Page 30 of Prayer of the Damned

“Yes, my lord, I promise,” I answer, and only then does he release me from his savage grip.

“Good girl,” he growls. “Open your mouth,” he whispers, and I quickly obey.

I feel a finger lightly passing over my tongue, enough to make me gag. My lungs gasp for air and I grip my neck to release the terrifying reflex that’s choking me and refusing to release itself. My eyes widen and focus on Libretto. He measures my reaction and takes a step back as I fall forward.

“W-what… the hell… did you do… to me?” I wheeze, desperate for air. Air, it’s always the fucking air.

“Swallow.” He keeps looking at me from above. I pull my tongue into my mouth and almost swallow it along with the drop of blood he placed on my tongue.

Pain. Pleasure. Life. Death. Dreams. Hopes. Failures. Heartbreak. It all flashes through my mind in a string of unclear images, and I forcefully blink to try and make them go away, refusing to let them sink into me and taint me.

Are these all Libretto’s memories, or are they his forbidden desires?

I feel my blood surge as the images continue to rise.

When the storm slowly passes, I lift my gaze to him. He smiles at me, and I’m petrified of the secret we now share.

Chapter Eleven

Bellcolor

The Dean of the University wasn’t pleased, to say the least, by the scene I’d stirred up that day in the auditorium. I caught punishments on two fronts. The first didn’t bother me; you could even say it played in my favor. The other, on the other hand, was a totally different story.

I spent the whole day in the library, thoroughly researching the five iron-clad laws of the demon world, and the punishments meted to those who broke them.

The first law was keeping the existence of demons a secret. We act in Satan’s name from the shadows, never in direct confrontation. And as long as first-year students aren’t well-versed in camouflage, we are not to leave the university campus. Makes sense.

The second law forbids the drinking of human blood during the first year of our lives as demons. Transitioning from the synthetic blood my father’s company engineers to real blood is a long and taxing process, and I’m deeply thankful that law doesn’t apply to me.

The third law forbids drinking the blood of demons, a prohibition I’ve already violated. For some reason Libretto agreed to bend the rule for me if I only fed on his blood alone. I’m not exactly overjoyed to give him what he wants, the taste of his blood is so intense and I could barely stand it.

I’m determined to try and sustain myself without him. Either way, I have to get away from Liam. Tasting his blood drove me wild, plain and simple as that. But something about Liam, and that trio in general, just doesn’t line up for me. A chill goes down my spine and I have to blink a few times until it passes.

My father said demons have to feed at least once a day, but I lasted longer than that. I hope the demon blood I drank will keep me going long enough to understand why my body is different from other demons’, and what Libretto meant when he said he had other plans for me.

The fourth law forbids sexual or emotional intimacy with humans or angels. The penalties for breaking this law are the cruelest, because it’s a direct violation of the fifth law – absolute loyalty and obedience to the Devil and the Council. Fraternizing with humans or angels means fraternizing with the enemy.

I browse through the history books piled up on the table in the remote corner of the library, trying to figure out what angels look like, or even Satan himself. The illustrations don’t give me a clear enough picture. Even those of the demons, my own kind, look more like movie vampires than the familiar demons in the human world. We don’t have horns or hooves, I certainly don’t turn into a twisted monster. Our eyes are white, not red, and I don’t believe I can haunt houses. Or can I?

The more I read, the more I realize how little I know about the world I belong to now. But I’m jumping into the deepest end before learning how to swim. This university is supposed to teach me everything over three years. There’s no way I can learn all there is to know in a day.

All I have to do now is focus on the first part of my punishment: to write up a summary of the laws and punishments. I think the Dean figured the penalties would scare me off, and maybe the desired effect really did apply, but I can’t help feeling like I’m cheating since Libretto waived any harsher punishment. His warning about offering my blood rises up in my mind, and I know I’m going to have to break another law.

Damn it, how did I go from being a good, disciplined girl to the craziest kid on campus?

I write down the last sentence in my notebook, shut it and slam my forehead onto the table. I can’t believe it’s time to fulfill the second part of my punishment.

Of course, with my rotten luck it’s pouring rain as I run around the football field. Valentina sits on a bench, holding an umbrella. She’s set a new goal for herself – not to take her eyes off me. I think everything that happened, my loss of control, affected her deeply. My father probably gave her a stern lecture, the kind I’m quite familiar with from my previous life.

I’m only on my fourth lap and already feeling my lungs nearing collapse. I just can’t ditch that foul habit – breathing. Of all the penalties in the world the Dean could’ve given me, why physical training? I suspect my father let slip that it was my most hated subject. I only barely managed to pass PE in high school, during my human life.

And now I know physical training is a mandatory requirement at Demon Academy too.

I have six laps left, and that’s just for today. I have to do ten around the football field every day for a week. I truly believe the Dean is Satan incarnate. Or at least a cousin.

My legs are turning to jelly by the sixth lap, and they tremble wildly from the effort as I stop for a moment to get my breathing right.

The rain pouring down mixes with my sweat, and I can smell the stench coming off me. Good thing I decided to wear a black track suit. I’d only glanced at the white one, and I’m grateful to my sharp mind for that.

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