Chapter 57
Erebus clicked his tongue. “Just look at you. Covered in blood and bruises. You are very unsightly.”
“And whose fault do you think that is?” Lucie said tiredly, struggling to her feet when the deity entered the room.
“Yours, of course. Your disobedience is the cause of your pain and suffering. Like now … you still refuse to put on the clothes that I’ve given you. I’m sure your mates’ scent has almost disappeared completely from your dress. No sentimental reason to leave it on.”
“I’d rather wear this old dress that smells bad than wear your clothes with your scent on them.”
“Oh Lucie, I’m going to have to teach you another lesson.
” Erebus walked up to her, grabbed her by the neck, and slammed her back into the wall.
“I hate doing this to you, princess, but you need to be trained properly.” He took his free hand and traced it over Lucie’s lips.
“I think I’m going to make this a new hobby of mine.
Finding a spirited woman and seeing how long it takes to break them.
I’m afraid none will compare to you, though.
” He gripped her tightly with both hands, forcing her to hold still, then licked her neck all the way up to her cheek.
He chuckled as she struggled against him in vain.
“Still being disobedient, I see. I’ll have to discipline you again. ”
He slapped her across the face, his lips curling angrily as she shot her defiant green eyes right back at him. He growled and clenched his teeth. “Quit fighting me!”
She felt his hot breath and spit beat against her face. She continued to look at him challengingly. “I’ll never stop fighting you.”
Erebus chuckled. “You will, though, princess. I just haven’t broken you enough yet.
But … You. Will. Break.” His lips curled up more as he pressed himself against her.
“You feel that? You’re making me excited, princess.
The more you fight, the more I want you.
So keep fighting. Keep exciting me. It will make the release all the more worth it. ”
Lucie felt bile rise in her throat. She could feel his excitement pressing against her, and it repulsed her.
She turned her head away from him. It had been a week since she was taken.
A week of being in hell. Every day, he worked on breaking her and training her.
Her body was bruised and bloodied. She was dirty.
Yet she continued to fight. She wouldn’t let him see how much she was actually affected by all this.
The emotional toll it was taking on her. And she was beginning to feel dirty.
Erebus had forced his kisses on her. He had trailed his hands over her.
He hadn’t forced himself on her more than that …
yet. He was still banking on the fact that she would eventually want him.
He wanted her to ask for it. Like hell she would.
But she wasn’t sure if she was still worthy of her mate anymore.
Another man had touched her body and her lips.
They were supposed to only ever belong to Derrick.
She still wanted to escape this place, but now, she wasn’t sure where she would go.
She couldn’t become Derrick’s queen now.
He deserved better. She could make a deal with the witch doctors and break the blood bond.
It was probably better that way. She was tainted now.
How could he want her after this? She could imagine his thoughts after seeing hers and what she had been through.
She didn’t want to feel his disgust. She didn’t want the man she loved more than anything to feel repulsed by her.
“Well, I guess that’s it for today’s lesson. See you tomorrow.” Erebus gave her a smug smile and stepped back from her. Then with a wink, he vanished.
Lucie tried to get her breathing under control as she felt herself panicking slightly. There was no escape. No one would find her. And she felt disgusted with herself for feeling so weak and desperate.
She slid down the wall. Her heart raced wildly. She had never felt so vulnerable and weak. Her lungs were constricting, making it harder to breathe, and she wasn’t getting the oxygen she needed. Her vision began to tunnel, until finally, darkness overtook her.
Another week has passed.
“Damn it,” Abe cursed as he and Levi stood in an empty building.
It had been two weeks since they last saw Lucie.
TWO WEEKS! Two weeks of searching, of feeling her, but he couldn’t get close to her.
During that time, he and Levi had been searching nonstop.
They had been spending a lot of time together and had formed a passive-aggressive relationship. But there was trust between them now.
Levi groaned and leaned his hand against the wall. “We can’t keep going on like this. The family can’t continue like this either.”
“Neither can Derrick. He’s leading the vampire army viciously, looking for the witch.
He’s breaking more with every day we can’t find her.
I can’t imagine what Lucie is going through.
I can only tell you she’s alive. But that’s all I can feel.
” Abe sighed, the creases on his forehead showing his worry for Lucie.
“Alexa isn’t speaking to any of us. She hates being locked up, but she isn’t alone. Aedan is stuck under house arrest with her. I think he’s also getting more and more agitated by the day. It’s only a matter of time before they both rebel.” Levi sighed angrily. “Damn it. Where did he take her?!”
“What exactly is the separating factor between deities and demons? Just curious, because it looks like there isn’t much of a difference. One is considered automatically evil just because of their name.”
“You know, I don’t know anymore. I really don’t.” Levi shook his head sadly. He was working with a half-demon. Jin was the sweetest demon he’d ever met. And Harley, who was the son of an original demon, had been a great help and mate to his niece Destiny.
“What do you think he is planning by taking her?” Abe asked quietly.
“If Wicker is Erebus …” Levi frowned and shook his head.
“He probably took Lucie because he thinks she’s Ken’s mate.
Because of the premonition, we can guess he must already know Ken is mated to the fairy princess.
And Lucie is a fairy princess. Lucie would never tell him she wasn’t the one he was looking for either. No matter what he does to her.”
