Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

A she huddled in the dank, dimly lit dungeon cell, her trembling body pressed against the frigid stone wall. Her once vibrant red hair hung lifelessly around her ashen face, the glow in her ice blue eyes extinguished by fear and despair.

How had her life come to this? Sold into a world of demons, forced into servitude, and now locked away in a dungeon for a crime she couldn’t possibly have committed.

“Because you’re human.”

The weight of everything crashed over her in the darkness. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall, knowing that she needed to remain strong if she ever wanted to escape this nightmare. She hadn’t seen anyone in days, but food always came. She would keep her strength and spirits up as best as she could.

She’d murdered her captor once, and while she couldn’t imagine hurting Leviathan after the way he made her body sing, she would do it if it was the only way to escape. She would run until she found another prince.

Another kiss.

The idea of touching any but Leviathan in that way seemed to upset her, but that wasn’t possible.

Everything about the situation was unreal. She longed for the days of simply tending to tea and attending court before her stepmother dwindled their fortune in her quest for power.

If Ashe ever escaped she wasn’t certain she could even go back to the life she’d been trying to run to. Blood tarnished her soul, but it was the way she craved people’s eyes on her that was worrisome. Would it vanish when she left the realm?

A shimmering blinding light in the darkness forced her eyes closed with the stark brightness of it in the otherwise perpetual dark of her prison.

The angel’s wings sparkled in the scant light filtering through the barred windows, casting an ethereal glow on her otherwise delicate features.

“Ashe, you must listen to me. You don’t have much time. You need to get Leviathan to kiss you, and you must do it tonight. Once they discover the murder you did commit, it will be too late. Belial deserved his fate, but he was still a High Lord.”

“And what would become of me?”

Lily’s already pale skin became lighter. “You would not survive. This realm is a torture, but it is far better than ceasing to exist at such a young age.”

The damp stone walls of the dungeon seemed to close in on Ashe, suffocating her as she tried to catch her breath. Her heart raced beneath her ribcage as she processed Lily’s words, her thoughts turning to panic at the idea of dying in this realm. The thought of dying down here, in this terrible place, was too much to bear.

She couldn’t breathe, and the walls seemed to close in on her, forcing her to back away from the angelic being that had come to save her.

This wasn’t what she had bargained for when she was sold into slavery to pay off a debt. She would readily allow the demon’s lips upon hers even if it plunged her further into envy if it meant escaping this living hell.

Lily’s wings fluttered softly against the walls, casting shadows across the room in their dance. “Remember your humanity,” she said softly, brushing gentle fingertips along Ashe’s jawline until their eyes met once more. “You are not like them no matter how much they push you.”

The angel was almost a blur as she moved, her wings flitting about in the small dank space like an iridescent moth. Her voice was soft and soothing, but it only made Ashe’s heart ache with despair.

Running out? Ashe thought desperately, turning away from the fairy-like creature and pressing herself against the cold hard stone walls of her cell.

Lily stopped before her, reached out gently with a shimmering hand. “Please, you must trust me,” she begged. “I know it seems impossible, but time is running out. I’m so sorry,” Lily began solemnly as she looked away into the darkness beyond their tiny cell. “But the bars are made from pure lead— impervious to magic or physical force alike.”

“No. . . ” Ashe whispered, shaking her head slowly. “You can’t leave me here again. I can’t do this alone.” Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about being once again chained to a wall or worse, at the mercy of a demon like Belial’s twisted desires.

“You must get the kiss on your own. I cannot take you out, and I cannot risk staying here when he might return.

Ashe yanked herself away from Lily and slammed against the cold walls. “Don’t come back! All you’ve done is make things worse than they already were!”

Ashe’s heart pounded as she stared at the angel, her mind racing to find a way out of this desperate situation. But Lily’s words echoed in her mind - she was on her own.

She couldn’t count on anyone else to save her from Belial and his cruel intentions. It was up to her to find a way out of this dungeon and get the kiss that would save her life.

Ashe plagued Leviathan’s thoughts even while locked away in his dungeon. He didn’t keep humans in the dungeon. Rather, he took them there, stole their envy by whatever means necessary, and then took their lives.

But this human was different, and not only because he needed to understand how she had access to a demon collar. Belial did not keep a demoness as his own, so it was not an attempt to overthrow him as Leviathan once thought. Never mind that a human could not wear the damn thing.

“It’s been over a week since I took her down there. Why can I not purge her from my thoughts?” His snarl sent a small imp running away.

