Chapter 152: 152
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With Kal desperately clinging onto my shoulder, pulling me away from the violent acts I would so very much like to commit, it is all I can do to hold back every coiling flame that singes my insides to prevent myself from losing my mind entirely. Noticing my internalised struggle, Azrael simply smiles fiendishly, fangs glinting behind his lips with a horrifying luminosity.
Spitting with anger, I throw him the finger, struggling half-heartedly under Kal's grip.
Azrael clicks his tongue mockingly, leaning further back on the throne that was never his to sit in.
"Manners, Serena. Maintain some dignity would you?"
"You lost the right to manners when kidnapped my husband, fuck face," I spit, flames curling at my fingers, only quelled by the steady hand on my shoulder, pinning me in place. The air crackles with electric sparks and shards of fire. If I had it my way, I would have run Azrael into the ground by now- incinerated his body and staked his heart with a thousand silver daggers if only to see him beg for his end.
But obviously, I very much cannot do that right now. Not with my husband's life on the line, or the life of my best friend.
Azrael watches me through a dull and slightly disinterested gaze, waving a finger in slow, bored circles.
"Oh course, he is your husband now, yes. Curious, I don't actually recall you having a marriage ceremony- why on earth would you have such a ground breaking thing in secret?" he ponders lightly to himself, resting his head upon his hand with curiosity. A cold shiver runs through me, and instinctively I reach up to clutch my pendant. The blood necklace throbs at my touch, a beating heart against the solid confines of his body.
Surely Azrael doesn't know...?
Before I can finish the thought, Azrael's eyes flicker towards my hand clutched tightly around my pendant. He smiles.
"A lovely ring you have too. A shame neither your ring nor your marriage will be lasting much longer," he sighs mockingly, and then gives me a dastardly smirk. I stiffen. "What's the matter 'little dove'? Are you scared?"
"You don't get to call me that, you traitorous wretch."
"Serena, no! He is trying to provoke you!" Kal cries desperately, but it is already too late.
Seething I lift up my hands, firing a blast of light out from the tips of my fingers, and quick as a flash, Azrael jumps out the way. A second later he appears next to us, his hips swaying amorously, his eyes gleaming with an enigmatic fury. Something explodes in the direction my magic fired, showering sparks of debris all over the floor, littering the marble expanse with twinkling starlight. Azrael doesn't seem to care.
Kal's grip tightens on my shoulder. Despite his former words, I can see globules of black magic dripping from his palms, falling and then swirling out of existence, as though they were never even there. A dragons magic is insanely powerful, but equally taxing on its user, using it now might wound Azrael, but it would likely drain Kal of his energy for the next ten minutes.
Nervously, I glance over to Kal.
Against the clamour and pounding of my own heart I can hear his too, beating wildly in his chest like a horse on a track. I gulp down my nerves.
"What have you done with everyone, Azrael? Why haven't you tried to kill me yet? It can't be that you don't want to," I growl, raising my hands to release another blast, until Kal's panicked words utter beside me.
"Serena, something is wrong. I can't move. My body- its stuck."
Hurriedly, I dip my head round slightly and sure enough, Kal is as rigid as a statue, as though all of his muscles had suddenly seized up, turning his body to stone like a man under the influence of a gorgons stare. I try to move around to help, but my body is trapped under the stone weight of his hand on my shoulder, locking me in place. For a few moments, I struggle, but my efforts are futile. It feels like a brick is pressing down on my shoulder- I can't move even if I wanted to. And dear gods do I want to.
When I whip my head back round to face the culprit, Azrael only grins. Amorously, he sways forward, shrugging lightly as he brings a hand to trail across the air between us.
"No hard feelings Kal, I just needed to keep her still for a moment. You see, I don't actually want to hurt you, little girl. Rather, you would be very useful to me. But I am in quite the predicament right now, see, your lover glamoured me in case misfortunate events were to go awry, and now I cannot do anything to hurt you, or this lovely little glass stake gets jabbed through my heart," he says gesturing towards the shard of glass in his heart with a long, languorous roll of his eyes, as if the stake were more of an inconvenience than an actual threat. After a few seconds, he waves a dismissive hand.
