Page 393 of Flirting with Darkness

Only the meager light from the pantry filters in from above. Shapes and shadows blend into each other. But the chest at the center of the cellar, the heart of the manor, glows with faint green light.

Each step is an assault on my morals. My principles. Each inch forward, a judgment on my character.

And the fire within ramps up, pulling a startled moan from my throat.

I’m not giving you the chance to be pious about this. Do as I’ve asked, and I won’t burn you and your family to the ground.

I swallow against the taste of charcoal and sulfur and keep moving toward the chest.

It’s bigger than I recall.

The sides bow out with demonic power, ghastly green light leaking from the gaps between each board. The chains wrapped thrice around the width strain against the load, each link stretched, the metal creaking, whining.

Stop wasting my time, human. Unlock this box and free me!

Fumbling with the key around my neck, I pull it off with a quick yank and, with trembling hands, insert the long iron key into the ancient iron lock.

Arm heavy with the weight of this sin, I grit my teeth as I turn the key, releasing one spring, then two, and three before the lock finally pops open.

The hunk of iron falls to the ground with a deafening clatter.

The boards making up each of the twelve sides of the large chest also fall away.

Leaving only a crouching man with smoldering eyes, raven-black hair, and no clothes.

Surprised the air isn’t full of acrid brimstone, I step back, wishing the ladder were closer. Wishing I wasn’t stuck in a hole in the ground with this demon.

“You promised you’d leave,” I say as he rises to his full height.

He steps closer, a cruel glint in his gaze. “You did make me promise, didn’t you?” he asks with a twisted smile before closing the distance between us in one swift motion.

He snatches my wrist, squeezing the calluses born from years of keeping this very thing from happening. “I didn’t promise not to take you with me.”

The twisted smile turns to genuine glee as the demon pulls me against his naked chest.

I scream. I try to, at least, but it’s as if he’s sucked all the air from my lungs.

A blinding, bright flash.

The sensation of falling for miles, years, a lifetime.

And then being squeezed through a hole only a mouse could fit through.

All that before the scream actually makes it out of my mouth.

The moment it does…

“Quiet!” he hisses, pressing a large, warm hand over my mouth. “You’ll wake the creatures that stalk these woods.”

I chomp on his hand and wrest myself free of his grasp, only to trip on something behind me and land right on my arse.

I glare up at him and his condescending smirk. He’s clothed now, not just any raiment, but in the same garments I saw in my dream.

As am I. My favorite azure dress fans out around me, across the fallen log that tripped me.

“Where have you taken me, demon?” I bolt to my feet, brushing the leaves and dirt off my dress. “And why have you dressed me like this?”

He crosses his arms over the black leather armor. “I couldn’t very well have you traipsing about the woods of my home in your nightclothes, could I?”

---