Page 36 of Virgil's Demons

I took a step back, unsure of what was happening. My hand hovering near the blade at my side. It was then I realized what I was talking to.

"What did you do to her?"

She stood, slowly, her movements smooth, almost predatory. "I didn't do anything,lover. It was just too easy a game with her. Her walls aren’t as strong as she wanted them to be.”

It licked it’s fingertips. “No. This one’s deliciously weak. All these emotions this…love,” it seethed the word as if disgusted by it.

I froze. "What?"

Barythaya, no, thethinginside her laughed, the sharp and high pitched, utterly unnatural. It sent a chill down my spine. "You thought you were going to stop me? Oh, Virgil. She's the one who opened the door. She's the one who gave me the keys."

My blood turned to ice. Barythaya had let the demon in.

How?

Why?

She moved closer, her hips swaying, her eyes dark with lust. "She's still in here, I can feel her soul. Oh, she's a fighter. But I don't mind sharing, you know. We could have so much fun together."

Her fingers trailed down my chest, lower, until they rested on the waistband of my jeans. I flinched, but I didn't pull away. I couldn't. My body was reacting to her touch, despite the alarms blaring in my head. She wasn'ther, but she felt like her. Shelookedlike her.

"What's the matter?" she whispered, her lips brushing against my ear. "Don't you want me?" It gripped my cock roughly, her voice distorting, becoming something more evil.

My grip tightened on my blade, my knuckles white, but if I hurt it, I’d hurt her. "Get out of her," I growled, barely holding onto the thin thread of control. "Now."

She smirked, pulling back just enough to look into my eyes. "And if I don't?"

"I will chain you to the darkest pit of fucking hell and feed you to your masters hellhounds," I seethed into her beautiful face.

She gave me that odd, empty smile and then she licked my lips, so slowly, deliberately. My body reacted to her, and I reminded myself this wasn't my woman.

"I’ll make sure to rip her heart out first,” it laughed in my face.

I hesitated, my mind spinning. The demon was one entity I hated, it had already gotten its claws into her, literally speaking. It explained what had happened in the last few weeks, and why Barythaya had lost that moment in time and couldn't remember what happened to her.

Suddenly, I felt it again. It was standing by my side, hovering over us. The demon didn’t seem to see it. “Let me help you, Virgil.”

“No.”

Barythaya continued to smile at me, the demon not even knowing I was having a completely separate conversation with its sibling. This was fucking madness. An Angel of Death. I didn't even know how to handle that. That was on a whole other level of spiritual. The angels, the guardians to heaven's gates, the most envious and most beautiful, and one of them had set its eyes on me.

I had to believe that Barythaya would be strong enough to fight it off. Or was she already too far gone?

"Make your choice, Virgil," Death's voice whispered, echoing inside my skull. "Save her… or let her burn."

Barythaya's hands were on me again, roaming over my body, her touch growing more insistent. I could feel the heat between us, the undeniable pull of desire, but it was wrong. This wasn't her. This was a manipulation. A trap.

I pushed her back, my breath coming in ragged gasps. "I'm not playing this game."

She laughed again, the sound cruel and mocking. "Oh, but you already are. You’re lucky I haven’t snapped her neck yet, but I find this torture more fun."

I stepped back, putting distance between us, but she followed, her eyes gleaming with a dark, twisted hunger.

"Virgil," Death whispered, her voice soft but deadly, "Jut give me the permission I need.”

I shook my head, forcing the words out through clenched teeth. "I'll save her. I'll find a way. But it won't be through you."

Barythaya’s smile faltered for a moment, and then the room became very still, a dark shadow slithered along the walls. Barythaya’s voice changed into a deep, now demonic sound that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

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