"No matter, I have you here now, and you are not going anywhere. So relax, why don't you, I have no intention of hurting you- not only because I physically can't." He gives me a long look up and down, pacing two steps forward, then one more for good measure. His pale hand reaches out to brush against my cheek, smoothing over the curves of my face until coming to rest upon my lips with a devilish smirk. I snarl at him, flashing my newly formed set of fangs in a futile attempt to bite his hand. At the sight of my unbridled rage, his red eyes glower, pleased.
"I am surprised he actually turned you. I never thought my brother would actually have the balls to do it- he was always so precious over your little mortal life. But you are one of us now, a vampire- doesn't it make you feel good?" he purrs, and upon getting no answer, frowns slightly.
"Either way, I think it makes a wonderful addition to your being- it matches your fiery personality quite perfectly. And I am sure Soren adores these on you," he smirks, lifting his hand lightly to trail his fingers over the large horns that curl down past my ears. Upon contact, I feel my knees buckle, shocks of unwanted pleasure running through me at the sensitivity of them. I let out a short scream of rage, followed by an attempt to lift my hand, before Azrael catches it in his own, curling his fingers around mine. He shoots me a giddying smile.
Had I wanted to, I could have flamed him right then. Sent him flying into the marble pillars across the room and crumbling into a decapitated heap- but that would help no one. Something tells me that I am not quite done here, that there is something else I need to know. My suspicions are proven right the minute Azrael opens his mouth.
"You see, my dear, little Serena, initially, I was prepared to kill you, because you have something that interests me greatly. You have a soul," he whispers, giving a dismissive flick of his free hand, causing Kal to stumble backwards, breathing heavily and half frozen in shock. Desperately in my head I beg Kal not to try anything, hoping against hope he too see's the importance of what is happening here. I am so close to getting it… I just need Azrael to keep talking.
Azrael continues, sliding closer to me, his hand slipping into my own, the other trailing up my skin, raising the hairs on my arm as it trails higher and higher, coming to rest against my cheek. His body presses against mine with a revolting closeness, his breath tickling my ear in a manner that makes me want to vomit this morning's breakfast all over his nice suit. But I hold it in. Just a little longer.
"You see, in the past few centuries, I have come across the wonderful art of soul stealing. It is quite effective, you see, but also notoriously difficult to get right. There are often a lot of... mishaps. I had to practise a lot on some poor, less important souls around Faey, a lot of creatures had to be sacrificed to the flame, but all for the greater good of course, my dear," he smiles, teeth flashing like daggers behind his lips. My heart drops to my stomach. Greater good my ass.
Whatever this soul stealing is, there is certainly no proportion of good in it. Not even an ounce. Still, Kal does not move where he stands, as though this bombshell has frozen him just as much as Azrael's powers.
"Flame?" Kal says slowly, clearly struggling to process everything, the hesitation in his voice distinctly evident. Azrael gives him a vexed look, as though not finding himself too pleased to have his attention turned away from me.
"Don't be dense, Kal. I thought you dragons were supposed to be a smart bunch.. The only flame of any sort of importance is the Eternal flame, and it has served me quite nicely."
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With Kal desperately clinging onto my shoulder, pulling me away from the violent acts I would so very much like to commit, it is all I can do to hold back every coiling flame that singes my insides to prevent myself from losing my mind entirely. Noticing my internalised struggle, Azrael simply smiles fiendishly, fangs glinting behind his lips with a horrifying luminosity.
Spitting with anger, I throw him the finger, struggling half-heartedly under Kal's grip.
Azrael clicks his tongue mockingly, leaning further back on the throne that was never his to sit in.
"Manners, Serena. Maintain some dignity would you?"
"You lost the right to manners when kidnapped my husband, fuck face," I spit, flames curling at my fingers, only quelled by the steady hand on my shoulder, pinning me in place. The air crackles with electric sparks and shards of fire. If I had it my way, I would have run Azrael into the ground by now- incinerated his body and staked his heart with a thousand silver daggers if only to see him beg for his end.
But obviously, I very much cannot do that right now. Not with my husband's life on the line, or the life of my best friend.
Azrael watches me through a dull and slightly disinterested gaze, waving a finger in slow, bored circles.
"Oh course, he is your husband now, yes. Curious, I don't actually recall you having a marriage ceremony- why on earth would you have such a ground breaking thing in secret?" he ponders lightly to himself, resting his head upon his hand with curiosity. A cold shiver runs through me, and instinctively I reach up to clutch my pendant. The blood necklace throbs at my touch, a beating heart against the solid confines of his body.
