Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Lilith

Present Day

“Where am I?” a low voice asks.

I jump awake and look down at myself. I have blood running down my wrists and am lying with Tarek on a mattress in a place I don’t recognize.

But all I see is his blood. All I feel is anger and need and lust. Then there are the memories I don’t recognize, ones that don’t make sense. It feels so real, like I’m still there right now, watching the boy, watching the world burn around me, and feeling like I might die with it.

Son of Enoch?

Who was the son of Enoch, and why couldn’t I remember him? And why the hell am I bleeding so much?

I check my wrists again and then my arms. Wait, that’s not my blood. None of it is. And my wrists have no markings.

I jerk around to look at Tarek, realizing exactly what the source is. He has small bites all over his body, down his arms and up his neck. A small trickle of blood runs from his mouth.

He’s awake but pale.

“I don’t feel the desire to repeat myself, Lilith. Where am I?” He’s literally handcuffed to the bed. Did I do that?

I quickly get to my feet and stumble toward him. When I get to the mattress, I notice how his jeans are ripped, along with what had been a whole black T-shirt. It’s now shredded, like someone took their fingers and tried to tear it open.

“That is a very long pause for a simple answer.” He sighs as if he’s not injured or chained to a headboard. “If you could just tell me where I am, I can visualize my escape much easier. Gotta hand it to you; your bite is strong. I didn’t realize my blood would make you feral since you weren’t injured anymore. But…” He tugs against the handcuffs anchored above his head. They make a jangling noise. “Apparently, you want to keep me as a special treat. I wonder when my life turned from feeding to being fed on. Oh, yes, the minute I tried to get you a car. Did not see that coming. You know, they should really be more random with their bingo cards this year. If anyone was going to be chained to a bed, I had Alex down…damn it.”

“Stop talking.” My voice is hoarse, almost like I’ve been screaming. But I can’t focus on anything but his smooth skin. A full-on, in-real-life eight-pack with lean muscle stacked upon lean muscle, and finally, his ripped jeans, giving me the perfect view of the notorious werewolf thighs. Rumor has it women beg to be trapped between them for life because they’re—I shake my head and look down at my trembling hands.

It’s happening again, then.

I won’t survive this, and neither will he.

Now that I have enough blood in my system and have fed, I realize my current state of reality, and it’s not looking good for either of us.

I’ll need to consume. I won’t be able to stop. I’ll remember the next few days like a distant life I lived at one point. And then I’ll wake up in another random town and do it all over again.

Two days of ultimate power.

Two days with a werewolf prince.

And he says his bingo card is off.

My only goal is to survive. Now, I have to survive with him.

I sigh. “I didn’t bring you here. I merely brought you to her, like I do every time. Now, I’m trapped just as much as you are.”

Feminine laughter echoes in the dark room—the same as always with its high ceilings, castle-like vibes, a roaring fireplace in the corner, no windows, enough food, wine, and water piled onto the far wooden table to feed multiple people, and the bed.

There’s always the mattress.

I stare at the white velvet blanket just barely covering it and the blood staining parts of it. Everything’s the same, right down to the fact that it drips off into the very cup I always provide, sitting right next to the leg—the artery, if I’m being specific.

It’s a nightmare I’ll always relive, and now I’ve brought my savior into it.

“You did well this time.” She cackles in the dark. “I mean, you do well every time, Daughter of Discord.”

I hate being referred to as that. I don’t create chaos. I just want to live.

The first time this voice came into my life, I thought I was going crazy. And then she appeared in front of me and told me I was special, even used my name a few times, then finally just laughed and said I was Discord.

I have no idea what that means, but it makes my head spin. I know that once he’s completely dry of blood, every single damn memory will come back. I’ll most likely hate myself and will continue to hate her, and then I’ll be just like Cain, forced to walk the Earth as eternal punishment I never deserved. He did. I don’t.

“Well, that’s just perfect.” Tarek sighs behind me. “Daughter of Discord? Do you know any of your mythology? How old are you?”

The voice laughs. “Oh, my. I knew this would be entertaining. Have I not warned all of you immortals about the strings I like to pull? Big, strapping puppets I can manipulate with my will. By the way, thank you for taking care of Thomas, the vampire who attacked our little Lilith here. He was getting on my nerves and hunting down my favorite puppets of all, and I do hate getting bored.”

“So, I’m chained to a bed, and a psychopath refuses to show herself. Just talks like this booming voice. Oh, right. You’re probably ugly. That actually makes sense.”

