Chapter 14

~~Mia~~

The buzz didn’t go away. Adron and Hannah eventually left, leaving Mia with Kas, and the buzz continued. Whatever had been in the demon’s heart, it settled her hunger and made her feel alive. It made her want to get more. It made her want to sink her teeth into more meat, more flesh, and this time drink down the blood.

“Can you feel that?” she asked. She sat on the giant table on the raised half of her bedroom, legs dangling off the side, and faced toward the other half of the room. Kas crouched on the floor below, beside her pile of leather blankets. Up here, she could look down at him, a vantage point she’d never really enjoyed before.

Kas pointed his eyeless shark head up at her, clicked once in his throat, a hard cluck sort of sound, and nodded.

“What’s it feel like?”

After a few seconds pause, the shark dinosaur tapped a claw on the floor.

“Your aura is telling me to...” He paused again, and looked down. Embarrassed? “I don’t know. I feel ... energy.” Okay not embarrassed, just confused, same as her.

“That’s what I’m feeling, yeah. I feel like I could go run a mile, climb a tree, do a slam dunk, and do some parkour.” And go a few rounds in the ring, sex or fighting.

Kas didn’t respond.

“You don’t watch scrying pools a lot like the others, do you?”

He slowly shook his head and clucked once in his throat.

That was it. Or at least, part of it, why he felt so different to Adron. Much as Adron was an eight-foot-tall demon, he talked a lot like a human. Did they have scrying pools down in the hatching pit? Probably, considering how smoothly he talked in human terms.

Kas wasn’t like that. Kas was a demon, the kind stories about demons painted in her head, or at least one of the kinds. Violent, angry, full of rage. Maybe someone she could practice her psych skills on?

“Kas,” she said. “I ... noticed you don’t really talk to the other demons, or hang out with them. The ones in the dens seemed to know you, but they were all scared of you.” Awesome as it’d been seeing a bunch of demons afraid of her bodyguard, it also meant Kas didn’t have many friends. Did demons even want friends? A good reason for the conversation, to learn more about demons, and her bodyguard.

“They are afraid of me.”

“Oh. Because you’re one of Zel’s enforcers?”

He slowly nodded, and aimed his head toward her closed door. But he didn’t say anything else. Getting him to open up about even the tiniest thing was going to be like pulling teeth.

Maybe it didn’t have to be? Some therapists used soothing background music, specific colors for their walls, decor like plants, and even scents and incense, to create an environment where patients could open up. Therapy was always tough on the patient. It was like visiting a dentist and asking them to poke the painful cavity, with the eventual goal of fixing the cavity so they could chew food again. But dentists had local anesthetic to make that less painful. Therapists had nothing but the environment and their words.

She was different. She had this weird crazy aura thing. Not only that, Zel told her to practice it, too.

How to do this how to do this. The strange, tiny vibration in her heart almost felt like ... like ... a vibrating string? Or a vibrating instrument? She couldn’t grab and force it to do what she wanted, like the demons did with their sin auras. So, run with the instrument analogy, then.

She visualized the strange sensation in her heart, and tried plucking it like a string, or blowing on it like a wind instrument. Nothing. But, maybe ... if she could feel what she wanted to do, and not just visualize...

She wanted to create an aura of openness. She wanted Kas to not be on guard all the time. She wanted him to relax.

She remembered an acting class she took in high school, about feeling emotions. She pictured the emotion, visualized it. Felt it. She moved her fingers, touched air, and found ... it.

Bingo. It was there, in the emotion. She had to hunt it, find it, and pull it up out of herself. Like, playing an instrument, except the instrument was herself?

Kas visibly changed. His crouching position settled, and instead he sat in a classic cat pose, on his butt with arms straight down in front of him between his knees.

She smiled. “How’d you become an enforcer, Kas?” Okay so this was a little manipulative. But it was important.

He said nothing for a few seconds, but eventually pointed his head up at her.

“I killed a lot of demons, in the hatching pit. I killed a lot of demons outside the hatching pit.”

“A lot? I thought demons killing demons was a normal thing.”

“It is. I killed more.”

Yeesh. A chill ran up her spine, along with the memory of Kas holding out his hand up high, and cracking the neck of a vrat, while a dead tiger lady hung off one of his horns. She banished the sensation and emotion quickly. If this weird aura of hers required her to control her emotions and play them like an instrument, she had to get good at ignoring other emotions.

