AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maybe I could ask Aeron to take me to that little Italian place we used to frequent in college under the guise of a date. No, I wouldn’t stoop that low. Not yet. I rubbed my stomach, trying to ease the pain. I should have grabbed one of Karen’s creations this morning. But, I had been a little preoccupied.
We almost got fucked in the bathroom.
And then you broke down. What the fuck was that about?
It wasn’t me.
I felt them both prodding me for answers, but I had none to give. I always broke down. That was nothing new. But somehow, things came to a head in that bathroom. My eyes wandered, falling on the cracked basement door. Aeron hadn’t mentioned his super-secret lair, but I knew he had one. I also knew what he did in the shadows; it was best to avoid that space. Funny thing was, a small part of me wondered if I’d get a repeat of what had happened in Samael’s basement… but with Aeron. I licked my lips, trying to reason with my other voices.
A secret lair.
Don’t encourage him, Daemon. K, go find something else to do. Heck, go back to the bedroom and prepare yourself for Aeron. I bet he’ll love to see his Kitten, ass up, lube dripping from your…
I shut Dark off before he could finish his comment. I was going to side with Daemon on this one. I inched forward, Dark screaming at me to make better choices. But with hunger gnawing at my side, I had nothing better to do than pass the time picking through things I had no business looking at.
Just get down there. You know what’s down there.
Sounds like a terrible idea.
“Spoilsport,” I directed at Dark.
I had seen enough movies to know what to expect, but having the real thing up close was different. I pushed open the door, the whining creak causing shivers to run down my spine. The water was still running, but that didn’t mean Phoenix hadn’t heard the basement door.
I had minutes, if not seconds, to explore the forbidden depths.
Fuck it.
I had imagined something out of Dexter– lots of sheet plastic and white walls and deafening silence as the weight of darkness surrounded me. It was nothing like that, but I couldn’t say I was disappointed. Just… shocked. The walls were a soft cream tone, and black and white marble tiles decorated the floor.
Tall freezers lined a large nook off to the right, a long chest freezer stationed in the middle like a kitchen island. The room's stillness was unnerving; death settled in every breath I took. A wall rack beside the nook boasted intricate tools, a chef’s wet dream.
The ambiance took over as I crept toward the chest freezer, prying it open. Weren’t these things supposed to be locked? My eyes landed on several aluminum foil-wrapped pieces, reminding me of a butcher’s freezer if the butcher killed and ate people—which was essentially what this was. I swallowed, still drinking in the sight before me. My fingers dipped inside, running along the different pieces of ‘meat’ until I found something different from the rest.
This one wasn’t wrapped like the others, sporting plastic wrap. I could see through it, dead eyes staring back out at me. I shook off the feeling that I recognized the guy, wondering what he had done to end up in Aeron’s freezer.
What were you expecting?
Not… that?
I had an inkling to touch it—an inkling that came from neither Dark nor Daemon—an inkling that came from me. I wrapped my trembling fingers around the package, pulling it toward my face. The absence of life was in my hands. A strange calm surrounded me, and I was just a little terrified of how natural I felt holding death in my embrace. I tilted my head to the side, trying to understand the emotions swirling in my heart. Dark and Daemon were silenced, but not the way my men silenced them.
It was… peaceful in my head.
At the sound of someone clearing their throat, the head fell from my fingers, plopping back into the freezer with an awful thud. I clenched my fists—probably to keep from screaming. This was where I died, right? The moment when the villain caught an intruder in his lair and promptly spilled his blood without question.
I looked up, fear in my eyes, and slammed the door shut. Fuck, Aeron caught me. He was leaning against the entrance, arms crossed against his chest, a silly grin playing on his lips. I didn’t know what it meant, which terrified me and my voices. My eyes wandered around, and I just stood there, unsure what to do next.
I felt like I needed to explain. Unfortunately, my brain had short-circuited, and the words just didn’t come. “I… I was hungry.” My eyes widened, and I realized what I had insinuated. “No! I mean… I was hungry upstairs. But you said not to eat here, and I got bored because you wouldn’t fuck me, well, Daemon. I was roaming, then the door was open, and I was curious. And then…”
I decided to shut up, but Aeron was on the verge of laughing, his eyes dancing as he pushed up off the door, strolling over to me. I shuddered and then took a step back. I wasn’t scared of Aeron. Hardly. But I was terrified of what he would do to me for being down here.
I screamed at Daemon for a switch.
Fuck no.
Aeron froze, cocking his head to the side. Confusion washed over his face, and I knew I was about to hurt this man’s feelings. “Are you scared of me?”
“No-o.” Fuck. This was literally the plot of every movie. The main character falls in love with a bad guy and then finds out about the bad guy and runs away, scared of what the bad guy will do to him. Sure, they almost always have a happy ending. But I was stuck in the part where my men had been waiting for me to break down and run away scared. Samael and Slash would have understood. But not Aeron. My body was rebelling against me as I took another step back. A few deep breaths didn’t help either.
