“The flesh of mortals runs to yielding flab.
So good beginnings aren’t enough to last to acorn time from when the oak is born.
―Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
“Max, what the hell? What’s wrong with him?” Zach asked, putting his gun away. I stood there, my hands suddenly shaking, as questions mounted inside my head. Was it me? Did I kill him?
No, it was impossible. His energy went dark and it began hurting him. Dread filled my lungs.
“He’s dead,” I rasped, feeling suddenly numb. I heard him correctly—he said that my father could save him and then he dropped dead. Did he mean Lucifer or someone that stood beneath him? There were so many possibilities.
Flames started covering the body and Zachary cursed a few times, backing away. I stared at the demon’s body, paralysed, wondering what was happening. The flames burned the corpse for a good minute, before the demon vanished completely. Someone could see us in the darkness, but we were literally in the middle of nowhere, still a good mile away from the village.
I tapped into my source, considering calling Morpheus. Maybe he was the one that sent the demon to give me this odd message, but he was with me only yesterday. No, I discounted that.
“Did I mishear him or did he really say something about your father?” Zach asked me, finally calming down.
“Come on, we have to keep moving before any human notices us,” I said, kind of limp, not knowing what to say. That demon must have followed us all the way here from London Victoria. I had years to find the demon that got my mother pregnant. Talking about a man that had never even tried to find me made me uneasy.
“What? Are you serious? There must be a demon in hell that can answer for what’s happened here. This guy was perfectly fine just a second ago, then he started burning. What the fuck is going on here?” Zach was throwing questions at me, but I had no answers. I was green just like him.
“I have no idea. I have never seen or spoken to him before,” I said, again thinking of getting in touch with Morpheus. He showed up in my life out of the blue, and he expected me to get on with things without any questions. I just couldn’t do this anymore.
“Seriously? Is that all you have to say?”
“I’m in shock, exactly like you are. I have no answers. We should be going before we both freeze to death,” I said, thinking that I was too exhausted to speculate on why this demon had followed us all the way here. The answers were in hell, and it seemed to me that my father was a high-ranking demon. Whatever, that didn’t matter right now. Summer was waiting for me, and I couldn’t get distracted by stuff that I couldn’t control. Two months ago, someone had hinted that I should have looked into the death of my mother. I had and I found nothing.
Zach only shook his head, secured his gun and went ahead of me convinced that I was hiding stuff from him. He had no idea what was really going on, and maybe it was better that way. My primary concern was Alexis.
By the time we reached the village it was midnight. The local pub was still open, but we didn’t go inside. There were hardly any humans around, so we decided to head straight to Ronan’s cottage. We stood outside for a while. All the lights were off and I suspected that he wasn’t home. I walked around and got inside through the back door. It turned out that Ronan hadn’t been in his home for months. Dust covered the old furniture and I could hardly sense his energy.
“He didn’t come back,” I said, standing in the room where I’d revealed to him that I was pregnant.
“Come back from where?” Zach questioned.
“From London. I thought he left the capital after Gjöll and came straight here, but it looks like I was wrong.” I scratched my head in confusion. I could only hope that he was all right and safe. “There is a guest room on the first floor. I’ll be in my old room. We can talk about strategy tomorrow.”
Zach looked around slightly apprehensive about staying here, but we had nowhere else to go. My heartbeat was unsteady when I went upstairs to my old bedroom. Nothing had changed in there; Ronan hadn’t removed any of my stuff. Everything remained as it was two years ago. My connection with Alexis allowed me to sense her if she was nearby. I would have a pretty good idea when she would decide to make her appearance.
Tears welled in my eyes as memories about my time in the cottage resurfaced. Zach was moving around in his room, still confused about the demon that died in front of me without a reason. I took off all my clothes, covered the bed with a blanket and fell asleep instantly, not even realising when.
I woke up earlier than planned. It was around eight o’clock in the morning. After tossing and turning for some time I went down to the kitchen, searching for coffee. My head was banging and I hadn’t even drunk the night before. For a minute I stood in the window contemplating everything that happened. How long was Morpheus planning to hide stuff from me? A deal was a deal, but I deserved to know the truth.
The fridge stunk, and the food in the cupboards was outdated by months, although I managed to find the coffee that smelled all right. Matilda lived a few miles away from here, and I had to let Zach know that we needed to be ready anytime.
After my coffee I went to Ronan’s storage to see if he had left any useful elixirs behind or at least ingredients to brew them. In the basement, I quickly realised that someone else had been in here. Most of the shelves were empty. The flasks and small bottles were on the floor. I went down on my knees, seeing a tiny blue liquid in a small bottle that someone must have missed. Maybe it was time to call Nameless and find out what the hell happened to his father. When he left me a letter he didn’t mention anything about leaving Langston.
“That’s a view I could wake up to every morning,” said the familiar voice behind me. I turned around, seeing Zach in the door. From that angle he had a perfect view of my arse. I was wearing a short sleeve top and black knickers. I only just noticed him, but I bet he stood here watching me bending over for a while now.
“You shouldn’t be focusing on me. Someone has broken in here a few weeks back. Half of his elixirs and potions are gone,” I pointed out, smoothing the long shirt. Heat rushed into my veins, converting my energy into a raw lust. It happened instantly, and the soaring heat that I’d always felt in his presence turned on full force. And then that moment when we stared at each other felt like hours. Hell, I had no idea why, but I just couldn’t turn around this time and pretend that I didn’t want him. Maybe it was the stupidest decision that I ever made, but after so many disappointments I was done overthinking this.
