9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Rayven

My feet were moving before I realized I’d decided to run. Without the chain attached to my collar, I was faster than before, whipping around corners and tearing down long, deserted hallways.

I clutched the dagger so hard, my fingers went numb. I wasn’t even sure why I grabbed it—I didn’t need a weapon—but it felt wrong to leave it behind now that I knew it was Catherine’s soul inside.

It’s not like I owed anything to the woman who’d died decades ago, but it still felt wrong leaving her with Belial. In any case, he’d offered it to me. It felt like mine now. Plus, Belial had told me to stab him with it. If he did anything shitty to me again, I’d take him up on his offer.

Darting past a suit of armor, I barely registered when it groaned at me to slow down. I was too consumed by the swell of emotions knotting my insides to focus on anything other than the rhythmic beat of my footsteps and my determination to get away. If the weight of reality didn’t crush me, my warring thoughts would surely tear me apart.

I needed space. I needed to breathe.

Everything was too much and not enough at the same time.

I’d been so sure of myself, so in control for a moment, with Belial on his knees before me.

I forgot his betrayal and lies.

I forgot the manipulation.

I’d gotten so lost in him, in how fucking good he felt inside me, that I‘d forgotten everything horrible he’d done to me…until he sliced the third cut into my wrist, and all the ugly truths came rushing back.

At least now, all the fucked up facts about this whole situation didn’t outweigh the good parts. There was a large part of me—a stupidly smitten, twisted part—that loved Belial more than I hated the Lord of Bones.

After what happened just now, I couldn’t deny it anymore. I was intensely infatuated with the demon who owned my soul, to the point where I’d been given a second chance to leave and I’d turned it down.

I kept running, knowing if I slowed down or stopped, I’d fall apart. I’d succumb to the wave of emotions chasing me and probably end up sobbing in the middle of the corridor while Belial’s haunted possessions watched—though what was there to be embarrassed about now that they’d seen their lord dick me down over a table?

A violent shiver rattled down my spine at the fresh memory—one so fresh, I could still feel his fingers on my skin, his breath on my nape, and his cum inside me, leaking down my thigh.

Belial kept his word and made me feel something other than pain, but I never imagined I’d feel this much.

A catch in my side eventually forced me to slow, and I headed down a flight of stairs. I was lost in the never-ending maze of corridors, with the shifting hallways and useless directions of talking furniture.

I had no clue where I’d been or where I was going. My dress wasn’t even trailing blood anymore, so I couldn’t retrace my steps.

Though I guess I wasn’t trying to find a way out anymore.

Belial would come for me soon and drag me back to the ball. Or his bed.

I fought off the heavy thoughts weighing on me for as long as I could, but once the adrenaline began to ebb, they took over. Belial on the cliff. Seeing his face for the first time, handsome underneath all those scars. Dancing with him in the throne room. The moment he revealed his true self. How I swore I felt my heart breaking when I realized I’d been played. Being dragged through the Styx to sit on his lap like some kind of dog on a fucking leash. Belial on his knees in the hall, begging for my forgiveness. Fucking me senseless in my dreams, in his bed, in the labyrinth.

It all felt like a fever dream, but over the last few days, my wildest fantasies and darkest nightmares had been my reality. I was covered in enough blood and bruises to prove it.

My gaze dropped to the three marks on my wrist, and the corners of my eyes burned. I blinked furiously, but the tears fell anyway, sliding slowly down my cheeks. The truth I’d been avoiding slammed into me with full force, a sob racking my chest.

I leaned my back against the wall and sank to the floor, my blood-stained dress ballooning up around me. I twirled Catherine’s dagger between my fingers, watching the candlelight dance over the blade, cursing every decision that led me here. From grave robber to bone queen. Oh, how the tables had turned.

My fate was sealed. There was no running from it now.

I made my choice.

I officially belonged to the devil.

More than that, I was in love with the devil.

Approaching footsteps made my chest tight with anxiety. I’d hoped Belial would’ve waited a few more minutes before he chased after me. I enjoyed our cat-and-mouse game more than I liked to admit, but damn. A girl needed a breather after getting bent over and railed by the Lord of Death while his creepy haunted furniture watched.

Even if he didn’t want to have sex again, which seemed doubtful, I wasn’t ready to go back to the ball yet either. I wasn’t ready for him to announce me as his queen or to wear the spine of my ex-boyfriend as a crown.

I wasn’t ready for any of it. Right now, all I wanted was a decent meal and a week-long nap. I picked myself up and smoothed down my dress. Maybe I could bargain with Belial for a burger—if such a thing existed in Limbo—and a bed before he expected an encore of the filthy little show we’d put on earlier.

A dark figure rounded the corner at the end of the hall, and all the blood in my face drained when I wasn’t met with Belial’s familiar black mask. Even his towering, skull-headed form would have been a welcome sight over the three-headed demon casually strolling in my direction, all six of his devilish eyes pinned on me.