Abe looked darkly across the room. They needed to find her, but how? All they could keep doing was search the area that drew him the most. He had a general direction, but that was it.
“Let’s keep looking. I can’t stand even taking a breather,” Abe growled out, and Levi nodded his head in agreement. “What will you do if you find this Erebus?”
“I’ll disintegrate him. A dark deity, even a tier-one, can’t be stronger than a light deity. At least not on their own merit.”
“What is the Kraken … Ken?”
Levi frowned. “He was a light deity who went dark and ended up cursed, forced to remain bound to the sea. He is only able to roam the earth now because his life is still linked to Asher. He was cursed by the other deities. Ken rose up against the other gods, but before that … well, he had some run-ins with Erebus. There’s history between the two of them.
This has become a personal vendetta for Erebus.
But that bastard is involving my family in his feud with Ken.
” He balled his fists. “He doesn’t realize it yet, but he just created another enemy.
I don’t forgive those who mess with what is mine.
I’ll kill Erebus, or he will have to spend eternity running from me.
For what he has done to Lucie, and what he plans to do to Alexa … I will end him.”
“What is going on here? Why have the vampires and dragons descended upon us?” Beryl asked angrily from her hidden location.
“I don’t know, but they seem angry. We haven’t even done anything yet, but the way they’re fighting now is different. Merciless and unyielding,” a dark elf said nervously, seeing the witch’s anger.
“I am so close. I didn’t go through everything I did for nothing!
And of course, those damn cowards haven’t shown themselves yet.
” Beryl clicked her tongue and paced madly across the floor.
“What set them off? Something must have happened.” What was she going to do now?
It was only a matter of time before she was found.
If she was going to go down, she might as well at least take one member of the Chain family down with her. Yes, even if it was only one of them.
She just needed to hold out and stay hidden. The opportunity would arise to at least destroy one of them. She had waited so long already, and she wouldn’t lose now. She would disappear until things calmed down some. Yes … she just needed to disappear for a bit longer.
“Deploy the next two units. Let’s keep them busy,” Beryl said with a smirk, looking at the dark elf. She would use this moment to escape deeper into the darkness … for now.
Jasper wiped the damp beads off his forehead.
They’d been scouring the land, looking for the witch and any sign of Lucie.
It was all they could do. They could only continue to fight and wait.
It was torture. He looked at Derrick, who was leaning his forehead against a nearby tree.
He was worried about him. He was breaking little by little.
He walked up to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.
Derrick glanced at the hand for a brief moment before closing his eyes.
Where was his Lucie? How was she? Was she okay?
It was his job to protect her … and he’d failed her.
How could he have let her fall into dangerous hands?
What kind of mate was he? It hurt so much.
It hurt that he’d lost her when she was right in front of him.
It hurt knowing how weak he was that he couldn’t get her back. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.
“Hey … we are going to get her back,” Jasper said gently.
“We? We aren’t going to do anything because we aren’t strong enough to get her back.” Derrick spit out bitterly.
“Don’t do this to yourself,” Jasper whispered out.
“If anything happens to her …” Derrick stifled a sob, and Jasper wrapped his arms around him.
“Don’t. Don’t think like that. She is coming back to us.
So let’s get rid of this witch. It’ll be one less thing for her to worry about, right?
” Jasper felt Derrick’s body tremble slightly.
He had been forcing himself to look strong in front of everyone, but their strong and fearless leader was actually shattered.
“Jasper, listen to me.” Derrick straightened up and turned to look at his cousin.
“Just listen, okay?” He watched Jasper nod slowly.
“If … if something happens to her, I’m giving you the throne.
No words, Jasper. I can’t go on without her.
I won’t go on without her. Gosh, Jasper, do I even deserve her anymore?
I let her down. I told her she was safe with me. ”
Jasper was crestfallen as he stared at the red, watery eyes of his cousin. “You didn’t let her down, Derrick. There was nothing anyone could do. Who could fight against a deity?”
“Another deity. Maybe that’s what Lucie really needs. Someone strong enough to protect her.” Derrick swallowed bitterly, the sting of his own failure burning him.
“Derrick!” Jasper gripped his cousin’s shoulders tightly.
“You need to be strong for her right now. She’s going to need you and your strength when she comes back.
Be the man she needs. You can’t afford to break.
I know you want to, because it sucks, and it hurts like hell.
I want to destroy the world looking for her.
” He gripped Derrick’s shoulders tighter as his own eyes watered up.
“I depended on her too much. I took for granted that I would always have her light around.” He gritted his teeth and shook his head slowly, his eyes closed.
“We don’t know what kind of hell she might be going through, and when she comes back, she’s going to need our light this time. ”
Derrick’s bottom lip quivered, and he nodded his head as his tears fell. “My poor little mate,” he breathed out in a whisper. When Jasper looked up, the two men locked eyes. “You’re right. I’ll be whatever Lucie needs me to be. I just need her back.”
“I know you do.” Jasper gave him a weak smile. “We all need her back.”
Derrick straightened up. He would do everything in his power to fight now. It was the only way he could fight for Lucie. And if something tragic happened to her, he’d already decided. He wouldn’t go on either. He would also die. Because life without Lucie would not be a life at all.
“Incoming!” Chaz yelled from the distance. “And there are a lot of them!”
“Good,” Derrick said coldly. “I need to take this aggression out on something.”