Sins Chaos

Epilogue

Aerin

"I'm guessing they don't know that you're a demon." I paced the length of the hanging cage, careful to keep away from the bars of the square cell. One jolt of whatever was intent on keeping me hostage and on display like a beloved parakeet was enough to make me rethink the whole attempting to escape thing.

"You mean you hope they don't know that I'm a demon," the tall, dark haired man below me corrected. He pulled a lever on the stone wall beside him. "Because, if they did, that would mean they willingly handed you over to the enemy. That the good you occasionally see in them is really just an optical illusion. A trick your mind plays on you to make yourself feel better about the fact that they know one of your deepest, darkest secrets."

I shivered, bracing myself as the cage slowly began its descent to the marble floor. I stopped in the middle of the cage, redistributing my weight so that I wouldn't fall into the electrified bars as the rusty metal cage creaked and shuddered on its journey back to the ground. Goosebumps covered my exposed arms, the hair covering my arms standing at attention. I could feel his soulless black eyes studying me like I was a specimen being examined under a microscope. I felt every penetrating glance like an arrow being shot directly into my heart, corrupting my soul with every hit.

When the bottom of the enclosure kissed the marble, I dropped to the uncomfortably cold, hard floor of my cell, pulling my knees up to my chest in a protective gesture. Folding my arms atop my knees, I admitted quietly, "Yes, okay? I would really like to believe my best friend's twin brother and my lover didn't kidnap and drug me knowing full well they were handing me over to the Prince of Demons."

I sighed, lifting a hand, elbow still on my knee, running it through my tangled and matted hair. I was pretty sure a rat's nest looked better than I did at the moment. "And, yes, I know exactly who you are. You are one of the three most prominent fallen angels. You've all but crawled up Lucifer's ass-kissing it so much, so he made you his chief lieutenant and pretty much leaves you to your own devices. The third member of your little demonic trifecta is Leviathan...or Astaroth. That one really depends on which old school religious scholar one chooses to believe. Either way, you are all a bunch of sick and twisted sociopaths." Giving up on my hair, I laid my arm back down on my other one, raising a questioning eyebrow. "Did I miss anything or did that about cover the highlights of whatever grand villainous speech you were about to bore me to death with?"

The demon laughed, throwing his head back. His whole body shook with each rambunctious roar. He regained his composure, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Sorry. Not many people would have the guts to talk to a demon so high up in the hierarchy like that. I like you. You've got a nice brass set." He waved his hand. The door to my cell clicked, unlocking itself as the electricity feeding into the bars automatically shut itself off. "It makes what I'm going to do to you so much sweeter. Hey, by the way, just so I don't feel like a cheap date because my reputation seems to proceed me, do you at least know my name?"

I glared at him, a bored look on my face.

He shrugged, his black eyes churning darker with his amusement. A flash of fear made its way through my body, crawling over my skin like a million little ants as I realized this must be what it was like for the mammoths as they slowly sank into the black tar pits. His eyes reminded me of endless pits of sticky, dark tar, drawing me in as it stuck to my skin like glue, aggressively pulling me deeper into their unknown depths.

"Whether or not I tell you doesn't really matter. Either way, you will be screaming it soon enough." He snapped his fingers.

One moment I was huddled in my protective ball in the center of the cage, the next I was standing directly in front of him. It happened in the amount of time it took me to blink.

Damn. He was good.

"Beelzebub," I whispered breathlessly, choking on the word as it stuck in my dry throat. My glowing green eyes met his swirling black ones. "I'll just stick to calling you Zeb, if it's all the same to you, Duarte."

"That's perfectly fine with me, sweetheart. I really don't care which version you use as you scream my name." Zeb held his hand out, resting it gently on the front of my black tank top. He gently applied more pressure, spreading out his fingers across my small, rapidly rising and falling chest. He shot me a look. "Don't worry, I'm not coping a feel. I'm one of the few demons not into jailbait. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly, sweetheart. I'm not going to lie to you. This is going to hurt like a bitch and burn worse than a thousand years in the bowels of the torture pits could only aspire to ever inflict."

I swallowed hard. "W-what are you going to do to me?" I asked, my voice coming out raspy and rough.

Zeb's hand glowed red against my skin. "Why, I'm going to brand you, my dear girl. The Mark of Asmodeus on your already darkened soul should keep you in line well enough. Welcome to the majors."

My eyes widened as his glowing hand sunk into my chest cavity like it was made of butter.

Then I let out a bloodcurdling scream and wished I were dead.

I woke up from the nightmare that was, unfortunately, based on a real-life event swallowing the scream building up in my throat. Sitting up in the unfamiliar bed, I noticed a small body pressed into mine. 

The child had jet black hair with beautiful natural blue highlights dispersed throughout, dark skin, and looked to be around the age of five.

Instinctively, I knew if he opened his eyes, I would be staring into a pair of glowing lilac eyes. The child was just a small bundle of love the last time we were together. The last time I saw him was last year, about this time. Since he has been living in another dimension, time flows differently for him. While it has been a year since the last time I was near him, for him five years have passed.

Having him this close to me makes all the sacrifices, lies, and deceptions worth it. Protecting this sweet, gentle, innocent creature was all that mattered. Keeping him safe was my life's mission. If that meant lying to everyone I cared about then so be it. If that meant hiding him in another dimension and letting him grow up without me then, as hard as that was, so be it.  His life was the only one that mattered.

His name is Teron. 

And, as his mother, I will protect him with everything I have.

Consequences be damned.

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Thanks for reading Sins Chaos.

Look for Chaos Lies, which continues Aerin's story and dives deeper into some of her darkest secrets.