Chapter XIV
Cassandra
Irun through the castle, down corridors that stretch endlessly, fractured colors streaming in through broken stained-glass windows. My bare feet slap hurriedly against the cold stone floor, and I whip my head back to look behind me.
They’re coming.
The flash of déjà vu that hits me almost causes me to stumble.
To question if I was back in my dream, or if the dream had been reality.
My eyebrows scrunch forward in uncertainty as I doubt my memories.
But, no matter what, I can’t stop running.
I know in my bones that if I stop running, I will die.
I have to find Izcacus before it’s too late.
Clayton’s friends cannot take me. Not alive.
As the sun begins to touch every corner of the hallway, I make my way down, deeper within the heart of the castle, knowing that’s where I’ll find my salvation.
Rusted chains rattle against moss-covered walls, wind whistling through the cracks. As I walk through the cold and damp crypt, where pools of water settled on the stone floor, goosebumps erupt along my arms. There. Izcacus stands in the center, his back to me though I know he hears my arrival.
“Cassandra? My darling, what is the matter?”
He turns, shadows flickering against his face, cast by the iron candelabras that circle the raised platform in the middle of the room.
Striding over to him, I grip the front of his coat fiercely. “You have to change me.”
My eyes narrow as I lean to peer behind Izcacus, watching the shadows move, afraid that someone will jump out from the darkness.
“This is not a life that you want.”
My heart sinks as the desperation within me rises.
“I do!” The way I raise my voice takes me aback.
I have never spoken that way before. “I do,” I tell Izcacus softer, and the pause gives the panic time to slow down.
Against my will, tears begin to well in my eyes, and my arms go slack beside me in defeat.
“I just want to be strong. I want to be a monster, like you.”
“You are stronger than you know.” Izcacus sighs, as if he knows this battle is already lost and that he will give me what I want. His hand reaches out to cup my face. “It will hurt, my angel.”
“I’m not scared of pain, Izcacus. I have known it my entire life. I need to destroy all of those who are coming after me. I want to see their blood drain from their bodies, watch as their life slips away. I want to know that I am safe—that I have succeeded.”
And I whisper more to myself than him, “I need to be free, at any cost. I’ll pay any price.”
There’s silence as I stare at him, silent tears running down my cheeks as I wait for his answer. Izcacus plants a tender kiss on my forehead in acceptance. “My savage woman. As you command.”
When he takes a step back, something shifts in the air, striking down like lightning between us. “My soul, my body, is yours. Take me as you need.” Izcacus bows his head to expose his neck, signaling that I can do as I wish, even if it means taking his head.
He settles his eyes on the ground. The choice is mine.
My heart bursts at seeing how committed he is to every promise he makes.
I’m starting to feel like this is a special kind of love, of adoration.
It makes me want to be as dedicated to him as he is to me.
I don’t yet know what true love is, but if it is something like this, then I think I want to give him my heart.
My resolve strengthens with every step that I take, telling myself that this is the right choice to make as I sniff back the last of the tears that threaten to fall. This is who I will become to survive. This is how I will become strong.
If I listen carefully, I can almost hear the angels above weeping for my soul as I move towards Izcacus, ready to claim my future.
But I will no longer let others choose my path for me, nor will I lie down and accept what is offered.
Instead I will fight. My future will be my own to wield, and rage will be my weapon.
The heavens can mourn me if they want. I don’t accept the rotten life they gave me. I deserve more—I deserve better.
This is my choice: I will go straight to hell with this monster beside me.
“Take off your clothes,” I say, my tone commanding despite how quietly I utter the words.
The truth is, I don’t want to die. Not to be discarded into the soil for the worms to feast on my rotting corpse. Maybe I’ve never really wanted to die. Maybe I just wanted to be free.
Hunger for this monster who I’ve grown to adore overwhelms my mind as an electric warmth shoots through my body, making my toes curl as any remaining panicked thoughts are replaced with him.
Izcacus may look monstrous, like death itself has claimed him, but he fills every space with his dark, irresistible energy. It vibrates, a resonance that thrums only for my soul. There is an undeniable pull, as if we were carved from the same star and have finally found each other again.
With hooded eyes, I watch Izcacus take off his shirt. My tongue flicks out, quick and sharp, like a snake tasting the air.
He’s a giant compared to me, with swollen biceps and a chest pumped full of muscle. Izcacus is at least double the size of an above-average man, and I love it. There is so much of him to touch, to taste.
My eyes trace over jagged scars shades darker than his pale-grey body. Each mark tells a story, and one day I’ll learn them all.
As he drops his pants, I can’t stop my eyebrows from rising in surprise and shock.
His fully erect cock springs up, and it is colossal.
It looks to be carved from marble, sculpted to perfection, with a bluish tint. Black veins that pulse with his desire protrude thickly, wrapping around his shaft to rib his cock. My pussy clenches as if it can already feel each of the notches.
But I am very sure it can’t fit inside of me. If he tried, it would almost certainly tear me open, splitting me into two.
My hands itch, desperate to reach out, to try to hold his cock between them. As I assess the size, I realize that I will need both hands to stroke it, and the length is, impossibly, the same size as my forearm.
His cock is just as monstrous as the rest of him.
Izcacus stands still, hands resting at his sides as if he’s offering himself to me. His cock leaks pre-cum from the darkened tip.
Time passes, and I’m not sure how long I’ve been staring at his cock, admiring it like a work of art, but it must have been long enough for him.
“Do I please you?” Izcacus asks in an unexpectedly soft tone.
My head snaps up at the sound of his voice wavering. His face is unreadable in its usual stony expression, but underneath his words lies insecurity. He may be a monster, but he has feelings too.
I answer without words by letting the robe slip from my shoulders to pool on the cold stone floor.
We stand there, bared to each other, with nothing left to hide.
Once I would have hidden myself away, but through worshipping my body, Izcacus has begun to stitch up wounds that were produced long ago.
We take each other in, eyes filled with starving desire, yet the moment is tender as we, monster and human, are about to become one.
“You are mine, Izcacus,” I tell him softly, claiming him, leaving no room for him to doubt himself.
It doesn’t matter that I have only known him for a short amount of time, or that everything about this is unusual. Izcacus is unequivocally mine in the way my soul knows coming to him means I’m coming home.
“I need you.”
He closes the distance between us in the blink of an eye, moving with supernatural speed. His hand cups my cheek tenderly.
“Oh, my love. I will not be gentle.”
“Please, Izcacus. Ruin me.”
Izcacus slams his cold lips against mine, kissing me with ferocity, and I meet his fervor with my own need to mark and claim him. Heat blooms between us as his tongue swirls, tasting every part of my mouth, and I gasp, my tongue tangling with his as we take everything that we seek from each other.
With his mouth still against mine, not wanting to waste even a second apart, I lead Izcacus to the raised platform before pushing him down to the crimson rug with my hand.