Page 35 of Infernium

The dreary sound ofNocturnisfilled the room, as I played from memory–a song I’d learned many years ago. I found solace in the music, a moment of quiet reflection, when my world felt as if it had been thrown into utter chaos. To have returned from the pitch blackness of Ex Nihilo, into the hell of having found out Farryn had damned her soul to bring me back, it was as if everything around me had caught flames.

The ornate dagger of the knighthood sat on the organ console above the drawknobs, and beside it, a glass of half-sipped chthoniac. The blade, I’d planned to slip into Farryn’s nightstand later--a means of protection, as it tended to be very effective against all breeds of demon. Including my less favorable form. It would give her a fighting chance in the event I couldn’t control myself around her.

As I played on, the hair on the back of my neck stood. On my next breath, a wave of something thrilling pulsed through me, the pull of craving, and as I caught her delicious scent on the air, my body hardened.

In spite of the urge to smile at Farryn’s presence, I tamped it down.

Devil’s blood, staying away from her was going to be impossible.

10

FARRYN

The forlorn music echoed down the hallway, as I approached the organ room. It’d been months since I last heard Jericho play, and a warm, nostalgic feeling swept over me as I recalled that first evening when he’d caught me spying on him.

As massive as the cathedral was, the music reached the farthest corners through the vents, so when I heard it, I instantly felt a pattering in my heart. With a candlestick in hand, I hid behind one of the pillars, watching the way his body moved with every haunting note. He was mesmerizing. Perhaps the most complicated man I’d ever met in my life. So many different facets made up his personality, like a scintillating black diamond with endless planes, that he was anything but predictable, or boring.

Having watched him for about five minutes, I mentally urged myself to approach, but hesitated. Debating. I wasn’t sure why. Perhaps because, even after all we’d been through, what we’d become to one another, the man still carried an air of dominance and authority in this place. An ominous undercurrent that seemed much more pronounced since his return from Ex Nihilo.

And yeah, the suggestion to remain separated sucked. It’d broken my heart, and I’d spent the last hour soaking in a bathtub sobbing over it. After which, I’d attempted to relax in bed awhile, but my heart still felt too unsettled. I’d spent months in bed, and all I wanted was to see him.

Honestly, I’d planned to pay him a chaste visit, but just in case he’d changed his mind about the separation, I made a point to wear one of the oddball dresses I’d found tucked at the back of my armoire. As if the universe wanted me to wear it. With a laced-up bodice that tapered at the waist, and long, flared sleeves with a flowing skirt, it reminded me of something out of a gothic renaissance festival. A far cry from the simple Blackwater uniform.

The music ended, and my muscles lurched with the longing to step out from behind my hiding spot. Palms sweating, I pressed myself against the pillar, as if it would somehow stop me from going to him.Just go to him already!

“Do you intend to stand there all evening?” The deep timbre of his voice carried on the air, as darkly euphonious as the song he’d just played.

Of course he sensed me there. Nothing got by the man.

With a sheepish smile, I rounded the pillar, and my pulse hammered as he turned to look at me. It didn’t matter that the man had seen me naked a dozen times before. Whenever that nefarious gaze of his landed on me, butterflies shot to my stomach. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to tell me to get lost.”

“Does that sound like something I would say?” Beneath the appreciative glint in his eye, there lay a shadow of something darker. More carnal. “New dress?”

I lifted the hem of it, which exposed more of my thigh. “This old thing? No, I found it in my closet.” His gaze tracked me like a predator, as I made my way toward a pew across from him and plopped down, ungraciously, not bothering to cross my legs as I sagged back into the wood and sat the candle holder beside me.Watching his fingers curl around the edge of the organ had me inwardly smiling. “You look mad. Am I in trouble?”

“Frequently, it seems.” He lowered his gaze to my thighs, which stuck out from the raised hem of my dress.

I brought my knees together, squirming under the weight of his attention. “Well, I don’t mean to break the rules of separation, I just wondered if there was any news on my father.”

A gaze of winter blue met mine and the appreciative sparkle from before sharpened with austerity. “Cicatrix informs me they’ve not tracked him yet. But I will be joining them in the search.”

I straightened in my seat, giving up on the silly flirtations. “Oh. Okay. When do we leave? I’ll probably need to change out of this dress into something warmer.”

“I’m not taking you with me, Farryn. The only thing keeping you out of the Infernal Realm, at the moment, is the baby growing inside of you.Mychild,” he said with an air of possession. “Should you suffer some injury, or worse, every demon that falls under the purview of the one who seeks your soul will be summoned to hunt you down.”

I caught the flinch of his eye, and the way he turned his gaze away, jaw clenched, made it perfectly clear how much that thought bothered him. “That can happen any time, Jericho. Climbing the stairs. Taking a shower. Sleeping. You think it’s wise to leave me here alone, instead?”

“I will make arrangements for that, as well. As much as I would love to watch you reunite with your father, I won’t risk you becoming a fallen overlord’s slave.” The words rolled off his tongue like a bitter taste he wanted to spit from his mouth.

“I’ll disguise myself.”

“I could smell you from down the hall. Your vitality would attract them like flies.”

“To shit.”

Rubbing a hand down his face, he reached for his glass of what I guessed to be absinthe, given its bright green color. “Your scent is intoxicating. You couldn’t evade them if you tried. This entire realm is infested with malevolent types who wouldn’t bother to honor the rules of the ancient elders. The kind who would carve the child out of your belly while they fed on your soul.” His gaze landed on my thighs again, just before he tipped back his drink.

“Fine. I’ll stay put like a good, pregnant, little human. But promise me, if you find him, you will bring him to me.”

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