Physically moving one of her fingers, she plucked an invisible string while envisioning them as best she could. It resonated, and the vibration flowed out of her. It wasn’t so much that her emotion controlled the aura, but ... something ... close ... It was almost like there was something around her, something she needed to be in the right state of mind to touch, to feel, to hear. The demon heart had jolted her awareness of it, and the more she felt for the vibration, the more it felt like instead of being controlled by her emotions, the weird vibration ran parallel to them.

It wasn’t exactly coming out of her, but ... was localized around her? She’d never been one for writing in a diary, but now was definitely the kind of situation that needed it. Drifting through fog in search of some mysterious magical force she could sense but couldn’t smell, touch, taste, hear, or see, was frustrating. Yoda would have had trouble with this.

She took a deep breath.

“I wanted to ask about something, Kas. And don’t answer if you don’t want to. But, when you confronted Darrilius, it seemed ... kind of personal.”

He growled, low and deep, like a singing crocodile.

“He was scum.”

“Scum?”

“A murdering bastard who deserved far better than I gave him.”

“I mean, I get that he was pretty horrible, but ... Don’t take offense, but I kinda got the impression a lot of demons were like that? And I mean, it makes sense, with the way you were born and raised, and the way your food source is all horrible people.” Just saying it made her wince. Hannah was in Hell, too, but she’d changed. Surely other people had, too? Then again, how many didn’t change, and were just horrible people through and through, and those were the only people by far and large demons interacted with?

She’d been in Hell one week. She’d need to live here a year or more to come to any sort of accurate conclusion, at least. Ha, one week and she was already back in university mode, putting together a paper for her psych class.

“Yes. A lot of demons are like him. Most.”

“Oh.” She climbed down the giant table onto one of the giant bone chairs, hopped off, and sat on the edge of the raised section of her bedroom. Like a little mini cliff, maybe five feet high. “You ... don’t like that?”

He growled again, louder this time. “Demons are scum. They deserve death.”

Oh. Oh shit. Mia climbed down the mini cliff and walked up to her bodyguard.

“You don’t like demons ... in general?”

Another grumble made her take a step back, but he didn’t follow it up with anything. This was like trying to convince a wild animal she wasn’t a threat.

“Demons are bloodthirsty, and suicidally violent. They are mindless. They give into their urges willingly, and...” He tucked into the corner of her room near the door, faced the door, pulled his tail around in front of him, and gently swept it her way. She tried to stand her ground, but his tail alone weighed more than she did, and the giant thing nudged her further back.

“Kas?”

“Leave me be.”

Yeap, she’d pushed too hard, too far, too fast. It was nice to know there was more to her bodyguard than a quiet mountain of meat obeying orders, but she wasn’t sure learning he was full of hate for his own race was much better. He was dangerous in a way she hadn’t really considered.

“Just, one more question. Humans. What do you think of humans? And not the humans down here in Hell. I mean, you must have seen a scrying pool before, right? What do you think of most humans?”

If he noticed she was basically asking what he thought about her, he didn’t say.

“Humans are...” Lowering his head, he let out a long sigh. “Stop it.”

“I—”

“The aura. Stop it.”

She winced and took another step back. “Sorry! Sorry. I ... just wanted to get to know you, that’s all.”

“Why?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Why?”

He nodded.

She didn’t see this coming. Why did she want to know about him? How could she not want to know about him? Didn’t everyone want to know at least a little about the people they were around all the time? Humans did, anyway. Humans, even hyper introverted types, had at least a small desire to socialize a tiny bit, even only limited to the people in their immediate vicinity they had to interact with on a frequent, daily basis. Kas and Mia fit that mold.

She found the strings inside her, and muted them. The aura quieted, the vibration of the strings died, and it stopped flowing out of her into the world around her. Kas visibly tightened up again, muscles flexing lightly, posture hunkering back and down like an animal ready to pounce. His usual body posture, the ‘I’m ready to stab anyone with my horns like I did that bitch tregeera’ posture.

“I wanted to ... get to you know, that’s all.”

He rumbled, a little louder than was probably good, but after a few deadly moments of silence, he clucked in his throat.

