8. Emelia
8
EMELIA
S moke fills my mouth and I can’t breathe. Every inhale feels like I’m sucking embers into my lungs. Flames lick at the shadows and cast a terrifying glow around the room. I should know this layout like the back of my hand, but in my terror I can’t remember which door leads to the stairwell and which doors don’t. I know that I need to move, but I can’t seem to get my feet to cooperate. It’s like I’m standing in drying cement.
The heat laps at the exposed skin of my arms and the smell of burning hair burns my nose, but I still can’t move. It should hurt. I should be screaming and crying, but instead, I’m numb. I’m frozen to the spot on the rug in the ballroom of the hotel that we live in. The hotel that we’ll all die in.
“Fuck!” I scream and send myself into a coughing fit. The sound of fire crackling and wood breaking fills the air and I flinch but don’t move, still frozen, just taking in the destruction around me. In the back of my mind I know that it’s dangerous, but I can’t help but lean forward and admire the beauty of the flames. How they dance through the shadows and illuminate the room with a reddish orange glow.
A door crashes to the ground and Tobias runs toward me with a cloth over his nose and mouth. “We have to move, Emelia! Now!” His voice is urgent and the panic in his eyes finally breaks the trance that I have been stuck in. His face is stained with dark soot and there are tear streaks cutting down his cheeks. “Go!”
“My mom and dad?” I ask as I let him yank me toward another door. He doesn’t answer and I feel my eyes start to sting. “No…Please no.” My chest tightens and my heart cracks.
“We don’t have time. I’m so sorry. Diego wants you out. Now.” Tobias picks me up and tucks me into the safety of his arms. I press my face against his chest and fight the sobs bubbling in my throat. Each stuttering inhale only fills my lungs with more smoke and ash.
“What about everyone else? Wasn’t there a debriefing tonight in the east conference room?” His silence makes my skin crawl. “Tobias, where are the others?”
“I don’t know. The bomb went off and I was given clear instructions to get you out. Nothing else. I haven’t seen anyone. Diego was still on his way, so he wasn’t even at the hotel yet.”
My stomach twists and I feel like I might vomit. “Stop,” I demand. He shakes his head and continues down the steps, his feet nearly slipping out from under him in his haste. The heat and flames grow more fierce as he reaches the basement landing. The building above us groans dramatically. “Get me Diego,” I demand sternly. “Now.” I usually don’t pull the spoiled princess move, but desperate times.
Fear forgotten, and anger coursing through my veins like molten lava, I square my shoulders and take the phone that Tobias hands me. Diego’s voice is barking orders, but I ignore him and cut him off mid-sentence.“This is a distraction. They’re trying to get into the vault on the second floor.” My tone is even and deadpan, revealing nothing of the turmoil I am currently feeling.
“And what makes you think that?” Diego snaps. “Why do you have to make my life such a living Hell? Can’t you just do what you’re told for once and go with Tobias to the safehouse?” My lip twitches to fight my amusement. I can almost see him now in my mind, all covered in ash with his torn fancy suit. Yelling orders while holding a phone to his ear and pinching the bridge of his nose because ‘I give him the worst headache’.
“I saw three young men last week cleaning the room. I’d never seen them before.” Tobias basically shoves me in the back of the SUV as I speak, and I let him. But I did manage to make sure he caught the glare I was giving him before he slammed the door. “I thought it was odd, so I followed them. They came back two more times in what I assume were canvasing missions.”
“Damn it all to hell,” Diego yells into the phone and I flinch at his unbridled rage. “Why didn’t you say anything at any point before now?”
“I just assumed that you’d hired more help. It’s not like you let me sit in during meetings anymore,” I mutter, and Tobias actually groans. “Whatever. There’s your information. Now handle it,” I order Diego, and hand the phone back to Tobias.
Tobias mutters a begrudging ‘yes sir’ and pockets the phone. “I would tell you to stay here, but you’re not going to listen if I do, so please don’t do anything stupid, and stick close to me. And don’t tell Diego.” He hands me a damp cloth similar to the one he’s holding over his nose and mouth and moves to the side so I can exit the car. “We have minutes until the structure is too unstable. Do you understand?”