Surely Azrael doesn't know...?
Before I can finish the thought, Azrael's eyes flicker towards my hand clutched tightly around my pendant. He smiles.
"A lovely ring you have too. A shame neither your ring nor your marriage will be lasting much longer," he sighs mockingly, and then gives me a dastardly smirk. I stiffen. "What's the matter 'little dove'? Are you scared?"
"You don't get to call me that, you traitorous wretch."
"Serena, no! He is trying to provoke you!" Kal cries desperately, but it is already too late.
Seething I lift up my hands, firing a blast of light out from the tips of my fingers, and quick as a flash, Azrael jumps out the way. A second later he appears next to us, his hips swaying amorously, his eyes gleaming with an enigmatic fury. Something explodes in the direction my magic fired, showering sparks of debris all over the floor, littering the marble expanse with twinkling starlight. Azrael doesn't seem to care.
Kal's grip tightens on my shoulder. Despite his former words, I can see globules of black magic dripping from his palms, falling and then swirling out of existence, as though they were never even there. A dragons magic is insanely powerful, but equally taxing on its user, using it now might wound Azrael, but it would likely drain Kal of his energy for the next ten minutes.
Nervously, I glance over to Kal.
Against the clamour and pounding of my own heart I can hear his too, beating wildly in his chest like a horse on a track. I gulp down my nerves.
"What have you done with everyone, Azrael? Why haven't you tried to kill me yet? It can't be that you don't want to," I growl, raising my hands to release another blast, until Kal's panicked words utter beside me.
"Serena, something is wrong. I can't move. My body- its stuck."
Hurriedly, I dip my head round slightly and sure enough, Kal is as rigid as a statue, as though all of his muscles had suddenly seized up, turning his body to stone like a man under the influence of a gorgons stare. I try to move around to help, but my body is trapped under the stone weight of his hand on my shoulder, locking me in place. For a few moments, I struggle, but my efforts are futile. It feels like a brick is pressing down on my shoulder- I can't move even if I wanted to. And dear gods do I want to.
When I whip my head back round to face the culprit, Azrael only grins. Amorously, he sways forward, shrugging lightly as he brings a hand to trail across the air between us.
"No hard feelings Kal, I just needed to keep her still for a moment. You see, I don't actually want to hurt you, little girl. Rather, you would be very useful to me. But I am in quite the predicament right now, see, your lover glamoured me in case misfortunate events were to go awry, and now I cannot do anything to hurt you, or this lovely little glass stake gets jabbed through my heart," he says gesturing towards the shard of glass in his heart with a long, languorous roll of his eyes, as if the stake were more of an inconvenience than an actual threat. After a few seconds, he waves a dismissive hand.
"No matter, I have you here now, and you are not going anywhere. So relax, why don't you, I have no intention of hurting you- not only because I physically can't." He gives me a long look up and down, pacing two steps forward, then one more for good measure. His pale hand reaches out to brush against my cheek, smoothing over the curves of my face until coming to rest upon my lips with a devilish smirk. I snarl at him, flashing my newly formed set of fangs in a futile attempt to bite his hand. At the sight of my unbridled rage, his red eyes glower, pleased.
"I am surprised he actually turned you. I never thought my brother would actually have the balls to do it- he was always so precious over your little mortal life. But you are one of us now, a vampire- doesn't it make you feel good?" he purrs, and upon getting no answer, frowns slightly.
"Either way, I think it makes a wonderful addition to your being- it matches your fiery personality quite perfectly. And I am sure Soren adores these on you," he smirks, lifting his hand lightly to trail his fingers over the large horns that curl down past my ears. Upon contact, I feel my knees buckle, shocks of unwanted pleasure running through me at the sensitivity of them. I let out a short scream of rage, followed by an attempt to lift my hand, before Azrael catches it in his own, curling his fingers around mine. He shoots me a giddying smile.
Had I wanted to, I could have flamed him right then. Sent him flying into the marble pillars across the room and crumbling into a decapitated heap- but that would help no one. Something tells me that I am not quite done here, that there is something else I need to know. My suspicions are proven right the minute Azrael opens his mouth.
