Demon Bound (Bound Series, Book One) (12 page)

This is awesome!
Axelle grins with delight that she finally gets to release some of her pent-up frustration when Yasmine swipes her talons at Axelle and, well, a bitch has to defend herself, right?

Luc hears the ruckus from all the way down the corridor. There is an almighty crash and a roar of pain that he recognizes as one of his twin slaves.

Axelle!

It is his only thought as he races into the room and then stops at a dead halt at the spectacle before him.

If he weren’t so concerned about the safety of his bound demon, he would no doubt be sporting a raging hard-on right now. The blood and guts that are splashed around the room is intoxicating and it is with a flash of fear that he realizes some of the blood is Axelle’s.

Not much of it though. She definitely has the upper hand in this death match with powers he has never seen on a demon so young and inexperienced in the ways of the hell before. He wishes he could carry on watching, but his precious vessel is losing way too much blood for his liking.

He opens his mouth and lets out a roar of his own so ferocious that the sound waves visibly bounce around the room.

“Fuck!” Axelle shrieks and covers her ears with her hands as Yasmine does the same.

“Enough!” he bellows, and drags a battered and bloody Yasmine to her feet.

She shifts back into her human form and drops her head in supplication. Her fear is aggravating his arousal over the fight. He grips her arms tighter and then she bursts into flames, screeching at the top of her lungs in agony. The ash falls to his feet and he turns to Axelle. She is gaping at him, the lust in her eyes almost more than he can bear. Especially as her face is bloodied and she smells so damn delicious he wants to take her and lick her clean.

“Explain,” he says shortly, and she snaps her mouth shut quickly.

“Is she… is she gone?” Axelle asks pointing at the pile of ash.

“What do you think?” Luc asks her crossing his arms.

Okay, good. Yasmine can’t dispute what she says then. “She attacked this servant, who brought me some champagne, out of the blue!” Axelle says, her voice rising with each word. She gestures at the champagne and Luc’s eyes flick to it briefly, and then back to hers. “She went crazy! And then she turned on me. I had to defend myself.” Axelle crosses her arms, copying Luc’s stance and he narrows his eyes at her.

“Which servant?” he asks.

Axelle shrugs casually. “I dunno,” she says.

“For no reason?” he presses.

“Yep. She’s insane! I have enough to deal with without shit like that,” she says now, turning on the seduction. “I was in fear for my safety.” Axelle runs to him and throws her arms around him. He cannot find out that Evan was here and trying to break the ritual. He won’t live to see the next hour. She won’t have that on her conscience.

Conscience?
Since when?

“I apologize,” Luc says to her, pushing her gently away. “She was here to protect you, not attack you. She’s gone now.”

Axelle nods and acts like she is pulling herself together.

“Unfortunately, I have some more bad news,” Luc says and pulls out his athame.

Axelle’s eyes zero straight in on the ceremonial dagger and she gulps. Shit, is he going to try and stab her out of existence?

“We appear to have an unwanted visitor,” Luc says. “I need to take extra precautions with you.”

“Unwanted visitor?” she repeats slowly. Dammit, he must know about Evan already.

“Yes, a ghost of sorts,” Luc says with a twist of his lips.

That catches Axelle off guard. “A ghost?” she asks baffled. “Do you get ghosts down here?”

“Of sorts,” Luc reiterates with a pointed look. “She is a fraction of her essence, brought back from her demise by--I can only imagine--a very powerful spell, but she is very much real. I can’t let her harm you.”

“Huh,” Axelle says wondering who he could be talking about. “An ex?” she asks with an arched eyebrow.

Luc ignores her. “I must perform a protection spell on you so that she cannot enter your form and try to take you over,” he says coming straight to the point.

“She wants to possess me?” Axelle asks. “
Jealous
ex?” she adds.

“Please step forward and bare your chest to me,” Luc says formally wishing he didn’t have to inscribe the ward over her heart. How will he stop from looking at her breasts?

“Why don’t you just get Darius to…”

Luc snorts with amusement as Axelle makes a sucking face, pulling her cheeks right in making her look beautifully comical.

“It is a last resort,” he says wishing that she didn’t make him laugh. He has encountered more actual amusement with her since he met her than he has the rest of his very long existence. “It’s complicated,” he adds when she gives him a curious look.

“It must be,” Axelle remarks. “I was under the impression that my safety was paramount.”

“It is,” Luc snaps at her. “Now step forward.”

Axelle huffs at him. He could just as easily take the two steps forward to bring himself closer to her, but no, he has to make her do that. She does as she asks only slightly hesitantly. That athame looks wickedly sharp and she has endured about as much as she can today. She never thought she would reach that point, but then she has never been burnt to a near shell by the flames of hell before fighting off an angry, jealous monster. Every gal has her limits… not that she will ever admit that to Luc.

So she throws her head back, pulls open the robe to bare her chest to him and arches her back to thrust her breasts at him.

Luc licks his lips as he takes in her perfect mounds with their delectable pink nipples, but then resumes the matter at hand. He chants the words of the protection spell quietly as he engraves the symbol to ward off demonic possession into her pale skin.

Axelle hisses as the athame slices open her flesh, but Luc has a steady hand and he is finished in a matter of seconds.

She glances down and the symbol--which appears to be three triangles interlinked with one another--is glowing gold under her skin. “So that’s it?” she asks.

“That’s it,” he says.

“Don’t suppose you really want that spell getting out, do you?” Her sinful laugh again has him chuckling at her.

“Not if I can help it, no,” he answers her.

“My lips are sealed,” she says miming zipping up her mouth.

“Yes they are,” he responds with a dark undertone. “You should get some rest now.”