I nod once and follow him back into the burning building. We don’t get far before we’re stopped by a collapsed beam. It’s too small for him to fit through, but with my small frame I can squeeze through. “Give me five minutes,” I call and slip through the opening before he can grab me.
“Emelia, you get your ass back here right now! Fuck! Emelia!” His voice fades as I run deeper into the flames and find the charred remains of the conference room.
I shoulder the door open and cough uncontrollably behind the cloth as smoke billows out. Several of the men are dead, but a few are still alive. “Carry who you can, but if they’re gone don’t risk yourselves to get them out,” I demand the men covered in soot before me. “Take the hallway on the right, you’ll find Tobias. Go!” I grab a man with blood staining his forehead. “Hector?”
“He went…” He coughs and doubles over. “Find you,” he wheezes out.
Fuck.
I turn on my heels and make my way to the second floor, stepping over holes in the stairs and dodging the growing inferno. My arms are blistering and I can still smell my hair burning, but I push on. As I round the corner, I see Hector on his hands and knees a few feet down the hall from the vault room. A pool of blood growing beneath him and a knife sticking out of his stomach.
I run and slide on my knees to his side. “You’re okay. We’re going to get you out.” His eyes meet mine and they are full of pain and fear. His skin is gray and there is blood staining his lips. “What happened?” My fingers close around the gun on the floor beside him.
“Bomb,” he gasps. “Vault. It’s…open…Sanders…double-crossed…for money.” His words are broken by shallow sobs. I stand slowly and I see red. The flames, the heat, and the urgency all fade away. And then I feel it. Something inside of me just snaps, like my soul is cleaved in two. Everything goes numb again, but this time it’s not because I’m terrified.
I’m angry.
I’m furious.
And someone is going to pay tonight.
Suddenly, I’m on my feet and slowly, confidently, walking towards the room with the vault. Sure enough, it’s wide open and there are at least eight men inside digging through everything. I take a deep breath and step into view, the gun shaking slightly in my loose grasp. One of the men looks up from the inside of the vault and he smiles, but before he can say anything I raise the gun and bury a bullet in his forehead.
A flurry of movement happens in my periphery, but I can’t be bothered. If I die, I die. I’ve lost everything else anyway.
My parents are dead.
Hector is dying behind me.
My home is gone.
What else do I have? I drop another four men in the room as they raise their guns, but I don’t kill them. I move to the heavy vault door and push it closed, the metal burning my palms. The men inside shout and scream and beg, but I seal them inside without a second thought. A wide, deranged smile stretching across my face.
When I go back to Hector, I find the hallway empty. Tobias steps through the smoke and I take in his blood-stained shirt. “Give it to me,” he demands and holds out his hand. I drop the gun into his palm and only then do I notice that my arms are covered in burns and blood. “I’ve got you,” he whispers as I collapse into his arms.
Suddenly, I can feel everything again. My body is burning, my lungs are so full of smoke that I can’t take a deep breath without coughing, and my head is swimming. Everything crashes down on me at one time and the last thought I have before darkness overtakes me is that I killed all those men without a second thought.
And I’m not the least bit sorry for it.
I lurch forward in my bed, gasping for breath and clutching at my chest. Anubis bolts upright and cocks his head to the side with a deep growl, ever the guard dog. He looks from side to side and then decides that there is nothing in the darkness. His nose touches my hand that is still holding the sheets in a tight fist. “You can’t fight the demons that I’m fighting tonight, sweet boy.”
He whines and curls up against my thigh. I take another deep breath and drop my head back down onto the pillow. My heartbeat is echoing in my ears and I can feel it thudding against my chest rapidly. It’s been a while since I’ve had that nightmare. I close my eyes and try to slip back to sleep, but I can’t. All I see is death, fire and destruction.
Ten years and seven months.
That’s how long it’s been since I burned to ash and rose from the cinders.
Anubis jumps to the floor and curls up in front of my door as I toss and turn beneath the sheets. My stomach dips as I remember the power I felt at taking their lives that night in the fire. At commanding Diego’s men— now my men— and watching them do my bidding without a second thought. I clench my thighs together as a wave of arousal washes over me.
