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In those small moments when light met the dark, Gwen could see Ambrosius above her. He looked depraved, eyes glowing in the darkness, and a wild grin across his face. Black ichor practically coated his mouth, drool falling down his chin. Gwen swore she saw something else in those moments, hiding in the shadows. Something tall and curved jutting out from the top of his head before it was gone—
“Are you going to be good for me, Gwen?” Ambrosius asked. “Be good for me, my bittersweet. Promise to be good and—”
“Yes!” Gwen shouted. “Yes, I’ll be good, please,please!”
His other hand came to her throat, trailing up to hold her jaw. His fingers grew into knife-like points, grazing her skin. He guided her half-lidded gaze to him and caught her eye.
“Be a good girl now andcometo Daddy,” he said with terrible perverse glee.
Gwen did with a near violent ecstasy, fisting his hair as one last angry, defiant act. Pleasure that paled in comparison to her dreams had her twisting on the table. Her breathing came in harsh gasps, mingled with babbling curses. She cursed him and herself as she shuddered in the aftermath, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
Ambrosius’ fingers slowly withdrew, leaving her with a sense of emptiness, but strangely satisfied, despite the sliver of humiliation tainting it. When Gwen opened her eyes, it was to the light and a very human-looking Ambrosius. He eyed his damp fingers before bringing them to his mouth, revealing that monstrous tongue once again.
“Oh, my bittersweet,” Ambrosius hummed, all honeyed again. “Every part of you tastes like all my favoritewickedflavors.”
With a flick of his wrist, his cane appeared, and he shot Gwen another self-satisfied grin.
“I’d love to stay for seconds, but I’m afraid duty calls. Remember to be good for me, read the scroll, and finish the doll.”
And with a wink, Ambrosius disappeared the moment Gwen blinked.
23
Relaxed
Gwen
For the first time in who knew how long, Gwen slept past six in the morning.
She woke up at seven with a tenderness between her legs she hadn’t felt in alongtime. Gwen didn’t complain, though, as she pushed her bedding aside and made a beeline for the toilet. Her bra, cutoffs, and shirt were still piled in a corner from last night’s shower. Gwen hadn’t dared check the front pocket of her jeans for the eyeball.
The spider colony was still at work, and if Gwen didn’t know better, she would say the little monsters had doubled the size of their home. She eyed them as she washed her hands, watching them skitter back and forth as busy as bees.
“Y’all are a lot, aren’t you?”
They didn’t answer her, but Gwen could see a few of them still at her voice.
Probably scared of me, supernatural spiders or not.
Gwen waved to them as she exited, headed toward her coffee maker. As her first cup brewed, Gwen found herself eyeing her kitchen table. She had fully sanitized it once she had collected herself. Which had taken much longer than she would have liked.
Now that her head was a little clearer, Gwen instantly began to think about how letting her demonic, lying wannabe-boss finger bang her probably wasn’t the wisest idea.
But fuck, did it feel nice,Gwen thought as she took her first sip of coffee.
More than nice, if Gwen was honest with herself, though she didn’t want to admit it. She distracted herself from dwelling on it as she glanced at her coffee with mild confusion. Gwen had put the normal amount of creamer in it, so why did it taste so … tasteless? She ran her tongue along the roof of her mouth. No, she could taste the coffee and the sugar, but it was so faint compared to how it usually tasted.
Is this another weird warlock thing?
Ambrosius had said human food would only get her so far. Was this what he’d meant? Maybe it was her stubbornness, but Gwen drank the cup anyway as she contemplated what to do. Her entire situation had changed—once again—in the last twenty-four hours.
Death, demons, and sex all in one night would probably make an ordinary person freak the fuck out. But much like the death of her neighbor, Gwen felt oddly okay with it. She knew she shouldn’t be. She should feel the weight of her neighbor’s death heavily on her shoulders, but it just wasn’t there. It was difficult not to wonder if this was how hunters felt when they killed deer. The deer provided food for families, the same way fish or cows did.
And honestly, was this any different? Humanity was at the top of the food chain, as far as Gwen had beenconcerned several days ago, and now they obviously weren’t. Ambrosius had said she wasn’t human anymore, and she needed to eat from them in order to live. Last night had been an unfortunate accident, but Ambrosius had offered her a way around that. She would just have to learn how to do exactly what she did last night, but more discreetly.
However Gwen did it, she would have to figure it out soon. Her day was already filled with a dentist appointment at noon, and then an evening closing shift. She’d have roughly an hour between the two for lunch.
Shit, my hair!