Mastyx lied to me, telling me a twisted tale, his version of the truth, and my mind, blinded by tragedy, remembered everything all wrong. Tucked between the two pages that follow is a flowchart. It shows Mastyx’s soul collection changing substantially after we met, the hierarchy shifting in his favor over the years.
He’s been using me this whole time, collecting souls of sinners before their time, his status in hell growing exponentially.
And I helped him get there. With every drive of my blade into my victim’s hearts, I sent them to an early grave and him to his new position.
The right hand of the devil.
He answers to no one but him now. I slam the book shut and grip the scroll in my hand. The wax seal, a half-rose and half-skull, holds it tightly closed. I tear it off and unroll it.
It’s our contract. I read it, and now I understand everything I couldn’t before. My eyes narrow at a symbol, like an asterisk, beside the stipulations of our contract. The same symbol appears in a very tiny paragraph at the bottom of the page—the footnote, the terms and conditions. I bring the paper close to my face and read.
A devious smile curves on my lips, and my mood shifts from hopeless to elated.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Mine
Mastyx thinks he’s won. But as I sit here, devouring this ancient book, running the tip of my finger along its golden trim, I realize that I’m more powerful. It’s not typical. Usually, we are considered equals in strength, with varying degrees of power and abilities.
I stop reading briefly and take in the room around me. Symbols that once were illegible to me, suddenly become words and images that weren’t there before now decorate the walls. It’s as though the longer I sit here, the more I adjust and absorb the knowledge and power of this place. I feel…at home.
Comfortable.
My eyes drift back to the tome’s pages, where I continue reading what seems like familiar text, despite reading it for the first time.
Where Mastyx messed up is that I’ve been seducing and killing men in the human world for years before he killed me. That seduction, combined with my sacrifices for him, not only binds us together, making us essentially one entity split in two, but also gives me access to his strengths and his only weakness.
Me.
He can still read my mind if I let him, but now that I’m here, in this world of fire, there are no otherworldly thoughts. Since I’veentered this space, I haven’t thought about my past, the present, or my future. It’s as though time no longer exists or matters.
Everyone thinks when you go to hell, you’re tormented mind, body and spirit for eternity. But the truth is, unless you serve a purpose in this realm, you’re cast into the lake of fire or banished into the Black Forest, where lost souls wander. Because Mastyx chose me years ago and we have a contract signed in blood, I can walk in the forest and find my way out. I can dip my toes or my whole body into the flaming waters of Fire Lake without being incinerated. This is my hellscape as much as it is his and every other incubus and succubus pairing.
Some others merge completely, choosing to live as one, traveling as a single demon to the earthly plane, where they take their human lovers as a couple.
Not me.
I decide.
I’m the only human lover Mastyx has ever had. What I didn’t know before, but I do now, is that when he decided to pull me from my burning car, it was conditional not only for me, but for him as well. The devil gave him a choice. He always gives his creatures the option to choose the lesser of the two evils.
Mastyx could have let me burn, and I could have been brought into the depths of this inferno to face my fate—the devil’s assignment, if there was one for me. If the devil let me stay, I could be Mastyx’s lover, and he could still take on other lovers if he chooses.
But…if the devil decides I don’t have a purpose, a place, I would be sent to my second death in the lake of fire or banished to the Black Forest, lost for eternity.
I shake my head as I thoroughly scan the contract I signed with him years ago, my bloody fingerprint still fresh, the metallic scent wafting into my nostrils making my mouth water.
Tsk, tsk, someone didn’t read the fine print, but I did.
By giving me a chance to live, Mastyx committed himself to me and only me, but the door doesn’t swing both ways. I can do what I want, and I intend to.
I rest the heavy tome back on the table, closing our contract between the pages like a bookmark.
Knowledge is power, some people say. And now, after reading over everything— the rules, the contract, the abilities I likely possess, I now know that Mastyx no longer has control over me or what I do. I stand from my stool, and it vanishes as I walk out of the room and make my way back to the wasteland, which I now call home.
When I emerge from the tunnel, Mastyx stands beside the devil’s empty throne, his eyes fixed on mine. He’s in full beast mode, his hooves shifting toward me as I strut in his direction. The odd thing is, I’m not afraid. What once repulsed me about him, I find strangely attractive now. It’s as if this place changed my perspective on what’s important.
Power.
