Chapter 34 #3
“I’m sorry,” Abaddon breathes in my ear like a hissing serpent. “I know you needed more time to accept your position, but I can’t wait any longer.”
Only a single word—broken, afraid, and sounding nothing like myself—escapes me: “Why?”
“Posturing, my love. We’re stronger together.” He leans even closer, touching his nose to the shell of my ear as he drops his voice to a low rumble. “I was going to make you my queen eventually, but we can’t wait any longer.”
The doors to the throne room groan open.
“Now, be a good girl and play along, will you?” He kisses my ear before straightening his posture, just in time for the Council to walk in.
The sight of Michael and Gabriel at the center of their foursome, fully armored and dripping in regality, makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.
A split second later, that emotion is gone, too.
“Abaddon,” Michael seethes, walking slightly ahead of the rest. His cruel, violent eyes immediately jump to me. “Is this your way of telling us you’ve made the human girl your consort?”
“Not yet,” Abaddon answers, his voice full of ice and stoicism once more. “Apologies. I haven’t had time to formally announce our engagement yet.”
Even if I can’t feel the absolute dread, it’s fighting tooth and nail to surface. To object. But my muscles remain as motionless as the statues lining the room. I’m immobile, mute, and unfeeling. Paralyzed.
“Humans and angels have not been allowed to marry since the Nephilim, Destroyer.”
“I’d say Kae is hardly human, considering the immortality she was always destined for.
” Abaddon shrugs, acting completely unbothered, and tucks his wing tighter around me.
“There will not be a better Queen of the Abyss than the Key to it. She is destined for this realm as much as I am. Do you require further argument before you can respect my decision as Principality here, or can we proceed with the briefing as planned?”
Michael’s lips purse in stifled fury, but the fact that he doesn’t protest tells me everything I need to know. He believes this is a valid loophole; he’s going to allow it.
I should be fucking terrified.
I want to scream for help, to fight, to escape this forced agreement while I still can.
Why can’t anyone see I’m not agreeing to this? He is manipulating me!
Gabriel mutters Michael’s name in a warning, who promptly responds by flashing his second-in-command a glare before looking back at us. “Let us waste no time, then. Semyaza, where are your archangels?”
In mere moments, my fate is sealed.
Abaddon, damn him, brings our connected hands to his lips, placing a kiss on my thumb in subtle celebration. Because he can now. The Council has basically blessed our union, however unwilling I am to participate in it.
“They should all be eating dinner at this time,” Semyaza answers.
Michael turns to walk away, speaking without looking back in that demanding, overly loud voice of his. “Have them meet us in the war room in ten minutes. It’s time they start contributing to the cause.”
Abaddon hauls me out of the throne room, tugging me by the hand like I’m a small child. I try to dig my heels in, but my body won’t listen to me. It does not belong to me.
“Our engagement?” I manage to choke out, just as we exit the doors.
“Yes.” He doesn’t look at me, pulling me the opposite direction from everyone else. “Wait until we’re alone, and I’ll give you two minutes to ask any questions.”
“It’s a little late for that.” I already know that no amount of questions will be enough. There is no logical explanation for this.
It’s not right.
He ignores me, scowling, and rushes us to the nearest door. He doesn’t use magic to open this one. He simply yanks it open, tugs me inside, and slams it behind me. When I flinch at being handled so roughly, I realize he’s lightened the damper on my emotions. Just barely, but it’s still something.
There’s a wildness in his eyes, gleaming in the brightest shade of silver, as he looks at me. “We’re out of time. The red horse has arrived; the Council is about to announce it. I had no choice.”
Pinned to the door, I spare a glance over his shoulder, quickly assessing what room we’re in—an infirmary, it seems. Unfortunately, the door at my back is the only exit I see.
My eyes flick back to him. “Let go of my goddamn emotions.”
“I can’t,” he hisses. “You’re unhinged right now. We’re about to go in front of dozens of the Elohim. I need you to be calm and follow my lead.”
I’m unhinged? “Maybe that’s because you told them we’re fucking engaged!”
“Kae. We’re fated to rule the Abyss together. I’ve already accepted that. I have no doubt that you will, too, eventually. And as much as I wanted to wait for that, I can’t. We need to secure our position immediately.”
“But why?” Could there be any sense in this? “Why couldn’t you wait?”
“You wouldn’t understand.” He shakes his head, frustrated. “You’re still young, immature, and not even fully developed. One day, you’ll thank me for this. I am giving you all the power and influence you’ll ever need, right when you need it the most.”
My God… he’s completely serious right now. “I don’t want that kind of power! I never asked for this. Never agreed to it!”
“If you want anything from the Elohim, this is how you do it. You may not see it, but I do. I’m sorry, but I’m not giving you a choice. It’s for your own good.”
My panic rises.
“Please, Abaddon,” I humiliate myself, pleading with him. “Call it off. Or tell the Council to keep it a secret, if you have to, and maybe we’ll get there someday. But not like this. Please, don’t do this.”
He draws his wings in tight with a quick snap, pushing off the door in one abrupt movement. I watch, my heart pounding in my chest, as he begins to pace in erratic, quick strides. His hand flexes and fists, over and over again—
“Do you really think I’d be doing this if there was a better option?” He whips around toward me, his muscles bound, and stalks in my direction. His irises glow snow white, blazing with fury. “Why can’t you just trust me? I’m helping you!”
“I want to, Abaddon, but—”
A loud crash fills the room. I flinch, instinctively pulling my hands to cover my face, as the noise is quickly followed by something shattering.
By the time I pull my hands away to inspect the damage, seconds later, I’m trembling.
He’s kicked a gurney into a glass cabinet.
I’m unharmed, but I can’t stop violently shaking.
When Abaddon faces me again, breathing heavy through his rage, the glow of his eyes dims. The fury melts off his face. He knows he’s scaring me; he has to.
Within a few short strides, he’s back in front of me, looking apologetic.
It doesn’t matter, because I’m already curling into myself.
Get away. Need to get away.
I don’t want to be here. I don’t feel safe. I can hardly think, hardly breathe.
Gently, he touches the back of his hand to my cheek.
I try to pull away, but there’s nowhere else for me to go.
Like a raging fire, his presence consumes the room, leaving no oxygen for me.
“I’m sorry, my love. You just… You drive me insane sometimes.
I have to keep you safe, and I can’t do that if you won’t listen to me. ”
I feel the power roll into me this time.
It’s heavy, as if it requires a lot of energy to counteract the intensity of my building panic attack. But it is not peace. It is not a calming blanket. It’s an empty, cold shackle.
I am a prisoner to Abaddon’s will.
“We’re going to be late.” His facial expression flattens, returning to the epitome of indifference. “For the love of all things holy, Kae, at least try to play along when we get in there. This will be easier if you stop fighting me.”
Reality slips into the distance like a drug-induced fever dream.