I jerk my head toward him, then clap a hand over his mouth. I swear the guy needs to keep his thoughts inside his head. “She’ll kill us both. Not that you aren’t already dead, but I’d like to at least enjoy you before you die.”

Tarek’s brown eyes glow blue. “I wouldn’t be so sure about my death. All I see in my future is darkness. All”—he frowns—“all I see is…” His eyes flash brighter. “Discord. But when I look further...” He strains against his handcuffs, muscles flexing and jaw clenching as he looks into my eyes as if he can see the past, present, and the future. “You.” His voice lowers. “You will either be the savior or destroyer of all, and if you take too much of my blood, we both know what will happen.”

“What if it saves me?” I sound like I’m begging, but I know she’ll kill him anyway. She’ll make sure I stay under her spell and need to survive, since the beginning and history will repeat itself. It’s always the same.

I took enough of his blood to remember most of it. I was clearly in a frenzy to regain everything, only to destroy it all over again.

Suddenly, I can’t breathe.

“Ugly?” She laughs. “Ugly?” I hear her footsteps—one, two, three—her heels clicking against the concrete floor. She’s angry. She always gets angry if anyone insults her beauty.

Always.

She says it’s a punishment for beginning a war I don’t remember starting. Says I begged her to save me after the gods made bets on me. But I don’t recall what war—she won’t allow it—and I don’t know which gods.

Why can I remember my first bite at sixteen and killing a teacher? Why can I remember that I’m forced to fully feed on an immortal once a year to regain any semblance of power that was given to me?

And why does it always go away, only to repeat?

Her footsteps near. I struggle to get close to Tarek.

He shoots me a glare. “Yes, because I could be of so much help to you right now.”

“Can’t you shift into something?” I whisper under my breath.

He glares harder. “Yes, Lilith, let me just shift my way into wolf mode so my paws—which would be triple the size of my hands, by the way—get caught, as well. I’m strong, but whatever evil witch put me here realizes I can’t use my strength when I’ve been here for God knows how long, getting sucked dry. Not that it matters, because I’m probably already dead. I don’t even know if I can shift right now because you…” He shakes his head. “You have taken half my blood supply.”

I self-consciously wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. “It wasn’t on purpose.”

“I’ve been kidnapped, and it wasn’t on purpose ?” He rolls his eyes. “Cool story, tell me more. And…oh, wow”—he looks behind me—“guess you aren’t a troll.”

Jealousy slams into me as I push his chest to keep some distance between them and then turn around, blocking her from seeing him.

Danu, Goddess of the Earth. The stories have it wrong, and she loves that. She loves that I’m one of the first women on Earth, and she can control me. She loves that she can steal my power because of it.

She lets me feed under my curse, only to suck me dry and force me into servitude over the war.

Her eyes are black, her hair a whitish-blond, and every being who sees her immediately falls for her looks. It doesn’t matter that her voice sounds like evil itself. Her pretty face, the one given to her by the Creator, is beautiful, save for one small knife scar from the very one who created her as a warning not to step outside what They allow her to be in control of: watching over the other goddesses and keeping her realm in check, all while wandering the Earth for her sins.

But the Creator isn’t here.

It’s just me.

Danu leans down and presses a kiss to my cheek. I immediately want to wipe off the blood-red lipstick; instead, I stare up at her, shaking like the weak, addicted person I am. “You should continue your feeding, little succubus.”

“I wasn’t always a succubus.” I lift my chin and try to look strong when I know I’m so weak— so weak.

Danu laughs and pats me on the head. “Then maybe don’t piss off the Greek gods next time. They like games, not wars, you idiot.” She slowly reveals her right hand from inside her cloak.

She’s holding a golden apple.

My apple.

The one used in the Garden.

The same one used in…

“Well, shit,” Tarek says out of nowhere. “Please, don’t tell me that’s the relic from the Garden of Eden, which means it’s the same one from the Trojan War.”

“Shit,” I repeat.

“An apple a day.” Danu winks and waves the fruit in front of me. “I’m sure by sucking him dry, you’ll regain all your fun little goddess powers.” She presses a finger to my forehead and then flicks it against my skin. “But you won’t have enough time to enjoy them. You caused the Fall. You caused a war. You will always be Discord, and I will always be the one to keep you under control. We all have our curses. And you, Eris, embodiment of Lilith, are mine.”