Suddenly, a puff of air wafted over the back of her ear. It was pleasantly warm, and she shivered as a hot tingling spread over her skin from where it hit her. She lifted her eyes and found that Marcus was no longer next to her. Now that she wasn’t inside her own head she could feel his body heat behind her.
“If you look in the background you can see the shadow of a throne. Right there. Do you see it?”
His voice reverberated through her. She didn’t see what he was pointing over her shoulder at. She was too focused on how close behind her he was. If he wanted, he could break her neck and she wouldn’t even get the chance to scream. The muscles in her legs twitched, begging her to run away from the monster behind her. But her brain wouldn’t send the message to move. She was rooted to the spot, taking shallow breaths and trying to ignore the sensations running along her nerves. Her fingers flexed and she had the wild inclination to turn around and touch him.
“You must have spent a long time studying this painting to notice all these things.” Thea’s voice was breathy. The front of his body brushed against the back of hers and she almost sighed. Holding her lips shut she reminded herself over and over who he was.
Thankfully, he stepped away from her in the next minute. “I should know what’s in them. I painted them.”
Thea’s mouth dropped open. The painting was beautiful. The emotion in it alone was supposed to be beyond someone like him. Painting was such a human thing to do. How could someone who had come from a place like in this image do something like make art? Intricate brush strokes showed how much care and time must have gone into the work. Scanning the room, she counted five paintings in total.
“You painted all of these?” she asked.
He chuckled. “Is there anything that I do that you won’t be surprised by?”
She didn’t know if there was. Marcus was nothing like she had imagined him. Where was the cruel leader from all the stories she had heard? Looking at him and talking like this, it was even hard to picture him as the man who had killed most of the world’s population. No, she had to keep her head in the game. She knew he would try and lure her in with charm and smiles. Jessica had all but told her this was what he did. He was likely just trying to get her into his bed. Most of what he said probably wasn’t true.
“They are very good.” She folded her hands in front of her and kept her tone neutral. Even if she couldn’t tell him directly she wanted to make it clear that she wasn’t falling under his spell.
“You don’t sound impressed.”
She needed to change the subject before she said something she would regret. “Do you miss hell?” Thea couldn’t imagine missing a place that looked like that, but it was his home. Perhaps if he liked it there he might be convinced to go back.
“No. It’s the worst place in the world.”
Damnit. Thea kept her annoyance off her face and thought about what she might need to know next. It might be helpful to know how he felt about his siblings. She would need to know where they stood right now so it would be clear how much work she would need to do to turn them against each other.
“You must miss your family?”
His gaze slid to her, and he studied her a long minute. “You have a lot of questions.”
“I’m just trying to get to know you.” A nervous fluttering started in her belly, and she sent a prayer out that he wouldn’t see through her lie. Besides, it was at least half the truth. She just didn’t mention that she only wanted to know where his weaknesses were.
He narrowed his eyes but after another minute of hesitation he relaxed and turned his eyes on the painting again. Thea’s muscles were starting to ache she was so tense.
“I miss Aurelia, my sister.”
Thea hadn’t heard much about her. She knew her region was far from Silvia’s, meaning that she was far from Thea as well. Yet the fact that the most infamous of the siblings liked her didn’t fill Thea with hope that she was a lesser evil than Silvia. No doubt she was carting in humans by the truck load to kill for the fun of it.
“And the other two?” Thea kept her tone breezy and didn’t dare look at him in case her eyes gave away something about her intensions.
“We aren’t close.”
The sharp edge to his voice made Thea tense more though it didn’t seem possible. She had no doubt there was more to this story than simple sibling arguments.
“Why not?”
He took a deep breath and turned to face her fully. She refused to meet his eyes, even as the intensity of his stare burned into the side of her face.
“We just aren’t.” There was a warning in how he said this. It was like listening to a dog growl, a sign you were about to be bitten if you didn’t back off. Thea almost risked it and pushed the issue more. She needed to know about this stuff to save her friends and this was a risky mission, she had always known that. Yet if she took it too far then she might blow her cover and get nothing for her effort.