“I asked, why?”

“Because! Because we’re around each other all the time, and far as I know, it’s going to stay that way for a while. I bet Zel has other demons watching me and protecting me, more than you and Adron, but you’re the only who has to be around me twenty-four-seven. And you ... you have sex with me. Adron too, but he’s happy to talk. You’re not. And I ... I demand to know something about the demon who’s been fucking my ass!” She ended the increasingly loud rant with a hearty stomp of her foot.

More silence followed, until the strangest thing happened, a unique noise she’d accepted she’d never hear. Kas laughed. A rumbling, deep sound, that almost sounded like a dolphin clicking except played a hundred times slower. It lasted a whole two seconds, and left Mia staring in amazement.

“No demon would ask to learn more about another.”

“They wouldn’t?”

“No.”

“Not even Adron?”

Kas shook his head. “Don’t misunderstand the vratorin. He enjoys interacting with humans. That’s it.”

“But ... not you?”

He shrugged. “We trust each other. Mostly.”

She matched his apathy by folding her arms across her chest. Unfortunately, she knew herself well enough to know apathy was an emotional state she could never achieve, and she probably had a big frown on. And somehow, Kas and his dragon snout mouth managed a small smile.

“Trusting each other,” she said, “is enough to feel comfortable fucking the same girl, at the same time?”

“More than enough.” He licked some of his teeth. “Trust is hard to come by between demons.”

She scrunched up her nose, but slowly relented. “I guess ... that means a lot to demons, doesn’t it?”

“It does. Zel trusts no one. Not Saldavin, not me or Adron, and not Gorlus, wherever he’s gone.”

“Zel doesn’t trust you? But she...” She did more than pick Kas to be her bodyguard. She joined him, and Adron, the first time they’d fucked Mia. Forever the oddly beautiful, alien-like queen of Death’s Grip would be in Mia’s memories, her hands on Mia’s body, as Adron and Kas stretched her for the first time. And Zel didn’t trust either of those men? “I suppose ... demons sleep with a knife under their pillow, don’t they?”

“I’ve heard that expression before. What does it mean?”

“It means you never feel safe.”

He clicked once and nodded.

“So,” she said, “are you willing to tell me anything about yourself? I can tell you about me.”

He snorted. “If it will shut you up.”

She couldn’t tell if he was serious, or was being a playful jerk, like Adron would. Either way, progress, even without her aura.

“I was a university student when I died. I’m nineteen years old. I—”

“Young.”

“Yes! Young! Remember that next time you do things to me, asshole.” She kicked the giant tail sitting on the floor in front of her. Barefoot as she was, and Kas’s tail being as big as her entire body, heavier than her entire body, and skin almost solid black, she might as well have kicked the tires of a bulldozer. “I like reading. I like psychology. I write a little, but I know I have a habit of falling into stupid romance tropes, so I always throw away what I write and try again. Guilty pleasure, I know. I ... have a large sex drive, as you and Adron noticed.” Not to mention everyone else in Hell. “And I fell over randomly died eating breakfast. Like, dead dead, almost instantly. Me and ... yeah, died.” Shit, all this talk about trust and now she felt guilty not telling him about David. “Lots of pain for ten seconds, and then I was gone. The doctors couldn’t figure out what happened, either.”

Kas slowly tilted his head from one side to the other. Actually, he rotated it, like a confused dog.

“Boring.”

“Ha, yeah, it was. I mean, I liked it, my simple little life.” With her crazy monster dildos and vibrators with extra attachments. Mental note: remember to check out a scrying pool and see if the university students ever found out about her toy collection, because a girl’s life just wasn’t complete without a daily dose of embarrassment and neuroticism. “I wanted to become a psychologist.”

Kas waited, and said nothing. No reason to not continue, then.

“A uh, psychologist, is someone who helps people, in here.” She tapped her temple. “Because, you know, people can be pretty fucked in the head, right? Maybe they’ve had a traumatic experience as a child that’s left them unable to be around dogs, or walk across bridges. Or maybe they had a physically abusive dad, or emotionally abusive mother, sometimes even vice versa, and that’s left a lot of mental scars they need help identifying and overcoming. Maybe ... maybe I’m speaking an alien language and you don’t understand what I’m saying.”

