Chapter 10

Jealousy

-Cariel-

The dark iron chains felt cool against my heated flesh.

That was the first sensation that came to me ... as my mind slowly clawed its way out of the deeper place it had fled to. I could still feel the pieces of that place in my mind ... and I knew it would only get easier. I knew I would find myself there more often.

That was the place where submission was as natural as breathing. Where obedience covered all thought with a thick warmth that felt like safety and acceptance.

I could feel Devnikolus' hot seed leaking from my still pulsing sex, and then slithering down the inside of my thigh. It slid over one of the welts the belt had inflicted, and the sting of it made me jump in my bonds.

"You look exquisite, little one," said the demon in the room.

I opened my eyes. I hadn't remembered shutting them.

He was standing in front of me. His dark hair had tumbled over his pale face and obscured one of his red eyes. He was wearing a boyish smile that made him seem young and happy, and carefree.

"Every time I look at your face, I can see just a little bit more of what you will become," he said softly. With a grace that should be denied to evil, he traced his pale fingertips across my forehead and over the hair that sweat had pressed to my face.

We both knew what I was becoming. "Have I been sufficiently punished, Master?" I asked in a tone that conveyed no contrition.

Devnikolus laughed. It sounded like a deep rumble. It sounded like the laugh of the male who dominated me.

Something deep in my belly tightened again.

"No," he said. "I'm afraid not."

I stiffened. Surely, there couldn't be more? The backs of my thighs throbbed in time with my heartbeat. My sex felt sore and sated.

"I'm afraid I had more than one reason to dress you in chains."

I didn't like where this was going. "Why?' I asked, in a voice that didn't quite convey how much I wanted to both kill and kiss him. Then I remembered he hadn't ever kissed me ... and that made me sad.

Devnikolus ignored my question and started to move about the room. He returned the belt to the wardrobe, and then he slipped out the door.

A hot flash of anger rippled through me. I swear on all that is Light, if he left me here I will gut him.

But then he returned a moment later, carrying a hot washcloth. Steam curled off it, and it was dripping slightly. He met my eyes for a moment and gave me a small smile. Before I could say anything, he began to clean me. The towel burned pleasantly as it moved down my thighs.

A small, traitorous sigh snuck through my lips.

Then he softly dabbed my sex ... and I couldn't suppress a full-throated moan. A part of my mind broke off from the rest. It danced about madly in the corners of my being ... and it chanted:

The rest of me was trying to gather itself. I managed to get my mouth to form words ... even though my mind was busy fracturing. "Why did you want me in the chains?" I asked in a voice that sounded small and girly.

"I have to go out tonight," he said, not looking up from his task, "and you have demonstrated an uncanny knack for getting in the way."

The nerve... "I could break these chains if I wanted to," I said haughtily.

He looked up at me and grinned. "Could you?" he asked, like a parent to a willful child. "Show me."

I gave him a sharp, brittle smile with too many teeth. "Of course," I said. My magic gathered around as I called it. Blue lighting crackled around me, and I could feel my limbs fill up with tremendous strength. With this power I could stave in a rock wall with one mighty blow ... I could rip a man apart like a lightning bolt might split a tree.

I yanked at the chains. The manacles pulled sharply on my wrists as the chain pulled taut and still. They clanked and rattled, but none of the links bent or broke.

"Seithi Rei!" I shrieked, frantically pulling and twisting in my bonds like a wild woman. The chains remained hard and unforgiving. A dull ache traveled up my arms as I expended all my magic ... and then finally, I fell still and silent.

How had Alarial broken his chains? I thought despondently. Perhaps he fashioned stronger ones for me...

Through all of this, Devnikolus stood patiently, his hands clasped behind his back, his red eyes dancing. One side of his mouth was turned up into a little half smile.

Damn him.

-Devnik-

The little redhead breathed heavily as she gazed up at me. Her proud breasts rose and fell rhythmically, and a light red flush had crept into her cheeks. All that sweet, pale flesh had wobbled wonderfully as she had tried to free herself.

I wanted to bite her again. I wanted to sink myself into her so hard and long that she'd forget what it felt like to not have me inside her. I wanted her on her knees, slavishly kissing my feet while whispering her devotion to me. I wanted all of these things ... but I couldn't stay and claim them. There was much to do this night, and much that could go wrong.

