Page 14 of Queen of the Wicked (Afterlife #1)

Erebos

“ S eriously?” Eryx wrinkled his nose in disgust the following morning when he found Erebos alone in his study. “Can we open a window? The scent in here is horrendous . ”

Erebos groaned and lifted his head off the desk.

He didn’t remember falling asleep last night, but Alessia had been blissfully asleep for the first time in days.

He could sense her unrest, which weighed on him too.

Sleeping in here with her made sense, given they both needed clear heads to regain his powers.

It had nothing to do with how content he had felt last night for the first time in decades.

At least, that was what he attempted to convince himself.

With that, he was aware the mating scent was oozing out of him, but he couldn’t stop it, no matter how hard he tried.

The mating bond was irrevocably cherished in their realm, and one should only be so lucky to find the person they’re destined to be with, but Erebos didn’t have time for love, especially not with Alessia, who hated his guts on a good day.

She was oblivious to it, assuming only his powers gave them this connection, and he planned on keeping it that way.

The bond snapped into place the second he laid his eyes on her.

It was the reason he couldn’t bring himself to restrain her at first, in fear of harming her.

It was the reason a piece of his soul cracked when she fainted in his arms, that tether between them fraying with each second that passed to Allegra’s house, and it’s the reason he couldn’t follow through on bringing Catalina to his chambers when the mere thought of touching another woman suddenly repulsed him.

It had angered him to the point he could hardly see straight.

Of all the years Erebos had lived, finding her now was the worst possible time when the realms were falling apart at the seams. He suspected Bastian was up to no good, following an agenda he wasn’t privy to yet, and the last thing he needed to deal with was a mate who would take control of his heart and mind, nothing but a distraction during a time he couldn’t afford it.

He was content being alone.

He had accepted his fate being sequestered to Hell to ensure his protection, and having Alessia here was only a reminder that he couldn’t have her. Not when Hell was the last place she wanted to be.

The hateful barrier Alessia had put up between them was perfect, so Erebos had no problems fueling it, if only to push her further away.

He could pretend it didn’t exist, but last night, he couldn’t stay away.

Not when he could feel the crushing of her heart, the sorrow in her mind, the guilt…

He physically couldn’t keep away from her, and whatever barrier of bricks she had built between them, he knew a couple fell off last night. He felt the wall beginning to crumble.

He’d have to work twice as hard to ensure he replaced those bricks.

“It’s not that awful,” Erebos protested, but even taking a long drag through his nose, he smelled it, too. It was a miracle he had been able to mask it from Alessia last night. It took everything he had.

“I came to find you to let you know that Izara and Alessia have started training in the courtyard.”

“And how is it going?”

Eryx’s mouth quirked to the side. “About as well as expected.” He sniffed the room again, covering his nose with his shirt. “What happened in here last night?”

Absolutely nothing aside from an exchange of words , which was the terrifying part.

“Don’t you have more useful things to do with your time than jest me? Like an army to maintain?”

“Have my abilities ever let you down?” he asked.

“No, but?—”

“Then I will continue jesting in my free time. Shall I expect to see you out in the courtyard? I’ll bring the popcorn.”

Erebos glanced down at his bare chest on full display before running a hand through his ragged curls. “I’ll be there shortly,” he replied.

“Excellent, I’ll save you?—”

Isla bustled into the room, eyes wide with panic when she realized she had barged in on their conversation.

She immediately dipped low into a curtsy, and although he saw her wincing from the scent, she didn’t comment on it.

“Your Majesty,” she whispered breathlessly, staring at her feet. “I did not mean to interrupt.”

“Apology accepted, Isla. Is everything all right?”

She shook her head, still unwilling to meet his gaze. “I was expected to prepare Alessia this morning, but she wasn’t in her chambers. I’ve been searching the castle in the hopes of finding her. I apologize, Your Majesty, but I?—”

“No need to fret. We determined late last night that she would have a training session with Izara in the courtyard. She must have woken Alessia before you had the chance.”

Eryx snorted, knowing Alessia certainly didn’t sleep in her chambers last night.

“That is a relief,” she rushed to say. “Alessia was very pleased with the tunics and pants you provided. You requested me to inform you of her approval.”

“That I did, Isla. Thank you.”

With another low bow, Isla smiled appreciatively, her cheeks turning cherry red as her eyes met with Eryx. The general dipped his chin with dismissal, but his eyes strayed to her curvy figure as she retreated from the room.

“Tunics and pants, hm? Already aiming to please, I see.”

“Careful, Eryx.” Erebos sauntered over to the door and gave a gentle but firm slap to his shoulder. “It won’t be long before it’s me jesting you .”

Eryx bristled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Then try to make it less obvious. I’ll meet you in the courtyard.”

After bathing and changing into fresh clothes, Erebos joined Eryx outside on the benches beside the makeshift fighting ring Izara had created.

Alessia was poised in the center, her hand on her jutting hip, those black waves pulled up and behind her head to frame her face.

Erebos didn’t understand why her attitude made him less upset by the day and more attracted to her than ever.

