Page 82 of Unbinding the Demon
The room went silent as I stared over at them for a minute. My heart started pounding in my chest as another wave of anxiety crashed over me. This wasn’t Ashton and his dog that I was looking at. This was the demon Azathoth and an abyss wolf...whatever that was. One thing was certain, they were both otherworldly monsters, bloodthirsty killers, and I was in danger here. I glanced through the archway, over at the front door, then back toAshton,who seemed occupied with tending to Belzar. So I rushed to make my move.
My eyes shifted around, then I ran for it like my butt was on fire. I bolted through the foyer, snatched the car keys from an end table, then sprinted out the door and into the dark, cold night. If I'd had the agility and skill to have cartwheeled out of there without killing myself, I would’ve frickin’ done it. I jumped down the porch steps and hysterically dashed along the cobblestone path toward the car. I didn’t even care that I was topless.Fuck it! I gotta scram!
If I can just make it out of the valley—Oh no! Pepper Paws!
Realizing that I almost left my sweet little kitty in the hands of an actual demon, I swiftly turned around, planning to grab him and then make another run for it. The moment I turned, I collided with a large, hard chest. Big arms instantaneously wrapped around me. Black mist clouded my vision, and I was suddenly standing in the kitchen, held hostage in Ashton’s relentless embrace.
Maybe it isn’t such a smart idea to run from a demon who can fucking teleport.
“Let me go, you awful beast! You monster!”I screamed while I squirmed and kicked, attempting to escape his powerful grip.
“Absolutely not,” he stated firmly, leaving zero room for argument. “Listen to me, and listen well.” He spoke with intensity while looking at me with glowing, infernal eyes. “I understand that you’re upset and want to get away from me. But let me remind you that Adelstein now has a small army of Abyss-corrupted souls, and they’re all out there looking foryou. You are staying with me, and I am going to protect you until Adelstein is dealt with, whether you like it or not.” I stopped struggling against him, but his grip was still firm. “After that, I won’t force you to stay. You can leave if you wish.”
I didn’t know what to say or do, so I slumped against his chest in defeat and allowed my tears to flow. His grip loosened, and he caressed my back as he cradled me. I wanted to fight him and get away from his touch, but I was too upset and fatigued to even try.
“I’m so, so sorry,” he whispered. His hand gently lifted my chin, and his glowing eyes searched my face with concern. “We need to get your wounds cleaned. But first, you should drink some water. You’re severely dehydrated.” He swooped me up and placed me in a chair at the table. I squinted as he flicked on the ceiling light and grabbed a large glass. The faucet hissed as he began filling the cup. “I know I can never undo the wrong that I’ve done to you, but please, Gwendolyn, at least give me the chance to explain everything.” He handed me the water and grabbed my free hand as he knelt down in front of me. “I love you, and I don’t want to lose you.”
I looked into his sorrowful, pleading eyes and squished my lips into an angry flat line. “You’re right. You can’t undo being the demon who killed my aunt and then used me for your selfish agenda. There’s no need to bother explaining anything, because once this whole thing with Adelstein is over, I never want to see you again.” I yanked my hand away from his and turned my head to gaze out into the darkness through the window. I refused to look at him as I drank the much-needed water.
He remained crouched in front of me, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see he had his head bowed. Still not wanting to look at him, I let my attention drift back to the window, where I noticed my bedraggled reflection and sighed. “I need to go take a shower,” I muttered while holding back more tears. I placed the now-empty glass on the table and moved to stand up.
Ashton looked up at me and reached for my wrist, causing me to still. “Of course. Let me just get these ropes off you first.” Long, black claws extended from his fingers as he gently spoke. I ripped my arms away and tried to back up against the chair in fear. He grabbed my wrist anyway and gave me a reassuring but stern look.“It’s okay. I’d never hurt you.”
Never hurt me? Yeah, fucking right. Tell that to my broken, bitter heart.
His sharp claws looped under the thick, bloodstained rope, then effortlessly slashed through it. I remained rigid while waiting for him to finish, as he moved onto my other wrist and then down to my ankles. I grimaced at the sting of my rope-burned skin. It was bright red and beginning to blister. He gently grabbed my hands and inspected my wounds. “Death will not be enough for that man,” he mumbled to himself.