The shark dinosaur rumbled quietly. “I understand, but they are not problems demons have.”

“Really?” She eyed him, and nudged his tail again. “You seem to have some issues with your fellow demons.”

That may have been a bit too much. Without the aura, poking the bear was dangerous. Sure enough, Kas let out a slow, deep rumble, and she took a step back again. Ground lost.

“Explain.”

Oh thank god, actual communication. Ground gained.

“Well, I mean, with humans we have this problem where our pasts affect our ability to make rational decisions. They color our ability to see reality in certain situations. Our objectivity goes out the window.”

Kas rumbled again, deeper and louder. Yeap, he was back in the dentist chair and she was poking a cavity.

“Are you saying demons are not what I warn you they are?”

“No! No, I get that. I’ve seen enough shit to believe you. But it’s important to keep an open mind and examine new information whenever we can. Maybe not all demons are horrible? Maybe ... not everyone has to sleep with a knife under their pillow all the time? A little trust, spread around? Could go a long way.”

And of course, he laughed again, though this time it was a short snort of disbelief.

“I—” He shut up and looked to the door. It opened a second later.

“Mia,” Zel said, dressed in some red silks but none of her chains. She didn’t look happy. “How goes your tests of your aura?”

“I uh ... umm, I think I’ve gotten better? I can do stuff, but it’s still very weird.”

“Wonderful. And the runes in your mind?”

The runes, oh shit. She’d been so distracted with all the sex and the heart eating and Vinicius, she hadn’t even thought about the runes.

“I—”

“She’s been busy,” Kas said. “I fed her. There’s been progress with her aura.”

“Is that so?” Zel eyed the shark dinosaur for a moment, before gesturing to Mia. “Come with me.”

Back in the dungeon deep in the spire, under the surface of Hell. Mia did a better job this time, not looking at the other prisoners or their skeletons, and even managed to cover her ears and block out some of the noise. This was the sort of stuff she was trying to talk to Kas about, the sort of stuff that would give any human some nasty PTSD and lead to weird behaviors. The fact it was Hell and the humans, and probably the demons too, did maybe kinda sorta deserve maybe some, a little bit, a pinch of the torture they received, did lessen the horribleness of it. A bit.

Zel had them in the deep cell with Vinicius once again, with Kas waiting outside. Like before, Vinicius was still chained, a dozen giant chains holding his colossal mass to a metal wall. Four arms, raptor feet, a big tail with spikes along the back, and big horns on his dragon head. Big black spikes came out of his joints, and the chains hooked over them, too. If the creature tried to move too much, he might break a spike, or maybe rip one out of a joint.

Worst of all, a chain wrapped around his snout. Being bound and gagged was horrible, but Adron told her this beast, this child of the Old Ones, was a savage brute who relished in violence. A berserker, who thrived on spreading death and destruction. Seeing him tied up didn’t feel so bad anymore.

Well, she did still feed bad, but she knew she was dumb and had a soft spot for shit like this.

“Hello, old friend,” Zel said, and she stood tall in front of the beast. But no matter how high the giant woman stood, she still seemed petite compared to the imprisoned titan. “Did you enjoy our last visit?”

Mia, standing a few feet behind Zel, peeked around the woman’s leg and up at the child of Belial. Vinicius looked at her, and his red demon eyes struck her still. There was life in those eyes, awareness, something more than just a mindless brute. Or, that was her stupid empathetic brain lying to her. Draw a smiley face on a rock and she could empathize with it.

“S-Sorry...” Mia said.

Zel looked down to her. “Sorry?”

“I ... I uh ... I was...”

“Mia, my pet, do not apologize for obeying my orders. Vinicius understands if you disobey me, I will torture you within an inch of your life.” Nodding, Zel pressed her chest and silks up against his chest again, but considering how tall the beast was, they mostly pressed against his upper abs. “Isn’t that right, old friend?”

Old friend? Mia blinked up at Vinicius, and the monster held her gaze for a moment before turning it to Zel. Rage built up in his eyes, and a heavy earthquake rumble vibrated out from his chest.

“Come now Vinicius, don’t be like that. If only you would obey, I could make your life here so much more enjoyable.” She gestured down to Mia. “I would share my pet with you.”

“W-What?”