"You see, my dear, little Serena, initially, I was prepared to kill you, because you have something that interests me greatly. You have a soul," he whispers, giving a dismissive flick of his free hand, causing Kal to stumble backwards, breathing heavily and half frozen in shock. Desperately in my head I beg Kal not to try anything, hoping against hope he too see's the importance of what is happening here. I am so close to getting it… I just need Azrael to keep talking.
Azrael continues, sliding closer to me, his hand slipping into my own, the other trailing up my skin, raising the hairs on my arm as it trails higher and higher, coming to rest against my cheek. His body presses against mine with a revolting closeness, his breath tickling my ear in a manner that makes me want to vomit this morning's breakfast all over his nice suit. But I hold it in. Just a little longer.
"You see, in the past few centuries, I have come across the wonderful art of soul stealing. It is quite effective, you see, but also notoriously difficult to get right. There are often a lot of... mishaps. I had to practise a lot on some poor, less important souls around Faey, a lot of creatures had to be sacrificed to the flame, but all for the greater good of course, my dear," he smiles, teeth flashing like daggers behind his lips. My heart drops to my stomach. Greater good my ass.
Whatever this soul stealing is, there is certainly no proportion of good in it. Not even an ounce. Still, Kal does not move where he stands, as though this bombshell has frozen him just as much as Azrael's powers.
"Flame?" Kal says slowly, clearly struggling to process everything, the hesitation in his voice distinctly evident. Azrael gives him a vexed look, as though not finding himself too pleased to have his attention turned away from me.
"Don't be dense, Kal. I thought you dragons were supposed to be a smart bunch.. The only flame of any sort of importance is the Eternal flame, and it has served me quite nicely."
With Kal desperately clinging onto my shoulder, pulling me away from the violent acts I would so very much like to commit, it is all I can do to hold back every coiling flame that singes my insides to prevent myself from losing my mind entirely. Noticing my internalised struggle, Azrael simply smiles fiendishly, fangs glinting behind his lips with a horrifying luminosity.Spitting with anger, I throw him the finger, struggling half-heartedly under Kal's grip.Azrael clicks his tongue mockingly, leaning further back on the throne that was never his to sit in."Manners, Serena. Maintain some dignity would you?""You lost the right to manners when kidnapped my husband, fuck face," I spit, flames curling at my fingers, only quelled by the steady hand on my shoulder, pinning me in place. The air crackles with electric sparks and shards of fire. If I had it my way, I would have run Azrael into the ground by now- incinerated his body and staked his heart with a thousand silver daggers if only to see him beg for his end.But obviously, I very much cannot do that right now. Not with my husband's life on the line, or the life of my best friend.Azrael watches me through a dull and slightly disinterested gaze, waving a finger in slow, bored circles."Oh course, he is your husband now, yes. Curious, I don't actually recall you having a marriage ceremony- why on earth would you have such a ground breaking thing in secret?" he ponders lightly to himself, resting his head upon his hand with curiosity. A cold shiver runs through me, and instinctively I reach up to clutch my pendant. The blood necklace throbs at my touch, a beating heart against the solid confines of his body.Surely Azrael doesn't know...?Before I can finish the thought, Azrael's eyes flicker towards my hand clutched tightly around my pendant. He smiles."A lovely ring you have too. A shame neither your ring nor your marriage will be lasting much longer," he sighs mockingly, and then gives me a dastardly smirk. I stiffen. "What's the matter 'little dove'? Are you scared?""You don't get to call me that, you traitorous wretch.""Serena, no! He is trying to provoke you!" Kal cries desperately, but it is already too late.Seething I lift up my hands, firing a blast of light out from the tips of my fingers, and quick as a flash, Azrael jumps out the way. A second later he appears next to us, his hips swaying amorously, his eyes gleaming with an enigmatic fury. Something explodes in the direction my magic fired, showering sparks of debris all over the floor, littering the marble expanse with twinkling starlight. Azrael doesn't seem to care.Kal's grip tightens on my shoulder. Despite his former words, I can see globules of black magic dripping from his palms, falling and then swirling out of existence, as though they were never even there. A dragons magic is insanely powerful, but equally taxing on its user, using it now might wound Azrael, but it would likely drain Kal of his energy for the next ten minutes.Nervously, I glance over to Kal.Against the clamour and pounding of my own heart I can hear his too, beating wildly in his chest like a horse on a track. I gulp down my nerves."What have you done with everyone, Azrael? Why haven't you tried to