Page 34 of The Fearless Witch

The thought was so ridiculous, it made me chuckle and I was sure if I had more breath to spare, I would be laughing. If I was already thinking about fucking him—and not because of my plan—then I was drawing dangerously close to losing control. And that couldn’t happen. Not with Beleth.

“Because I’m a demon. Because I do not want you, I do not like you, I don’t care about your thoughts or feelings,” he continued, sounding a bit hesitant until I looked back into his eyes. Then, like a switch had been flipped, his voice grew hard as steel, eyes full of anger and nothing else. “You cannot sway me with your pretty face and body. All I care about is that you’re breathing.” I choked as his grip tightened again, and I dug my nails into his hand when his smile turned mocking. He didn’t release me. “And once I have my own power, one that does not depend on your puny little heart beating, I will let you rot inHell for all eternity. And after every horrid creature here has had their fun with you, if I ever get bored, I might come and have a taste of what you’re so willingly throwing my way. Do you get it now?”

Darkness crept on the edges of my vision, so I nodded and he unceremoniously dropped me to the floor. I landed badly and fell to my knees, coughing and rubbing my neck. Nym had risen in the bed, looking between the two of us like a child who didn’t know which side to choose. Our eyes met and his turned red, but I just shook my head. I couldn’t have him interfering now, not when I have finally found Beleth’s tipping point. A few bruises were a small price to pay for it.

Beleth watched with an air of superiority as I staggered to my feet, gulping air like my life depended on it. When I pushed away from the door, he smirked and taunted me with his back while headed toward the cupboard. It took everything in me not to attack him.

“You know, I used to think I was nothing but a monster, too.” I let my hand drop from my throat, ignoring the unpleasant itch that grew with each word uttered. “But someone recently showed me that I was wrong.” As expected, he disregarded me, opening the cupboard and searching through it for something. “We do things we must do to survive, bad things, but even monsters can be good, can be loved, can be happy. So save your scary speeches and evil looks, Beleth, because I can see you.” His hands paused, but then he straightened up, holding something that looked like clothes. “I can see there is a good in you. And I can see power is not the only reason you’re keeping me alive.”

He whirled around so fast, it took everything in me not to jump.

“You see nothing!” he snarled, his shadows spreading around him like a nest of vipers ready to strike. Black overtook his eyes, the tattoos on his skin clearly moving this time. “There is no good in—”

I raised my chin and smiled at him. “Cyrus,” His eyes widened in surprise and his step faltered as I beckoned him with my finger. “Come out now.”

Something akin to panic rippled through Beleth’s face while his tattoos started to shine with faint light. On a second glance, it wasn’t his tattoos that did that, but something beneath them that I hadn’t noticed before. The shadows slithered into his body and he sucked in a breath, taking a moment to steady himself.

When he looked at me again, his eyes were back to normal, the edges softer and the color warmer. Despite his hulking frame and menacing appearance, the smile that blossomed on his face was shy and uncertain.

“Um, hi,” he said in a voice that held none of the previous coldness or threat.

“Hi back,” I replied, offering him a hand to shake. “It’s been a long time.”

Chapter 14

Celeste

“I’m sorry!” Cyrus said for the fourth time. The stark difference between him and Beleth was so baffling, I couldn’t even find the words to tell him to stop apologizing. “For letting you die that first time and… well, for what came after!” He winced, then tried to smile again. “I really am, I promise! I had no idea what I was doing back then, and you were… well, you were my first deal and I was…” He ran a hand through his hair, his shoulders caving in as he peeked at me. “I was… so scared and confused when you summoned me! And there was so much blood…”

“Cyrus, it’s alright,” I smiled even though deep down I wasn’t sure that would ever be alright. If I had gotten my wish that night, if I had stayed alive just long enough to kill Medina and punish her and Noah for their betrayal, I wouldn’t have had to suffer for two thousand years. But on the other hand… if I had died back then, I wouldn’t have met Roman, Isaac, Malakai, the Martens, and Cyrus would have been… hurting, alone.

