7. The Battle of the Sexes

Jared nodded for me to open the door, one that he must have known only I had the power to open. Yet before walking through it, he turned to the new man of the group and placed a hand on his shoulder, before telling him,

"I can't ask you to join in my fight, my friend."

"You didn't, but I owe your woman a life debt and I intend to be there to the bitter end to fulfill it. So, in whatever way you need me, then I will stand by your side, in life or in battle," the Demon said, making Jared squeeze his shoulder and nod.

"Then, Asher, I welcome you to a seat on my council, for you have fought for a place on it tenfold," Jared said, telling me his name, seeing as we hadn't yet been introduced.

"And I, in turn, gladly accept it and if we are to venture into the mortal world, I will call forth my human vessel, for I wouldn't want to scare the townsfolk, now, would I?" he said, winking at me and making me giggle.

"Er, just out of curiosity, when was the last time you stepped foot into the mortal realm?" Marcus asked after holding up a finger.

"I believe the great war still ensued," Asher replied, making Marcus grin before scoffing.

"You will have to be more specific there, matey."

"I believe they named it the hundred years war." My eyes widened at this, whereas Marcus laughed, before slapping him on the back and saying,

"Oh yes, this is going to be great fun indeed, my new friend, for I have so very much to show you of this new world…" Then he put his arm around him and as they walked through the door, I heard Marcus add,

"…Pornhub being only one of them." At this I heard Jared groan and Orth chuckled in response.

"Erm, shouldn't we perhaps pick someone else more responsible to eh… babysit the new Demon?" I said, whispering this behind my hand up at Jared. And his reply to this was a handsome smirk and wink, before taking my hand in his and walking through the door, slamming it shut behind him with force.

"How did you discover this door?"Jared asked me a second after we entered the Temple. I could almost feel the million and one questions Jared wanted to add to this, but he was clearly holding back because he no doubt didn't want to bombard me. Of course, his look said it all when he got his first glimpse of the fountain, making me inwardly cringe. Because I knew the mountain we still had left to climb in the way of sharing information, and at the very peak of that would be what I was afraid to tell him the most.

His wife's betrayal.

The selfish half of me was tempted not to say anything at all, but then when looking back at our relationship so far, I knew that most of our past mistakes had been from all the secrets we had kept. Secrets we had refused to entrust with each other through fear of what the other person would think. When, in the end, they had come out anyway and in the worst possible way.

Of course, one look at Jared and I could tell with the way he granted a hard look at that fountain, that he knew at least some part of my tale. I didn't know how but I knew one thing… I was soon to find out. But then with my hand held firmly in his, I knew that whatever the outcome of such a conversation was, we would face it together.

Speaking of which, I looked back at the door we had just come through, and told him,

"I heard you calling for me." At this he looked shocked for a moment before looking to Marcus, who had heard us talking. He then nodded to Jared, as if conveying something between the two of them. As if Marcus had something to do with this fact. A question I was dying to ask but then my eyes homed in on Asher, and my mouth nearly dropped open in shock.

Asher had changed.

Not just changed, but just become some damn Hollywood heartthrob action star! Christ but who made those chiselled cheekbones of his, Michelangelo?! In fact, I could barely believe I was staring at the same man, what with those dark smouldering eyes of his. A pair that had changed to the more conventional type associated with the mortal he was pretending to be. Eyes that looked as if they had the power to pierce the soul of anyone brave enough to stare at them too long.

Long, flowing dark hair framed his handsome face and hung down past his shoulders. His strong jawline, deep slashed brows and perfectly even, shaped lips, now made him look more like a male model. One that seeing as he was still wearing nothing but trousers and had all his muscles still on show, made him look as if he had just finished a photoshoot. Maybe for some expensive new cologne where they decided to go with some pirate theme, or some guy just washed up on the shore after being shipwrecked.

Okay, so clearly my imagination was running wild here, but you get the picture, he was gorgeous and in such a way it was disarming.

"Looking at something?" Jared asked me in a knowing tone, making me choke back a cough because, clearly, I had been caught staring.

"No, no… not at all… so anyway, how's prison been?" I asked, making him burst out laughing before tugging my hand and making me fall into him as the others carried on without us. Then he tipped my head back with a finger curled under my chin and growled down at me,

"Torturous hell without you."Then he kissed me before I could make any more jokes. And just like our first reunited kiss, I swear my toes curled as I melted into him.

"I don't know how long you have been held in that cell but shouldn't you like smell or something?" I asked, making him grin down at me.

"I have supernatural ways of keeping myself clean, as turning into my HellBeast at least burns away the smell… although you don't know how fucking hungry I am." I gasped in horror,

"Oh my god, she didn't feed you?!" At this his grin turned mischievous as he whispered down at me,

"How do you know I was talking about food, Red?"Then he winked, making me giggle.

"Come on, babe, the sooner we get back to your uncle's, the sooner I can have all three S's."

"All three S's… shit, shower, and shave?" At this he suddenly lifted me up so he didn't have to bend to reach my ear as he told me on a low rumble of words,

"Shower, steak, and… sex," he whispered this last part, making me shiver in his hold on my waist, before he tossed me up and caught me, making me cry out in surprise as now I was up in his arms. Then as he was striding down one of the many wide hallways in the temple, I reminded him, just like many times before…

"I have legs, you know."

"Yeah, babe, and you may not remember all the times before that I told you this but… I don't care."