I ran to him and there was no time for hesitation. Our mouths connected in a deep, passionate kiss that left me drenched. His hands began exploring my almost naked body, his firm lips driving the tempo, stealing my breath and sending a buzz to my sex. Zachary tasted like a wild forest and single malt whiskey. His scent went right through me, soaking me like pouring rain.
I pulled away from him just for a second, just so I could catch my breath and he smiled, holding me close.
“Oh no, miss, not this time,” he growled, sounding like a real wolf. When he picked me up, I wrapped my legs around his waist and felt his hard erection pressing over my abdomen. The wild, untamed fire began spreading everywhere. I couldn’t fight him and gave myself away to him in every way he desired.
He was kissing me, biting my neck gently as we climbed up the stairs of the basement. His hands were on my arse, digging inside my skin. The sparks showered both of us and I moaned loudly, wanting more. We barged through the basement door, until we were on the floor, tangled and lost in overwhelming sensations of lust.
Before I knew it, Zach had gotten rid of his clothes, and his T-shirt went flying across the room. I giggled running my hands over his muscular, hairy chest. I sucked in a breath as his eyes penetrated me.
“Let’s get rid of that, Flower, shall we?” he asked, but his question was rhetorical. I had nothing underneath the long blousy shirt, and his eyes almost popped open.
He kissed me, moving his skilled finger down my thigh, slowly touching my drenched sex, rolling his thumb over it. I arched my head backwards, closing my eyes and letting go of the tension that rode me for so long. My body was charged with rippling power, the spark; purple flames appeared on the surface of my skin. I tried to undo his jeans, stroking his hard erection with my fingers.
His breathing sped up as he got me naked, exploring the parts of my body that hadn’t been in use for some time. His fingers were driving me insane and I moaned, thinking that he had to be inside me now. The smart mouth, the soaring tension, then desire. Maybe I was going to regret this later on, but it didn’t matter. I had to satisfy the pulsing fire that rushed through my veins.
“Oh, don’t stop for Lucifer,” I hissed, when his fingers were rolling over my sex. He did stop, flipped me over on my knees and said, “Lucifer won’t fuck with your brain the way I will.”
I laughed, suddenly filled with anticipation. My legs began to tremble. I was on the edge, ready when he thrust himself inside me. I screamed, holding my breath for a good few seconds.
“Are you all right in there?” he asked, and I laughed.
“Just keep going and don’t dare stop.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Zach wrapped his fingers over my hips, moving inside me faster. He rocked through me, and everything intensified, bringing me to the edge of orgasm. My demonic energy connected with his humanity, and he rasped some incoherent words. He kept thrusting his erection in and out, faster, and I was coming before I realised what was happening.
This quick injection of ecstasy left me paralysed. Blood rushed into my ears as I collapsed on the floor. Zach brought me to his chest, breathing hard. For a moment we just lay on top of each other, listening to nature outside. The birds were singing and this moment felt perfect.
I didn’t want to think about the consequences. My affair with the prince was behind me. Arthur loved me, but he wouldn’t touch me again. This short intense moment between me and Zach was one off. There wasn’t going to be a repeat, not today, tomorrow or ever.
“I think we should get dressed. I’m dreading Ronan seeing us like this,” I said, breaking the silence. My future was doomed. Zach was hoping that we became an item one day, but I hated to disappoint him.
“I’m perfectly happy the way I am, Flower, and you’re hot,” he chuckled when I got up and rolled my eyes. He was a fine human, and of course, there was no doubt that I wished that we could have sex again and again. What happened between us was spur of the moment.
“We have to head to Matilda’s home. Alexis won’t be wasting any time.” I quickly changed the subject, not wanting to discuss the logistics of our relationship from here on. We jumped each other’s bones, it was great. Well, more than great, but that didn’t mean that anything would change.
Zach’s eyes were filled with heat. I had to look away when he put his T-shirt on.
“Are we going to talk about this? Or are you going to pretend that this was an impulsive, good plain fucking.”
“We will at some point, Detective, but right now I’m going to get changed,” I said, disappearing upstairs quicker than I intended. The burning guilt reminded me that I should have known better. Zachary was already disappointed. His sister wasn’t talking, she didn’t even recognise him and now, assuming everything went according to plan, he would never see me again.
I hid my knife in my boots, picked up some potions that I had on me and ran downstairs. Zachary was smoking outside, dragging the toxins into his lungs. My energy settled all around me, my demonic scent was all over him. Yeah, I wanted him; my emotions spoke louder than words. The sun was coming out, but I knew that I had to focus now.
“Give me one, I think I’m going to need it,” I asked, and he handed me the pack.
“I want to make love to you, Flower. Fucking is good, but I want to take my time with you,” he said unexpectedly, throwing me completely off guard. I started coughing, like I was suffocating.
“This isn’t the time. We need to go,” I said, when my lungs began working again. He laughed, eyeing me like we were back in the basement.
“Fine, I’ll cut the crap and stop pretending that you’re not sexy,” he said, winking at me. Was I going to get used to it? Probably not. We set off, hoping that this time around I would capture that rotten bitch and get my child back.