She decided that buttering him up was a better move right now. Later, when he liked her more then she could ask about his siblings again.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” She licked her lips and looked down at her feet, praying that he would relax again and didn’t suspect her of snooping too much.
Laughing, he rubbed the back of his neck. “Forget it, let’s talk about something else.”
Lightening the mood might be a good move otherwise Thea was going to pull a muscle in her neck or something. “I have to say I didn’t think that someone like you would spend their time painting.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow at her. “Someone like me?”
Damn she ended up insulting him even when she didn’t mean to. “I mean someone who is from hell…I don’t know if there is paint in hell… going by this painting there isn’t but who knows… honestly I don’t know what I thought you would be doing, drinking the blood of virgins?” Thea knew she needed to stop babbling but the words just kept coming and short of sewing her mouth shut she didn’t know how to stop them.
Marcus was smiling at her and folded his arms while watching her. Heat rose to her face.
“Not that I think you drink blood. No one says that. That’s about the only thing they don’t say. I mean the rest is pretty good, I think. I don’t know.”
“I do love to paint,” Marcus finally interrupted her, “But I do other things too.”
Thea was so out of breath that it took a minute to be able to speak. She hadn’t been that flustered in her whole life. It was likely because she was talking to a monster from another dimension.
“What other things do you do?”
His eyes took on a smouldering quality and he took a deliberate step towards her. “Well, I’m a well-trained warrior,” he got closer again, “and I have a lot of sex.”
Even the way the word sounded as it dripped off his tongue made her heartrate pick up. It was a word that promised something she hadn’t experienced before, a word that made her knees shake and a sweat break out over her entire body. It was suddenly hard to swallow and when she did manage to it sounded very loud to her own ears. She was sure he would hear it and know how nervous she was.
He looked down into her eyes, swaying forward and back slightly as if he was thinking of coming nearer. Thea could hardly breathe. One side of her mind was panicking. This was it, the moment when he would have his way with her and she would be trapped here, at the mercy of a man who had killed most of the world.
But the other part of her was leaning closer, trying to tip
her into him. It wanted to know what it would feel like, what he would feel
like. Barely restraining that part of her, she did her best to meet his eyes
without flinching. She had to keep the ruse up that she was here because she
was interested in him. That’s all it was, a ruse.
“What do you want to do now?” Marcus was almost whispering and the air from his words tickled the end of her nose. “Do you know me well enough yet?”
Thea opened and closed her mouth, but it was too dry to make any sound. Her eyes widened and she forced herself to take a step away from him as her gaze slid to his lips. God they were full and inviting but she reminded herself that this was the temptation of hell. If she fell prey to his charm she would be betraying her entire race and her friends. She was better than that.
He didn’t follow her when she retreated and too her surprise he smiled good-naturedly. “Alright then,” he said in a cheery tone, “I will pick something. But you better not be one of those girls who is afraid to mess up her hair.” He strode past her and opened the door. She was rooted to the spot for a few beats, unable to fathom what had just happened. Once again he could have done whatever he wanted with her, and he didn’t. Even if she hadn’t been willing none of the guards or the people under his rule would have batted an eye if he had taken her. No one wanted to get on the bad side of the most powerful being around.
He held the door open for her and nodded out it. “Come on then.”
Thea dashed from the room, still waiting for the other shoe to drop. She kept an eye on him as she passed, it felt stupid to turn her back on him. But he only grinned and didn’t move a muscle.
He took her outside and down the lane. They were in the thick of the region where people were milling about, their dirty faces and mismatched clothes a sharp contrast to Marcus. he likely likes it that way, Thea thought, it shows that they are beneath him.
Glancing back now and then to make sure she was still following; he made his way through the streets. The sun was still high in the sky and Thea started to sweat at the pace she needed to maintain to keep up with him. Everyone they passed either stared at them or shouted greetings to Marcus. One man even commented that he had a pretty one with him today. It made Thea’s skin crawl and she was half tempted to leave Marcus right then. But that would ruin the plan.
