Page 16 of The Devil of London

“You have five employees, one of which has been with you for thirty years. Mabel Witherspoon can handle the shop. Next excuse?” he asked with a smug grin on his face.

“Mabel cannot do incantations, cast spells, or create the tonics that you yourself have demanded be made for your celebrations this year. I make most of my yearly income during the summer festivals and can’t be away from the shop. On top of that, I have to be available for the designers of my new clothing line at all hours of the day.”

“Bring the ingredients you need for the shit, and you’ll have access to your phone when I approve it,” he countered as if he’d settled the matter. “You’ll also come every night you’re with me. Either by your own hand, or mine. You’d be scandalized by the shit they’ve created in the last fifty years.”

“No,” I stated firmly. “I’ve taken a vow of chastity.”

“I thought you didn’t enjoy being a liar?”

“I’ve not had anything inside me since I left the sanitarium, Khaos.” At my admission, his eyebrows lifted as his lips parted.

“I thought you said you’d healed from it?”

“I have, mostly,” I confirmed. “But I’ve not yet tried . . .that.” Studying the painting again, I ignored his shock at my mostly genuine statement. I’d gotten off a few times, but those had been because of magical spells misfiring. That, or my use of Lilith’s erotic magic forcing my body to bow beneath the salaciousness of sex mana.

“We’ll rectify it together,” he offered as he cut his thumb and opened the inkwell, holding it over it until the ink within glowed blue.

“Who the hell says I want you to help me rectify anything?” I demanded, which caused the tic in his jaw to hammer wildly.

“Counter my offer, brat.”

“If you wed, you release me.”

“No.”

“If you take a wife, you’ll release me from the contract,” I stated again.

“No.”

“If you wed, I can take lovers to my bed.”

“No, it only creates issues for the poor bastard in the long run.”

I ground my teeth.

“If you find someone to love, then I should be allowed to do so as well.” Khaos sat back, frowning as he tried to figure out my play.

“If I wed, you’ll still be mine. It wouldn’t change anything between us.”

“You’d make me your whore? Oh, no. That’s right, whores get fucked and we both know you won’t fuck me.”

“I have not touched you in such a manner in fifty years. Other than tonight, I have not bothered you once. I agreed to the terms you placed on me, which was to move our visits to whichever technology offered the least invasive check in option available.”

“If that were true, you wouldn’t FaceTime me,” I retorted.

“Find something else to counter me with. Your freedom isn’t ever on the table to negotiate for.”

“I choose the right to return to the table at a later time with new terms.”

“So be it,” he grumbled as he held his hand out for mine. I stood, moved to stand next to where he sat behind his desk, and extended it to him. He nicked my thumb with the same blade he’d nicked his own with, and then he squeezed several drops of my blood into the inkwell. As our blood mixed, it turned a vibrant crimson color before glowing. Dipping the pen into the ink, he began writing in an ancient language, which scrambled over the leather parchment before becoming legible. Khaos lifted my hand, sucking my thumb into his fiery mouth.

“Ouch,” I whispered huskily, even though it hadn’t hurt. He smiled as darkness slowly slid from his ink-colored pupils, spreading throughout the entire socket. Once it swallowed all the color, it shot through his face and moved down his throat. I’d seen him in his true form a few times before, but still hadn’t ever been able to decipher what he truly was.

Again, he sucked, and I was too lost in his ink-colored stare to fight the growing sense of relaxation. His cocky laughter made my lips curve into a smile as he pulled my body against his. The thin tendrils caressed my body as he held me, kissing my forehead.

“Je ne te quitterai plus. Avec toi, je suis moi. Sans toi, je brûlerais le monde et attendrais que la mort me trouve. Tu es en sécurité avec moi, mon âme.” Light flashed in my vision as the room spun around me. I hated the blood magic he wielded, every time he used it, I ended up unconscious. Strong arms caught me as the darkness fought to swallow me whole. “Stop fighting me, my love. You’re safe with me.”

Chapter Seven

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