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Chapter 9
RAVEN
Devilish Consequences
I LIE FROZEN on the couch, staring up at the vaulted ceiling. I don’t know exactly how long I’ve been here, a couple hours, but it’s taking my body a helluva long time to find the will to wake up. I’m exhausted. My heart hurts. It doesn’t help that every time I open my eyes, I see the devils in their true bodies in the middle of the living room and the place is trashed. The coffee table lies in shambles, and the wall painting I picked out hangs crooked with a burned hole in the middle of the canvas.
No one yells, but everyone seems to radiate with Hell power, and my head spins because of it. I’ve been through so much the last couple days that whatever Andre did to put me to sleep doesn’t want to release me. It wants me to remain in the same circle of flames, surrounded by darkness, that Andre left me in before I woke up the first time here. Not to mention, I feel as if I’ve been drinking all night and now have a killer hangover, yet I was dosed with a shot of Hell and not a yummy margarita. Fuck, I could use one right about now. I’d rather be shitfaced than finally gather the strength to face my angry devils and the fuckhead who wants to be a pain in not only my ass but my soul.
“Why the fuck do you even care if the fucker dies? We’ll be nice enough to let you get your fill of her soul every once and a while. Whatever keeps you in line.” Lucian crosses his arms over his broad chest, the velvety dark skin of his beast looking almost unreal in the soft light of day peeking in through the window. If he didn’t currently stand ten feet tall on hooves with two massive horns, a glower on his face, while holding a fire whip, I’d even say he was ethereal and beautiful. He just looks scary.
Kase growls and sits back on his haunches. Red power zaps across his devil form like he can barely contain his wrath. “Are you fucking stupid? You just don’t get it. Elias is her soulmate. He is intended to take a throne no matter what you think. You’ve already let this realm get to your head. We have a contract.”
“Fuck the contract. What you want is Raven, and I’m offering to share her damn soul like we had originally worked out.” Lucian wraps his fire chain around his hand but doesn’t act on it.
Swinging his fist, Dante punches Lucian in the face hard enough to send him reeling. I suck in a breath, expecting Lucian to retaliate, but he doesn’t.
And then everyone looks at me.
“It’s about damn time, angel-girl. You sleep like a fucking rock.” Kase bounds toward me in his feline form and bows next to the couch, lowering his big head to my eye level. “Andre said you were exhausted, but damn. Remind me not to allow him to Raven-sit when there are punishments to give.”
Punishments? What the fuck is he talking about?
“You fuckers have wasted all of our time. She doesn’t have it in her to summon the nerve of a devil,” Lucian snaps, transforming from his hellish form into a man. “Just fucking accept that there is nothing to do and move on. Stop letting her tug you around by your damn cocks.”
Micah sighs, transforming into his human self next. “Stop coming up with excuses and accept the consequences for your actions. You wouldn’t want us to assume that you’re afraid, now would you?”
I tense at his comment, expecting for Lucian to blow up and attack, all he does is glower.
“The last thing I’m afraid of is Raven. Let’s just get this over with, so I can get back to cleaning up the shitshow of a world you two have created. It’s no wonder the legions so easily turn to me. You’re more fitting for the pits than managing the contracted souls here.” Lucian smirks, trying to get under Kase and Dante’s skin.
I get the nerve to clutch onto Kase’s muscular devil form and pull myself to my feet. My knees shake for a moment, but with his support, I remain tall. “Shut up, Lucian. You obviously don’t care about what’s truly important, and I’m tired as fuck over having to constantly deal with your self-centered, idiotic, dumbass. I thought I was scared of you, but now you’re just annoying the shit out of me.”
Lucian glowers and steps forward, acting like he might rush me. Spreading his black-feathered wings, Dante creates a protective wall and hisses. The two of them stand off, testing each other and seeing who’s going to make the first move, but Kase wraps his tail around Dante and Micah locks his fingers onto Lucian’s shoulder.
“There is no need to fight. We’re all on the same side, and if everyone would settle down, we can carry on. We have bigger things to deal with than this power struggle you insist on always having with each other. Like the saviors. Cassius grows bolder with his confrontations. You saw his army tonight. I haven’t seen him summon the guardians in centuries. Not since...not since Elias fell.”
Something inside me explodes at the mention of Elias, and I charge across the room, duck under Dante’s wing, and launch at Lucian. He reflexively catches me instead of knocking me away, and I slap him in his smug face.
“You’re such a fucking bastard!” I scream, swinging my hand at him again. “Tell me where you’re keeping Elias!”
Strong hands hook to my waist, yanking me away. Kase’s familiar vanilla vetiver scent wraps around me, snuffing out the Hell threatening to ignite and set the room ablaze.
It’s not enough to chill me out completely. I thrash and try to break free. “Put me down. I’m going to beat the fucking answer out of him.”
“Easy now, pretty soul. You need the proper weapon for that kind of torment. Plus, I don’t want your hands all over him.” Dante ruffles his feathers, closing his wings. “I have the perfect thing.”
I tighten my jaw, glaring at Lucian. “You better bring the Andre 3000 dildo for the strap on because I’m going to fucking beat him with it before pegging him until he calls me master.”
Dante howls a laugh. “Shit no. It’s supposed to be punishment for trying to steal a kiss and not open a damn door for him thinking he can have you in any way he pleases.”
Lucian’s stone face breaks, his jaw twitching. Shit. That’s not a threat to him. He loves the idea. And I might like it a teensy bit too. The power in dominating him and proving that he might be the most notorious devil, but when it comes to him fucking with me and my life, he’s going to learn that I will fuck back harder, more viciously, and with the biggest fucking spirit dick in the universe. He might think he is the rightful controller of Hell, but I know I’m its rightful queen and the Seven Sinners are intended to be my kings.
“Your affection isn’t free to take, and there are consequences,” Dante continues, ripping me from my thoughts. “We’ve made it damn clear that he can’t bully you into it either, which is why it’s time you teach him as much. He’s to kneel before you and apologize and accept getting whipped by his own chains.”
“Only if she wants to.” Lucian folds his arms over his chest. “She could decide that her rejection is enough.”
I blink a few times. “Wait. I’m whipping him with his chains?”
