Page 22 of Sinful Obsession

Her face scrunches up in anger but the only thing I can think to describe her isadorable.“That doesn’t really feel like a compliment,Death.”

My true name on her lips sends a shiver down my spine as I venture closer, needing to be beside her as the others currently are. Kaua selfishly drags her into his lap and sits back against the wall. I sit beside him, ignoring the other two’s grunts of disapproval. “I told you before that no one here professes to be human. Not one person. Everyone here in some part has a part in the apocalypse, aside from the orderlies and the doctors. Except for you.”

She’s even angrier now but doesn’t move from Kaua’s lap, chewing on her bottom lip as she finds the words she wants to throw at me. “Right, because I’mjusta human andjustseeing a demon.”

Nevan scoots closer, stealing her attention. “That would be it if you hadn’t opened the door. That’s the one step between us and fulfilling our purpose. Sure, there’s other parts that are needed to open the portal but without access, we couldn’t do anything.”

Her emotions soften as she looks between Nevan and then me before settling back into Kaua’s chest. She looks perfect there, her unconscious movements as she accepts our touches more telling than she knows. “Does everyone else know that they’re part of it?”

“Probably not,” Kaua forces out. “The man in line at breakfast, he was a lesser or claims to be. One of the demons that are let out during the apocalypse to spread the mayhem we start. Not all of the players are here but most of them. It’s like we’re being rounded up and locked away and it might have worked if you didn’t show up.”

I scootch a little closer, trying to intimidate her, trying to make her actually see what she’s getting herself into. “And you’re doing all of this for a fucking demon. A demon!” My snarl reverberates through the room, Vienna scrambling from Kaua’s lap. She stands her ground as she points at me, about to speak when one of my many gifts pushes forth.

Unable to understand this woman, I stalk toward her. Smoke begins to seep from my skin, dark and suffocating, and my form shifts. My cloak materializes, the scythe appearing in my hand, its blade gleaming in the dim light. It’s one of the few things that the humans got right. I tower over her, the embodiment of death itself, but she doesn’t even flinch.

Instead, she reaches up, grabs the edge of my hood, and rips it off. “Stop that,” she says firmly, her voice cutting through the silence like a blade. “You’re not allowed to shift when we’re talking.”

I stare at her, stunned. “You’re not scared of me?”

She laughs as I just stand there, unable to make sense of Vienna even more than a second ago. “When I first met Asmodeus, he wasn’t even one form. He was just… darkness. An entity, I guess? And I still wanted to sleep with him.”

For a moment, I’m at a loss for words. Then, slowly, I shift back to my original form, the smoke dissipating. “You’re something else.”

She smirks, her confidence returning. “I’ve been told that before.”

Without thinking, I lean down to kiss her, amazed at the way she so easily melts into my chest. In the day that she’s been here, she’s become something to all of us. I want to know what Asmodeus’ plan for us but now I’m even more intrigued by the anomaly that is Vienna.

17 – Vienna

I’m still reeling from the kiss when Ewan offers to walk me back to my room. The silence is just short of uncomfortable as I hold my hands in front of me, sifting through the chaotic thoughts from a full day’s worth of nothing. Finding out that all the players of the apocalypse or at least most of them are here, in this building is strange. The fact that the doctors have had their hand in rounding them up is even more strange. Are they fanatics or something else?

It makes more sense now why Michael would think my folder of ‘sins’ was important. Unfortunately, I’m still lost on what I’m truly supposed to be doing here. All I ever wanted was for Asmodeus and I to be together, as impossible of a dream as that was. Now, it feels like I’m part of something bigger, like this is my calling. I just don’t know where I fit in.

Because in all the stories that I’ve ever read, there isn’t a human that starts the apocalypse. There’s been a demon,Cyclops, even a fucking unicorn shifter but never a human. Never a woman. Never someone like me.

We reach my room before I even realize, Ewan chuckling as I trip over the small lip of the threshold. “Stay here,princess,” he says, using the pet name mockingly. “There’s a lot of dark forces in this place and few of them are friendly.”

He’s going to give me whiplash with the way he’s soft one minute and hard the next. Shifting in front of me like that was absolutely terrifying but breaking at that moment would have ruined everything I wanted to do. Ripping his cloak from his head might not have been the smartest move, though.

“You’re friendly. Enough, I guess.”

“That depends on who you ask, princess.”

My nose scrunches up at the name but I don’t hate it, not the way it flows from his lips in this silky smooth tone daring me to come closer. And then his next question ruins the moment. “What happens if you find out you’re just a pawn in his plan?” Ewan asks, one of his brows raising as he leans against the doorway. “What if all of this is just part of his scheme to get what he wants?”

I’m not sure why Ewan has asked more questions than even the doctors or my parents. No one has really probed or tried to understand why I’ll follow Asmodeus so blindly. I pull down the collar of my scrubs, showing off Asmodeus’ bond mark. “If that were the case, he wouldn’t have marked me. And yes, it still very well could be a trap but there have been times where he has showed up in my room asking for me in a way that doesn’t make sense. He’s told me that he loved me before he even met me. Those aren’t words said lightly and if they are, I’m going to continue living in my fantasy world.”

He's fighting some invisible force, some emotion but I can’t figure it out.

“Why fight me so hard when this would fulfill your purpose? Why do you keep questioning me?”

“Because we’re cursed with a bit of humanity,” Ewan replies. “We may be the embodiment of the horsemen, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”

He steps closer again, his hand brushing against my cheek, his touch unexpectedly gentle. “Are you sure this is what you want?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’ll only ask this one last time. Are you absolutely sure?”

My heart races, my mind spinning with uncertainty. But I force myself to nod, even as the weight of my decision presses down on me. “Yes,” I say firmly, though my voice wobbles. “I want this.”

Ewan watches me for a moment longer, then leans down and presses a kiss to my forehead. It’s soft, almost tender, a shiver running down my spine. “Then I hope you’re ready for what comes next,” he murmurs, stepping back. “Because there’s no going back.”

---