Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Kellan

The fresh air filled my lungs but did little to soothe the warmth in my blood. I needed a cool shower to calm myself.

As if bending and kissing her hadn't stripped me raw of everything I'd built to guard myself, seeing her naked had ruined me.

I'd never be able to get that image out of my mind. Her soft curves and smooth skin had me itching to reach out and run my fingertips against her.

Now Deidamia"s stupid crow was following us.

What she had planned wasn't something I could fathom. Trying to mentally prepare myself for it felt useless.

Dark clouds formed above me with the smell of rain behind them. My body still ached from carrying Josephine for so long. I needed a shower before nightfall. At least I would be clean if Deidamia decided to rain hell down on us.

Stalking toward the back of the house, I found Ernest there waiting for me. I stopped. "What is it?" I asked.

He chuckled humorlessly and slowly sat down on the back steps of his home. The growing wind pushed his graying hair around his head, and he breathed it in like you would at the beach.

"Tell me something, Kellan. Are you going to let yourself move on from your wife?" He looked over with those wise eyes. "Your soulmate is in that room, and you're pushing her away."

I shifted uncomfortably. Josephine wasn't my soulmate. She was a girl that I found attractive.

He leaned back and rested both elbows on the step above him.

"She isn't my soulmate," I said.

He grinned like a Cheshire cat. "You live in a manure-filled field of denial, son. Why are you so scared to let go?"

The dreadful feeling of my past crept up the back of my neck. I stepped forward, feeling lightheaded from the pressure of the memories, and pointed my finger at him. "I do not want to talk about it."

Ernest frowned. "I understand," he said, standing up slowly. "But you're doing yourself a disservice by not moving on. That girl," he said, looking over his shoulder, "was put in your life for a reason. The reason you hear one another's thoughts and that feeling of need is a connection. You woke her from her sleep state with a kiss, Kellan. That's nothing to be discarded. No matter how hard it is to let your wife and little girl go."

Ernest stepped upward toward the back door. "I'll bring you a towel. You're starting to smell."

I lowered my gaze to the ground and stared at the tips of my steel-toe boots. His words felt like ice running over my body, waking up parts of me that had been asleep for far too long.

Though leaving the memories of my past life behind made me feel like a traitor. Walking toward the stall, I grabbed my t-shirt over my head and pulled it off, tossing it over the stall door.

Once I was naked, I turned on the water and let the cool liquid rush down my body. It was a relief from the flames that licked my insides.

Rain began to sprinkle down, mixing with the water and washing away the grime of this journey.

As he promised, Ernest tossed a towel over the side and a new t-shirt. The bar of soap had fallen from Josephine's shower. The little elf had been getting a peep show when I got there.

Not that I was much better. I'd ripped the door open, expecting to see someone attempting to take her, and stalled. Because I couldn't force myself to look away.

I screwed my eyes closed, attempting to block how perfect she'd looked in front of me, her forearm covering her breasts and the smooth path of her stomach ...

Stop it.

The torture I put myself through was cruel. So was holding onto a family for decades. I loved them so much that I wanted to die right along with them. But Deidamia's cruelty ran deep. Instead of giving me the freedom and leaving me with them, she took me to her castle.

The smell woke me. The rancid scent of urine and feces clung to the air and seeped into my lungs like cement.

I gagged and rolled over to vomit what was left in my stomach. The dirty mattress below me was filthy, along with the cell I'd been shoved inside.

My memory felt foggy. There were only bits and pieces of the events playing in my head. I remembered my family ...

Hot tears coated my cheeks. This was a bad, bad dream. This was a dream that I prayed never happened to me.

The distant caw of a crow echoed into the small cell and suddenly rang louder as she perched on the small window.

Its red-rimmed eyes brought back everything in a gust of realization that sent me backward.

It was real. All of it. I wiped my mouth with the back of my palm and climbed to my unstable feet.

My poor baby girl ...

The love of my life ...

They were both gone. She'd taken them. That demon had eaten the entire town like a cannibalistic devil.

The heavy door was locked, not that I expected her to leave it open, and the only other way out was a window in the top corner, where the crow sat.

Running my palms down my face, I took a deep breath.

Why had she taken me? What did she want? Part of me wanted her to kill me right then and there because I felt death growing inside of me.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I grew. Adrenaline coursed through me, sending me into circles. "Come on out," I shouted at the walls, making the crow flutter her wings. "Face me!" I shouted.

I turned and came face-to-face with Deidamia. She'd cleaned herself since I saw her at the village.

