AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His knees almost buckled with dread, but he kept going, one foot in front of the other until they reached the raised drawbridge. Praying his salvation lay beyond the dark stone walls rising up before him.
Jezzie had no idea what was going on with Ballzy, yet she couldn’t help but wonder. Had she read him right? What was he really up to? Did he actually care about what happened to her? It seemed so. Apparently he hated this Raum guy, and she had a feeling she was going to hate him just as much. Damn it, she wanted to give Ballzy a hug. He looked like a sad, lost puppy. One you just wanted to bundle up for cuddles and make happy again. But, had she ever actually seen him happy? She didn’t think so, not really. Which was kinda sad when she thought about it.
“In order to keep you as safe as I can while our ‘guests’ are here, I’m going to have to restrict your movements, luv. Basically, you can’t leave your room.” The bastard did look truly regretful, and Jezzie could see his point, so for once she just nodded.
“I understand, but I hope to hell you have a backup plan if shit turns into Hurricane Hell No! You do, right?” She looked him dead in the eye. He better damn well have a plan.
“I have some contingencies in place, some in this very room should we need them. The less you know the better though, in case you slip up.”
For some odd reason, she actually was starting to trust him, despite the room situation and their history. To be fair, her options were pretty fucking slim at this point though. She almost chuckled out loud at her inner dialogue.
“Would it help if I didn’t look like myself? Like if afterwards he went away and described someone utterly different?”
“It would. Do you need hair coloring and dyes and things? Do I need to get someone in for a makeover? Honestly, I’m not sure we have time though. The fucker likes to turn up earlier than scheduled, he likes to think he holds the upper hand that way. But we can try.” Ballzy sounded anxious and on edge with a hint of ‘give me something to do’ floating in his voice.
“If he’s an angel, Fallen or not, he’d smell that chemical shit a mile away and wonder why I had access to it and what we were up to. No, I have a better way.” At her words Ballzy seemed to deflate a little, even as his curiosity was piqued.
She knew that a Shadow Hound’s shadows could manifest and surround them changing their appearance into an incorporeal nightmare if they wished. She didn’t know what other types of angels could do, but she doubted they had the power to do what she could. So he wouldn’t trace it back to angel heritage if she revealed her powers of illusion. If ever there was a time to use them, this seemed to be it. Not only would they give Raum a false sense of what she looked like should she encounter him ever again, but they could shield her from pain, turn it into pleasure when the need arose. Powers that had been itching to be used for so long it would feel so good to set them free. Plus, the look on Ballzy’s face might just be priceless.
“Do you have any photographs of women you wouldn’t mind seeing tortured and sliced to ribbons, Ballzy?” her tone was sickly sweet and she gave him a wink and a smile.
“Um, not really. Why?”
“Oh well, I guess I can use the same one as last time and just switch out the clothes. Stand back and prepare to be amazed.” Jezzie could admit she was a little excited about setting one of her powers free for the first time in eight years, other than her shadows of course, which more often than not seemed to have a mind of their own.
She stood, motioned for him to do the same, and ushered him toward the wall, then stepped back and twirled around like a magician’s assistant putting on a show. When she was done with the theatrical flair, she stood stock still with her hands almost touching in prayer. She raised them until they were each pressed to her temples. Her head snapped up, her eyes taking on an iridescent shine as the dark red wisps of her shadows swirled around her. They settled with a flourish, and as she struck a pose she got her first good look at Ballzy’s face post illusion. To say he was shocked would have been a massive understatement.
“So, what do you think? Pretty neat, huh?”
Jezzie flipped her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder with one hand, resting the other on her tartan miniskirt-clad hip. The tight white button up blouse hugged her generous curves, the black studded belt riding low on her hips. The thick heeled black platform Mary Janes made her already long legs look even more toned. She knew exactly what she looked like. Ballzy looked like he was about to choke on his own tongue.
“What? How? What the fuck, Jezzie?”
He sounded so incredulous she couldn’t contain the peels of laughter that shot out of her. If she’d been drinking at the time . . . Guaranteed, one hundred percent it would have come out her nose.
“A girl’s gotta have her secrets, Ballzy. You never know when they’ll come in handy. Might I suggest you let your employees know that this particular secret needs to never leave their lips etcetera, etcetera.”
He nodded dumbly. “Fuck, luv. What the hell are you? Just when I think I’ve got you pegged, you throw another curveball.”
“Well, you did peg me at one point.” She winked saucily. “But seriously? There are so many variables to this whole thing, sometimes I even surprise myself. Wanna know the best part?”
“There’s more?” He sounded both eager to know and a little apprehensive.
“My illusions, the forms I can take with them. Well, they dull pain, and in some cases convert it into something much more pleasurable. Allowing me to draw in my victim.” The wicked tone of her voice appeared to shock him even more as he started choking on air.
“There’s water on the . . . Huh, I guess there isn’t anymore. Well, there’s water in the bathroom tap if you need it."
Just then a beeping sound came from Ballzy’s wrist and a red light flashed repeatedly. He straightened up immediately. Mr All Business was back in control.
“Bloody hell! I knew he’d pull this early arrival shit. I just didn’t think it’d be today.” He shook his head as he walked toward her, stopping just shy of too close.
His hands came up to cup her face as he looked into her eyes and vowed, “I am so sorry about all of this. If I could let you go, I would. I’ll stall him as long as it takes to get the bath removed, which shouldn’t take long with demon magic, and to have the curtains boxed up and taken to my room. We wouldn’t want to give Raum any ideas. He may not swing your way, but he’s proven he’ll stop at nothing. In the event something happens to me, place your palm in the center of the third stone under your window, the one with a jagged edge.”
Jezzie nodded. It was strange, but it felt like something had shifted between them in the time since their office interaction. Friends. That was it, it felt like they were becoming friends. The protective waves coming off of him were the same as the ones she was feeling herself. Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought it possible . . . She actually liked Ballzy. Not like-liked him, but she definitely didn’t want to see him hurt by this Raum guy.
“While I’m gone, prepare yourself. Change the outfit back to the plain stuff. It’s more than likely what you’ll see, hear, and experience next will be extremely unpleasant.”
Jezzie paced her now locked cell. She could feel tension building in every muscle. Something was coming, something more than just Raum and this new danger. She was so tempted to touch the stone in the wall Ballzy had spoken of earlier, but she didn’t want to lose an advantage later on if whatever it was was a one shot deal. If it could only be used if something happened to him, it was likely it was his death. In which case it would be an escape route. Her body pulsed, her shadows stayed under her skin, hiding, waiting. Almost like they knew they needed to conserve their energy. Were they sentient on some level? She’d never really thought so before. She’d believed they were just an extension of her own powers, like a limb controlled by her brain, a part of her, but without her they were nothing. But what if they were more than that?
