Page 15 of Carnal Magic
I froze, automatically crouching down, making myself a smaller target. My teeth chattered. That voice sliced through me, a vicious rumbling fury that stole my breath and made my stomach tighten. So much anger. Rage that had burned for centuries. Hunger.
He will never be satisfied.
The dark god had entered the chat.
More likely, my subconscious mind had leaped to Martha’s warning in the journal and supplied me with excellent nightmare material.
He laughed, a growling chuckle that made me gulp. “You deign to grace me with your presence, my lady, and already you kneel before me. How precious.”
I didn’t stand, though I straightened my spine and looked around, trying to see through the heavy foggy steam. “Who are you?”
“Oh, that’s rich. I suppose after an eternity of suffering in darkness alone that it’s only fitting you wouldn’t even remember me.”
Something scraped against stone like a sword dragging across the ground. Or vicious Freddy Krueger knives grating across a chalkboard. Wincing, I stood back up though my shoulders remained tight, my arms curled around me. “I don’t know anything about your legend. I’m new to the mountain and—”
A vicious roar stilled my words. Images flickered through my mind. A ferocious beast. A dragon. No, something furry with ginormous claws and vicious teeth. Faint rustles slowly circled me, as if a beast prowled around me. Stalking me. Hunting me.
Goosebumps made me shiver. I clutched myself tighter, wishing I had some kind of weapon. A flashlight to cut through the murk. Anything.Where are those helpful minions when I need them?
A low rattling whuff rustled my hair, making me whirl, frantically searching the fog. “I sent them away. This is between you and I, my lady. Though I’ll happily call them back when it’s time to prepare you.”
Oh shit. Prepare me for what exactly? “You can hear my thoughts?”
“I know you inside and out. The very beat of your heart. The taste of your flesh. The faintest whisper of your scent torments me, even when you’re miles away. I lie trapped in darkness in abject agony waiting for you to come.”
“Where?” I whispered. “Why are you trapped?”
“You know,” he growled in my ear. Hot breath made me hunch my shoulders, but I didn’t turn around again. I was too scared to see what he looked like. “Now that you’re here, how should I exact my revenge? How shall I punish you for leaving me trapped so long?”
“Me?” I squeaked. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t know anything about you until I read Martha’s journal.”
“Don’t say her name in my presence.” Something grazed my shoulder, making me flinch. Hard, like teeth, but it didn’t hurt. Maybe the tip of a claw. “She never embraced me. She refused to accept everything that I offered. Will you do the same?”
My head spun, trying to connect the pieces together. Martha told me about carnal magic in the first place. The dark god and his minions… But she’d refused him? Why had she stayed, then? Had she lost her power as a result?
“You’re thinking of her when you should be more worried about what I’m going to do to you.”
My heart thudded heavily. My shoulders scrunched tighter, waiting for pain. A blow. Teeth and claws. Something horrible. But nothing happened. Gathering my courage, I turned around, still hugging myself fiercely.
No huge monstrously dark creature loomed over me. No glowing eyes or vicious teeth. Just a man, sitting several feet away on a boulder or ledge. I couldn’t tell for sure in the dark.
At first glance, he looked normal, though I was pretty sure he was naked. Wisps curled around him, darker and thicker than steam. More like shadows or smoke, though I didn’t smell a burning odor. Black hair slicked back from his face and blended into the darkness, so I couldn’t tell its length. Dark eyes, but not alarmingly mirrored or demonic or fiery.
He smirked and arched a brow at me. “I can be anything you want and fear, my lady. If it’s the dark lord or monster you want, so be it. I’m only a figment of your imagination after all.”
I distrusted the light, mocking tone of his voice. He’d been so loud and vicious earlier. A creature of nightmares, spawned by Martha’s notes of a dark god lying in wait for me. Was this just a dream—or something magical? How would I know the difference?
The last thing I wanted to do was make a mistake. Entrap myself somehow. Sell my soul to the gorgeous devil sitting on a rock, silently laughing at me.
He chuckled, shaking his head. “Test me, my lady. Have I injured you in any way? Have I done anything against your will? You came to me, after all.”
A thought popped into my head. Immediately, a blue flame danced above him and flowed down around his shoulders.
His hair. I’d turned his hair into blue fire. The same sapphire flames burned in his eyes.
Focusing, I thought of him dressed in an expensive business suit with a matching blue silk tie. Immediately a dark suit coat stretched across his impressively wide shoulders. He did wear a perfect white shirt but it was unbuttoned down the front. The blue tie draped loosely around his neck, baring the strong column of his throat.
He looked like a negligent lord of the manor from a swashbuckling historical romance.
