Chapter Twenty-Two

Felix

I 'm finally here. So many endless nights and seasons longing for this moment, and I've finally arrived. Standing in the center, her black robe hangs slightly open, revealing a peek of her nakedness underneath. My little raven is more beautiful than her picture. More exquisite than I ever could imagine. I'd happily join any cult or religion for her.

My heart beats so fast and hard, I'm afraid that they'll hear it. That its thunderous drum will echo off these cavern walls and shatter them. I've been trying so hard to hold back. The first night I met her in person, at Swallow , tested me… tempted me.

When I watched them touch her, fuck her in the corner of the bar, I almost died from need. From wanting to feel her wet pussy on my fingers. To taste her venomous tongue. And later that night, as I lie in bed, I replayed it over and over while I stroked my cock, making myself cum with her name on my lips.

My knees tremble now. I'm so close to her and them and everything I've ever wanted. To share this sickness. This greed and lust for all that is unholy. For all that is poetic and dark and alive. I want to feel the weight of it crush me. To be buried under the rubble of all her beautiful destruction.

Riot, Atlas, and Valentin stand still in their robes. They stare back at me, their faces masked in bronze. Their eyes glow as she approaches and hands them a silver dagger.

My pulse increases in anticipation, my cock swelling underneath my robe. The energy between us is electric. I'm afraid to move or speak or even take a breath. For fear it would disrupt the symmetry.

Riot raises his hand and points to the center of the room, to the altar—a large stone table. Its edges are lined with the leaves of nightshade and oleander. He beckons me over.

"Take off your robe and lie down when you're ready," Riot commands. His voice is rough and thick, much like the air in this cavern.

As I look at each of them, the heat in my body rises. But it's not until I lock eyes with her that I become another version of myself. The one I've kept hidden. I untie my robe and let it fall to the ground. She bites down on her bottom lip, aroused by what she sees—me standing before them exposed, raw and naked aside from the tattoos that cover most of my body.

I notice the guys admiring me as well. The way they shift their stances to accommodate their growing erections, their throats bobbing as they try to gulp down their ache.

I smirk from behind my mask. Ritual is power. And the cock between my legs is how I will wield mine. They will each have a piece of me before the night is over. I want to touch all of them. But I want her the most.

The stone is ice-cold against my back as I lie back upon it, my feet dangling off the end. They close in, surrounding me on the altar in a circle. My fingers tremble in anticipation.

Riot caresses my arm with the tip of the blade. "We'll each mark you tonight. Four of us, four sigils. It will be painful. There will be poison and blood and fluid. If you survive, you'll be one of us when it's done."

I release a deep breath as my heart threatens to explode inside my chest. "I'm ready."

Atlas stands over me and removes his robe. I have to blink a few times to make sure I'm not hallucinating. A king cobra snake slithers down the length of him. It twists up his arms and around his neck.

Holy fuck.

My muscles tense as he holds the head of the snake between my legs. It hisses and snaps, lunging at my flesh like it hasn't eaten in days.

"Try to stay still, Felix. I'm going to let Zeus bite you. But I'll suck the poison out before it hits your heart." Atlas's eyes are crazed, wild, glowing like two pools of neon light.

I nod and grip the edges of the stone table.

He lets the snake loose on my leg. Fuck, I shouldn't be this turned on. Knowing that this bite is going to hurt. That the poison is going to be excruciating. That it will briefly paralyze me. But the sweet release after… Fuck.

The snake's skin is smooth and rough at the same time. Its head fans out as it pauses near my inner thigh. Atlas hovers over it, ready to wrestle it away. While it's hard to take my eyes off the cobra, this Greek-looking Adonis is giving it a run for its money.

Atlas is a beautiful man, fearless and unhinged. I wonder how many times he's wrestled this snake and won.

"That's good. Look at me, Felix," he coaxes.

I hear the hiss before I feel the sting. I bite my lip to keep from screaming as Zeus sinks his fangs deep into the fleshiest part of my thigh. My hips jerk involuntarily as the venom rushes into my bloodstream.

Through my blurred vision, I watch Atlas guide the snake off my leg with seduction, not force. He strokes it gently until it releases its grip on me. I don't feel the pain from the bite anymore—just the feeling of being suffocated by the toxin that's trying to take over my body.

Atlas darts back over, snakeless. "You're doing so good." He kisses my thigh before he starts to suck on the wound. His lips are soft and warm. He moans as he drinks from me, his eyes glowing when they lock with mine.

This rush of adrenaline, the euphoria, it's like I'm high and drunk and sober all at the same time. I taste blood on my lips from my desperate attempt to keep quiet. But I don't want silence anymore.

