Immortal and The Seven Deadly Sins (Book Three in Angels, Gods & Demons series)

31.

Lucifer

As soon as we landed on the black stone pavement, he let go and strode all the way towards the grand wooden doors, not even sparing the two warrior demons a single glance as they bowed and allowed him to enter the castle.

They were already very well accustomed to Erick since we've been visiting Hell so often as of late, mostly since we've brought Arias here for his punishment.
And let me tell you, he didn't seem too fazed or even scared in the slightest. In fact, he actually seemed to enjoy being here.

I trailed after him as he entered the grand foyer, immediately greeted by my most loyal servant.

"Master! You are back," Renèe curtsied for the both of us, displaying his hideous razor-sharp grin.

"Immortal,"

"Sharky," Erick greeted him back with a snort, using the nickname he had given Renèe the first time I'd brought him here, to Hell.

Renèe's pitch black eyes shifted between us, clasping his black leather-gloved hands behind his back as he asked,
"Shall I bring prince Arias in?"

I shifted my gaze to Erick, feeling that eagerness and pent-up negative energy seeping from his every pore as he stretched his muscles and cracked his neck, broodingly looking between Renèe and I.

"Yes..." I lastly nodded with a sigh, noticing that half-smirk spreading upon Erick's lips, no doubt already thinking about other, new and even more creative ways to torture the vampire.

He's been at it for weeks now. Hell, even I was bored already.
Yet for some reason, he didn't seem too keen on putting an end to it.

"Are you sure you want to do this again?" I asked as I approached him, casting him a rather worried look.

Why couldn't he just let go already and focus on Leila instead, like he should be?

"Well, I still can't touch her, can I?" He answered with a humorless chuckle, his gaze darkening as Renèe swiftly re-materialized, holding a visibly scarred and tormented Arias by the back of his neck.

The vampire's eyes immediately grew wide as soon as they landed on Erick, filling with dread and horror.

"No! Please! No! I'll do anything! Please! I beg of you!"

Arias' desperate pleas fell of deaf ears as we silently gazed at each other for a few short moments, both heavily burdened by completely different feelings.

"I have to blow off some steam somehow, don't I?" Erick commented as he discarded his jacket and threw it somewhere over a marble sculpture, hearing that coward of a vampire audibly whimper as he then approached him and grabbed him by that mane of previously whitish blonde hair, now completely matted with blood and dirt, and proceeded to drag him down the hallway, towards his favourite torturing chamber.

And with the vampire's loud screams and pleas echoing throughout the whole castle I heaved out a long and tired sigh, lastly following them.

Daya

Casting another glance back towards the lively illuminated house, I grabbed at my skirt and rose it above my knees before I lowered myself over the thick and soft grass, revelling into that comforting silence I so longed for.

They were already starting to tire me. This, this nonsense they were continuously living in...

The decadence and depravity of their acts...

The carnal pleasuring, the non-stop drinking and partying with their human fellows...
It sickened me. It made me feel so repulsed, to witness their sacrilegious acts, over and over again, revolving deeper and deeper into a bottomless pit of darkness and sin...

I could not even tell anymore if we were all truly created by one, single celestial being.
I honestly loved my siblings but lately, it just felt like we were growing further and further apart...Like I wasn't even their real sister...A stranger amongst my own family.

An outsider, trapped amidst of a powerful and tightly united ring of sinful demons.

Maybe that archangel was right. Maybe I truly didn't belong here...

A shiver suddenly wracked throughout my entire body, my skin tingling as I could feel his presence looming from behind.

I let out a shuddering breath, hesitating to turn around and look at him as I could already feel myself becoming so agitated and strongly affected by his mere presence.

Sadly, I could not even fathom why.

"You're here again," I quietly said after a moment, keeping my gaze trained ahead.

"I know you've been following me around, even though I had specifically told you to leave me alone!" My voice gradually rose in volume, escaping a breathless gasp as soon as I felt him even closer, mere moments before the gentle touch of his warm fingers covering my bare shoulder had me melting away, gripped by an impossibly strong sense of belonging and need...
Need to be touched, and held and...loved...

Strongly fear-strickened and completely shocked by that revelation, I lastly turned around, feeling warm moisture trail over my cheek as I gazed into his hypnotic dark brown eyes.

"What do you want? What do you want from me?" I desperately searched over his beautifully carved features, noticing that saddened expression marring them as he peered right back into my eyes.

"I can't stay away from you. I tried, but I can't," He quietly confessed, reaching to gingerly wipe away that wetness over my cheek.
And surprisingly enough, I just let him.

"Why can't you just remember? What happened? What did we do wrong?" He seemed to be rather talking to himself than with me as he kept on sweeping me over with that intense gaze of his...until it lastly fell over my parted lips...

And without even giving me the time to react he reached out and wrapped his arm around my waist, leaving me completely breathless as he pulled me upwards and closer....
His fingers trailed through my curls as we just kneeled there, over the lush grass for a moment, closely pressed against each other as he tenderly peered down into my eyes, feeling his strong body against mine...whisps of his warm breath caressing my lips before he leaned even closer, his arm around my waist holding me a little more firmer as his lips descended upon my own, moving into a slow, and soul-binding kiss...

Every single little cell in my body ignited with passion and want, completely trapped within his spell as he kept on devouring my lips, my hands resting against his shirt-clad chest, comfortably covered by the sides of his jacket, for once making me feel so safe...and warm...

I did not want him to stop. I did not want this to end.

Yet I felt so scared...So scared of what could possibly happen to him if my brothers ever found out about this. I did not want them to hurt him.
I knew that they could. I have witnessed the greatness of their powers so many times before.

No...I can't allow this to happen...

And with a pained whimper, I ripped myself free from his comforting embrace and rose myself to my feet, giving him one last tear-filled glance before I ran away, barely holding in my heart-wrenching sobs and wails.