The further along the stairs we go, the fuller I become on the lust that’s soaking into my skin. I’m not finding it uncomfortable like the rest of the group, but it doesn’t mean I’m immune to it. Further down the stairs, built into the cliff, is a simple two-story area with a door straight off the stairs.
“Do you think that’s our rest area?” Rez asks, already making a beeline to it.
“Here, let me,” Knots says, cutting off Rez and reaching the door first. I roll my eyes so hard that I get a shooting pain behind them. Fuck me, Knots is the dumbest person I know right now, and that’s saying something.
He knocks on the door and slowly opens it up with his sword by his side. “Stay here while I check to make sure it’s clear.” Then he vanishes inside the building.
Rez scoffs and follows, which triggers all of us to do the same.
“What did I tell you?” Knots says in a hushed tone.
“I said you can be my protector, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to change,” Rez fires back with that fire in her gray eyes.
And that’s why I fell hard for my Goddess. There’s nothing she won’t do if she sets her mind to it.
“Besides, does it feel different to you? Lennox said the rest areas are like Purgatory. You shouldn’t feel any effects if it is. So, you should be able to tell quickly if this is the right spot,” she says, cocking her head and crossing her arms under her chest, causing her cleavage to rise.
His eyes dip down to where mine have been most of the day, no matter who occupied Rez’s body, and he scoffs, putting his sword away. “It’s the right house. We need to rest while we can,” he states.
“Hey, thanks for nothing, Doorknob. But look! I found something,” Lynx calls out from the small kitchen. As we gather around, he reads out the message by the clock.
“Welcome gathered guests to your first safe house. You will have six hours to rest before you will be required to leave the premises. Supplies are in the basement, and bedrooms are upstairs. Please use your time wisely. You will need it.”
“Sweet! Chester and I are taking a bedroom…goodnight!” Moni calls and grabs his hand as they run to the stairs.
I can only imagine what they will be up to tonight. I turn and find Rez pulling food from her bag and Reaper chewing on a table leg.We really need to stop him from doing that shit.
“Here, let me help,” I offer, and begin setting up Reaper’s stuff while JP gets busy in the kitchen.
“I wonder if they have showers here,” Levi says, heading upstairs with Zeke on his heels.
“I don’t know, but I want to check out the sleeping arrangements,” he comments and winks down at us.
JP whips up a simple dinner. In other words, he pulls out the meals Sierra made for us, which I’m not complaining about at all. The roast chicken is pre-packaged into servings along with veggies and mashed potatoes, and it’s so fresh it’s as if she’s sitting right here with us.
“So, how many hours did we waste to get here?” Zeke asks as he finishes his smoothie.
Levi pulls out his notepad from the inside of his duster and frowns. “Well, even though Balam said we set a new record, we spent about eight hours traveling to his platform. That’s not including playing his game. I didn’t count the time it took for that, but guessing a couple of hours, I would say, a total of ten hours, give or take.”
“Okay,” Lynx says, nodding his head. “So, you don’t mind being the official timekeeper, right?”
“Would you expect anyone else to do it?” Levi says with a bored tone, giving Lynx a perplexed look while tucking the notepad away.
After, we all take showers and clean up the best we can. Thankfully, most of us packed extra clothes, so no putting on dirty clothes for this Incubus. The sleeping arrangements aren’t bad, given some of us were having a harder time overcomingAsmodeus’ influence than the rest. For example, my little sister and her mate immediately running off as soon as they got here. I’m feeling the influence, but I’m able to shake it off for now.
There are four bedrooms, one of which Moni and Chester have already claimed. Knots takes the room with the single bed, and JP and Zeke take the other one, leaving the largest bed for me with Goddess and the rest of the gang. Sadly, we don’t have a gangbang going on. As soon as Rez’s head hits the pillow, she’s out like a light. And even though I’m normally down to try anything once, I’m not up for trying anything without my mate.
I wake with a start and find the room shaking.
“It’s an earthquake!” Moni screams, flying into our room and yelling for us to get up. It doesn’t take us long to get our belongings and head outside since we slept in our clothes sans boots. Outside the rest area, I notice that only the house is shaking, and nothing around it is being affected. Once we are all out and have our stuff, including a growling Reaper, the house suddenly stops shaking, and the door slams shut. The lock is thrown, and a parchment paper appears on the front door.
I approach and take it off carefully, turning to read it for the group.
“Good Morning, and welcome to Level Two – Lust. The trial here is simple. Make it to your next safe house in time to keep your souls. You have six hours.”
My stomach bottoms out, and I swallow down the bile threatening to come up as I look at my family. I don’t think they know what we’re about to get ourselves into.
“Well, that doesn’t sound too bad,” Lynx chuckles, shoulder-bumping Chester, who smiles in return.
