CH.33 Who says revenge wont make you happy?
"Aren't you staying for the execution?" Malcolm asked Jace as he packed his things to leave.
"I don't want to see her burned. The fact that she ends up at the stake because of me is enough. I don't need to see it either," he replied with sadness in his voice.
He kept telling himself that it was right, that Iris would never let him go. He had to do it. It was the only way to freedom. Otherwise, he would be trapped with her forever. With the woman he loved, but she didn't love him.
"Do you have any remorse, Jace?" came the cold voice that sent a chill down his spine.
"Iris?" he turned to her, fearful. "I thought..."
"What did you think, Jace? That I'd be burned at the stake like a witch at sunset tomorrow?" she laughed.
His heart was wildly pounding like for life. He was breathing rapidly. Pure fear was coursing through his veins.
"You didn't think they could hold me, did you? Here I am in all my glory. Stronger than ever. And very, very angry."
"Iris, I didn't mean to. I apologize."
"You don't have to apologize to her. She's a fucking witch," Malcolm snapped.
Luc grabbed him from behind by the throat. His grip was strong, but not enough to silence his breathing. "You should watch your words," he hissed in his ear. "No one has the right to talk to my wife like that."
"With his wife?" Jace said in horror.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention something to you. The bond between Luc and me is marital." Her lips curled into a malicious grin.
The rebels trembled with fear. They were no longer as brave as they had pretended to be in the face of the demon. The threads of fear stretched through their entire bodies, wrapped around their arms, their legs, their minds, and controlled them like puppets. Fear held them in its power.
"So this is really you," Jace said.
"Yes, this is me. The girl who always wanted to be a princess but, well, it turns out I am the bad witch in the fairy tale," she said.
"Queen," Luc corrected her.
His Queen.
She took a step toward Jace, two. She let the space between them disappear. They stood face to face.
"I was nice to you, I was trying to help you, Jace. And how did you repay me? With betrayal. Now, you should be afraid."
"Disgusting wi— "
Before the rebel leader could utter the word, Luc snapped his neck. His limp body fell to the ground. The glassy look in his eyes told that the life within him had died.
"Only I am allowed to call her that."
Monique screamed in terror. This was not the demon she had imagined. This was the demon exactly as they were said to be. Ruthless. Fierce. Thirsting for blood. A demon that would steal your nightmares from your mind and make them a reality.
"I'm tired of these words," he said. "I came to shed blood, not to talk."
Luc focused on the only girl among the rebels.
She began to cough. Her own blood stained her lips.
She choked on it. She fell to her knees, gasping for breath that wouldn't come to her.
The others just watched in silent horror.
A trickle of blood flowed from her nose.
She began to cry bloody tears. She was afraid of what was to come.
She was afraid of death. It was reflected in her eyes.
She was afraid. She tried to utter a plea for mercy, but the blood filling her mouth silenced any words.
The demon had taken her life and didn't even have to get his hands dirty.
"You monster!"
The rebels drew their swords at him. His lips twisted into a sinister grin. He craved it. The battle. The blood. It was his nature. Made for battle. The smell of blood awakened in him a wild desire for death and massacre. He looked at them, almost beckoning them to attack.
The blades of their swords glowed red-hot.
They let go immediately. The hilts burned into their palms. But their defiance did not waver.
Ready to fight, they charged toward their enemy, who had come to destroy them.
But they were no match for him with swords, let alone with their bare hands.
The rebels flew through the air, their bodies breaking on the rocks.
The sound of cracking bones carried through the silence of the night.
They tore through flesh. Blood flowed from open wounds.
Rebels screamed in agony. And Iris watched with perverse pleasure as the demon unleashed his power.
It was only a fraction of the true power dormant within him, and yet it could crush empires.
She watched in amazement as he ripped their hearts from their chests.
Their spurting blood stained his shirt. Those overcome by fear and trying to flee, the ground opened beneath them and swallowed them.
One of the rebels held a dagger to Iris's neck. The blade dug into her skin, but it didn't cut through. She could feel the tension in his body. She could feel the fear in him, his hand shaking.
"Stop it, or I'll kill her!" he shouted at the raging demon, uncertainty in his voice.
Luc turned his attention to them. His eyes shone brighter than ever.
She had only noticed it now. There was a flame in them.
It burned as bright as the sun. There was a ferocity in them and a desire to kill.
To kill for her. To protect her, even if it meant leaving the world in ashes.
A low growl escaped his throat. He was covered in the blood of the rebels who had thought they would defeat him.
It dripped from his hair, falling into his beautiful eyes. He took a step toward them.
"Step back!" the frightened rebel told him. He pressed the blade even harder against Iris's neck. "Step back, or I'll kill her! I mean it!"
His cruel gaze softened. With each step he took closer to them, the rebel pulled Iris away. They neared the edge of the cliff.
"You don't dare to do that," Luc told him. "I know you. I can see into your past. You're just a scared boy who's afraid to shed blood. You always run away from every fight."
"I'm not kidding!" he shouted, his voice shaking. "I'll cut her throat!"
