26. Deceitful Delusions
Ifrinn
I've always relied on my tentacles––a rarity among hell demons and few possess as many as I do. Losing them feels like a third of my senses have been culled. Trudging through this infernal heat and coarse-as-fuck sand, I feel crippled. Being mortal sucks.
Thirst is my constant companion, even swallowing is painful. I'm swaying like hell's bells during a sudden attack, when a mirage of bluish-green water and palm fronds appears.
I stagger-crawl-stumble toward it and thank the eternal flames of hell when my hands touch real crystal clear water.
I've just about had my fill when I see myself wince on the water’s surface. Aleiraah had just kicked me while struggling to get off my shoulder. A sickening reel unravels soon after. Bile surges up my throat. I witness my relentless cruelty. And fall even lower in my own eyes.
Suddenly, it makes me perversely glad that I no longer have my tentacles. I deserved to lose them. The raw devastation in her eyes when I brought up taking concubines to intentionally hurt her, makes me curl up in pain.
Did I have to taunt her so mercilessly? Why did I make such stupid assumptions?
I wasn't actually going to follow through.
But I wanted to cause maximum damage and my words had the desired effect.
And no one contradicted me, giving a new meaning to her pain.
A pain so potent, I feel my heart bruising with the force of it.
My own dumb decisions and callous words ripping apart her trust in me.
She stares at us in disbelief. I can't reconcile this twisted version of me either. Rendering her helpless, giving my tentacles free rein of her body. As if her will didn’t matter.
Ridden with guilt, I continue to watch the grotesque night play out. What breaks me however, is when she calls out for help. To me. As Silas accosts her.
And what do I do? Instead of freeing her, I inflict pain. Shame and self-directed fury twist in my gut. The disgust becomes too much. Water and bile burn up my throat as I vomit onto the sand.
Coughing, I wipe the tears on my face. I'm no better than that disgusting lowlife who attacked Aleiraah. In fact, I'm worse. I’m her husband, I was supposed to protect her. Cherish her.
Inhaling shakily, I rinse my mouth, but my breath stills when the surrounding oasis dissolves into a dark den with muted glow and a cacophony of sounds.
Around me, throngs of bodies are gyrating to pulsing music. There's a wild energy in the air. Bewildered, I look around.
How the fuck did I end up in a hell orgy of all places?
Conscious of my mortal body, I tread carefully. The den is brimming with immortals of all kinds, predominantly demons from various factions in different stages of nudity and ecstasy.
Fuck! I need to leave this place undetected before I get offed.
As I wind my way through the crowd, a familiar scream grabs my attention. It immediately draws me toward the secluded chambers at the back of the den. A door stands partially ajar and as I near it, a loud moan stops me dead in my tracks.
Aleiraah, my Flame, is surrounded by a group of seven males, three of them fucking her as the rest watch with unbridled hunger in their eyes.
She moans around a vampire's cock who's not Rhazien, and I come unstuck.
"What the fuck, Aleiraah?" I shout. "Who are these fuckers?"
She snaps her head in my direction, aquamarine eyes bright with passion. But her gaze doesn't hold any recognition.
"Who the fuck are you?" She shoots back, sliding off the males and standing in naked glory.
Her beauty catches me off-guard. Rosy cheeks flushed with arousal and perky tits tipped with taut pink nipples. My mouth waters at the sight.
The moment is broken abruptly as several growls erupt in the room. The seven males close ranks around her, staring daggers at me.
I realize her current septet is the same, but made of entirely different individuals.
Fuck! What kind of mind-fuckery is this?
"You dare interrupt us, mortal?" The demon who should've been me barks.
I glance at Aleiraah, who looks pissed. "They're not your mates, Aleiraah. I am. I'm not sure what's happening but get away from them."
She looks outraged for a moment then starts laughing. The others join her.
"When did you take a mortal mate, Love?" The vampire quips.
"Beats me." She shrugs. "Are you lost? Wait, how did you even get here?"
"He smells like a mortal, but who knows." The wolf shifter quips.
"I don't trust this. Do you think it's a goblin in disguise?" The panther shifter asks the angel.
The ‘not-Azael’ angel stares at me unnervingly, and I get a sinking feeling that maybe this is an alternate reality where I don't belong. But my feet refuse to move, worried about Aleiraah’s safety.
Her eyes turn cold, hearing the word ‘goblin’ and the door closes behind me with a thud.
"I'm not a goblin." Startled, I raise my hands in surrender. "Look, I think there's been a mistake. I don't know how I got here. But I was drawn to this room hearing Aleiraah's voice. I'm her mate. I swear."
"Why don't we rip off his limb? If he bleeds green we'll know for sure." The dragon shifter suggests thoughtfully.
"I don't like how he keeps calling our mate by her name." The fae tags on.
Feeling wary and antsy, I inch for the door about to make a hasty retreat, when smoky tentacles grab me by my arms and legs. The effect is surreal.
I'm suspended from tentacles, unable to get free. I struggle with all my might but they only tighten further, cutting off my circulation.
It hits me out of the blue––I'm helpless. Just as Aleiraah had been.
Frantic, I try to explain calmly at first then resort to yelling, but no one listens.
Another tentacle wraps around my neck, almost cutting off my voice.
I look at Aleiraah with bulging eyes, black spots dancing in my vision.
Soon I feel my limbs being stretched to the point of breaking.
