23. Mammon

I must've spent so much of my time lately thinking about Anna that I'm starting to imagine her.

One hand drops Bree's hair and moves to the picture on the wall of a couple, while my other hand, no longer squeezing, but holds her still by her neck. She's standing on the tips of her toes to stop herself from choking.

I take the picture off the wall and focus on the faces. It's definitely Anna, though younger. Her blonde hair hangs around her shoulders, framing her narrow face; the same hairstyle she had when she came to Hell. Anna's arms are wrapped around a younger version of herself with the same blue eyes. The girl"s hair is a little darker, but otherwise has the same face. A man stands on the opposite side of the girl, his arms wrapped around both the girl and Anna. He has black hair, but I can"t see what color his eyes are as he"s looking at the baby in the girl"s arms.

Looking at the other photos on the wall, I notice multiple of Anna and the male. Some with the girl, others with Bree.

The male must be Brice, Anna's husband, and the entire reason I even know her. I don"t know the girl, though.

Bree is clawing my arm to pieces, attempting to make me release her. Her finally drawing blood steals my attention away from the photos. "Who is she to you?! Anna. How do you know her?!"

She stops her assault to look at me like I"ve lost my head. Her eyes narrow in suspicion. "Who is she to you?"

"I asked first!" Her hands let go of my arm and fold over her chest. She relaxes her body, becoming dead weight. I tighten my grip again against her throat. I was giving her leeway to breath and speak but if she doesn't want it, then I'll take it.

I keep my grip firm. Bree could very easily breathe again by lifting onto her toes, but if she wants to pass out because she's stubborn then that's not my fault. She also doesn't realize that when she punched me, her greed over the necklace fueled my power. It didn't feel like my brothers described it but that might also be because she punched me in the cock at the same time the power was transferring over.

Our wills are at war, and I'm not sorry to admit that I will be winning this battle. My smile grows as her eyes roll back into her head. She's passed out. I lift her over my shoulder and grab the necklace off the floor. Rather than put it around my neck for her to just rip off, I place it in my pocket. She'd have to get in my pants to get it which I'm honestly not all that opposed to.

I walk into her bedroom and drop her on the bed.

"What you doing?" I spin, taking in Rellick in his pajamas in the doorway. He's glaring at me, probably still mad from earlier. The kid shouldn't have anything to be upset about. He wasn't the one who was repeatedly dropkicked. Also, the little shithead punched me. Like mother, like son, I guess. "Where's Mommy?" I move out of his line of sight so he can see Bree.

Rellick climbs into her bed, placing his hand on her cheek while he kisses her head. Slowly, she starts to wake back up. Her eyes catch on Rellick and she smiles. "Hey, sweet boy. Why are you out of bed?" She sits up, not dizzy or anything which doesn't make sense since she was just choked unconscious.

He points to me, bringing Bree's attention to the fact that I'm still here. I wave to her with a smug smile. Her eyes narrow and her arms cross; a copy of the position against the wall without my hand around her neck. "Good morning. Ready to talk?"

"Talk about what?" Bree says in a fake innocent voice. Oh, so we're playing ignorant?

Fine, if that's how she wants to play. Rellick likes to talk. "Hey, kicker." I focus on the kid and hold up the photo. "Who's this?"

He squints his eyes as he looks at the picture. "That's Mawmaw, Pawpaw, and B." Rellick looks so proud of himself as he turns to Bree who is wearing a sad smile.

Okay, so I was wrong. Not Anna.

"How do you know her?" Bree's voice is quiet and filled with melancholy. "Anna?"

"You never answered my question, so why should I answer yours?" One could argue that I'm being incredibly petty and rude. They'd be right. I don't like to give out information, but I'm greedy for all knowledge. My sin wasn't originally for gold. Granted, yes, I do like shiny objects but I'm honestly greedy for everything. Anything that's ownable… I want it.

Bree gives a heavy sigh. "She's my grandmother. She raised me."

What?!

I use a finger to clear out my ear canal. "Sorry, can you repeat that?" I cut her off before she can respond. "You're Anna's granddaughter? No wonder, you want the necklace. You made it."

Things are starting to click into place now. I should've seen it sooner. Why, out of everything in my room, Rellick chose the ugly rainbow pendant to give to his mom. But… She died over four years ago. Rellick isn't that old yet. "How did Kicker know the necklace was for her? How old is he?"

"She died before he was born. Before he was even conceived. But I constantly tell him about her and my grandfather and mom. There are pictures of them everywhere and she-"

"Never took it off," I say at the same time.

