“I’ve been clear about our deal, Adriana. You’re mine for all eternity. Most mortals would be thrilled to be granted immortality. You’re being ungrateful.” I ignore the eye roll and decide to press my point. “The collar—my collar—is my promise to protect and worship you, and your promise to obey and worship me until the end of this world and beyond. It stays on.”
Adriana tosses her head and wipes the tears from her face as she pulls herself together.
“I want it off, Enzo. The choice wasn’t fair. It wasn’t clear.”
“And I want it to stay on, Adriana.”
Her heel literally digs into the ground, and I won’t alter my course. She’s hurt me and the new experience she’s given me isn’t one I’m enjoying. My pride is wounded, my ego bruised. I’m sore and smarting from the blow, which her beauty has cushioned but not ameliorated.
Adriana’s ungratefulness grates, but her rejection stings. I’m only suppressing the urge to lash out at her because I’m clinging to the thought that she doesn’t understand what she’s doing. Not exactly. Not in the way a true immortal would. She’s still naïve enough for this misunderstanding to be genuine and for her to be unaware of the consequences of her actions.
“You always do this,” she hisses. “You take and take and take, and you lie and cheat your way to getting what you want.”
Maybe not.
“You’re despicable. You’re a fucking piece of shit and I hate you. Do you understand me?”
She’s ranting and it’s going to land her in trouble. Fast.
“I fucking hate you and I’d give all of it back—every-fucking-thing you’ve given me—to be rid of you. You disgust me and I will never wear this willingly.”
“It suits you,” I smirk and instantly regret it. “You look beautiful in it, Adriana. It’s like it was made for you. Lilith will be jealous.”
“Lilith?”
There’s envy in her tone and it’s pulsing through her like lightning striking a rod. Adriana thinks she has competition and her jealousy gives me a kick. It could work to my advantage if I can harness her emotions against her. It’s blatant manipulation, but I’m so far past giving a fuck I no longer care.
Except I do. For whatever reason, and as impossible as it is for a demon to give a shit about anything other than itself, I care about Adriana. About her feelings and what she thinks of me. I give a damn and I want her to like me. I want her to more than like me.
It hurts too damn much for her not to.
And I refuse to allow the world to continue unless she cares for me.
“You don’t have to worry, baby.”
Adriana’s mouth twitches despite her supposed hatred of me—and I love it. She’s given herself away again and her words are a sharp contrast to the feelings she’s trying to deny. My girl wouldn’t be this territorial if she didn’t care, and if the hue of her green is any indication of her feelings, they run deep.
“Lilith is the Queen of Hell and that collar—my collar, your collar now—was made by archangels and many have lusted after it. Few have worn it, and you are the only girl I’ve ever given it to.” I pause and Adriana likes that idea.
She nods, unconsciously.
“The only girl I’ll ever give it to.”
My collar was meant to bind her to me and it's made her fearful, less trusting, and more uncertain. I'm sure as fuck not lying to her, and Adriana stares up at me like she knows it.
It's a ray of light in an infinity of darkness and Adriana gifts me with another new emotion. One I should not feel in its pure state. It's a beacon in a storm. The star chart to navigate home. It's the starlight and its dust, the snow-topped mountain peaks as they shimmer in the sunrise, and the ocean waves reflecting the magnificence of twilight as the Sun dips beneath the horizon.Hope is pure and it's potent, a wonder beyond imagination and it floods through my being and I'll never be the same again.
“You are mine because I chose you. Of all the infinite possibilities, I choose you, Adriana. Only you. There will never be another, in any time or plane. I chose you to be mine, and I will worship you alone. Only you. Until my days are done and even then I will not let us be parted. I do not have a soul to give you, but if I did, you would have mine.”
Adriana doesn't flinch. She doesn't move. She doesn't even shift her weight or bite her lip in the way that drives me crazy.
She isn't moved. She isn't reciprocating. I've offered her a commitment and bared my inner demon and she's doing nothing.
Seconds turn to minutes and I wonder if she's broken. Maybe my declaration is too much for her to process and she's caught in a whirl of confusion, paralyzed by the magnitude of it all. But she doesn't seem dazed. Or upset. Or happy. She's indifferent, and it's the deepest cut I've ever borne.
“I know,” she mumbles.
“You know?”