“I know you’re just saying that, but I want you to know I mean it!” he continued as he poured the tea he had made into two glasses. “And I’m sorry about Beleth. He might be a little rough around the edges, but he truly is trying to do what is best for all of us, you included.”

“I’m sure he is,” I said indulgently, hiding my grimace behind the cup. I didn’t want to tell Cyrus that his other half was probably just a deranged, blood-thirsty psychopath with no moral compass. If he hadn’t figured that out in two thousand years, I doubted he’d take my word for it.

“No, really! He was the one who came up with the plan to protect you! And he even saved your life a few times! Although, you couldn’t have known since… we never showed ourselves.” I raised an eyebrow, and Cyrus grinned. “We’ve been watching over you the best we could. Once we figured out we get weaker when you die, he wanted to grab you and lock you down here, but I wouldn’t let him.” Cyrus’ cheeks flushed, and he stared down at his tea like he was trying to read his fortune in the muddy water. I just watched him, wondering how much of this act was real. He seemed so genuine in all his reactions, painfully so, that I felt a pang of guilt at what I was planning to do to him. “I convinced him that you deserved the right to live as you wished until your deal was complete, so he made Nym.”

Cyrus reached across the table and scratched him between the ears while my familiar purred in approval. I hadn’t seen him do that with anyone other than Roman and the way he looked at Cyrus explained why he was so adamant that Beleth wasn’t all bad.

“I’m glad Nym had someone to take care of him while I was dead,” I said with a smile and both of them looked at me like I was crazy. My familiar let out a sound of indignation while Cyrus chuckled.

“It was mostly him taking care of us,” he said, leaning in as the cat moved closer, rubbing against his arm. “When you die, it’s up to Nym to protect us from… the others.”

I caught Nym’s gaze over Cyrus’ arm, only to find him watching me with pleading eyes. I had shared my plan with him and while he didn’t approve, he had promised not to interfere. His proof of loyalty, he had called it, and so far, he hadn’t said a word. So as crappy as I felt about what I intended to do to Cyrus, there was no going back now.

“Still, I’m glad you had each other,” I said, turning my attention back to Cyrus. “Being in Hell must not have been easy for you.” His shoulders sank, and so did his smile. “Why don’t you just live in the human world?”

Cyrus scratched the back of his head. “We do. We spend most of our time there, but demons must return to Hell often or risk punishment. Or worse.”

“Worse?”

“Soul shattering,” he said with a shudder. “It’s the ultimate punishment around here since when your soul is shattered, you’re in pain every second of every day until you collect yourself. And it can take years, decades even.” He caught my eye, shrugging as if it wasn’t a big deal, but I could tell from his haunted expression that he was terrified of the very idea. “Hell needs souls to keep its power, and if we don’t do our part in delivering them, we suffer. That’s the nature of things.” He winced, rubbing his chest as if he could feel some phantom pain there. It occurred to me that I had no idea how hard life must have been for him in Hell, how scary and painful that he would manifest something like Beleth. I wanted to ask about it, but I wasn’t sure knowing wouldn’t stop me from taking my shot. I already felt bad enough for him.

“I see.” I cleared my throat. The conversation was getting too heavy, and I needed it to be the opposite of that. When Cyrus said nothing, I forced the smile back onto my face. “By the way, what’s up with this vessel? It doesn’t suit you at all.”

At that, Cyrus seemed to perk up, his eyes lighting up with amusement. “It was time for Beleth to choose, so he wanted this one. It belonged to some crime lord in Los Angeles who sold his soul for more power.” I studied once again the broad shoulders and muscled torso, the menacing tattoos, and the face carved as if from the sharpest of stones. It made so much more sense now. “Once his time was up, we sent him down here and Beleth claimed the body. He said he liked how the man acted because it stopped others from approaching us too much. And he liked the tattoos.” Cyrus ran his fingers over his chest, tracing the seemingly meaningless twists and sharp edges. “I like them too. They are a bit scary, but kind of cool.”

“Pretty sexy too,” I chimed and when he glanced at me, his face turned red. “I bet you have plenty of ladies fawning over you in the mortal world. Or does he get to have all the fun?”

---