Page 115 of Demons & Damnation

Azazel dropped his eye contact, staring at the ground. “Watch.”

Lucius picked Cassia up, set her on the bed, planted a kiss on her forehead, then grabbing his sword, marched out onto the street, demanding people tell him who dared to violate his wife. Women screamed, children ran. Men came towards him, trying to calm him down but no one offered him an answer.

Seething in the revelation from his wife, Lucius saw red. Any man that dared come within the swing of his sword felt the full wrath of Lucius Maximus Valens. Hands were lost, arms cut off, blood drawn from spilled guts.

As the men rallied round, trying to calm the seasoned general, Lucius took two hits from arrows, one in his left calf, the other in his right shoulder blade. Completely numb to anything but his own grief, he paid no attention to his wounds, slaying anyone who dared to come near him or not give him his answer.

The dusty street stones turned red with blood as the bulldozer of a man carved his way through the streets, driven by his need for vengeance. As someone called for the soldiers, Lucius, with a heaving chest and tired arms, stumbled towards his brother’s villa for help.

Busting through the front door, Lucius dragged himself into the kitchen only to find Octavio dead by his own sword through his gut, a scrawled message in his blood written on the floor admitting his guilt.

Lucius let out a cry of agony. Cassia ran in, their son clutching onto her, fear consuming him at the sight of his father’s breakdown.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lucius cried.

“Because of your love for him, Lucius. He was still your brother.”

Lucius fell to the floor, his sword clattering onto the floor next to him. “They will kill me for this.” He looked up at Cassia. “You know that?”

She nodded, her face streaked with tears. Lifting a small dagger from beneath her robe, she pressed the handle of it into Lucius’ hand. “Please, Lucius. I would rather die than bear another man’s child.”

Lucius shook his head and pushed her away. “No.”

A flash of pain and rejection ran through Cassia’s eyes. She took the dagger back and without hesitation she drove it straight into her abdomen, letting out a primal scream as she did.

Their son screamed, covering his face with his hands, his robe darkening with liquid as he wet himself.

Cassia fell to the floor, her breathing laboured as her white robe started to turn red, her blood leaking from her at a rate of knots. “Put me out of my misery, Lucius,” she said, staring up at him. “Please.”

Lucius sobbed and crawled to his wife, pressing his lips to hers. “I love you,” he said, taking the dagger from her hand. With a shaking hand, he took the dagger from her hand and moved it to her throat, poising it at her artery. Closing his eyes, he let out a sorrowful howl as he drew the blade across her porcelain skin, fracturing her forever.

Forcing himself to open his eyes, Lucius watched as her whiskey-coloured eyes dimmed with life. “I love you, Cassia. For all eternity.”

Her head lolled to the side, the gaping wound on her neck staring at Lucius, reminding him of what he’d just done.

“Loreius,” he said, motioning for his son to come close. “We must join your mother in the afterlife.”

The boy took tentative steps towards his father, the gravity of those words sinking in the closer he came. Taking his son by the hand, Lucius sat him on his lap and repeated the same action he’d just done to his wife.

As his son gasped and gurgled for air, Lucius pressed his lips to the side of his head, his hot tears wetting the boy’s hair. When he fell limp, he laid Loreius next to his mother before submitting himself to the same fate.

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