I feel her small hands on my shoulders. "I'm right here."

Fuck, I need to touch her. I arch my back and lick the blood off my lips.

By the time Atlas is done, the poison is gone, and I'm left with a lingering vibration in my core. It pulses inside me like a second heartbeat.

"Now, this is really going to hurt," Riot declares. He presses the dagger to my bite wound. " Serpentis ."

I gasp as he thrusts the tip of the blade into my flesh. He is not gentle or soft. The pain is unthinkable. Unimaginable . I watch as he carves the symbol into my leg, mutilating my flesh in ways it has never been violated before.

My throat is dry, my head spinning. I list things in my head to keep myself from passing out—adrenaline, endorphins, eyes like burnt honey, release, agony… I recite poems in my mind. These words bring me comfort and peace amidst this violence.

"Mors tua, vita mea," Riot chants. " Your death, my life ." He dips his fingers into the blood and smears it over my abdomen. His fingers trail farther down, and I can't help but whimper as he wipes the blood around the base of my cock.

I arch my back as he cups my balls. " Fuck ," I grit out.

"That's it, Felix. Surrender to Serpentis. The power of the snake." Riot wraps his hand around my shaft and squeezes before stroking up and rolling his thumb over the tip. A trickle of pre cum oozes out. He licks it off his finger, and I almost black out from need.

"In absentia lucis, tenebrae vincunt," Atlas murmurs.

Valentin is next. He tilts my head to the side and presses a soft kiss to my neck. He whispers in my ear. "Now you will get the Lux sigil. For light. So you can balance all our crazy."

A smirk pulls at the corners of my lips, but it's short-lived as Val drags the tip of the blade through my flesh without warning. This time, I scream, unafraid and unashamed to embrace every twisted and beautiful layer of this ritual.

My little raven coos in my ear. "You can do this, Felix… I need you."

Her voice gives me life. Her breath on my cheek is worth more than any poem that has ever been written in the history of the world.

Val licks the blood from my neck. Shivers race down my spine. "Good boy, Felix."

"My turn," she murmurs.

My little raven strips from her robe and climbs onto the stone table with me. I can barely breathe as I drink in the sight of her. Her nipples are dark red, hard, and swollen. She parts her legs, straddling me, her pussy wet and glistening. She sits on my stomach, her knees bent.

"I would endure a thousand cuts for you," I proclaim.

She nods and slides down.

Oh fuck. I need her. Yes.

"I want you inside me when I mark you." She fists my cock and lowers herself onto it, sitting all the way down.

I draw in a sharp breath as the heat from her core envelops me. This is how I want to die someday. With my cock inside her perfect cunt. "You can stay here as long as you like, Little Raven."

She moans as she rocks back and forth. "I'm so full. Fuck."

I'm in awe that she's taken the entire length of me inside her. I want to squeeze her nipples, but Atlas and Val hold down my wrists.

Riot puts the blade in her hand and guides it over my chest. "Do it just like you did it to Atlas before."

She digs in deep, her eyes feral as she carves into me. But I don't care about my mutilated flesh. I don't feel the pain or smell the blood. All I feel is her tight wet pussy sliding up and down my cock.

I lift my hips, angling her up so I can slide in deeper. I want to stretch her till she cries, till she begs for my cum to soothe her raw flesh.

After she finishes marking me, she cries out, "Ruina nostra salus." Our ruin is our salvation .

Riot caresses her hips and thighs. "Easy, love. It's not time to cum yet."

She whines when he pulls her off me.

My body aches for her. Fuck. I force myself to take a deep breath.

Valentin and Atlas help me off the altar table. I stagger as the blood rushes back to my head. "Is the ritual over?" I look down at the bloody mess they've created on my body.

Riot shakes his head. "Almost. This way, Felix."

My cock is throbbing so much it's hard to walk, but I follow them out of the cavern and into another chamber. Maureen looks back at me every few feet. It takes all my strength not to pounce on her.

This next room is warmer. Instead of a stone altar in the center, there's a bed. A black leather couch sits across from it. For viewing pleasure . Hundreds of candles flicker across the room, creating an atmosphere of sin.

This is what I've dreamed about for so long. To be part of something so depraved and devious, so fucking filthy.

The bed is stripped down to just a black sheet. My little raven removes her robe again and sits down on the edge of it.

I follow the others and join them in taking a seat on the couch across from her. My heart pounds, thumping in my ears and head. Fuck.

Riot leans forward. "Spread yourself open."

With the bronze mask still hiding her face and her naked body perched on the corner of the bed, she looks like the Goddess of Death herself. Like my dark angel come to save me from the madness in my mind. She opens her legs and waits for the next command.

And I don't dare take my eyes off her.