip for a moment, hesitating. “What’s he like?” I finally ask.
Suddenly, Az sobers, elegantly rising from the crouch. He extends a hand and gives me a patient look. I have a feeling that he’d wait for hours just to be the one to help me rise. And that’s what pushes me to take his hand.
Once we’re both upright, he finally answers my question. “You don’t want to meet him.”
I don’t know if it’s because he’s possessive, or because meeting this Andras would be dangerous for me. It might be a bit of both. I don’t think I want to know.
“Are you ever going to let me go?” I ask instead, my voice smaller than I’d like it to be.
“No,” he answers plainly. “I’m not letting you go, Simone.”
A shuddering sigh claws its way out of my throat. Finally, I nod and step back.
“I’m going to sleep,” I say even as I’m already walking toward my bed.
“Good night, little fairy,” Az murmurs behind me. “Sweet dreams.”
When I turn around, he’s already gone. And every item I smashed is back in its place, whole. Like nothing happened.
But something did happen, didn’t it? My body responded to his touch. I’m starting to think this cave might be more dangerous than anything waiting outside.