His gaze fell on her hand. How slowly she had slipped it under the short skirt of her dress. How she had reached for the dagger he had given her as a wedding present. His promise to her. Golden snakes coiled around the ruby hilt. It came to life at her touch. His lips twisted into a wicked smile.
"You're afraid of me, which is why you're holding her hostage, but I'm not the most dangerous one here."
Iris gripped the dagger tightly in her palm and stabbed it into the rebel's stomach.
He let go with a scream. The blade gently cut her neck, releasing a drop of blood.
Iris twisted towards him and stabbed him furiously.
She dug the blade into him greedily. In the shoulder, in the neck, in the chest. Over and over.
It was heavenly music to her, hearing the blade of the dagger pierce his body.
The pain muffled her screams. His blood sprayed her.
Even when he fell to the ground dead, and his eyes revealed that his soul had already gone to another world, she continued and stabbed him over and over again.
It brought her pleasure. The power she held in her hands only by taking someone's life.
She wanted more, more death, more spilled blood.
She longed for more massacres and agony.
"That would be enough," Luc laughed. He gently grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away from the rebel's corpse. "He's already dead."
As if he had snapped her out of the trance. He stared into her eyes. He could see in her that she liked it, more than that, she adored it. The color of blood on the cold stone. The lake she was creating. There was a life flowing inside it that she could take.
"I love it when you lose control." Luc kissed her. He passionately claimed her soul, which was finally his. So sweet and poisoned.
"It seems your fake friend has escaped us," Luc remarked as he looked around at the massacre they had left behind.
"He couldn't have run far," Iris said.
"He can run wherever he wants, there is no place in this world where he can hide from us."
Jace galloped through the forest on his horse.
The only sound in the still night was the sound of hooves hitting the ground and the horse's breathing.
The memory of how the demon, Iris called her husband, had torn his friends alive flashed through his mind.
The smell of blood still stung his nose.
He had to get out of there as quickly as possible. And as far away as possible.
The horse's leg hit a hole in the ground, twisting with a snap.
It neighed painfully. As they fell to the ground, the horse rolled over Jace's leg.
He tried to pull out from under the horse, but it was too heavy, like a boulder.
It crushed him. The horse itself struggled to stand, refusing to be at the mercy of the predator lurking in the shadows of the forest. It rose gently, and Jace seized the opportunity to slip out from under it.
He limped slightly on his leg. He grabbed the bridle, trying to get the horse to stand.
He tried, but it always fell back to the ground.
Only then did Jace notice the open fracture and blood.
It had no chance of surviving. It would just suffer until death or something worse found it.
He drew his sword and ended its suffering.
A terrible, terrifying laugh rang out in the silence.
It cut into his body like shards of glass.
He ran away. He ran through the forest shrouded in darkness.
The bodies of the trees stood at attention like soldiers on guard.
He heard the laugh approaching. He stumbled over roots sticking out of the ground.
He looked over his shoulder as the laughter grew louder and louder. Then, an invisible force knocked him to the ground. He hit the ground hard. It knocked the breath out of him. Iris stood over him. A sinister smile graced her lips.
"Did you think you'd run away?" she laughed. "I don't remember you so naive before."
He slashed at her with his sword. She jumped away from him. He sprang back to his feet and slowly backed away from her. His heart was pounding. Fear was pumping through his veins. Yet he stood proudly and fearlessly.
"He probably still hopes for mercy." The demon's voice sounded behind him.
He charged at him with his sword. Its blade passed through him like a shadow he could materialize into. Luc snatched the sword from his hand and pointed it at him. Trapped between two enemies who thirsted for his blood.
"He still wears your necklace, Iris. I can't hurt him. I'm afraid that's up to you," Luc said.
"With pleasure."
Jace's gaze darted from Iris to the demon and back to her.
She truly frightened him now. She was covered in blood.
Her hair, the color of dawn, had darkened to the red of death.
There was something strange, dark in her eyes.
Something that wanted to kill. As if she herself had become a demon from hell.
She took a step toward him, two. She let the space between them disappear.
She was so cold. The stony look on her face betrayed nothing.
"I know you, Iris. You would never hurt me," he said with a last hope and plea in his voice.
"And I thought you would never betray me, Jace," she replied. "It seems we were both wrong."
She stabbed the dagger into his stomach. She twisted it, opening the wound even wider. His warm blood soaked her hand. A groan of pain escaped his lips. He fell to his knees. She didn't take her eyes off his. She wanted to watch the life fade away from them.
The chain around his neck glinted in the moonlight filtering through the canopy of trees. She pulled the necklace from under his shirt, tore it from his neck, and held the pendant tightly in her hand, even though it burned her. She leaned her face against his. They were almost touching.
"I'm in a good mood today, Jace. I give you your life." She looked at Luc. "He's yours alone. Guess you'll enjoy it more."
His sinister smile betrayed his pleasure at her gift. And he wasn't going to waste it, knowing exactly the torture he had prepared for anyone who dared to harm his wife. It sounded so beautiful. His wife.
