I fell deathly still, my chest heaving in tandem with hers as I stared at her with a thunderstruck expression.
She wouldn't want me if she knew the truth.
Soon she would. I'd reveal myself to her at the All Hallows’ Eve ball my brother had cornered me into throwing. Then she'd see the monster beneath the mask.
It didn’t matter if she wanted me at that point. By then it would be too late. By then, I'd own every piece of her.
I watched silently as she bathed in the afterglow for a few more minutes, memorizing every detail of her as though I hadn’t already. Her mussed hair, her blushed cheeks, the way her shredded dress barely gave her any modesty. It didn’t matter how much time I spent watching her, it was never enough, and when she finally got to her feet and chose to follow one of the pathways leading from the graveyard, I followed.
There were a hundred other things I could do, like pass Judgement. The queue was backed up at least a century, and my brothers would throw a fit if they saw just how many souls languished around my castle. Or I could help Cecil catalog souls I'd already judged and decided to keep for my own collection in eternal rest. I could visit my reapers out in the field, see to the graves of the freshly passed, and collect the bones of the truly wicked.
Instead, I stalked Rayven through the labyrinth. Watching. Waiting for her to take my silver to her flesh and summon me.
She didn't want my help, and that only heightened my curiosity. It made me want her to need me even more.
I knew little of her past. If she was dead, I would have known everything about her, her entire life and everything she'd experienced in the palm of my hand. But while her heart still beat, her past would remain a mystery unless she told me herself.
She'd experienced loss. She knew death. She had the stench of it on her skin, more than what came from raiding graves. Did she have a family to go home to? Or had that pathetic mate of hers been her only connection? I wanted to know, wanted to hear it all from her lips so I could better understand my pet, but there was something I wanted more than knowledge.
I wanted her to call for me, to admit she needed my help, and it infuriated me after a few hours when she still refused to do so.
I’d make her see. If she wouldn’t call for me on her own, I’dmakeher need me.
Reluctantly, I pulled myself away, my plan to have her begging for my help unfurling in my mind.
I teleported to one of the deepest corners of my labyrinth, to a cave nearly forgotten by time. A bone-deep chill wafted from the cave’s mouth, and the faintest breeze coming from within stirred the silver draping my horns.
How long had it been since I’d visited this place? I couldn’t recall. It was buried so deep within my psyche that time had eroded the memory.
It had been eons since I did my own field work anyway. Most tasks I delegated to my reapers and other lesser demons. Though, none of them dared come here.
This was the place I kept the most ancient, corrupted of souls. Only to be released for the most insidious purposes. These were creatures that belonged in the deepest, darkest pits of Hell, but I kept them here just in case.
Stepping into the ice-cold cave, my gaze swept around to the various cages of rusted iron. Each one contained a nightmare incarnate, a beast made of bone and pure evil. All I had to do was give the word, and they would tear every shred of flesh from Rayven’s bones.
If a carnivorous tree didn’t terrify her enough to make her call for me, one of these ancient horrors would surely do the trick.
I approached the cage at the back of the cave, my hand running over the cell bars as I peered into the darkness. "Answer the call of your king, lost soul. I have a task for you. Do this and I'll release you from your prison."
Something stirred in the shadows and a moment later it slithered into the limited light, obeying my call. A low growl resonated from the creature, and it dipped its angular skull in obedience.
The blood oak was a vicious predator, but nothing in comparison to this ancient monster. It could move freely through the maze. It could hunt her. It could chase her, and she wouldn’t be able to outrun it.
She’d have no choice but to call and beg me for help this time.
And I’d be watching, waiting, and ready to swoop in and save her.
For a price.
Chapter23
RAYVEN
I knewhe’d been there, watching me touch myself.
He’d thought he was being sneaky. But I’d seen the moss on the ground compress under his weight, the faintest outline of his large boots giving him away.
The bastard had left me hanging. He’d gotten to cum, and I hadn’t. Not that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy his “punishment.” I’d been spanked before, but not like that. Mark and other boyfriends before him had given me a couple of light swats during sex.
