Chapter 31
Oziel
The taste of Isabelle coats my tongue in sweet and tangy bliss.
The fog clouding my judgment slowly starts to disperse, allowing me to regain a semblance of control.
I was a lost man, using all the darkness I could summon to defeat the Nephilim.
She gave me strength, and in my time of need, I called out for her.
And she came.
A mistress of darkness, coming out of the shadows.
At that moment, I needed her. The pull was strong, taking over my whole body. Never in my life had I felt more demon than I did in that moment, transporting us out of the ballroom and into the shower chambers. My body moved on its own accord, knowing one thing and one thing only.
Isabelle.
Being inside her felt like victory after a tumultuous war. Nothing could have kept me from her in that moment, not even a horde of Nephilim. I was truly and completely under my human wife's spell.
Even now, after both my tongue and cock have been inside her, I still feel like a starved demon.
Isabelle sways on her feet, a satisfied smirk on her face.
Her chest rises and falls in rapid succession, still coming down from her second orgasm.
I’m tempted to pull another one out of her before dealing with the reality of our situation, when the door to the chamber cracks open, followed by a familiar voice.
“My king, are you in here?” Garvan’s voice breaks the lust-induced spell Isabelle had over me.
Anger, another familiar emotion, overtakes me, and I stand.
The modicum of power still residing in me burns through me as shadows press against the door, keeping it closed.
Garvan is a good advisor, but I’m feeling particularly violent and don’t want to gouge Garvan’s eye out upon seeing Isabelle thoroughly fucked.
Some things are for my eyes only, and this is one of them.
“Report, Garvan,” I project my voice to be heard through the sound of falling water on the thick concrete walls.
There is an intake of breath on the other side before Garvan’s voice filters in.
“The Nephilim’s body has been burned to ash.
Guards are discarding the ashes as we speak.
There were no fatalities, but,” he pauses, as if preparing himself to give the message, “we lost more people to the curse. Ten, to be exact. Tonight’s events must have triggered something in the curse to speed up the effects. ”
Isabelle lets out a soft gasp from behind me. My gaze moves back toward her, watching as she bites her lip. I get the distinct impression she knows something by the way her body freezes. It’s something to discuss with her once Garvan is gone.
“Shall I put the statues with the others?” Garvan asks when I don’t respond, voice bordering on cautious. I wouldn’t take the full force of my anger out on those loyal to me, but I also don’t reassure him.
“Yes.” More failures to add to my ever-growing collection. “Is there anything else?”
“Not at the moment, my king.”
“Good. Then leave us. I’ll speak to you soon.” There are things I need to discuss with Garvan, like safety protocols for the dungeon and what our next moves will look like, but that can wait until I’m done speaking to my wife.
Garvan’s soft footfalls move down the hall once he’s dismissed.
I wait until I sense he’s far away, presumably carrying out my orders, before I turn back to my wife.
“Where were you before the Nephilim attack?” This is the question I should have asked her the moment I saw her, but I wasn’t in control of my body then.
The lust and need are still there, simmering just below the surface. It’s easy to ignore now.
However, with my wife’s body on full display, flushed and thoroughly used, concentration is a dangerous game.
Isabelle sucks in a deep breath before pushing past me. Disappointment sours my tongue when she reaches for a fluffy towel to wrap around herself, hiding her body from me. “I saw a hooded figure,” she finally says.
I tense, slow to process her words. “What do you mean you saw a hooded figure?”
“I mean,” she paces a path in front of me as if she’s unable to stay in one place to tell the story, “I did as we discussed, blended in and tried to talk to people. That didn’t give me any leads, though Lola seems upset with you.
I think she’s just upset about her friend though, so I don’t think she’s our person.
Anyway, I was close to giving up when I happened to see a hooded figure through the glass window, running out into the forest.”
“And you didn’t think to come and get me?”
Isabelle stops pacing to scowl at me. It would be adorable if I wasn’t pissed at her for endangering herself. “I tried to find you. Hell, I even tried looking around for Garvan, but I didn’t see either of you. I wasn’t going to just let this person get away. So, yeah, I followed them.”
“You could have died, Isabelle,” I hiss, my body heating up in anger.
“Well, I didn’t, so don’t fucking get growly with me.
Do you want to know what happened, or do you want to stand there pissed?
” She narrows her eyes, her hands resting on her slim hips, chastising me as if I were a child.
For anyone else, I would burn them where they stand for speaking to me like that.
But because this is Isabelle? It’s practically foreplay.
The corners of my lips turn up into an amused smile. Isabelle notices my change, and heat rushes to her cheeks. “I followed the attacker out to the River Hel. They were poisoning the water, and I tried to stop them.”
“You were going to stop a demon, Kitten?”
Isabelle’s nostrils flare as her cheeks stain a deeper crimson. “I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking about capturing the demon. I managed to injure them, but they escaped when I was distracted by the Nephilim chaos.”
“You drew blood?” Both pride and an unfamiliar sensation swell my chest. This human amazes me around every corner.
“Yes, I did,” she says rather smugly.
“Do you have the knife on you?”
Isabelle’s cocky smile falters. “Erm, no. I think I dropped it back at the river. Was it important to you?”
The dagger itself isn’t. Just another dagger from my weaponry. But what could potentially be on that dagger is important. “Tomorrow, we will go and scout out the area. If there’s blood to be found, I can use it to identify the traitor.”
Isabelle’s eyes widen at that. She looks ready to bolt for the door. Her words only confirm my suspicion. “Then we should go now. Before it’s too late—”
My hand snakes out and wraps around her wrist, silencing her.
Whether from my touch or her own confusion, I don’t know.
Though, I’d like to think the former. Perhaps I’ve grown soft in my wife’s presence, but my body is tired.
I pulled deep into the well of magic, scraping every last drop to take down the Nephilim.
Then I used the last of my adrenaline to fuck my wife.
My bed is calling. I need rest after the display of magic I used earlier.
The River Hel can wait a few hours. “Sleep first,” I say, but Isabelle opens her mouth, ready to argue with me. I quickly add, “We both need rest. Neither of us will be of use tired. We can attend to the area first thing in the morning.”
At first, I think Isabelle is going to argue with me regardless.
The truth is that my body craves sleep. This weakness frightens me above all else.
Not only am I not the strong king my people need, but it further proves our magic is almost gone.
We will be completely exposed and vulnerable to our enemies.
However, Isabelle sags, a deep sigh leaving her pink lips. “Fine. Sleep and then we scout the River Hel.” With that, she turns her back on me and heads out of the shower chambers. I find myself following her, and I can’t help but wonder how much longer I’ll have her in my bed.
Our time is fading quickly.