I looked over at him in annoyance. “I’m not going to do the unbinding spell. So you can stop pretending you care,” I stated and tried to pull my hands away.
His grip tightened, refusing to let me go. The action caused a wave of fear to crash into my gut. “I am not pretending to care about you,” he stated in a tone that reflected his vexation. “Believe me, if I didn’t care about you, I’d be locking you away and ensuring that you never left my side. I’d drag you back to Hell with me. I’d force you into completing our infernal matrimony, regardless of your feelings about it. I would never even consider giving you the option to get away from me. I would possess you brutally and fully.” My eyes grew wide as he kept talking. “But I’m not going to do that because I do truly care about you and I do truly love you.”
I gulped and leaned back stiffly, as far away from him as his grip on my hands permitted. “Um, what do you mean by ‘back to Hell with you’ and ‘infernal matrimony?’”
He squeezed my hands and gave me a sad but loving smile. “I mean that once all this is over, I want you to come back to Hell with me willingly and be my bride.”
He can’t be fucking serious, can he?
I just about choked from shock. “I, um, well, I think I should go take a shower now.” I jumped up and scurried over to the archway, where I turned around and stared at him skittishly for a moment.
His blood-splattered frame rose with effort as he looked at me with a stoic but longing expression. His eyes were still glowing, and he hadn’t retracted his claws yet, making him a terrifying sight to behold. “Gwendolyn,” he softly called out to me, sending a shiver up my spine.
Yikes!
Without saying a word, I darted out of the room and up the creaky stairs. I almost tripped as I dashed down the hall and then scrambled into the bathroom. I frantically locked the door behind me, then scowled as I realized how pointless that was...No point in locking the goddamn door when he can literally teleport in!I threw my hands up in frustration and huffed.
I stripped out of my remaining clothes, then turned the water on. As I waited for the water to get warm, I peeked in the mirror and was shocked by the damage done to me. My eyes were red and puffy, with dark circles beneath them. There was a large bruise forming all along one side of my face and another one on my cheek from Adelstein smacking me. Dried blood and black zombie drool were splattered all over my skin, and I had an angry shallow cut on my throat. And to top it all off, my hair looked like a disheveled bird’s nest.
I sighed as I stepped into the stream of the hot, soothing shower and let my tears mingle with the rivulets of water and blood cascading down my fatigued, achy body. As I soaped up, I began to cry hysterically, causing my chest to heave with so much force that it became painful. I felt so weak and pathetic. Red and black swirled down the drain, growing lighter as the minutes passed. Once I washed away all the grime, I could barely stand. I sobbed as I slowly sank to the shower floor, cradling my knees to my chest. My eyes squeezed shut as every painful detail sank in.
Why was my life such a cruel joke? The man I loved and wanted to spend my life with turned out to be a literal demon who had killed my aunt, then used and deceived me because he was after my blood. And now he apparently wanted to drag me down to Hell and marry me. I didn’t know what to do. The only logical thing that came to mind was to go see a priest about it, but I certainly couldn’t do that. I was traumatized, my body ached, and I wanted regular human Ashton back. I wanted him to canoodle me and make the memory of Adelstein and the zombies go away. But regular human Ashton was a lie. He never existed, and I could never get him back.
I felt like an idiot for not suspecting something amiss sooner. I thought of all my weird erotic dreams, all his odd sayings and strange behaviors, his otherworldly growls and vocalizations, his tendency to literally kill people...Wait a minute. My eyes flew open at a sudden realization, snapping me out of my mini mental breakdown.
The two guys who had tried to kidnap me at the club... They had spoken about the clergy, which turned out to be real. I had watched Ashton kill them with glowing eyes while using his sharp claws, which he actually has...That wasn’t a hallucination.
I gasped as I remembered my vivid dream that night, wondering if that could have been real, too. I trembled as I recalled what Aunt Elowynn had told me. I had replayed the entire dream over and over in my head in a lame attempt to hold on to her memory, so I still knew every word that was spoken by heart.“Promise me that you will unbind the power that can avenge my death. Extend mercy to my killer and forgive him.”She had pointed into the well at Ashton’s image when she’d said that.
Oh my god. I didn’t even know she was killed by someone when I had that dream. I thought her death had been an accident!