Zel giggled and smiled down at her. “Come now. You know you’d like to see if you could fit this delicious creature inside your body.”

Mia held out her hands, indicating size, length, and girth, the same as she had Hannah, which of course only made Zel laugh

“Pretty sure it’d kill me.”

“Nonsense. We would take our time, stretch you slowly, and only sink you as deep as you could handle. Nice, and slow ... at first.” With a wicked grin, Zel traced a claw down the bound monster’s absurd abs. “Adron has told me more about your sexual bouts, Mia. He insists there is something special about your body.”

“Special?”

“Mhmm. I thought it mere weakness at first, that he could not last long when fucking you. But he insists your insides feel different, and that your body is quite ready to take his length quickly each time. He tells me it took Hannah many months to achieve that.”

Mia squirmed. “He uh ... he said that?” Knowing Adron, Zel was being more elegant than what that asshole had said. The bastard had probably said something like ‘she has the tightest, most amazing pussy’. Though, based on the exact words Zel used, he also implied Mia could stretch to fit him easily? Now she wasn’t sure if to be complimented or insulted.

“I bet, with time, we could fit Vinicius inside you.” She licked her lips, pressed her back and side into the nook of Vinicius’s arms and his chest, and made a deliberate showing of running her two closer hands and their claws down his stomach some more. “Very slowly spread you open, further and further apart, until you’re near to bursting. Only then would his girth fit into you. And then I would push you down onto him, nice and slow, until you are whimpering for mercy, your belly bulges, and you struggle to breathe, insides full, quivering with bliss.”

Mia gulped. If she was Zel’s pet, and Zel was fantasizing about this, it was pretty much guaranteed Zel would make the attempt. And sure, Mia’s sex drive was going a little crazy right now, what with that demon heart sending a buzz through her, and very much liked the idea of Zel using her as a sex toy and turning her into a fleshlight for Vinicius. But the small part of her brain that still managed to work was a little more concerned about her exploding like an overblown balloon.

“But—”

“But, that is not the goal tonight,” Zel said. Oh thank god. “Trouble brews, and I cannot gamble upon the runes we discovered having any value to me. Tonight, we will try something else. Or rather, you shall.” Zel stepped back. “Craft for me an aura.”

“Craft one?”

“Adron has mentioned your abilities grow, and Kasimiro confirmed. So, you shall test your ability to craft a nuanced aura.”

“But, what if I can’t?”

“I believe you can.” Zel stepped back from the beast, and walked away. With a graceful flare, she leaned back against the wall on the opposite side of the square room, folded her four arms across her chest, and smiled. “There are stories, fresh meat. Ancient stories, about the auras found on the battlefield in the first war. Demons today can only craft auras of violence and lust. With the power of the spire, I can craft auras that guide a horde toward a goal, but even that aura, more nuanced as it is, is still an aura of violence. But the old tales mention the auras of old, of the strange sensations demons felt in the presence of the Old Ones, and even Lucifer themself.”

“They had ... different auras?”

“Indeed. The tales also mention the auras of Heaven, though not in detail.”

“The auras of Heaven. Like ... Like I felt on the stairway, in front of the gate of Heaven. I felt calm, and happy. I felt good, and I knew it wasn’t coming from me.”

Zel’s smile grew. “We know little of the powers of our ancient kin, only that they waged war on a scale grand and beyond our appreciation. The angels that pester my skies are but insects compared to the angels of the First War. The Old Ones, Lucifer, the greater angels, and perhaps even Lucifer’s true kin, used auras to influence the world around them.” Smile gone, now replaced with a wicked grin, Zel gestured to Mia. “It makes me wonder what you truly are, one who can read the ancient language.”

Mia gulped again, but couldn’t get rid of the boulder in her throat.

“I ... don’t know.”

“Neither do I, my pet. We will find out together. For now, attempt to craft an aura of control.”

“But you’re in the room. Won’t it affect you?”

“Perhaps. But I am well fed, and free. Vinicius is bound and drained.” Zel licked a fang as she set her playful eyes on Mia. “If you can break me, then by all means little soul, try.”

Say one thing for Zel, she was confident and perfectly willing to do things with her own two—er, four hands. Admirable, if she wasn’t also a power hungry, dangerous person.