Bree crosses her legs beneath her and pulls Rellick into her lap. "How do you know her so personally? Beelzebub told me about the point system for Hell. Multiple people die and go to Hell a day. Why was she special?"

My smile grows as I think of the incredible woman known as Anna. "She didn't go to Hell." I give a huff of laughter at the confusion on Bree's face. "She was sent to Heaven. Her only sin was gluttony, which she told me shouldn't count since she was a southern woman." Bree smiles even as her eyes begin to water. "Anna walked into the gates of Heaven and they told her Brice wasn't there. She yelled at whichever angel to send her to Hell. She didn't want to be in Heaven if he wasn't there."

Anna was a sight to behold. This small woman with a heart of fire demanded she speak to the devil, not realizing that Satan wasn't the only one who reigns down here. Satan was in the arena, and everyone else had something to do. I was the only one in the throne room, taking a break from doling out punishments. "Brice was up for reincarnation. Anna wanted to be with him. We made a deal."

"The necklace." Tears are streaming down Bree's face now.

I nod in agreement. "She didn't want to give it to me at first." I chuckle, remembering the look of shock in her eyes, as though I affronted her with my request. "I told her she needed to give me something of great value as it was a great ask that she requested of me. Said she didn't have anything. You should've seen her face when I told her I'd take the necklace as payment." A miniscule smile graces Bree's luscious mouth. "You would think I asked her to go to The Pit! She told me she hadn't taken the necklace off in fifteen years and she wasn't going to now. It wasn't until I told her that her new reincarnation wouldn't even remember the necklace that she gave it up. Even then, she hesitated."

Cautiously, I move to sit across from her on her bed. I wipe her tear away with my thumb. "No one has ever left Heaven to come to Hell. Once you leave, it's almost impossible to get back." I cradle her cheek, forcing her to look me in the eyes as I say the next words. "She loved Brice so much that she gave it up. Then, she almost gave up him for that necklace. I think her exact words were, ‘my girls made this with their bare hands and full hearts.'"

Bree lets out a sad chuckle. "That's what the Mother's Day card said. Made with love and bare hands, from your girls." She squeezes Rellick tight to herself and I notice that he's fallen asleep in her lap.

Seeing him so small in her arms has given me an idea. "I want to take you both somewhere tomorrow." Gorgeous watery green eyes turn weary. "All good things, I promise." I stand off the bed and usher them under the coverlet, tucking them both in.

"You don't have to leave," she mumbles. I pause, looking back at her. Bree's eyes are closed but her breathing is still shallow while she sniffles. "You can stay until tomorrow." She scoots closer to the middle and pats the mattress behind her. I shift human so that it's easier to fit in her bed and crawl under the covers. I don't touch her, keeping to my side of the bed, but once she's asleep, I take out the necklace and clasp it around her neck. The necklace may have been my treasure, but Bree was Anna's. She deserves it.

"What are we supposed to wear?" Bree has been asking for hints all morning about where I'm taking them. She hasn't mentioned the necklace, though I know she's noticed it around her throat because she keeps messing with it.

I shrug my shoulders, not giving her any clues. "Whatever you want." After about half an hour or so, both Bree and Rellick are dressed in jeans and sweaters. Checking the clock on the stove, I notice it's just after eleven. Perfect timing.

Grabbing each of their hands, I teleport us to a park a couple towns over from where Bree lives. We're in the shade of the trees so I know no one has seen us. "Why are we here?" Without answering her, I pull them along until we're seated at a bench across from the swings. I sit down and pull Bree beside me.

"Can I go play, Mommy?" Rellick asks. She gives her consent, and we sit and observe. A few other kids and parents are here too but not who I'm looking for.

After fifteen minutes of watching Rellick run around on the slide, two women walk to a pavilion, two small children following. The four of them get situated before the two kids immediately go to the slide that Rellick has been playing on. Rellick, being the chatterbox he is, has no trouble instilling himself as their new friend.

"What's going on?" Bree finally asks. "Did you just bring us here so Rellick could play? You haven't said a word, and I'm starting to worry about your intentions coming to a children's park."

Sassy little shit. I give her my biggest smile, as I call Rellick over. He brings his new friends, just like I'd hoped. "Hey, Mommy! These are my new friends!"

Bree immediately goes into parent mode. "Hello, there! I'm Rellick's mom." She gives a big smile to the little blonde girl with big blue eyes and the little boy with black hair and blue eyes. They can't be much older than Rellick.

It's the girl who speaks. "Hi! I like your pretty necklace!"

