“Yeah. Try to die quietly, please.”
Ignoring the mocking voices, I reached for the brambles, grabbing onto the spiky vines despite the pain, and clinging to them for dear life. I pulled, I tugged. No matter what I did, I continued to sink. My legs disappeared, then my hips. I clawed at the ground, my nails frantically dragging track marks through the sand in a vain attempt to find solid purchase.
I was going to suffocate beneath the surface in mere minutes.
I screamed again, even though I knew there was no one coming for me. Even if they heard me, I doubted that they’d make it to me in time.
The ground devoured half my torso, squeezing me and making it hard to breathe. The more of me it swallowed, the tighter it constricted every bone in my body until it felt like they’d shatter under the pressure. As my arms slipped below the surface, I lost my last shred of hope.
I couldn’t fight.
There was nothing left for me to do.
I’d die and the Lord of Bones would bring me to life in an endless cycle of torture.
My chest seized, but I wasn’t sure if it was out of fear or the crushing sand.
Would it hurt to die? To take my last breath?
Or would it be like falling asleep in my last moments? Somehow I had the feeling that dying would be easier than coming back to life, where I’d have to come face to face with the Lord again.
I choked on a breath, still trying to force air into my lungs. How many breaths did I have left before my last?
“I figured you’d die quickly. But I didn’t think it would be this quick, little human,” a familiar voice said, grabbing my attention. I frantically jerked my head up to see a tall, masculine figure melt out of the fog.
Hope thrummed in my veins when I registered the antlers dripping in jewelry and the black mask.
Belial.
“Wait, be careful! It’s quicksand!” I tried to warn him, but his boots were already walking across the soggy ground. I waited for the sand to swallow the soles of his black boots, but they didn’t.
He didn’t sink at all. He walked across the surface with sure strides, and came to stand right in front of my face. As my breasts slipped underground, his head tilted to look down at me, the silver charms dangling from his horns clinking together with the movement.
“How are you doing that?” I gasped in disbelief, my voice coming out ragged from all the screaming. “What are you? Monster Jesus?”
He chuckled once, squatting in front me, and reached his gloved hand down to tilt my chin up. His smokey gray eyes met mine, and for a moment I forgot I was seconds away from death, lost in the pull of his gaze. “Here you are, caught in the maw of death, and you still can’t help but run that bratty little mouth of yours.”
Then my ribs constricted harder, and I choked on a breath. “Help me. Please.”
“Aww, you can beg better than that, little human.” He chuckled darkly. Through the mouth slit in his mask, I could see him biting his lower lip. The bastard was enjoying this. “Again. This time with feeling.”
I clenched my jaw and my throat throbbed with anger. “Now isn’t the time for your sadistic little games. I’m going to die if you don’t do something!” I begged, letting the fear slip into my voice as my shoulders sank into the ground. “Save me.Please.”
“You’resocute when you’re desperate.” His gloved index finger traced my mouth. “Your lips are so fuckable when they purse around your pathetic little cries.”
I gasped, and this time, the lack of air in my lungs had nothing to do with the quicksand. Belial was no Lord of Bones, but he was still a sadistic bastard. What could I expect from such a high-ranking member of his court?
What I hated most was how his depraved words ignited a fire inside me—a dangerous inferno of fury and lust.
“All right,” the demon finally said after a tense beat. “I’ll save you, but you have to do something for me first.”
I blanched. Was he fucking serious?
“Um, I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m a little tied up at the moment. Whatever you want, we’re probably gonna have to rain check it until after I’m not slowly sinking to my death. Kay? Thanks.”
He ran his fingers over the track marks I’d left in the sand, then he returned his gaze to mine. My heart galloped in my chest at the way his eyes darkened through his mask’s eye holes.
“Kiss my boot, Rayven,” he said, rising to his full height and planting his foot right in front of me. “Show me that pretty little mouth is worth saving.”