Mia nodded, and did her best to banish the sexy mental image Zel had put in her a minute ago. Not easy. Zel was hot, and huge. Vinicius was hot, and utterly gigantic. Little Mia, getting used by Zel like a toy on one of the bound beast’s cocks? Even if it couldn’t work physically, it was still a hot image, and tiny tingles of lust crept up Mia’s thoughts. But that wasn’t what they were here for, and Mia squeezed her eyes shut tight as she forced herself to think about the goal.

They were going to control this brute, this berserker, this creature who’d spent who knew how many decades ripping and tearing other demons and humans into piles of meat. It wasn’t hard to piece together something was wrong in Death’s Grip, and Zel needed Mia to figure out if this goal of hers was possible asap. Gorlus was missing, and supposedly so were a few others. Danger was on the horizon, and whatever it was, it was going to be a problem.

Mia was pretty good under pressure, at university. She didn’t panic. She buckled down and got things done.

Now she was panicking.

“I uh ... I don’t know if I can.”

“Kasimiro says you’ve made progress.”

“I have! I know I have. But it’s ... it’s like trying to play an instrument, I guess, except how I’m feeling affects the instrument. And the instrument isn’t really ... in me, I think. My fingers plucking the strings are, but the thing I’m plucking isn’t?” Her shoulders slumped and she stared at the floor. “I don’t know if I can get ... authoritative, I guess?”

Zel tapped her chin a few times before she sauntered over to Mia, gently moved her to stand in front of Vinicius, and squatted down behind her. Even squatting, she was still taller than Mia, and she set her two higher hands on Mia’s shoulders.

“Picture this, then, little soul. You, sitting upon a throne, with a host of demons at your beck and call. A crown sits upon you brow. A princess of sorts. Your servants bring you silks from the Scar province. Succubi and incubi try them on for you. Devorjin and tregeera guard you, ready to die for you. This beast, yours to control and bound by a leash”— she gestured to the leash she had hanging on a hook behind them—”kneels beside you, ready to kill at your command.”

“A princess?” Ah shit, she said the magic word. A world flashed before Mia’s eyes, her wearing a pretty dress and sitting on a fancy throne in a big castle. The castle could be old stone, or Gothic architecture, or even a fancy giant cottage of wood, but she would be beautiful and doted on. People from other kingdoms would come to talk with her father or mother, or her, people who wanted to make deals for land or money or goods. Soldiers everywhere, in armor or fancy tattoos or nice suits, all there to protect her. A giant beast under her command. Dangerous. Sexy.

And of course she would have bigger tits, because why the fuck not.

“Hold onto that image,” Zelandariel said, “and do what it is you do.”

Deep breaths, deep breaths, find the strings, the vibration. She closed her eyes and went digging, the same way she had with Kas earlier. If she plucked the strings, and pressed on them in the right spot to change the tone, she could make them vibrate emotion, whatever emotion or mental state she was feeling. The feeling of being in control. The feeling of being adored. The feeling of knowing other people would die for her if she ordered them to.

It might not have been the cold, harsh, cruel authority Zel probably wanted, but Zel mentioned the princess idea for a reason. Mia couldn’t be a cold, harsh, cruel person, but she could definitely be a princess, and to turn that into an air of authority, of control, of respect and servitude, was possible.

Sure enough, she plucked the strings, and whatever it was she was touching, it resonated. The new tone vibrated out through the area, starting from her, and it poured out into the air, the metal beneath her feet, the metal walls, all of it.

Obey me. You want to serve me. You want to do what I say, because you love me. I am your princess.

Zel stood up. Mia almost dropped the feeling, half expecting Zel to hit her or something, for daring to emit the aura over her, too. But the giant, four-armed demon walked back over to Vinicius, and stood beside him, half facing him half facing Mia.

“She is a strange thing, isn’t she?” Zel said. “Even now, I can feel this odd ... presence, flowing from her. It asks me to take care of her. Protect her. Serve her.” Her grin was gone. Instead of flirting with Vinicius, and pressing her breasts into him like usual, she folded her arms across her chest, both of them, and nodded slowly. Her attitude had changed. Was she trying to resist Mia?

Vinicius rumbled, but it was a quiet thing, soft, and ... submissive? Zel had said he was always half starved of resonance, which might have left him easily affected.