Chapter 16 #3
Hendrik drew me under his spell as the dark fog swirled all around us, filling my lungs as I lost myself to the pleasure and pain.
My Dark Mage took out all his frustration on me, taking me on the floor, against the cheap sofa, and finally under his shower when I started to exude Hellfire.
He ran the cool water that hit our bodies and released puffs of steam into the air as I kissed him, running my tongue over his to devour him like he devoured me.
He laced his fingers through mine when he took me to the edge, slowing down enough to allow my spasming body to accept the overwhelming sensation.
He bit down on my neck, adding just enough pain to the mix to make my climax unfurl like a sweet blossom, making me gasp as stars sparked across my vision and I lost all sense of self.
I didn’t know where I was, who I was. All that mattered was the sensation, the pleasure and the pain and my Dark Mage who released everything into me, joining me on our rare trip to the heavens where supernaturals like us were never supposed to go.
I slumped over Hendrik as he ran his fingers across my back, exploring my skin that sizzled with lingering heat. We’d instantly dried after leaving the shower, thanks to our skin still burning with the strange smoldering powers of Hell that seemed to have invaded the mate-bond.
“Is it because I’m trying to connect with Cole?” I asked as I curled my fingers through the rising steam. I’d only run into the demon once in my dreams, but it seemed to have done something to me, and to Hendrik as well. And based on what he said, it was impacting Dante too.
“Maybe,” he agreed, the rough edge of his anger worn down to a dull blade.
I still sensed the powerful emotion just underneath the surface, but finally getting to be with me again seemed to have temporarily calmed the Dark Mage.
He tucked a blonde curl behind my ear, smirking at me.
“I think it’s more than that, though. I think you’re getting close to unlocking your true potential. ”
This was the moment that Kaito had looked forward to and it broke my heart that he wasn’t here to join us, to tell me exactly what was happening and what it all meant.
“I’m worried,” I admitted as I snuggled closer to my Dark Mage.
Out of all my Virtues, he was the least “snuggly” of the bunch, but I found comfort in him anyway.
He understood me in ways the others couldn’t.
“Kaito’s going to be fine,” he said, reading my thoughts far too well. “As for Cole, if he can influence us like this when you haven’t even bonded to him yet, he’s going to be a powerful ally.”
“Or a giant mistake,” I lamented, rolling away from Hendrik as I stared up at the ceiling.
Tiny pits of burning embers glowed like stars, lodged into the foundation as evidence of how much I was really changing.
I wondered if it was safe to sleep with my other mates until I got this under control.
The Hell-side of my powers were starting to take over and I didn’t think that was a good thing.
“You chose your Virtues,” Hendrik reminded me, trailing his touch over my naked shoulder. “You don’t make mistakes when it comes to that,” he said, smirking. “I mean, you picked me, so clearly you have excellent taste.”
I gave him a raised brow. “Does that mean you approve of Logan, Orion, Kaito, and even Dante?”
His dark eyes took on a deep red glow of Hellfire. “Oh, I especially approve of Dante.”
I blinked a few times in shock. “What’d he do? Kneel and suck your dick or something?”
He grinned. “Maybe.”
What the fuck happened these past six months?
“Would you be upset if he did?” he asked, the question far too serious for my comfort level. “Suck my dick, that is,” he added as if I didn’t catch his drift.
My mouth bobbed open and closed as I tried to form a cohesive sentence. “I, uh. Well, it’s been six months and… I mean, I’ve been with Orion a few times, okay, a lot of times, but…”
“And he took good care of you, didn’t he?
It was safer that way. He hasn’t been affected like we have by this…
problem.” He ran his touch over me, allowing me into the mate-bond to see how much he held himself back, even now, from hurting me, not because he wanted to, but because his rage was barely kept under control and sex had been a temporary outlet.
He needed violence… violence that Dante was strong enough to offer.
I ran my fingers through his dark hair. “I’m not afraid.”
“I know you’re not, pet. But the only reason we can even talk right now is because Dante has been helping my rage and he’s weakened me enough that I can’t do too much harm.
” He grunted as he leaned on his elbow, his dark eyes glowing with murder despite his concern for me.
“Besides that, does it bother you? The Hunter and me, I mean.” His eyes searched mine and I realized he was seriously concerned I would view it as betrayal.
I wasn’t upset. I was just… stunned.
“Well, uh,” I stammered, “I guess not. I mean, you guys all share me, so if you were to, uh… I mean. It’s a ‘mate-circle,’ right? So it would make total sense. I can’t expect you not to enjoy each other if that’s an option, I mean if you swing that way, and—”
Yeah, I was blathering.
He interrupted me by giving me a rough kiss, nipping lightly at my lower lip before forcing himself to pull away.
“Oh, pet. I’m not into dudes, or at least I wasn’t, but like you said, it’s the effect of the mate-circle.
We will all continue to grow closer together, and if it can protect you, then I accept it.