He’d been told this would happen if he were lucky enough to find his mate, but he didn’t expect it to be this intense.

Despite how wrong it felt, he would fight these feelings for her tooth and nail.

He needed to focus.

Erebos released a deep breath and tried to avoid staring at how tight that tunic was on her body, but when her eyes met his, whatever moment they shared between them last night was all in his head. “ Training? Seriously? I don’t even know how to use the powers! This is pointless!”

He should be thankful that last night was nothing but a farce and the snarky side of Alessia was back, but the disappointment that swelled in his gut was inevitable.

“Because you aren’t trying,” Izara interjected. “We’ve been here for two hours, and you won’t give it a chance. ”

Alessia’s voice lowered. “You don’t understand what happened in the forest that day. I couldn’t…” She inhaled deeply. “I couldn’t control it, okay? And if I bring it out, someone might get hurt.”

“You need to center yourself.” Izara stepped closer to the makeshift ring and closed her eyes, palms facing upward by her sides. Flames sparked along her fingertips until she held two delicately controlled balls of fire. “Feel that spark of power and reign it in. Take control of it.”

“You’re an…arsonist,” Alessia breathed.

“Fire specialist,” Eryx and Erebos piped in, wincing at the word. Izara hated to be called an arsonist.

Izara shot them a grateful look. “It is one of my gifts, yes.”

“ One of them? What else can you do?”

Izara prowled around her with a devilish smile like the little soul seeker she was, brows quirked up in challenge. “Some things I like to keep secret. I suggest you do as you’re told during these training sessions.”

Alessia gulped, and that attitude she sported momentarily vanished, her shoulders slumping slightly. Eryx passed him the popcorn. “How am I supposed to control it if I don’t know what the power feels like?”

“You have to call on it,” Izara said. “The worst thing you can do is be afraid of it. If you are afraid of it, you will never have control.”

“That’s easier said than done when I killed a seraph without a second thought . ”

Eryx choked on a kernel. “She what ?”

Erebos hadn’t been able to get them alone long enough since she arrived yesterday to supply them with the information he had gathered.

There wasn’t much to tell them when Alessia remained a mystery, her past unbeknownst to her.

They would remain clueless about who she truly was without that crucial information.

Izara paused her walking. “And you did not call on your power?”

“No. One second he was coming towards me, and the next…” She shuddered. “He was dead.”

Izara whipped her head to the side with a glare Erebos could read very well by now. It was a look that said, "You have a lot of explaining to do. " He nodded with his hands clasped between his legs, and Alessia gave him a dirty look to match the soul seeker’s.

Why did he think of bringing her to Hell again? Two females with big personalities were going to land him in a mental institution.

“Don’t you two have anything better to do than sit there?” Alessia asked. Erebos couldn’t tell her about the lack of souls. Not yet. His job as of late had been practically effortless, with hardly any souls to manage.

Izara waved them away, ushering them out. “You are distracting her,” she said. “Leave us.” Then she turned to Alessia. “Start stretching. We will begin endurance training. See if that sparks anything.”

Eryx grumbled with his popcorn and stood from the bench, but Erebos remained rooted to it as Alessia did as she was told, bending down to stretch each leg.

Her ass was perfectly round, and Erebos wanted to sink to his knees and worship her, right up against the side of the ring. He didn’t care who saw.

“What is that smell?” Alessia’s brows knitted together. “It’s sweet.”

Eryx chuckled. “That, my dear Alessia, is the sweet, sweet nectar of?—”

Erebos elbowed him in the side, causing him to yelp. “Cherries,” Eryx gasped, clutching his rib. “There are trees nearby.”

Alessia rolled her eyes. “You fail to realize I have Erebos’s power. The red aura around you is very telling. I don’t know why you’re lying about it, but I don’t particularly care. It smells so damn good.”

Erebos practically moaned.

“Go!” Izara shouted. Both hands of hers were placed firmly on her hips.

“You are distracting. Take your barbarian asses inside and leave . ” Swishing her back to them, her braids swung out behind her with a flourish.

“You have to focus, Alessia, if we have any chance at making it through the pits. With you being unable to harness your magic, it leaves me to defend us should we find ourselves at the mouth of a beast, and my flames won’t protect all of us.

Do you want to learn about your powers? Find your mother?

We have to accomplish this first, and we don’t have a chance at that until you put in a thing called effort. ”

Alessia muttered something under her breath, but she listened to the soul seeker, resuming stretching and shifting her focus away from Erebos.

“Too much estrogen,” Eryx said. “Shall we get started on the route?”

Erebos’s gaze lingered back to Alessia, that pull inside of him begging to remain with her, but he knew he couldn’t. He shouldn’t. As much as he didn’t want to, he had to separate before the connection overpowered him completely.

He could already feel himself changing. Alessia wasn’t even doing anything, yet all of those years of pain Erebos had experienced, all of those walls he had built around himself…

The foundation was crumbling. Alessia was on the other side with a sledgehammer, and with one swing from her, he’d be a goner.

He was vulnerable with her.

Weak.

He despised it.

“Come on, Romeo.” Eryx, deciding for him, grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt to drag him away.