The ridiculous harness and loincloth number would have been comical if it wasn’t for the look all three heads were giving me as he approached. I didn’t know much about the demon, but it didn’t take a genius to know this one was bad news.

What was he doing this far away from the ball? He sure as shit wasn’t out for a casual stroll, and with the castle’s shifting walls and countless corridors and doorways, chances were low he’d just happened upon me.

This fucker was looking for me.

“What a surprise,” the middle head said in a tone that didn’t sound surprised in the slightest. “My brother let his new bitch off the chain after all. Guess that means he doesn’t care if I have a turn with the pretty mortal cunt you have hidden under that dress now that he’s had his fun.”

The demon’s words were so cruel and heated, I had to choke down my gasp as I hurried to my feet. “I—No. Belial let me off my leash because he realizes I’m not some animal. I’m going to be his queen, and he’s going to treat me like one, you creepy fuck.”

All three of the demon lord’s heads chuckled or laughed, as if I’d told a joke. “Belial might be the softest of us all toward mortals, but he still sees you as a lesser being. Know why?”

He prowled forward, the clomping of his hooves making my skin crawl.

“Because you are lesser, you little bitch. Mortals exist in the Nine Hells to serve the demon lords, living or dead.”

I shook my head frantically, backing up as he approached. “No. Fuck that. I belong to Belial.”

The demon wagged his meaty finger at me. “The Lord of Bones thinks he can horde all the souls passing through his realm, but he can’t. Think of this as his lesson on sharing.”

“He’ll slit your throat and watch you bleed out with a smile if you so much as touch a hair on my head,” I threatened, hiding Catherine’s dagger in the folds of my skirt. An icy wave clawed up my back as the distance between us shrank. “You’ll be lucky if that’s all he does.”

The threat wasn’t working, not with how my voice splintered with fear.

Whatever fucked up plan this demon had for me, he had every intention of going through with it.

His ram head let loose an evil chuckle, and the bull blew a plume of smoke through its nostrils. “If you come quietly, I promise to keep your blood inside your body… Well, some of it.”

He held up his hand and wiggled his fingers, showing off his deadly claws. “When I’m bored with your three holes, I’m going to make new ones to fuck.”

“Get away from me!” I screamed before whirling around and sprinting down the hall.

The time spent catching my breath had alleviated the pain in my side, but I was still tired from all the running and fucking. If I could just keep my distance for a few minutes, Belial would find me. He was probably already hunting me through the halls, chasing me down like prey.

It wouldn’t be long now. He’d catch up, and everything would be okay—

I turned a corner and slammed into something large, tripping over the skirt of my dress and falling back on my ass. My eyes climbed the form, ignoring most of the gaudy gray outfit, and landed on a masked face wearing a wicked smile.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Mammon cracked his ring-laden knuckles and took a step toward me. With a gasp, I crawled backward, kicking hastily to put space between us while still clutching the dagger in my hand.

“I can smell my brother dripping from your cunt, girl.” He inhaled deeply, letting his chest swell before releasing a throaty groan. “You must really have Belial’s dusty cock wrapped tight around your fingers to earn the Lord of Bone’s obsession. He doesn’t give two fucks about anything these days, not after his last human pet.”

“What do you want?” I snapped.

I had a weapon, but I didn’t know how much good it would do. These dangerous males were demon kings—hell, they were practically gods. It’s not like I was dealing with human thugs you’d find on the streets.

Even if I managed to stab one of them, I was outnumbered and outmatched.

“I think we both know the answer to that, mortal,” Mammon huffed in that grating tone of his.

Unable to tear my gaze away from him, I kept scooting back across the threadbare rug, my attention on those beady, bottomless eyes. “We want Belial to resume his duties of ushering souls to the lower levels of hell, but he’s too…distracted.” He stepped on the hem of my dress to pin me in place. “If we remove the distraction, perhaps things will return to how they were. How they should be.”

“Fuck you,” I gritted out. I pulled at the dress, but it didn’t budge.

“Is that an offer?” Asmodeus’ voice came from behind me, making my stomach churn. I’d almost forgotten he was there. “I’ve never had pussy with a pulse before.”

With a cry, I pulled on the fabric again, and it tore, freeing me from Mammon’s giant boot. I staggered to my feet and ran, diving past the three-headed demon, and sprinted away while their laughter rattled down the hall after me.

“What a flighty little bird,” Mammon laughed, but I could barely hear the words over the heartbeat thundering in my ears. “It’ll be much harder to fly with her wings clipped, don’t you think, As?”

“She doesn’t have any wings, idiot,” the three-headed demon snarled. Clearly, he wasn’t the brightest of the brothers. “Let’s keep this simple and break her legs.”