Page 11 of Ex-Mas
Suddenly, there’s heavy knocking echoing off the walls, the sound almost deafening as his dark eyes lock with mine. “I didn’t give a shit about Christmas, I came to surprise you.”
“And I was defending myself,” I grumble, covering my ears as the sound only gets louder. “What the fuck!”
“This is what you wanted to hear? This is the only way you wouldn’t have killed me, huh?” I open my mouth to speak and he cuts me off. “You didn’t say anything or give any kind of warning. You aimed straight for my throat.”
“And what if it wouldn’t have been you? In the few seconds it would’ve taken me to give a warning, I would’ve been the dead one, and you’d have been angry with my corpse for not swinging first and asking questions later.”
The way his jaw tenses tells me he agrees, but the demon inside him won’t let him admit it. The knocking stops though, and at this point, that’s close enough. “Or you could have aimed for the gut. At least then I’d have had a chance to survive.”
He’s right, but I wasn’t thinking about anyone’s survival but my own that night, or any day since. “But I didn’t, so here we are. Now you’ve got raven wings and a tail, capable of doing just about anything you want. I’msosorry.” The sarcasm unfortunately drips through my voice at the end there, making his eyes narrow angrily.
“I’m fucking trapped here in this Christmas wasteland unless I’m summoned,” he hisses. “I don’t want to bethis. You think powers equal happiness?”
“I was in prison too, remember? Magic fucking powers would’ve made that way more enjoyable.” Standing, I try and fail to get some of Adrian’s drying cum off my back. “And I did summon you, you were topside, and yet you chose to drag me back down here instead of staying there with me.”
“I can’t stay,” he growls. “I haven’t earned that rank yet, and I would have been dragged back here without you. Now you’ll never escape me.”
“Cool. That won’t come back to bite you at all.”
If I have my way, I’ll make sure it does.
5
This motherfucker cannot be serious. I make one little snarky comment and he puts me in a cage? I swear to god, the second he lets me out, I’m stabbing him again.
“Very funny,” I grumble, ignoring the smug look on his face as I test my newest prison. It’s solid iron, tall enough for me to stand but not to walk around, and barely wide enough for me to sit down and stretch my legs. I won’t be able to lay down at all. “And what exactly are we hoping to accomplish here?”
“It’s accomplishing a smile on my face. I think that makes it worth it, cum back.”
Clearly, I didn’t kill him hard enough.
“Did you just use ‘cum back’ as a comeback?”
“Clever, huh? Took me about five seconds to come up with it, and I’ve told you so many times, don’t explain my jokes. It ruins them.”
“Then maybe you should work on them actually being funny.”
“I laughed,” he retorts, pulling on some boxers before he pours another drink, and I swear he looks clean already. Stupid magic. “It’s not my fault you have the sense of humor of a cadaver.”
“At least I don’t look like one,” I remind him, pointing to the jagged scar across his neck. “I may be covered in jizz but I look more alive than you do.”
That gets him to shut up, but the deadpan stare he gives me has me worried for what’s to come. “I don’t really remember what I looked like that day. Want a refresher?”
“No, I remember perfectly fine. Despite what you think, it was the worst day of my life too. It just wasn’t my last.”
He looks me up and down like he’s trying to decide his next move, but my words have him hesitating. “Did you ever wish it was? Did you ever consider... joining me?”
“No, I didn’t,” I say honestly. It’s more complicated than that, so I do my best to explain. “Maybe a few passing thoughts, butI never believed in the afterlife, and I damn sure didn’t think we’d end up in the same place if it were real. You were a good man, Adrian. I was never a good woman.”
I watch his chest rise and fall with a deep breath. “And yet here I am.” He shakes his head like he’s shoving those thoughts aside, then plasters on a fake smile. “You’d be a hot demon, by the way. The deals you could broker with those hips.”
“So is that your plan? Torture me until I’m a demon just like you?” The thought terrifies me, but I try not to let it show. ”We may be here awhile.”
“You made it sound like I was living a dream come true here.” He sniffs the air. “So why do I smell your fear?”
I don’t miss the way he reaches down to adjust himself like he enjoys it, but it doesn’t make it any better for me.
“Because the person who did this to you didn’t have the face of someone you once loved.”