"Thank you so much! It was my grandmother's." Bree takes off the necklace to show it in closer detail to the little girl. "Her name was Anna."

The little blonde girl looks up, her eyes wide in surprise. "Hey! That's my name!"

"Really?" Her eyes dart to me for a second before moving back to the children. "And what's your name?" she asks the little boy.

"I'm Brice, but my daddy calls me ‘Champ.'"

"That's a cool name." Bree takes a deep breath, collecting herself. "My name is Brianna. It's like a mixture of both of your names. Isn't that cool?"

Rellick is apparently tired of just standing here because he asks if they can go play again. She nods her head, watching as they all play before turning to me with a genuine smile. "Is that them?"

Nodding, I wrap my hand around hers, squeezing. "That's them. It was one of her requests that they be together. Anna Leblanc and Brice Lenoir are the children of best friends Elsie and Kaylie. They see each other every Sunday at this park."

Her head rests on my shoulder and I love the way she feels against me. We sit and watch for an hour until the moms call the kids to leave. Taking Rellick and Bree back to the shaded trees, we teleport back to the apartment where she invites me to stay for lunch.

Bree had left over pizza from the night before that we clear the rest of. She sits me on the couch and tells me to stay while she brings Rellick to the restroom before putting him in his room for a nap. Closing the door softly behind her, she turns to me with a seductive gleam in her eye. What is she up to?

"You know…" She saunters up to me, her hips swaying from side to side more exaggerated than normal. If she wanted my attention on her body, she's got it. "It was really sweet of you to let me meet their reincarnations."

"Thanks. I try." It was meant to sound sarcastic, but my voice cracked at the end; like a prepubescent boy who's never gotten his dick wet.

I start to feel that way as well when she climbs into my lap, straddling me. "You have no idea how amazing it is to know that Rellick will know them, too." Her fingers glide up my chest until they're cradling my neck. "Wanna know a secret?" Bree's face is close to mine, her breath mixing with my own. I hum in response. "I love being choked."

Her hands tighten around my neck, and I retaliate, wrapping a tanned hand around her throat. "Don't fuck with me, Treasure. I'll choke the life out of you while I fuck you to oblivion. You won't know if you're comatose because of my hand around your pretty little delicate neck or my cock not stopping until you have as many orgasms as I want you to."

She groans at my words before claiming my mouth with her own. With my hand staying around her neck, I spin us so that I am on top of her on her couch. "Fuck me," she commands. "I want to feel your piercing inside me."

"Stop talking." I tighten my fingers, cutting off her breath for only a second. "You're trying to top from the bottom, and I won't have it. I'll actually choke you if I need to." I snap my fingers to get rid of our clothes. Having her bare before me is a sight to behold. Her skin flushes pink with her arousal and her legs are wide open to accommodate me between them. She wiggles her hips, rubbing herself against me. I put pressure on her neck again; however, it just makes her moan and wiggle more. "Brianna. Stop moving or I will not fuck you."

She immediately freezes. "Good girl." I rub the tip of my cock against her folds, getting it slick with her juices before shoving myself in. So tight. "Fuck, treasure. Why do you feel so good?" She opens her mouth to speak, and I squeeze. "I didn't want an answer. The only noises you should be making are the ones I let slip from your throat."

I use my free hand to lift her hips until I find her sweet spot. Her mouth opens in an inaudible scream, and I thrive on it. This absolute control over her reactions is intoxicating. Almost better than feeding off greed. I keep a steady pace, thought each thrust gets harder. Her nails are raking down my arms, whether to hold on or move me, I don't know. "Do you want me to let go?"

Brianna shakes her head, and I give her a little breathing room to answer me. "Don't stop. Faster."

Allowing her that one command, I thrust against her, making sure I'm rubbing against her clit each time. I can feel her pussy start to flutter and contract, letting me know how close she is. "Do you want to be mine?" Her eyes fly open, forest green irises locking with mine. Licking her lips, Bree gives me a vicious smile as she pushes my hand harder against her throat. Guess I have my answer.

Before choking her out, I infuse my power into my hand, and brand her pretty little throat. The pain sends her over the edge into her orgasm, and I cut off her airway directly after. It takes seconds for her eyes to roll back into her head and her body to go limp. My release immediately follows and I pump into her until I'm spent.

I flip us again while staying inside her so that she is on my chest instead. I run my fingers through her brown and red hair, so proud of her for taking what she wanted from me. A perfect treasure.

Anna can have the necklace. Brianna is my treasure now, and I am never letting her go.