“Fine,” she says breezily, and saunters over to the bed. She is really tired now; all of this spelling and fighting has taken it out of her. She crawls into the cloud-soft bed and falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow.

***

Luc watches her for a few seconds, but then he remembers the athame in his hand. It is covered with Axelle’s blood and will be perfect for the Dark Oracle. He vanishes from Axelle’s bedroom, confident that she is protected from Jezebelle, and into the dark cave of the witch.

“You have returned,” the Dark Oracle says, her voice a crackle from the shadows.

“Yes, I have what you asked for,” Luc holds up the bloody blade.

The witch appears before him eagerly holding her hand out for the athame. Luc hands it to her and then steps back as she lights a fire with the wave of her hand. She holds the blade above the fire and a drop of Axelle’s blood falls into the flames and they flare up suddenly to create a burning, hot furnace in front of her.

As she waits, the fire dies down again until it is just a small campfire on the stone floor of the cave, casting flickers of dim light into the dark corners.

Luc grows impatient as he stands there waiting. He taps his foot, but she shushes him with a sharp hiss.

“I cannot see into the ritual,” the old hag says eventually.

“For fuck’s sake…” Luc barks at her, but again she shushes him, with a long, crooked finger to her lips. He shuts his mouth with great difficulty and waits for her next words.

“Her loyalty to you is what has brought her so far,” she says. “She is a wayward child, but she respects your authority and she respects you.”

“The other demons have respected me and were loyal to me,” Luc says. “What makes her so different?”

“Her belief in you is true. She will do anything you ask her to on blind faith that you will not lead her wrong. It is a rare quality for a chaotic temptress with control issues,” the Dark Oracle says with a cackle.

Luc feels a sense of something go over him. He doesn’t recognize it, but he knows it feels good to be told how Axelle feels about him. “Excellent,” Luc beams. “This means she will prevail.”

“No,” the Dark Oracle says shaking her head slowly. “You must tell her now what you require of her. She has reached the point within herself where she must have free will to choose her path with you or not. If she reaches the next phase unaware of her choices, she will fail.”

“How do you know that?” Luc yells at her. “You just told me you can’t see past the ritual.”

“I can see into her very essence,” the witch says. “The next phase for her will be about choice, my liege, that much I can see. If you wish her to succeed, you must tell her.”

Luc presses his lips together. He isn’t happy about this at all. “What else can you tell me about her?”

“You have already seen her essence, there is nothing that I can tell you,” she says, but then after a beat she starts to screech, an unholy sound that makes Luc wince.

The Dark Oracle drops the blade on the floor and clutches at her head as she continues to wail.

“What is it?” Luc demands immediately, grabbing for her as she sways unsteadily on her ancient feet. “What do you see?”

His stomach twists into a knot as he waits for the witch to tell him what is causing her so much anxiety.

The banshee-like screams echo through the cave, bouncing off the walls and then she quiets down. She drops her hands from her head and takes Luc hands in a tight grip. The fear on her face is surprising and Luc tilts his head at her.

“She is intertwined with others,” the Dark Oracle whispers. “Three essences fighting for the same vessel. The carnage… the destruction… you must stop it…”

She drops Luc’s hands as he stares at her in utter confusion. What the hell is she talking about?

“Protect her,” she croaks out, “before it is too late.”

Luc watches with interest as the Dark Oracle is suddenly swept into a corner of the cave, her eyes and hair being burned by the flames that have leapt up from the fire. She screams in terror and agony, but then just as suddenly the fire is doused and the witch crumples in on herself, folding herself over and over again until she blinks out of existence and Luc is left in the dark cave with more than a lot on his mind.

She has to be talking about Jezebelle. But he has already protected Axelle against his ex-lover. And who is the third that might try and take her away from him? He picks up the blade, not wanting to leave Axelle’s blood lying around and with an irritated noise he vanishes from the cave.

Luc is in a foul temper when he arrives back in his mansion and he whisks his annoying robes off, enjoying the feel of the natural heat on his naked body. He almost wishes that he hadn’t gone down there now. The Dark Oracle has only given him a riddle to solve and information that he really wants to keep to himself. A demon wench like Axelle will not be happy to learn she is being prepared to give him a child. She will balk at the idea and she will end up failing him just like all the others.

Or will she?

The Dark Oracle said Axelle was in love with him, and that she will do whatever he asks. Surely he has enough charm in him, without the need to bed her, to sway her mind towards his plans for her. All he has to do is try.

He suits himself up and wanders down the hallway to Axelle’s bedroom thinking of all the ways he can seduce her without screwing her. As he pushes open the bedroom door, he is hit with an icy chill that makes him rush into the room, and he growls at the sight of Jezebelle trying desperately to gain access to his vessel.

“What do you think you are doing?” he hisses at her, not wanting to wake Axelle up as she appears to be sleeping so soundly.

“I’m bored,” Jezebelle drawls. “Your time is up. Let me in.”

“Not a chance,” Luc says. “She is protected.”

“Hmm, I see that,” Jezebelle says pointing her ghostly finger at the engraving. “But I am not really of this world anymore. Chances are it might not work.”

“Don’t test me, Jez,” Luc warns. “I will destroy anyone who tries to hurt her.” The witch’s warning is still ringing in his ears. Three essences.

Jezebelle gives him a salacious smile and places her hand just over Axelle’s forehead. Axelle scrunches up her face in her sleep. “Give me time and I will find a way. It would be easier for everyone if you just give me what I want.”

“Never,” Luc says and zaps her with a ball of hell fire. Not unexpectedly, it sails over Axelle’s body and straight through Jezebelle to hit the curtains and set them alight.

She giggles at him while he puts them out.

“She has been a naughty girl,” she says.