Page 6 of Place of Torment

Unfortunately, I couldn’t see a thing, so I figured I’d play her game for the time being.

“It’s usually cooler at this hour, but I would agree with you that it’s not horribly hot.” I answered and it worked just as I expected it would.

“I was talking about you, not the weather.” She tilted her face sideways and laughed. Enough light broke through to show one side of her face. It passed over the rounded cheekbone, quite long lashes, and the glint of her iris. Her eyes shimmered and brightened for a split second to give her away as a demon.

Taken by surprise, I flinched back, something she didn’t miss. All humor left her, and she stiffened, slightly bending her knees in preparation for an attack. My body reacted accordingly, moving my feet slightly apart and relaxing my shoulders so I could move fast if I needed to.

Everything about the situation was off. The Council sent a demon after me? And since I was not trying my best to remove my clothing, she was not a succubus sent to drain the life out of me. I’ve heard stories about them, it’s a very unpleasant way of dying I’d been told but never had the opportunity of meeting one in person. Male or female.

“You’re a demon.” I blurted out, opting for the truth.

“And you are an Atua.” She countered neither accusing me nor judging me for it.

“My guess is the Council sent you to hunt me down, so let’s get this over with. I have places to be.” Rolling my shoulders, I took a step toward her.

“They did hire me, but I didn’t accept the job so I could kill you.” Lifting both hands to her sides, palms up, she countered my movement by stepping back and maintaining the distance between us. “I’ve been following you for the last few weeks and maintaining my distance because I didn’t think you would be willing to stop for a moment and talk. Everything I’ve learned about you is that you kill first, you check who and what you separated from the land of the living later.” Slowly, purposely she turned her body so that I could fully see her. “I thought I was wasting my time trying to chat to tell you the truth.”

Chocolate color skin glistened in the light, beautifully outlining the muscles of her toned arms. A leather vest was wrapped around her torso ending an inch above the waistband of the skin-tight leather pants which looked spray-painted over the legs. There was nothing apart from her long braid that anyone could grab and use against her in a fight. It spoke of experience and promised death to any opponent.

Her demeanor, the tone of her voice, her heart rate and her body language did the right thing though and told me she was speaking the truth. Her only mistake was admitting she accepted a job from the Council. There was not a soul in this world or any other that would risk double-crossing them by agreeing to anything and not following through.

She was still turned, her upper body slightly back and to the side, an awkward enough position that would work to my advantage when I strike, and I took the chance. Swiping my foot in a wide arc, I took her feet from under her following it through with an uppercut punch that caught her chin and whipped her head back. A satisfying crack bounced off of the dirty walls around us breaking the silence and I smiled at her grunt when the air left her lungs the second her back hit the ground.

With surprising speed, she was up and backing me into a corner, her smaller size giving her an advantage with speed. My offensive attack turned into defense, and I hoped I didn’t make a mistake of underestimating the demon. My arm hurt every time I deflected her punches, and my shins were bruising from the strength of her kicks. We were moving so fast dust was picking up and forming tiny tornadoes at our feet but neither one of us was backing down. And that’s when it happened. For the first time in my life that I could remember someone managed to best me in a fight.

The female performed a side kick and threw both her hands in front of her the second her feet touched the ground, and she was facing me. Red threads of magic burst from her palms and hit me like a ton of bricks at the center of my chest, punching all the air out of me. Searing pain spread through my entire body, and I had no time to think when it knocked me out. The last thought I had was the regret that I would never see Dominic again to tell him how much he meant to me and that I’m sorry that I’m so damaged that I can’t be what he needs.

Darkness swallowed me whole.

5

Dominic

Icouldn’t tell you what I was thinking to save my life when I heard the crunch of dry leaves coming from behind me. The smooth, glass-like, surface of the small pond was yet to erase the last couple of rings from the stone plunging to its depths that I flung at it a second ago. I just stared at the ripples unblinking when whoever it was decided to disturb me. My instincts were calm, so I knew there was no threat coming at me, yet my nature always took over and betrayed me when I wasn’t paying attention, or I was deep in thought.

My body tensed, my hand froze midair still clutching the next flat quarter sized rock I picked out of my pocket and my entire focus zoomed in on the disintegrating leaf under what I was guessing was a size ten shoe. Internally cursing up a storm, I lifted my face and inhaled deep enough to catch the scent of the person who decided to join me, and I realized I was atrociously disappointed with the fact that the human was not the one who found me just so she could mock me or annoy me. No, it couldn’t be Alice thanks to my lack of ability to save my mate without endangering her friend in the process.

“You are slipping.” Rowen stepped out of the shadows like a picture of serenity with his face tilted at the sky and his eyes closed as if he hasn’t been stalking me and watching my every move the last few days. “A reaction like that in front of the wrong people will cost you.” He glanced at me from the corner of his eye quickly just to assure himself that he had my undivided attention before jerking his gaze to the sky when he caught me glaring at him. “It will cost all of us dearly as a matter of fact.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” My tone came out sharp yet still defensive enough to piss me off. So, I ground my molars hard enough, the nerve-wracking screech of bone on bone made both of us cringe.

“You’ve been hanging out with the human for too long.” A small smile twisted his thin lips for a moment transforming and softening his harsh features enough to pass as a middle-aged human if you could ignore the glowing sigils on his skin.

I caught myself smiling at that comment too. It was the truth. Alice has been changing all of us, including Samir the ancient oaf, as much as he likes to argue that it’s not the case.

“Any improvement?” my gut churned and warped making me nauseous with the reminder that the female is still knocking on Death’s door because of me.

“No.” All humor drained from his face as he released a heavy sigh and moved to join me while staring at his feet like they had all the answers we needed.

The pebble rolled between my fingers smoothly while I tried to shift my focus from the churning acid in my gut to the repetitive motion of my hand, so I don’t make a fool out of myself and hurl the contents of my stomach at the male’s feet. I haven’t felt this weak since I found my sister’s lifeless body arranged like a broken doll in that field what seems like a century ago. I still don’t remember her face, no matter how hard I try from the curtain of midnight strands draping over it. Fingers twitching, my hand starts reaching for the past, but I catch myself in time and turn away from Rowen sharply before the witch decides to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong.

“We must do something.” Dropping the pebble on the grass, I rubbed a hand over my face to shake off whatever insanity was trying to possess me. “She won’t be able to hold on much longer.”

“I’m surprised she’s holding on this long.” The coarse texture of his robe rasped over the soft cotton of my t-shirt, prickling my skin, when he stopped next to me so close we bumped shoulders. “None of my potions are working for longer than a few hours.” He mumbled under his breath low enough for my ears only. “The old Atua is not very happy with me for that reason.” The witch added when he saw my raised eyebrow at his lack of respect for personal space.

It made sense he was crowding me; so, Samir did not hear his words, but I still took a deliberate step away from him and narrowed my eyes when I saw the clear debate on his face; if he should move another step closer or stay where he was. Rowen was always a little strange, from the first day I saw him, but this was a whole new level of weirdness even for him.

“You fear for your life here?” Turning to face him, I searched his face when he jerked his head so he could stare at me openmouthed and wide-eyed. “And why do you wear that thing?” I tugged at his disgusting robe, barely touching it between two fingers. “You are free to dress however you please now.”

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