AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Volikan is rushing behind them, trying to call them off the search. Mid-speech, I hear Drir’gen growl loudly at him, and there’s a sound like Volikan is being shoved against the wall. Then a fist strikes skin, loudly and ferociously, and Volikan does not speak anymore.
I tremble under the table, finally realizing that there is no help left. This will not be resolved the way that I’ve hoped, and Volikan can not save me from whatever this horrible beast has planned.
In my terror, I crawl out from the table, no longer able to think straight to decide if I’m making things better or worse. All I know is that I can’t be under there anymore, feeling as if I’m trapped in a cage.
But it’s too late, already. My eyes widen as I see one of the demons burst through the doorway. I try to run, to evade his grasp, but he is faster. His hand closes tight over my arm.
I am caught. Pinned. My head starts to throb, feeling as if I might faint, and my throat constricts painfully.
He calls for Drir’gen, who comes a moment later. His face lights up to see me, looking victorious. I know that in his mind, I am a prize, and he has just been declared the winner.
“I’ll take over,” he says smoothly. The demon lets go of my arm. For the briefest second, there’s relief as the squeezing of my skin eases.
But I’m too terrified to appreciate it, and it doesn’t last. Almost immediately, Drir’gen’s hand replaces the other, gripping me tighter than before.
The sense of foreboding that’s hung, heavily, over me springs to mind, and I realize that this was what it was warning me against. It’s too late now to heed the message.
Drir’gen leans forward, his breath foul. I concentrate on anything but this, trying to mentally send myself elsewhere so that I can detach from the horrors that I know are still coming.
In my head, I’m in a field back home, smelling the flowers. The sun shines bright on my shoulders, warming them.
And as I gag on Drir’gen’s putrid tongue in my mouth, I keep trying to send myself back there.
113
ANASTASIA
His tongue is wet, and insistent, making my skin crawl. I gag at the intrusion, taking no pleasure in it. Everything about this moment is horrifying, an invasion that somehow goes beyond just my mouth. It penetrates deep into my soul, stripping me of the brief comfort that I had finally found with Volikan.
Finally, when it seems as if I can take no more, he pulls his head away. I’m sure that my face shows my disgust – it’s all that I can feel. But he’s unbothered by it, not caring if I hate it or not.
He wants what he wants, and he wants me. My wishes are unimportant, and inconsequential to his own satisfaction.
“You’re not getting away from me this time,” he warns confidently, looking smug. He leers at me, so close that I turn my head just to put some distance between us.
Even when I look away, I can’t stop fixating on my last sight of his face. His lips were so slobbery that the image is imprinted onto my brain, leaving me with a sickening sensation that’s nearly enough to make me gag again.
He grabs my other arm, hauling me roughly against him. I continue to hold myself so that I don’t have to look at him, but it’s a small comfort when my chest is instead pressed against his body. We’re so close that air couldn’t even pass between us, if there was any left in this room.
I’m not sure that there is. All I can smell is the stench that comes off him, a disgustingly fragrant aroma that resembles spoiled milk and stale smoke.
“You might think you’re smart. I guess you are, for a human. You evaded me last time, with your little tricks. But you’re not smarter than a demon. It’s a shame you didn’t know that. You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble.”
He pushes me back just far enough so that I can watch him deliver his next lines. Clearly, he’s enjoying this moment, taking satisfaction in the way that he’s torturing me. He doesn’t let go, but his grip loosens slightly. He’s too focused on trying to create a dramatic scene.
“This time, you’re mine. I would have been willing to share with Volikan, but he didn’t want to play nice. So, he’s going to learn the punishment for greed.”
He trails off, eyeing me threateningly. I’m unable to control the tremble that courses through my body. He must feel it because he smiles malevolently at the motion.
I know that responding is a mistake, but I just can’t help myself. The hanging question lingers in the air, and I have to ask it. “What’s that?” I nearly whisper, my unsteady voice confirming my fear.
His smile widens. “You’re my toy now. I’m going to play so rough with you that Volikan won’t even recognize you when I’m done. I’ll smash that pretty little figure of yours so bad that no amount of magic can rebuild it. Once I’ve had my way, Volikan can have you back – but even he won’t want you then.”
He straightens himself, trying to draw himself into the most intimidating pose he can manage. It’s not hard, considering he’s a hulking beast of a demon. Still, I can tell that he’s drawing this out for all that it’s worth, wanting to make it as awful as possible for me.
It isn’t just about the sex – I don’t want to sleep with him, of course, but if that was really all it took to make him go away, I might. But that would only buy me a meager amount of time.
In the end, he feels that I am his to punish – that he has every right to claim whatever strikes his fancy, whether he’s earned it or not. The fact that I did not give up and eagerly roll over into submission at the very beginning is enough to have sealed my fate. He owns me – he owns everything, as far as he’s concerned, just as long as he wants it. That’s the only requirement, in his twisted, self-important brain.