She gazes back at me impassively. My eyes water as my muscles and tendons rip apart while I cry out in agony.
"Please Aleiraah, listen to me. I beg you." I wheeze, choking on my own spit. "I––I'm Ifrinn, your mate. Don't you remember me? That demon by your side is not your mate. I am!"
If anything her eyes grow colder, lips curling back in disgust.
Her name bubbles up my throat. But before it can pass my lips, the tentacles tear my limbs apart from my body with a brutal wrench. My tortured scream echoes, the pain unbearable. I feel a wrenching pressure around my neck, then everything goes black.
The nightmare shatters as I jolt awake, a scream still locked behind my teeth.
Gasping, I find my limbs pinned—sunken deep in quicksand at the water's edge where I'd knelt for a drink.
A crushing weight clamps my torso, and I wheeze, panic rising with every heartbeat.
I fight to get free, instead sink further.
Out of nowhere, the water's surface starts churning into a vortex, sucking everything in.
Anubis
I wince at the fate that mortal Azael, Bazrosh and Ifrinn meet in Duat's version of 'time out-face-the-wall!'
Momentarily, I contemplate lending them a hand.
But then, decide against it. Duat will rain down pesky scarabs on me for eons, if I try to intervene.
My interference might even increase the severity of the punishments.
No. I'll just observe, letting Duat do her thing.
Much as it pains me to admit, that self-important, megalomaniac Ra has a point this time - Hell hath no dearth of fury for fools who malign their mate.
Alistair
I knew there was something wrong with that shimmering waterfall.
A sight like that in the Underworld is unnatural.
It rendered me powerless, worse, it turned me into this weak mortal with layers of skin peeling away.
I've been walking in this wretched sand-storm riddled hell for how long is anyone's guess.
Throat feels like it's on fire, black spots dance before my eyes.
I collapse on the hot sand, unable to take a step further.
Maybe this is how I die.
Suddenly, Aleiraah appears a few feet away, arms open, beckoning me with a smile.
"Aleiraah!" A gasp leaves my cracked lips. With a trembling smile I lunge at her. But just as my fingers brush her arms, she disappears into thin air, and my heart cracks.
Closing my eyes, I let the feelings of frustration and hopelessness assail me. What wouldn’t I give for another glimpse of her? Not a mirage but Aleiraah in the flesh.
My eyes fly open at the sound of lapping water. I’m surrounded by tall palm trees in a silvery blue oasis.
Too parched to question my own mind, I dunk my face into the pool. A strange energy emanates from the waterbody. Instincts flare, cautioning me, but I'm driven by thirst.
I'm still gulping down the cool liquid, when an image catches my attention. Slowly, with mounting horror I witness myself rutting like an animal between Aleiraah's pale thighs, as she lies helpless.
“No! No! Stop! Don’t do it!” I make a desperate sound, wishing I could go back and stop myself.
With every agonised moment, it’s as if a blade slips beneath my ribs, skewering me mercilessly. Intense self-loathing swallows me whole.
What have I done? How far have I fallen?
Her eyes full of mischief turn dull with pain and utter betrayal when I act as judge, jury and executioner. Her agony is like a living brand on my soul. It’s as if I can feel what’s happening to her.
The thought makes me sick and the doubt I’ve been suppressing claws its way up.
Does Aleiraah know about me and Raine?
My palms turn clammy, as sweat beads on my forehead.
Every time she asked about that vile creature, I automatically rejected the conversation. Like an impulse. The need to keep my Delight away from that whore overpowered every other thought.
But as I watch her suffer at our hands, guilt eats away at my conscience. How I could've forced myself on Aleiraah? I took away her choice. Like mine was taken from me.
Nausea hits me hard and I scrunch my eyes shut. Sound of my own retching drowns the awful noises from the forced couplings.
When there's nothing left to throw up, I open my eyes and find myself sitting in a garden, untouched by time.
Moss carpets the ground in plush emerald, and silvery trees lean in as though listening.
Vines of moonflowers bloom even in daylight, giving off a sweet scent like wild honey.
A swing hangs from the twisted limbs of a willow nearby, its leaves shimmering with iridescent hues.
And sitting on it facing away from me is Aleiraah, long red hair rustling in the wind.
I stumble to my feet, heart bursting with hope, when a shadowy figure emerges from behind the trunk of the willow.
Raine? What the fuck is she doing here?
I scream Aleiraah's name, warning her of the intruder, but no sound leaves my throat. Not wasting a moment, I sprint toward her but strong vines of ivy snap out of the ground and wrap around my body. I stumble and fall, the rapidly twining ivy holding me down.
Raine shoots me an evil smirk, as she takes out a silver dagger. I yell again, but the ivy covers my face save for my eyes. Finally, Aleiraah turns around but it's too late.
Raine plunges a silver dagger into Aleiraah's heart and black poison starts to snake across her skin. I rip at the vines screaming soundlessly, but more ivy smothers me.
Eyes open in shock, Aleiraah's body flutters to the ground. Raine stands over her prone body, cackling madly.
My soul fractures into a million pieces.
The garden morphs into a burning reed forest. In a blink Aleiraah's lifeless form and Raine's crazed silhouette vanish. Orange flames replace the ivy and I remain mute, shaking with the sense of loss as they consume me.
I regain my senses to the sound of my own screams as a rapidly swirling vortex pulls me towards its inky black center.