The demon unleashed his power. Tree roots rose from the ground, wrapping around Jace's body.
His eyes widened in horror. He tried to wriggle out of them, but their grip was too strong.
They tied him tightly, giving him no chance to escape.
They stabbed into his body, into his legs, into his stomach, piercing him through and through.
Excruciating pain gripped his body in an iron fist. The roots crawled higher and higher.
They stabbed into his chest. Blood stained his lips, choking him.
He wanted to scream, but the roots crawled into his mouth and silenced his voice.
There was no escape from the curse that would imprison him for eternity in torment.
His skin began to turn into a crust. He reached out to Iris, touching the skirt of her blood-stained dress with his fingertips.
"Please," a hoarse sound came from his throat.
And his body turned into a tree. He became one of the thousands of trees in the forest. Bearing the features of a man. Cursed for eternity for the betrayal he had committed.
Iris hung her mother's necklace, which she had given to her and then she to him, on his branches. She stared at the triple moon burn on her palm. Luc took her palm in his. He gently stroked the wound that remained.
"Why did my mother's pendant burn me?" she asked him.
"It's supposed to protect against demons," he replied. "You are bonded to me, Iris. You carry my blood within you. The blood of a demon."
"So I'm part demon?"
"No. You're still a witch. Still mortal. However, the spell in it can detect the demonic blood in your veins."
"So I will never grow old, but I may die."
"You need not fear, my little witch. I will never take my eyes off you. Anyone who dares to even look at my queen with disdain will face my wrath."
She grabbed him by the hem of his shirt, pulled his lips to hers, and kissed him greedily.
"I love you, Luc."
"Say it again."
"I love you. I love you. I love you, my dearest, murderous, handsome demon."
?
Jack, the merchant, went down to his shop. He was cursing the person who was banging on his door in the middle of the night.
"I'm coming!" he shouted. "Who the hell are they bringing here? I'm coming!"
When he opened the door, he almost froze.
As if he had seen a ghost. The girl he had always seen with a smile on her face was now standing in front of him, covered in blood.
And by her side was a man with golden eyes.
So strange, his piercing gaze. As if the man was not even from this world. It was a terrifying sight.
"Iris?" he couldn't believe his eyes. "You... They're having you tomorrow—"
"Burn?" she interrupted. "Yes," she said. "Tomorrow I'll burn bright as a shooting star. The whole town will come to see me, and I can't look like a scarecrow. I need fabric for my last dress."
"I think it would be better if you left, Iris," said an uncertain Jack.
"Come on, Jack! You know me. It's me, Iris." She smiled broadly.
"But I don't know him, and you're covered in blood."
"Never mind that. It's not mine. And I'll vouch for Luc."
"Do you know what they say about you? They say you're a witch who makes pacts with demons."
"Yes," she said indifferently. "I'm a witch, and he's my demon. Please, let me introduce to you Luc, my husband."
His face betrayed shock. He couldn't believe that the girl he had known since childhood was a witch, let alone that she had lured a demon to his doorstep. She said it with such ease that it almost sounded like a lie.
"It would be better if you left. I don't want anyone to see me with you."
He tried to slam the door on them, but Luc stopped him, piercing him with a hateful look that only he could bear.
"I thought we were friends, Jack."
"I don't want any trouble, Iris."
"We can do this in a good way or a bad one. Either way, I'll get what I want. But you don't want to find out what it's going to look like the bad one."
Jack moved out of their way and let them in. He had heard too many stories to know it was better to back off.
"Good choice," she told him.
?
"Anastasia... Anastasia..." she whispered in her ear in a singsong voice. "Anastasia..."
"Anastasia..."
She opened her eyes briefly, and something hit her. As soon as she woke up, sweet unconsciousness claimed her again. A trickle of blood ran down her forehead. Iris patted her cheeks.
"Are you sleeping, Anastasia?"
She didn't wake up. She was breathing, her heart was beating, but she wasn't feeling anything.
"You're asleep. That's good. You don't want to feel what I'm going to do to you now."
Iris took the pliers in her hand. She used them to pull her tongue out of her mouth and simply cut it off with scissors. A waterfall of blood flowed from the wound. Iris laughed. But that didn't wake Anastasia up either.
"You're a hard sleeper, Anastasia."
"That's evil even for me." Luc laughed.
"I know you like it when I'm bad." She gave him a mischievous look.
He pulled her lips to his and marked her his. "I love it," he said and kissed her.
Each kiss was like their last. It stole their breath, their heart, their entire soul. It claimed their entire essence and bound them together as one.
Iris was sewing a large doll. The stuffing was sticking out of it. She cut Anastasia's hair and sewed it onto the doll. She compared it to her sleeping body.
"Does it look similar?" she grinned.
"Not at all." Luc laughed.
Anastasia finally opened her eyes. She was overcome with horror as she looked at them. She wanted to scream for help, but instead of words, only strange sounds came out of her throat. Blood flooded her mouth.
"You're finally awake, dear stepsister. Thesun is about to rise and we need to get going," she tossed her dress."Get dressed. You don't want to be late."