” He kissed my shoulder. “I think you’re going to enjoy the new developments, especially when we all get to fuck you together again.
” His eyes took on a wicked gleam that held deep, dark sins I wanted to explore.
My head spun as images invaded my mind, my once cooled fires roaring hot just thinking of Hendrik and Dante interacting like… that.
He ran his thumb over my cheek. “You’re adorable when you blush.”
I swatted him away. “I do not blush!”
He growled, grabbing me by the wrist in reaction to my innocent swipe. Anger flitted across his gaze and for a moment, I was frightened.
“Hendrik?” I ventured.
He went still and then shook his head. “You need to get away from me, Lily. All I can think about is hurting you and not in a good way.” He rolled off the bed and slammed his fist into the wall, deepening an existing crater that said the wall had seen its fair share of Hendrik’s rage.
“Fuck. That demon is just doing this to spite me!”
I perched on the edge of the bed. “Spite you? For what?”
Hendrik went still and glanced away. “Nothing.”
Wait. Did Hendrik actually look… guilty?
“Whoa whoa whoa,” I said, jumping to my feet and crowding him before he ran off on me. “You know something about Cole you’re not telling me. What is it?” When he didn’t answer I shoved him hard, earning a growl. “Tell me!”
“It’s not important,” he said through gritted teeth.
I gaped at him in disbelief. “You know something about Cole, the key to Calamity, saving the world… everything, and you say it’s not important? No. Fuck no.” I grabbed his head and shoved myself into his mind, searching for what I needed to know. “Tell. Me. Now!”
Hendrik roared when I hit a dark memory buried deep in his psyche, one he’d kept walled off from me with those onyx barriers he preferred.
Except this was a place I was never supposed to find.
The past unfurled in my mind in an instant, showing Hendrik with the other Dark Mages around a symbol of fire on the ground, chanting as they summoned…
“You summoned Cole?” I shrieked, launching away from him as he roared and took a swing at me. I dodged and snarled.
“It was before we were mated!” he cried, rage and pain evident on his face. “I didn’t know!”
Tears sprang to my eyes as he hurt me in the only way any of my Virtues could ever hurt me. Physical violence didn’t scare me, but this?
True betrayal.
It broke something inside of me that I knew would never mend.
“You knew about Cole? You knew how I could have completed the mate-circle before we nearly died in Hell? How could you? Why would you do that?”
The memory played out in my head even though I didn’t want to see any more.
I’d already unlocked it and I witnessed Hendrik summoning a gorgeous, wicked demon with long bat-like wings and red eyes that promised murder and death.
It cursed him with the sin of unrighteous wrath before Dante and the Dean managed to lock him up.
“Dante…” I whispered, holding my chest as if I could keep my heart from shattering. “He knew, too?”
That’s why my Dark Mage and the Hunter had gotten so close. They held a dirty, dark secret, one that would destroy everything we’d all built.
“Do not look at me like that!” he roared, his pain and anger flashing in his eyes.
“We didn’t know what you were to us, not at the time.
All I knew was you were at the epicenter of the vision where everything ended.
My clan. The world. Everything, Lily! If you mated with Cole…
then it would have meant Calamity would be here and it would destroy us all.
I didn’t know the vision… the vision that I saw… ”
“The vision was if I didn’t mate Cole,” I confirmed with gritted teeth. “You want a self-fulfilling prophecy? You’ve fucking got one.” I gathered my crumpled uniform and yanked it on, then turned to storm out and Hendrik gripped me by the arm—hard.
“Do not walk out on me. Not like this.”
I ripped myself free and punched him in the face. He lashed to the side as his lip split, sending blood splashing across the floor. “You can go fuck yourself, Hendrik. Or better yet, go fuck Dante. I don’t give a shit. You and me, we’re done.”
I knew my threat was empty the moment I said it, but I didn’t care, the anger inside of me blossomed with no end in sight and all I wanted to do was murder this bastard who dared to break my heart.
He’d tried to destroy everything. Cole had been here, right under my nose and I’d been too weak to feel him.
Wherever he was imprisoned, it had taken my entire mate-bond to break through and find him.
If Hendrik hadn’t summoned him… if he, Dante, and the Dean hadn’t locked him away, maybe I would have found him faster.
“Lily,” he persisted. “Don’t just—”
I snarled as I released my claws, slicing him across his chest and leaving streaks of blood. He growled and the air around us trembled as the scent of blood and roses overwhelmed my senses.
“Get out,” he warned. “Get the fuck out before I lose my patience and I do something I regret.”
“Don’t have to ask me twice, asshole,” I shot back as I ran out of his dorm and bolted down the stairs.
One of the Dark Mages let me outside and didn’t comment on my apparent rage. They were probably used to Hendrik having this effect on students by now.
When I walked out onto the campus, I let the tears come and they steamed down my heated face. The only hint that I wasn’t alone was a lingering black fog that trickled around my ankles, followed by a rumbling laughter from a demon who’d gotten exactly what he wanted.