kill me yet? It can't be that you don't want to," I growl, raising my hands to release another blast, until Kal's panicked words utter beside me."Serena, something is wrong. I can't move. My body- its stuck."Hurriedly, I dip my head round slightly and sure enough, Kal is as rigid as a statue, as though all of his muscles had suddenly seized up, turning his body to stone like a man under the influence of a gorgons stare. I try to move around to help, but my body is trapped under the stone weight of his hand on my shoulder, locking me in place. For a few moments, I struggle, but my efforts are futile. It feels like a brick is pressing down on my shoulder- I can't move even if I wanted to. And dear gods do I want to.When I whip my head back round to face the culprit, Azrael only grins. Amorously, he sways forward, shrugging lightly as he brings a hand to trail across the air between us."No hard feelings Kal, I just needed to keep her still for a moment. You see, I don't actually want to hurt you, little girl. Rather, you would be very useful to me. But I am in quite the predicament right now, see, your lover glamoured me in case misfortunate events were to go awry, and now I cannot do anything to hurt you, or this lovely little glass stake gets jabbed through my heart," he says gesturing towards the shard of glass in his heart with a long, languorous roll of his eyes, as if the stake were more of an inconvenience than an actual threat. After a few seconds, he waves a dismissive hand. "No matter, I have you here now, and you are not going anywhere. So relax, why don't you, I have no intention of hurting you- not only because I physically can't." He gives me a long look up and down, pacing two steps forward, then one more for good measure. His pale hand reaches out to brush against my cheek, smoothing over the curves of my face until coming to rest upon my lips with a devilish smirk. I snarl at him, flashing my newly formed set of fangs in a futile attempt to bite his hand. At the sight of my unbridled rage, his red eyes glower, pleased."I am surprised he actually turned you. I never thought my brother would actually have the balls to do it- he was always so precious over your little mortal life. But you are one of us now, a vampire- doesn't it make you feel good?" he purrs, and upon getting no answer, frowns slightly. "Either way, I think it makes a wonderful addition to your being- it matches your fiery personality quite perfectly. And I am sure Soren adores these on you," he smirks, lifting his hand lightly to trail his fingers over the large horns that curl down past my ears. Upon contact, I feel my knees buckle, shocks of unwanted pleasure running through me at the sensitivity of them. I let out a short scream of rage, followed by an attempt to lift my hand, before Azrael catches it in his own, curling his fingers around mine. He shoots me a giddying smile.Had I wanted to, I could have flamed him right then. Sent him flying into the marble pillars across the room and crumbling into a decapitated heap- but that would help no one. Something tells me that I am not quite done here, that there is something else I need to know. My suspicions are proven right the minute Azrael opens his mouth."You see, my dear, little Serena, initially, I was prepared to kill you, because you have something that interests me greatly. You have a soul," he whispers, giving a dismissive flick of his free hand, causing Kal to stumble backwards, breathing heavily and half frozen in shock. Desperately in my head I beg Kal not to try anything, hoping against hope he too see's the importance of what is happening here. I am so close to getting it I just need Azrael to keep talking.Azrael continues, sliding closer to me, his hand slipping into my own, the other trailing up my skin, raising the hairs on my arm as it trails higher and higher, coming to rest against my cheek. His body presses against mine with a revolting closeness, his breath tickling my ear in a manner that makes me want to vomit this morning's breakfast all over his nice suit. But I hold it in. Just a little longer."You see, in the past few centuries, I have come across the wonderful art of soul stealing. It is quite effective, you see, but also notoriously difficult to get right. There are often a lot of... mishaps. I had to practise a lot on some poor, less important souls around Faey, a lot of creatures had to be sacrificed to the flame, but all for the greater good of course, my dear," he smiles, teeth flashing like daggers behind his lips. My heart drops to my stomach. Greater good my ass.Whatever this soul stealing is, there is certainly no proportion of good in it. Not even an ounce. Still, Kal does not move where he stands, as though this bombshell has frozen him just as much as Azrael's powers."Flame?" Kal says slowly, clearly struggling to process everything, the hesitation in his voice distinctly evident. Azrael gives him a vexed look, as though not finding himself too pleased to have his attention turned away from me."Don't be dense, Kal. I thought you dragons were supposed to be a smart bunch.. The only flame of any sort of importance is the Eternal flame, and it has served me quite nicely."
