Page 3 of Lust

I flick my eyes to the time and see that once again I’m going to have to rush to not incur Anthura’s wrath. I sprint to the bathroom and hop into the shower. As I’m washing, I notice another tattoo has appeared on my wrist above the first one. It’s another circle, equal in size to the first, but this one is blue and has what looks to be a snake coiled around a stick of some kind in the center of it. I rub at it, already knowing it won’t wash off. Nausea bites at me as I scrub the delicate skin, reddening it round the blue tattoo, but having no effect on the thing itself. I don’t even know why I’m trying to rid myself of it. It’s a mark of victory, and yet somehow someone managed to tattoo it on me while I was asleep. It feels… icky. My mind wanders to the beautiful tattoos gracing Dade’s back and arms, covering the tats the demons marked him with.

“Stop thinking about Dade fucking Angelis… or fucking Dade Angelis” I admonish myself and swallow a mouth full of soapy water for the effort.

This isn’t about Dade. It’s about Jenny, but like it or not, I’ve made it this far because of him. After getting out of the shower, I head to my wardrobe. I’m pleasantly surprised to find my old shitty clothes I’d been graced with in Purgatory have all been taken away and a brand new wardrobe left for me. One that doesn’t consist of my old work uniforms and threadbare t-shirts.

Maybe it won’t be so bad in this circle.

Maybe.

I grab a pair of designer jeans and cashmere sweater from the wardrobe and put them on. My hand catches the door knob and I hesitate. Dade is going to be down there. The memory of him gripping my hand for dear life and then waking up with an empty feeling in the depths of my soul hasn’t left me. He murdered people. He lied to me. He hurt me, and yet when he looked at me last night, there was more than anger in his eyes. I saw pain there too.

I don’t want to think about it. I can’t or I’ll lose sight of the reason I’m here and in this competition. I have to think of Jenny.

I head out through the back door, hoping that everyone else will decide to head down the front way — the more visible way — and try to catch my breath. The view from my back door has changed. A vista of red dusty earth with hundreds, if not thousands of towers spanning out in all directions is the same as it was in Purgatory, but the large stained glass panels that before had shown images of people in pain, now shows images of naked bodies entwined and contorted in every position I can think of and many that I didn’t know were possible. It’s like the entire karma sutra is laid out in colored glass in front of me. Erotic, beautiful and utterly terrifying. The expressions on the faces range from ecstasy to agony. To my right is a depiction in glass of a woman with spirals of black and pink hair, her legs gaping open, a huge demon’s forked tail entering her pussy and the lower end of his trident down her throat. I inhale sharply and try not to think of someone else with a forked tail. Despite me trying everything I can not to think of him, I can’t help wondering how it would feel to have Dade do the exact same thing to me. Would I have the same look of rapture on my face or would it hurt?

Damn it!

I shake my head and walk over to the steps that will take me down to the lower ground. I could call the levitating platform, but a quick look at my Hell Cell shows me that I have a few minutes left before orientation and I want to gather my composure before I’m thrown back in at the deep end, probably literally knowing Anthura.

My heart begins to pound as I walk down past Dade’s door. I finally let out my breath when the door remains shut and skip down the rest of the steps. My fear of heights hasn’t fully left me, but after the months I’ve spent in a tower identical to this, I’m getting used to it.

At the bottom, I take a deep breath and open the door to the place where I’ll be spending the next few weeks… or months of my life. The Second Circle of Hell. Lust.

I was completely mistaken if I believed this tower would be nearly identical to the previous one we occupied. Although the general layout remains the same, the enormous circular room at the tower's base is remarkably different. The walls are adorned in a gentle shade of pink, and instead of the plain red sofas we had before, there are now pink love seats scattered throughout, accompanied by swings that mysteriously hang from nowhere, their ropes entwined with blooming vines. My eyes instinctively scan the people already assembled here. Dade isn’t here. His huge wings and penchant for black clothing would make him stand out against the pink. Anxiety gnaws at the pit of my stomach as I take in the faces of the people I’m going to be up against in the Inferno Games. Some I recognize from Purgatory, but there are a number of new faces. My heart tightens as I move my eyes from one face to the next until I find the two people I know I can count on and in that moment, my entire being lightens.

