Page 23 of The River of Fire
I wake up drenched – both from sweat and arousal. Panting, I squeeze my thighs together and squirm.
I dreamt about the archdemon. He was sliding inside me, moving above me, his solid weight pressing me down in a show of dominance. My hand slides up my stomach towards my chest. I feel like I’m just a touch away from orgasm.
Thankfully, my senses return before I act on the need coursing through me. Frustrated, I throw my covers back and jump out of bed, heading straight towards the bathtub for Hell’s version of a cold shower. I can’t control my dreams, but I can control the choices I make with my body. At least, when his fieryeyes aren’t burning me into a pliable pile of playdough.
Another thing I can’t control is my curiosity. Though I’m telling myself knowledge is power and blah, blah, blah. Cooled off and dressed, I head towards the keep’s library.
It doesn’t take me long to find what I’m looking for, and soon I’m thumbing through a heavy leather-bound grimoire, doing what I wanted to do ever since I found out what the archdemon’s name is.Ashtaroth. I swallow as shivers gallop across my skin.
A demon in the first hierarchy of Hell, I read.A Great Duke of Hell. Known as Ashtaroth, Astaroth, Astarot, or Asteroth. Associated with temptations, seductions, and leading individuals astray.Yeah, no shit.Guiding people towards desires and indulgence.Tell me something I don’t know, book.Connected with two deadly sins, either lust or pride.Interesting. I wonder how this ties in with the existence of the missing Asmodeus, or Asmodai, as the Celestials call him, the Duke more commonly known for the sin of lust.
I turn to the next page and find a drawing of Ashtaroth’s seal.
I trace the pentagram with my fingers, then veer off to the branching curlicues.
“You will not summon him to the library, I hope?” The sound of Daniel’s voice jolts me out of my fixation and I blush. I was just caught caressing a demonic seal.
“I’m just reading up,” I mumble, unable to make eye contact. “How did you know which one he is, by the way?”
“The lightning.” Daniel sits across from me and folds his hands in his lap. “You must not have encountered mention of it in your reading yet. There is a lot of conflicting information in these grimoires, both in those written by mortals and in our own accounts.”
I make a noncommittal sound and turn the page, getting away from the seal.
“Resisting temptation is not easy, child. If it was, Hell would be a lot emptier, and you would be living the rest of your mortal life in ignorance.” Daniel’s voice is gentle, but I hate that he sees right through me, into what’s happening inside my body, my mind.
“I think you have rested enough after your excursion. Nick is alone south of the keep as Dean has injured his wrist. You could join him.” Daniel gives me an out from our uncomfortable, mostly one-sided conversation, and I take it. Even though Nick is far from my favorite person.
I snap the book closed, tell him I’ll see him at dinner, and change into my leathers.
The delineation between Purgatory and Hell is invisible – at least to our eyes. If the Fallen see it differently, they haven’t shared with the class. One moment I’m standing on familiar gray sand, the ever-present aurora above me, the next I smell the rotten eggs of brimstone and the sky is on fire. Even though The Phlegethon is a couple of miles away, the ground feels chalkier, the air warmer.
I don’t walk more than twenty minutes in the direction of Nick’s tracks when I see the blond soldier in the distance. He’s sneering at me before I even get close enough to get a word out. I still try to be civil though, so I greet him politely enough. “Daniel said Dean had to return,” I add to my greeting.
“So, what?” His voice is even more hostile than usual. What crawled up his ass? “He sent the mighty demon fucker to protect me?”
I can’t help but flush from head to toe. “You’re an asshole,Nick,” I hiss back at him. I turn on my heel to leave, unwilling to put up with his venom today, when I’m suddenly pushed from behind. The unexpected force surprises me enough that I lose my balance. I barely catch myself from faceplanting into the dry ground, scraping the heels of my palms.
I don’t get to assess myself before Nick is yelling. Turning, I see that he’s completely unhinged, the veins in his neck standing out with tension. “Don’t turn your back on me, you frigid prude!” His eyes gleam with the kind of madness only a hurt male ego can produce.
I can’t help but press on the wound – he went a step too far today. “Which is it, Nick? A slut or a prude? Or is anyone who chooses to not fuckyouboth?” I raise my palms in question as if I really am curious about the answer. Then I go for the throat. “And what do you call the ones that take pity on you once, but can’t stomach to do so the second time you ask, knowing you couldn’t even get a succubus off?”
His face turns a mottled purple and he unsheathes his longsword. “I’m going to gut you,” he says, his voice so low it’s barely recognizable.
I jump a step back, completely bewildered. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Nick?” My voice is shrill from shock; I never really bothered to engage him when he hurled his many, many insults over the last few years. I really didn’t expect him to pull a weapon on me.
“You!” he shouts, spittle flying. “You’re what’s wrong! I’m fucking tired of watching you strut around, high and mighty, the team leader who can do no wrong. Lose a team member? It’s not your fault. Get railed by an archdemon? No problem, Daniel will just take care of your booboos. And when someone needs to infiltrate an archdemon’s stronghold, who do they pick? You!” His breathing is heavy, shoulders heaving with the movement. “I bet you suck cock all night long just so they don’t kick you out on your worthless ass.”
“Nick…” I hold my hands up placatingly and try to keep the edge of fear out of my voice. If I can’t calm him down, one of usmight not walk back from this. “You know it’s not like that. I was picked for that mission because of my senses and no other reason.” He snorts, but I continue, my voice turning harder. “And you have no idea what happened with Ashtaroth.” I want to add that I didn’t get railed either, but I’m distracted by the bolt of lightning across the sky, the following clap of instantaneous thunder.Oh. Shit.
Nick doesn’t seem to notice the telltale meteorological reaction that followed me saying a certain name out loud in Hell. He’s too busy laughing, the sound tinged with a healthy dose of hysteria. “Fucking liar. I bet you threw yourself at him like the desperate whore you are.” He raises his sword to point it at me and I don’t hesitate to pull mine out, despite a part of me still hoping that he’ll just calm down. “I’m going to show them how weak you are. I’m going to drag your carcass back and show them all.”
“Nick, stop!” I shriek, but it’s too late. He lunges toward me with a powerful overhead attack and I duck and weave instinctively. He doesn’t stop pressing the attack and swipes at my midsection diagonally. I barely manage to jump back in time and use one of my swords to deflect his. I can’t keep this up for too long. He’s larger than me and hasn’t been injured recently. “Nick, please.” I try to reason with him again. “Don’t do this.”
Nick doesn’t reply, striking at me again, and this time I don’t jump back far enough. He nicks the side of my torso, just under my ribcage, the leather splitting like butter and my skin with it. Fuck. Of course it does; his sword is made of angelic steel just like mine are.
I hiss and grit my teeth. It’s time I reconcile with the fact that this is a kill-or-be-killed situation. I’ll deal with the consequences later.
I barely notice the now-storming sky above us as Nick tries to strike at my head from above again. I don’t dodge this time and cross my blades in front of me instead. As I stop his strike I snarl in his face – it’s game on, buddy. Nick tries to use his greater physical strength to push down, but anticipating it, I twist anddeflect his sword away.
