Page 19 of Eternal Sacrifice
“I’ll grab it,” Justice said, pushing off the table.
“So, when do I get to meet your dad?” Mor asked, switching her attention to Jasper.
“Asmodeus?” Jasper seemed to search his mind as if he hadn’t realized he had not formally introduced his mate to his family. “If he’s not at a function, he’s in the middle of an orgy. Not a lot to talk about.”
Mor mouthedohbefore trying to hide a smile as she looked down at the table.
Jace leaned in close. “At least I’m not the only one in the pack with a fucked-up family.”
“Fox, did you move the book?” Justice asked, reappearing, hanging on the doorway.
“No?” Mor looked up to Justice. The air in the room seemed to thicken, and the crystals fought to illuminate the space. “How could someone come into our wing and take it with the wards in place?”
“Maybe Justice moved it and forgot, babe,”I spoke directly into her mind, hoping to calm her.
“Marlene knew we had the book,” Justice said, bringing more tension into the room. “And someone helped her to escape.” Justice mentally retreated into himself, rummaging through his memories and the records he had read while calculating the numbers. “I don’t know if a Black Knight could enter the mortal realm.”
Each time Justice spoke, it seemed to pile more weight into the room until the air was practically suffocating.
“Marlene could create mental prisons,” I said, remembering everything I knew about my mother’s power. “She could trap you inside your own head, forcing you to live inside a world of her creation. The only way to escape is to realize you aren’t in the real world. But your body is vulnerable while you are stuck inside her world.”
“So, all of this could be an illusion?” Justice asked.
If the air felt choking before, now it felt like all the warmth had been stolen. Hell felt cold, and the hairs on my arms straightened as if tasting reality.
“We really need to find that book,” Mor breathed.
“Some time away from the palace isn’t a bad idea,” Jasper said while nodding in agreement.
Silence stretched through the room. The lighthearted remnants of our honeymoon were over, and the complications of others had come crashing into us already. After a few moments, Jasper was the first to get to his feet, and the rest of us followed suit.
We would gather whatever personal items we needed before heading back to the hunting cabin. Instead of going to my room to stare at the black walls while the others packed, the hallways of Hell led me to my gallery. There wasn’t anything here that I needed to bring along with us either, but I needed a few minutes to think.
The door opened to reveal the familiar open space with a piano nestled between sweeping staircases. The only music I could pull from it came from Mor’s vocal cords, not the bars.
My hand caressed the staircase’s banister as I moved step by step, admiring the intricate designs carved by Jasper. It was a long scene depicting a devastating war. Most of Jasper’s earlier carvings featured warring themes. Before he learned how to bend the material to his will.
I reached the landing, and the balcony to the side caught my attention. The same one I bent Mor over as I showed her the scar on my neck. A scar I had thought was created by my father’s hand. My fingers came up to run over the thin line. I had covered it in runes, but the ink never seemed to hold. Now it almost itched. The newest revelations only opened the scab that I had thought was healed.
Not all wounds disappear into memory. Sometimes things can’t be fixed, and you must accept a new normal. What does a demon know of normal, anyway?
I laughed, the sound echoing coldly off the walls as I looked over at the glass boxes that proudly displayed my trophies from the years. I took my time, standing in front of them to give proper reverence. They stood lonely for eternity. Only able to be appreciated from afar, I wondered how they would feel to be held again.
“Did you want company?”Mor’s voice filled my head.
I walked away from my possessions, returning to the balcony as I mentally told Mor to come in. Watching her open the door and slip into my space made me smile. When the door locked behind her, I felt like one of my confined objects, safe and secured.
But I was not alone. I had learned how to be touched without shattering.
She looked up at me as she strode toward the piano. Her long, straight hair hung down her back like a waterfall. A black dress hung from her body by thin black strips. She had donned makeup for the evening, a hand-crafted personal touch. Coal rimmed her naturally green eyes, and the bright red of her lips looked like a stain of blood against her pale skin. She looked like the most alluring, powerful, captivating demon I had ever seen.
She was all fucking mine.
Her feet tapped a rhythm as she walked toward the piano and sat on the bench. I bent over the balcony to look down at her. She gave a Cheshire grin before patting the empty space beside her like I had in her bed this morning.
I narrowed my eyes before straightening. I took my time striding down the far steps, holding her with my gaze as I advanced.
“Your place is up there,” I said, gesturing to the top of the piano.