Eventually, they got to the edge of the region. The enormous concrete walls of the glorified prison rose up behind a tall chain-link fence. Inside the fence enclosure Thea spotted a swimming pool. It was wide and there were leaves floating in it, like tiny boats adrift in the sea. Marcus produced a rusty key from his pocket and unlocked the gate. This far out from the centre of the region no one would see them in the pool. People stayed near where the buildings were and the closest thing to shelter near the pool was a sun umbrella with a hole in the top and half of the handle snapped off. Thea’s nerves hiked up at the thought of being alone with him again. Only this time he could drown her if he liked.
Feet heavy and hands clammy, she shuffled into the pool area where Marcus promptly closed the gate behind her. Thank God he didn’t lock it. Although she doubted she would be able to get it open fast enough to run from him anyway.
“Welcome to my pool.” Marcus spread his arms as if to embrace the pool and grinned broadly.
“Shouldn’t everyone have access to this place?” Thea threw a look over her shoulder, hoping that a person would appear at the edge of the gate, someone to witness whatever he had planned for her. There was no one.
Marcus screwed up his face. “Are you kidding me? If everyone was allowed here then it would always be full of people. Isn’t it better when it’s private?”
Thea bet he liked having control over the whole world much like he did this pool. It was a sickening thought.
Without warning he pulled his shirt over his head. Thea blushed and turned her back. Chuckling he threw his shirt at her where it landed next to her feet.
“I’m not shy.”
What was she supposed to do now? Hopefully he wasn’t getting naked. “I just don’t think it’s normal for a man to strip naked in public.”
“I own this place. Also, not to disappoint, but I am not naked.”
Thea didn’t know if she trusted him. Given how much he messed with her in the apartment she wouldn’t put it past him to be lying now just to get a reaction out of her. The notion almost made her laugh. But, since when did she find anything he did humorous? It was probably best not to think about it too much. It would help her to play the part and get closer to him anyway.
Very slowly, she peeked over her shoulder. Through the curtain of her hair, she could see him standing by the edge of the pool in a pair of black boxer shorts. She might have dwelt on his state of undress if she hadn’t been taken in by the wings. Jessica had told her he had wings, but nothing prepared her for the sight of them. Even though he was facing her she was stunned by the width of them. Huge black and grey feathers ran in perfect lines, looking softer than she would have imagined they would. A wild part of her almost wanted to touch them. They were so otherworldly that they were hypnotic. She didn’t even care that she was staring with her chin almost on the floor.
“I’m going to assume that is the good kind of gawking that you are doing.” His voice drew her attention away from his wings, but she didn’t reach his face. His body was crisscrossed with white scars. Some were as long as her arm. Even looking at them made her flinch to imagine how they had all gotten there. Most likely he had received the wounds while murdering angels. Thea shivered.
Realising that it had been an awful long time since she had spoken Thea said the first thing that came to mind. “I don’t have any swimming stuff.” Her voice was a little high-pitched and she cleared her throat to try and fix it.
“Neither do I.” He gestured to himself, causing Thea to rake her eyes down his body almost subconsciously. “Come on, don’t be a kill joy.”
A deep part of her hated hearing him say the word kill. But this was her chance. She needed to play along and get him relaxed and talking. If she didn’t do this he might conclude that she was too boring to hang out with him and he would never speak to her again. and she would have failed another mission. The image of that boy, cold and marble white in her arms, flashed through her mind. There was no way she would let anyone down again.
He gave her a challenging look as she fingered the bottom of her t-shirt. Without giving herself any more time to think about it she pulled the shirt over her head. The chilly air shocked her as it hit her exposed stomach. She was only glad that she had managed to hold onto a bra she had found in an old building once. It was a tad too small, making her chest bulge but without it she would have been showing everything to him. Her hair got tangled as she took her top off and she had to wrestle her way out of the net it made. Once she was free she noticed that he was smiling at her, not blinking as he watched her every move.
“Do you have to stare?” She didn’t like the way that it made heat creep over her skin and into her blood. Suddenly the cold air didn’t matter anymore.
“I think I do.” He winked at her.
Comments (0)
See all