"Erm, if I recall, most of the time, you don't say anything, you just give me a ‘shut it, Red' look. Although you did say you didn't care that time you carried me into the bathroom, remember when Orth translated for me as I lost my voice… oh but I bet you miss those fun times, eh, Beastman?" I teased, but this clearly didn't go down as being as funny as I thought because, suddenly, Jared stopped dead. I wondered what exactly I just said to cause such a reaction. Especially when he let my feet fall and I was back on the ground. Then he turned me so I was facing him, gripping me gently by the top of my arms and startling me now with how intense he just became. Like flipping a damn switch.

"Say that again?" he asked in a serious tone that had me tensing.

"Okay jeez, sorry I said anything, go ahead and carry me, Beastman."

"Ella, stop fucking around and say it again!" he demanded this time, making me frown before realizing that whatever this was, it obviously meant something to him.

"You carried me into the bathroom, and Orth translated for me as I lost my voice… oh, I see where you're going with this." I stopped as it suddenly occurred to me.

"You remember?" he asked quietly, as if my next answer was about to mean everything to him. Hence why I couldn't help but smile up at him before nodding. Then he pulled me closer, placed his forehead to mine, and demanded softly,

"Need your words, baby girl."I swallowed hard before giving him what he needed.

"Yes, Jared… I remember everything." At this he crushed his lips to mine once more and, this time, I didn't think we would ever stop. The depth of the kiss and every ounce of emotion of relief he poured into it made my head spin. It felt as if we were floating and, in the end, I couldn't tell whether it lasted for hours or mere minutes. But clearly it was long enough because Orth pointed out,

"Not that I'm trying to be all holier than thou and shit, but not sure how Janus would feel if you two start fuckin' on his Temple floor and place of worship." At this I started laughing, but Jared was still kissing me, so it ended up sounding more like I was blowing raspberries on his lips.

Then I felt his grin against my own, before pulling back and seeing it. Good god he was handsome, and well, I may have been biased but even Asher had nothing on him. Not to me.

As for himself, well I didn't know what Jared was thinking when he gave me that soft, tender look of his, but whatever it was, it prompted him to stroke the backs of his fingers down my cheek. After which he finally gave me an insight to his thoughts as he whispered a single word down at me,

"Soon."

This caused me to shiver again. That one word was all that was needed to paint such an image in my mind, because I knew exactly what ‘soon' meant. And I couldn't freakin' wait! I had missed him so much it had hurt deeply, like a huge piece of me had been missing all this time, despite being with the Jared of the past. A branch in the timeline I knew now had disappeared the moment I had left it, thanks to what the God Janus had told me.

But now the biggest question of all wasn't when Jared and I would finally get alone time in the bedroom, but what did the future mean for me now? Because I had taken possession of all the Summoner's souls and, quite frankly, I had no fucking clue what to do with them. How I could release them or free them from the book.

I had no idea what I was doing!

And yes, this freaked me out, something I was trying to hold back until the right time, if there ever was a right time to have a complete breakdown. Because I strangely now knew things. Like the book had become a piece of me and with it, came a sort of weird ‘knowing'. A sense of being that no longer just included myself. Like how when Jared had asked Orth to lead me away, despite how subtly done, I had known this was to save me the sight of watching as he killed that bitch.

Something I had certainly appreciated, because despite wanting her dead myself, it wasn't something I relished to see, despite the threats I had given her.

However, I had known the moment she had died, because I felt the souls she had imprisoned rejoice in this. As if they too had dreamt of the day they could witness another inflicting the revenge that they had never had the power to do. A moment later and I had felt the book speaking with me, that familiar tugging feeling, as if each soul was awaiting my command. The command to return to the book and let them sleep.

So, with a single thought, I had done just that, knowing at the back of my mind that restful state was at the ready to spring into action and be called forth by me at any given time. Even just thinking about it as we walked toward the door that would lead into my uncle's home, I looked down to see a green vapor coming from the hand not held in Jared's. Of course, I wasn't the only one, as Jared's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Don't worry, soon we will know more." I nodded, not knowing what to say to this, because that big, ‘Am I still mortal?' question felt like it hung in the air like some cartoon speech bubble. One that everyone could see but no one dared yet speak aloud.

"Here it is," Orth said, being the first to get to the bookcase I remembered using the first time. The one when I had run from Jared believing he had been forced into making the biggest mistake of his life by claiming me. A worry I had long ago let go of, and even more so now that I knew the truth about what his wife had really done to him.

A heartbreaking fact I knew at some point I would have to reveal to Jared. In truth, I was more worried about that than anything else. And let's just say that the temptation to put it off for as long as possible was winning so far.

"Time to make a surprising entrance," Orth said before nodding to me because, clearly, I was the one who knew what book it was. So, I reached out and grabbed Jane Eyre, pulling it forward and waiting for the click. Then I told them,

"No more surprising than the first time I did this."

"How so?" Jared asked, making me smirk back at them.

"I nearly caught my aunt and uncle in the act." All three started chuckling, except Asher who asked,

"The act of what?" I had to smile as Orth commented before walking through first,

"Oh, you have a lot to learn, my friend."

Making Marcus add before following,

"Yes, and all the best things." Then he wagged his painted brows at him before disappearing through the fireplace. I looked back to Jared and muttered,

"The poor bastard."He chuckled at this before following me inside and being the last one, he closed the door. However, what we walked into was the very last thing I expected. Because this time it wasn't two people seconds away from ripping their clothes off each other.

No now, it was…

The Battle of the Sexes.