Her lips weren't red-stained any longer, and the crazed look in her eyes was tamed. There was an elegance about her that I did not like.

"You called?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

I stepped forward, attempting to show her my dominance, but she didn't flinch. "Why in the hell did you bring me here?"

Deidamia interlaced her fingers in front of her. "Well, you are too useful for a snack."

The nonchalance drove a red-hot hammer into my heart.

Swiftly, I slung a punch at her face, only meeting air. She appeared on the other side of the room with a chuckle. "See there," she said, gesturing toward me, "you're strong. I may need you in the future. Who knows? Or maybe I just feel nice today?"

I spit on the ground. "I wouldn't help you if my life depended on it."

Her eyes twinkled at the statement. "Oh, Kellan. That's your name, isn't it?"

I didn't want to know how she knew my name.

"Don't make promises too soon," she said, leaning against the wall of the cell. "I take it the woman and small girl were yours, hmm?"

I glared as the taste of acid climbed my throat.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said. "What if I told you that you could see them again?"

The knife in my chest twisted.

"If that means killing me, then yes, do it."

She rolled her eyes and pushed from the wall, almost floating as she walked toward me. "Why would I do that?"

My jaw locked from the pressure of grinding my teeth together. "To put me out of my misery," I hissed. "Or do ... demons not have any compassion?"

The wicked smile on her face widened. "It's not nice to call people names," she said, reaching to touch my cheek, I slapped her hand away. She chuckled. "But you're right; my compassion disappeared many moons ago. Being wicked is so much more fun."

The crow on the window ledge cawed at me.

"She likes you," she whispered. "So do I. That's why I'm giving you a way to be happy again."

I swallowed, knowing this monster didn't want me to be happy.

She pulled a green drink in a small shot glass out from her pocket, placed it on her palm, and offered it to me. "It holds unlimited happiness."

"You're insane if you think I'm going to drink that."

Her horns reflected off the moonlight and brightened her face. If the dictionary had a picture for wicked, it would show Deidamia's face.

"Don't you want to be happy again?" she asked. "This will give you countless opportunities to be happy. To grow …" she chuckled. "Take it, Kellan. It'll even give you the chance to avenge your little wife. Don"t you want that?"

My nostrils flared in frustration, and tears pooled in the corners of my eyes. "If I don't?" I whispered.

"I haven't had dessert yet," she whispered.

The green in her eyes flickered like candlelight.

If I let her eat me, I'd see my family again in the afterlife. I closed my eyes, a soft smile forming on my lips. But if I stayed, I didn"t know what would happen. Would she call for my help? Or was this a ploy to harm me even further? I couldn"t imagine her needing my help.

If I let her end me, Deidamia would be able to harm people over and over again.

"Take it," she taunted. "You know you want to."

The battle inside of me bashed against my insides until I felt dizzy and nauseous. Lifting my hand, I grabbed the drink and downed it before I talked myself out of it.

Suicide wasn't me.

My family was gone, and I loved them dearly, but I couldn't offer myself up to this demon. She deserved to die. If I ever had the chance again, I would do it.

Pain erupted in my throat and moved with the liquid to my stomach. I fell to all fours and began to vomit.

Deidamia stepped around me, looking down at my quivering body. "Here"s your chance, boy. Be free," she said, opening the door with the swipe of her hand. "Go, and know the next time I won't be this compassionate," she mocked.

I crawled toward the door as she ascended the stairs and left me to my torment. It wasn't until years later when I was shot in the chest that I realized what she'd done to me.

Giving me immortality inside of death. Now I would live forever with the memories of what she did to my family.

"Kellan," a soft voice said.

I opened my eyes, not realizing I'd fallen to the ground of the shower in a ball like a scared child. The chilled water was mixed with heavy rain, and it drenched Josephine's hair and face.

She was hunkered down in front of me, her palms resting on my forearms. "You were screaming," she whispered.

The pain inside of me erupted.

All of it spilled out like a dam.

Reaching forward, I interlaced my fingers around the back of her neck and brought her toward me.

She fell against my chest with a soft oomph, and her eyes found mine in the chaos. I'd relived so many bad memories through my nightmares. I'd never forget what she did to me or the ghostly look on her demonic face.

But Ernest was right. I couldn't deny what was sitting right in front of me. Being happy would be the greatest slap in Deidamia's face. She wanted me to live in my misery forever.

Her gaze lowered to my mouth and back up.

"Come here, angel," I whispered. "Let me taste you again."