Am I fucked in the head for being turned on by fear and death? Yes.
Do I blame it on my vast collection of monster smut? Also, yes.
I sigh and reach for the middle drawer in my bedside table. There’s no way I’m going back to sleep now. My fingers curl around one of my silicone toys and I smile as I trace the suckers lining the shaft. I kick off the covers and shimmy out of my pajamas, making sure that I lay at a good angle, because I know he’s watching me.
He’s always watching me.
My eyes flick briefly to the dark corner of my ceiling just above my bathroom door. Right where the camera is hidden. A shiver snakes down my spine as I think about him watching me and fisting his cock to the sight of my orgasm. Of course I found the cameras shortly after he installed them, but I left them alone because I thought it was fun to mess with them.
Sometimes I would talk to myself and pretend someone was with me. Other times I would dance naked around the room after I got out of the shower. Anubis always hates my karaoke sessions.
I slide my fingers through my slick folds, and my hips jolt when I trace slow circles against my clit. I didn’t realize I was that worked up. My fingers continue to circle my aching clit as I bring the toy up to my lips and trace the tip with my tongue. I close my eyes and take it into my mouth, moaning slightly. My heartbeat elevates as I think about him leaning closer to his screen and watching me as a pleasure myself.
I pull the toy from my mouth, leaving a trail of saliva from my lips to the tip of the toy. I wonder how good of an image he gets through those cameras. I hope it’s at least high definition and not some grainy 90’s police surveillance shit, because I want him to see it all. I plant my feet on the bed and tilt my hips slightly as I lower the toy and press the tip against my wet center. My pussy throbs with anticipation as I circle my clit and my walls quiver with need.
I push the toy a few inches inside and let it stretch me, and then pull it back out with a moan. My fingers continue the slow circles on my clit and I can feel the tension building in my core. I’m not going to last long with this, but then again, I never usually do. The stretch is enough to send me over the edge after just a few minutes.
My hips buck against my hand as my fingers start working faster circles and I push the tentacle toy in again. It slides in effortlessly because I’m so fucking wet right now. I start up a decent rhythm with the toy, dragging it out slowly and then pushing it in as deep as it can go. My fingers quicken against my clit, rubbing tight circles on the swollen nub, and my legs begin to tremble.
I push up against my hand with shallow thrusts and moan as the toy hits that sensitive spot inside me. My walls squeeze against the silicone shaft and I let out another groan of pleasure. My phone screen lights up from its charging port on my bedside table and three quiet ‘dings’ let me know that I have three new messages. I contemplate ignoring them, but then my curiosity gets the better of me. I hold the toy in place, roll slightly to the side, and grab my phone.
Spread yourself wider for me. I want to see you.
God you’re so fucking beautiful.
That’s it. Come for me, Angel.
I smile and drop my phone back onto the table. I knew he was watching me. My eyes flick up to the camera and I drop my head back as I begin again. My clit pulses under my fingertips as I rub hard and fast with one hand and thrust the toy in and out with the other. My legs start to tremble again and I feel myself getting close. My pussy walls quiver and throb against the firm silicone inside me.
My mind wanders to my stalker and I imagine him watching me through that camera lens. I imagine him stroking himself as he watches me come undone. My hips buck again and my back arches off the bed as my orgasm rips through me. My walls clamp down on the toy repeatedly and I rub slow circles against my aching clit, trying to prolong the sensations. My entire body sags back into the mattress and my walls clench and unclench, pulsing sporadically as my muscles begin to relax.
I can hear the blood rushing through my ears and feel my pulse pounding in my throat. Hot damn that was one of the strongest orgasms I’ve ever given myself. Knowing that I was being watched definitely did it for me. I file that information away to use at a later date. My breathing starts to slow and I stifle a yawn. My eyelids droop and I smile to myself.
Nothing like a quick round to work off some excess energy. My phone ‘dings’ again, but I’m too sleepy to be bothered by what my stalker has to say about my performance. My eyes close and I feel myself sink into the darkness of what I hope will be a dreamless sleep. If not, heaven help anyone who has to deal with me in the morning.