Tonight was the night I would get my darling sweet Maria back ... and that was more important.

However, Orias' visions weren't always perfect. Great powers could divert the river of the future, and I had to be careful. Part of this caution called for Cariel to be bound in chains. She was willful and not yet completely broken to my will. I trusted that the mental commands of the collar would hold her, and I also trusted that she would bait the chains magnificently for another.

Still, so much could go wrong. Tonight was rife with variables, as Orias liked to call them.

"Are you finished trying to escape, little one?" I asked soothingly, as if I were trying to calm a scared animal.

She looked up at me with hooded eyes. "Yes, Master," she said in a strained, breathy voice.

"Good," I said, and I lay a cool hand on the hot flesh of her flank. Cariel shivered at my touch and leaned into it imperceptibly. I doubted she even realized she craved our contact. I brought my hand up her side and briefly hefted one of her breasts.

Soft, firm flesh rose in my cupped palm. Her eyes widened and she looked at me with a wild, untamed lust ... completely separate from civilized thought. I let go of her breast and stepped back.

"What is happening tonight?" Cariel asked in a voice of forced calm. "What did you tell those Bra'rul to do? Why do I need to be restrained?"

I shook my head and offered her a small smile. "I can't tell you that, Cariel. All I can say is that I will be back before the sun rises in four hours."

She opened her mouth to speak, but I was already collapsing into black smoke. Before she said a word, I had disappeared altogether.

If a witless human had been standing in the field I had chosen, they would have seen something strange. They would have seen a dark mist rising and twisting from the ground ... writhing like it was angry and sentient, moving swiftly and silently. Sparks of red would be seen deep within it ... as it formed the shape of a man.

Then they would have seen me, standing in a dark field five miles from my mansion. But they wouldn't have known it was me, Lord Devnikolus, Hellish Prince of Destruction and Unmaking. They would have simply seen a dark-haired man in a cloak, pinned with a ruby, and black vest ... with brown eyes that looked almost red.

But sadly, there was no one around to witness my greatness ... which was a pity ... because what I planned on doing next was truly impressive.

I reached my hand into Hell and pulled out a sword. But it was not my sword. This sword was dented and scratched along the blade. It had a simple leather handle that was torn and singed in places.

Along the side of the blade, the words 'Merciful Mary' glowed a faint blue when they caught the light. In my hands, I held the sword of a Judicar.

Earlier this Night

"Tonight, there are things you must do," Orias said as he pushed his hand upwards through a rend in creation. He pulled out a worn and weary-looking sword that pulsed with Light magic.

"For instance," Orias continued, "you must destroy this sword tonight using Destruction."

"Is that a Judicar's sword?" I asked. "How did you come by that?"

Orias tapped the table with his free hand. "Devnik, I don't really have time to tell you. Now, listen, you must pick a place away from your mansion and use Destruction to destroy the sword. This will kill the angel bound up within it."

Most Judicars thought that the angel bound to them resided within their physical bodies ... but the angel really resided within the sword that they carried. That is why they are told not to break the sword. Usually, if they did break it, the angel would simply slip back into heaven.

That wouldn't be the case if I fed it to my flames.

Orias looked at me pointedly. "You know what this will do. The Light is extremely sensitive to the death of one of their own. I imagine that a sortie of Legionnaires will be dispatched within the hour."

"Why do I want to attract Legionnaires to myself?" I asked darkly, not liking the sound of this plan.

"Because the death of one angel will bring the Legionnaires running," he said. "The slaughter of an entire sortie will bring the greater entity of the Light running. Lucifer is hoping this will leave his prize unguarded."

Orias handed me the sword, saying, "One thing always leads to another."

Present

I sat down with my legs crossed on the grass. In front of me, the Judicar sword stood upright with its point stuck forcefully into the ground. 'Merciful Mary' glinted sadly in the light in front of me, and I briefly wondered who the sword belonged to. The Judicar had to still be alive. The bond was broken if they died.

I wondered if the angel in the blade was aware of what was about to happen. I wondered if they were hoping that their Judicar would die of a heart attack in the next few minutes so that they could escape to heaven.

No matter. I closed my eyes and sought out Destruction.

"We are here, Master..." the black flames whispered. "We are hungry ... and it is a beautiful night. Let us dance for you under the light of the ever-shimmering moon."

"I have grown weary of your disobedience in the past," I said aloud.