Leviathan paced across his opulent chamber, unable to shake the image of the human woman locked away in his dungeon. Her eyes haunted him, pleading for rescue while her soul screamed for freedom. He’d been captivated by her beauty from the moment he laid eyes on her - a rare occurrence for him, as he tended to seek more refined company. But there was something about Ashe that called to him, a light that shone even through the darkness that had consumed her. His fingers twitched with the desire to reach out and run them through her flowing red hair, to feel its softness between his fingers once more. The memory of her supple body trembling under his touch made him shudder with need.

He stopped at the window overlooking his domain, watching as demons scurried about like mindless insects beneath him. His black wings spread out behind him like an eternal night sky as he stared down at them below.

Her name echoed through his mind, reverberating with each thump of his heartbeat - Ashe. It was like music to his ears, a melody that only he could hear. He closed his eyes and savored the memory of their time together, trying to forget the pain she had caused him by choosing escape over love. His chambers reeked of her presence despite her absence, and it would slowly drive him mad.

“This is why you’ve not killed her. Another moment in her presence would plague you.”

It wasn’t entirely true. He had other motives for keeping the human alive that he would never utter out loud.

He was a demon prince, and for some reason, since the moment he saw her cowering at Belial’s, Leviathan had wanted to possess Ashe.

Snarling, he let his talons bite into his palm as he stalked back to his throne. For days he’d been unable to do anything save for soak up the envy as those who knew waited for the human to die.

Even his quest for the silver-scaled demoness had halted, because he could not separate the two or how Ashe had her possession.

Leviathan sat on his throne, his mind consumed with thoughts of Ashe. He couldn’t shake her from his mind, no matter how hard he tried. His advisors and minions filled the throne room, all eager to impress their master and bask in his glory. But Leviathan hardly noticed them, his focus solely on the human woman he had locked away in his dungeon.

“You seem distracted, My Lord,” one of his advisors spoke up, trying to gain Leviathan’s attention.

“I am not distracted,” he replied sharply, flicking a hand dismissively at the demon.

“But you’ve hardly paid attention to our reports,” another minion chimed in nervously. “Is everything all right?”

Leviathan’s eyes flashed with annoyance as he turned to face them. “Do not question me,” he growled. “I am the prince of this realm, and I will do as I please.”

The demons fell silent, suitably cowed by their master’s words. They knew better than to cross Leviathan when he was in a foul mood.

But even as he asserted his dominance over them, Leviathan couldn’t help but notice a sense of unease gnawing at him. It was true that Ashe’s presence in his dungeon had distracted him from his duties as a ruler, but it wasn’t just that. There was something about her that called to him - something beyond her beauty or her fiery spirit.

“Why have you not killed her yet?” one of the demons dared to ask.

Leviathan stiffened at the question, feeling a surge of possessiveness rise within him. He knew the others were waiting for an answer as well.

“This is why you’ve not killed her,” another voice spoke up before Leviathan could respond. It belonged to Azazel, one of his most trusted advisors and closest confidants.

Leviathan turned to face Azazel, who met his gaze unflinchingly.

“Another moment in her presence would plague you after,” Azazel was too smart for his own good.

“Silence!” He commanded, his voice echoing off the stone walls. “The affairs of the human have no bearing on this meeting or any other unless I see fit to include it.” His words carried with it the power of a demon prince, forcing his will to flow from him and remind the others of their place. “We will focus on Belial’s murder and nothing more.”

After listening to the voices for a moment, Leviathan turned his gaze back to them. They all knew better than to question his commands, yet their hunger for power and lust for destructive fun was too strong. But he could sense they’d only dared ask because of his preoccupation with the human girl, Ashe.

He wondered why she danced in his mind as he closed his eyes in frustration. Her image made him feel alive and breathless with desire, yet she was nothing more than a simple plaything. . . or so he tried to convince himself. Yet it seemed that even though he knew better, he couldn’t control his thoughts of her. He could almost imagine the taste of her sweetness on his tongue, daring to believe she would gaspe when he kissed her softly, so passionately, wanting him to stop but unable to resist it as she melted against him like she was made just for him.

In the eyes of demons, humans were nothing more than playthings for their twisted desires - kill or fuck. They could either be used and discarded like broken toys or released to roam free in a world they barely understood. His mind was consumed with thoughts of her, and it troubled him deeply.

As he opened his eyes once more, he saw Azazel’s gaze on his, unblinking and accusing as if knowing exactly what Leviathan was thinking about— Ashe. He didn’t like it when anyone knew his secrets, especially not about something so personal and weakening. Still, they had more pressing matters at hand. Belial’s murder.

“Go,” Leviathan commanded to the others sternly. “Take care of your own plans.” Without waiting for their responses, he dismissed them from the room with an elegant wave of his hand. The air whistled through the space where they once stood as they left him alone with his thoughts about her - which only made him worry more about what would happen if they continued down this path together.

He needed to destroy the human, but only after getting the answers he needed to dispose of her mortal coil.