Juliette looks stunning in a tight-fitting pink leather dress that looks like it was made for the place, but the expression on her face tells me she’s not as thrilled to have come through to this Circle as I thought she would be. Her eyes are downcast and the muscles in her face are tense. If I thought there was any place Juliette would fit right in, Lust is probably the first place that would spring to mind, with the possible exception of the Third Circle — Gluttony. Rowena, on the other hand, is wearing a pink, flowery outfit that seems to be held together with safety pins. I'm not sure what to make of it other than she probably made it herself. Just like Juliette, her face is downcast. The pair of them look like they’ve just come from a funeral. A wave of heaviness washes over me.

“Hey you two, you made it!” I greet them, then sit on the swing next to them when it’s clear that neither of them wants a hug.

Juliette gives me a brief, thin-lipped smile before turning to Rowena. “You tell her. I can't even bear to think about it.”

My heart drops another notch as I wait to find out what could be worse than our current situation. I mean, we’re already in hell. How much worse can it get?

Rowena takes a deep breath and speaks, her voice trembling slightly. “She came through with Orlin.”

“Orlin Moss?” Try as I might, I can’t keep the tone of surprise out of my voice.

“Do you know any other Orlins?” Juliette snaps, her frustration evident. “Of course Orlin Moss. The dude is gross. He has a comb over for Christ's sake. I think I’m going to be sick.”

My mouth falls open as I wait for the punch line. “I thought you’d have come through together,” I say, gesturing the pair of them.

Juliette gives me a withering look, and it’s clear there isn’t going to be a punch line. She really did come through with Orlin. I can barely think of anything worse, not that any choice would be a good choice. When we all made the decision to enter into the games, I don’t think any of us really thought it through. I pin an image of Jenny in my mind and swallow back the feeling of horror of what the next few weeks might bring.

“Oh my God,” she whimpers. “I’m going to have to see him naked! I’m going to have to have sex with him.” Her already gray-green face pales a shade and she does look like he’s about to vomit. I cast my eyes around the sofas, finding Orlin. He’s standing next to a sofa with a clapboard over his shirt that reads SIN=CONSEQUENSES. He looks completely lost. I shudder, then turn back to Juliette.

“No one said you have to sleep with him,” I say lamely. “You just have to do the first trial with him.” Even as I say it, my mouth turns dry. We’re in Lust. What else would they make us do? Whatever horror Juliette has in her head about what will be expected between her and Orlin, I’ll have to do the same with Dade. I swallow back the lump in my throat. In my messed up dream, I’d kissed him. It wasn’t real, but the desire to touch him was. The want, the need. They were very real.

“Look at this place.” Juliette gestures around us at the comfy love seats, the scantily clad people walking past us and the pink furnishings. Pink, everywhere. “It oozes sex. I’ll probably have to see his small maggoty dick.” She recoils in horror. “I just know that in the first trial, they’ll make us fuck like bunnies.”

“It could be worse,” I grumble, feeling my heart tighten as I say it. “I came through with Dade.”

I have to stare at Juliette’s face to not look at Rowena’s open mouthed expression in my peripheral vision.

Juliette gives me a withering expression. “Hmm. Yes, I can see how fucking a gorgeous man of mystery with a ripped bod, sexy tattoos and giant wings would be a massive turn off.” She sits back in her seat and folds her arms.

“He’s...” I can’t even finish the sentence, because I don’t know what he is. I only know that he might be a murderer and gave me the best orgasm I’ve had in my life. The only orgasm if I don’t count one's given to me by myself.

“He’s a weirdo,” Juliette continues, unaware of the turmoil she’s ignited in my belly, “but if it makes you feel better, I’ll swap... you know, as a friend.”

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