Chapter 3
A New, Very Curious Curiosity
Sepher
She’s enticing, and unexpected.
Her hair struck me first. Long dark brown locks held entirely away from her face by a band at the back of her head.
Some strands had fallen forward in our tussle and hung around her ears to make curls that wisped their curves.
Her pale skin looked softer than the sands of the abyss.
Her eyes were light brown, almost amber, and framed by small lashes that scratched my tongue nicely.
I love them already, anxious to lap more of her taste into my mouth.
As a Duke of Hell, being called to this world is not something I ever expected to happen.
Though I am often mistaken for my sister, who visits the human world often, I am nothing like her. Whereas she delights in drowning men in the many waters of this world and feasting on their flesh, I am content in Hell, much preferring the peace of the abyss over the presence of… others.
So to end up here, with a woman of no consequence, when I have spent the last millennia in the unchanging oceans below this world alone—it does feel a little like dying.
I did not lie to her. My senses are dulled by the air, my form weakened by lack of water.
But my immediate plans have shifted. I have no intention of returning home any time soon.
The human is fun, and for the moment I am content to see how much fun she can be. I have not laid eyes on a human—have not seen another other than my sister, in truth, for whom I care nothing—since my last audience with Lucifer and his gift of ranking for service.
I stare at the doorway through which she vanished, but it remains empty.
She has not come out of the room she ran into, and it has been a substantial amount of time for a human to be quiet, especially for one who talks as much as she does.
I lick my lips, wanting her to come out so I can delight in drinking more of her tears.
Her delicious, ambrosial water.
Unlike anything I have ever tasted. I want to taste them again and perhaps discover other ways we might be able to come to an exchange.
At the thought, my body stirs, and so do the muscles within my tail.
Several black tentacles release from within to test the wet, cushiony floor around me, sucking up the moisture held within the fibers as they sweep.
Searching for lost tears that might have fallen from her to the ground, my body absorbs everything, thirsty for the water it needs to remain hydrated.
But I can discern the difference between her sweet tears and the acrid fluid of the noisome machine.
She tastes salty, naughty, and reminds me of those among us who wanted more…
When my tentacles finish absorbing the moisture within the rug, I test the boundaries of the summoning circle but fail to fully break through. Even dispersed, it seems I need the witch to finish erasing it to move freely.
Where is the little human?
Annoyed that my time is being wasted, I drag myself over to the side of the circle closest to the barrier between us. Unfortunately, it’s on the other side of the room and isn’t made of glass like the rest of the walls.
Straining for a look, I can just make out a mirror within. If she has left through another door, I do not see it. Though I have a feeling that she is still very close by. I can smell her, and though my senses are dimmed, I believe I can also hear her breathing.
She called me here, and I know what my price will be when she ultimately tells me what she wants. Because she will. Why else would a human risk calling upon one of the denizens of Hell if it were not for something they desire more than anything?
And we demons know all about desperation and unrelinquishing want. It is our very nature.
We also know how to manipulate it. The witch has unknowingly given me something to be curious about, and I will have my curiosity satiated before she and I are through. Besides, if she flees, she will come back. She will have to.
“Human, I am not one who enjoys waiting,” I say, testing her, calling out to her. When the response is continued silence, I scowl. Humans don’t live for very long, do they? How long could she hold out?
For the first time since appearing here, I look closely at my surroundings.
A large cushioned bed sits to my right, between myself and the room the witch fled to.
The floor is white and carpeted, with rugs spread across it.
Mediocre pictures of Earth creatures and landscapes decorate the flat surfaces of the sleek dark furniture and hang on the blue walls.
On three sides those walls are mostly taken up by glass windows billowing with long white drapes.
What I thought originally was a wet domain of some sort is nothing but a dry human bedroom.
There are no creatures swimming through, there are no reefs of dead seaweed, rocky shorelines, or pitch black bottomless depths that go on endlessly, fathomlessly.
Everything is bright, glinting, and soft, all of which are aspects of… something other than Hell.
I bite back a growl and instead swoop my long tail toward the front of me.
“Witch,” I call out. “I still need your help. I’m very thirsty.”
Silence.
I say something more, seeing if I can get her to make a noise, but that doesn’t work either.
Aggravated, I decide that when she returns, she will be punished for her audacity and for the mistake of making me wait. Nothing makes me wait, not even a slyly innocent witch.
Leaning up once more to see if I might be missing something in the smaller room, I catch blue glistening in the distance through the windows to my right.
There’s a large blue body of spectacular water.
The color… I have never seen anything of the like.
There were no vibrant colors in Hell, only endless shades of black and dull red when there was blood in its water.
I have never understood why so many of my kind are obsessed with humans and the world they occupy.
To me, they were just creations of a tyrant god, left unmanaged.
But I cannot deny anymore that there are some appealing facets of this offensive summoning. The witch, at least, is alluring. Once I determine what makes her so compelling… then I shall return to my domain.
It won’t be much longer now. I turn my attention to the weak circle keeping me from being free, intent on taking out any barriers between us.