Page 23 of The Bell’s Toll (Wanderlust Emporium Presents, Season One)

chapter fifteen

Raziel

I pace back and forth in my office. My fury has not dissipated. The darkness still hasn’t settled. It floats around me like steam from a geyser.

A fucking drudge tried to kill Nasiah. Drudges are not allowed in this realm. They are level five demons. They are mindless killing machines with an appetite for flesh. How the fuck did a drudge get into my district? I know damn well it didn’t come through one of my portals.

A waver in the void lets me know someone was about to enter my home office. And it had to be someone I trusted, because the void into my home is protected. Only people I know and have approved can enter my domicile.

Conah appears in my office. Erazel steps out of the void right behind him. I turn to glare at him.

“I know you’re pissed, but listen to him,” Conah suggests.

Erazel looks away nervously. “I remained right by her side the entire day, never leaving my spot. I sensed the drudge before it made itself known—”

“Then where the fuck were you when it tried to kill her?”

“Trapped,” Conah answers for him. “Someone locked the void. He couldn’t get through.”

My eyes widen. The darkness ripples under my skin like an infestation. My true form fights to come out.

“I fought against that void for fifteen minutes. Hearing her call my name.....” Erazel pauses and shakes his head. “I wouldn’t have left her like that.”

Part of me knew Erazel wouldn’t abandon his post. He has been with me since I crossed the portals to take this job, but I’m at the point of not trusting anyone.

“I found him and Khiva working through the spell that blocked him,” Conah clears up what would have been my next question.

“That means this wasn’t a random attack. Someone purposely put that drudge outside her shop. They wanted it to go after her.”

Conah rubs the back of his head.

“What? What are you thinking?” I question.

He looks at Erazel and then back over to me. “Era noticed something. And I did too.”

The way his gaze kept flickering down led me to believe that whatever he noticed I would not like.

“What is it?”

“On the corner of the lot, there was a Chinese restaurant,” Erazel says. “Five people were inside that place. The drudge never even looked in that direction.”

I rub my chin. Drudges are like bloodhounds when it comes to flesh. They will always chase after the strongest scent. And a gathering of people will always have a stronger scent. If there were more humans in the restaurant, a normal drudge would have gone for them and not a single female.

“That isn’t all,” Conah goes on to say. “When you had him in your arms, crushing him. He never tried to fight you. His focus was solely on Nasiah. Not once did he snap at you. That’s not normal.”

I think back to the incident. I was so pissed I didn’t pay attention to the drudges’ actions when I had him. But now I realize he didn’t fight me. He didn’t attack as a drudge normally would.

I didn’t respond to either man. I quickly opened a passage through the void and traveled into the bedroom. Nasiah walks out of the bathroom as I arrive, a towel wrapped around her.

“You scared me.” She clutches a hand to her breasts.

I storm over to her, grab her arm and flip it over. My heart knocks against my chest, my world spins, and my wings spring from my back. Her gasp of horror doesn’t phase me as I stare down at the mark on her arm.

I want to roar. I want to dismantle all of humankind. But I contain myself. Someone has put a death mark on Nasiah.

She finally recognizes what I’m looking at.

“What the hell?” She runs her thumb over the mark as if she’s hoping it wipes off. If only it were that simple.

“What is this?” Those brown eyes look at me with so much concern and fear.

I don’t even know how to respond to her. Telling her that she is in danger and until we find who placed the mark, she will never know peace seems like a bad idea. But lying to her keeps her in danger.

“I need you to sit,” I say, licking my lips and drawing my wings back into my back.

I guide her over to the bed. Seeing her in a towel with the dew of a fresh shower coating her skin would usually have my cock so hard it would be painful, but not even her nakedness can distract me from the danger she’s in.

“You’re scaring me,” she says once she takes her seat.

I swallow the knot in my throat. “I need you to listen to me. There are laws that prevent us from killing humans. We can possess them, beat the shit out of them, and even fuck them, but none of us are allowed to kill a human without a damn good reason.”

“What does that have to do with this mark?”

She wanted me to get to the point. I can respect that, but I needed her to know everything. Or maybe I’m just stalling. I run my hand through my hair.

“I’m getting to it, Baby. You see, as with everything, there are loopholes in our rules. We can’t just kill a human, but we can if we’re asked to by another human.”

Her gaze narrows. Nasiah is a very smart woman. I can tell by the way she’s staring at me she’s putting it together.

“Someone wants me dead?” she asks.

I nod. “Someone has put a death mark on you, granting demons, forsaken, and fallen a chance to kill you. It’s like having a bounty on your head. And they won’t stop until we find out either who ordered the mark or who placed it.”

Only a human can order a mark, but only one of us can place the fucking thing. Which means I need to find both of them.

“What am I going to do?” her voice cracks. “That thing almost killed me. I can’t....”

I grab her face and make her look at me. “You think I’m going to let them hurt you after finally having you?”

She tries to look away. I turn her head right back to me.

“Answer me,” I demand.

“This is new. And you barely even—”

“The answer is no, Nasiah.” I was slightly pissed that she still didn’t understand how this fucking bond was working. I wasn’t letting her go. I don’t care who was coming after her. She was mine to protect.

“I’m scared, Razzy.” Her words are so low they’re almost whispered.

Look, I won’t act as if this shit is going to be easy.

With as many enemies as I have, there is no telling who placed the mark.

Hell, I don’t even know what human could have made the request. I know my first visit will be to her sister.

If I find the mark on her, I promise you, that bitch will wish she’d never squirted from her daddy’s nut sacks.

“Come here,” I say, pulling her off the bed and into my arms.

She steps into my embrace, placing her arms around my waist and burying her face in my chest. I don’t think his woman grasps the lengths I will go to and what I will do to keep her protected. It’s probably a good thing she doesn’t know, it would only scare her.

I lift her chin with my finger. The way those gorgeous brown eyes look up at me with so much fear and trust, has my chest hurting.

When she glances at my lips, then back to my eyes, I already know what she wants.

I can taste her desire on my tongue. Her essence permeates the air.

I wasted no time connecting my lips to hers.

Wrapping my hand in her hair and tugging her head back, I suck her lips into my mouth then angle her head so that I can take the kiss to the next level.

She whimpers when I suck on her tongue. The sound of her moan sends a fire through me. I step back and snatch her towel off with a growl. Her body is pure perfection. Those thick thighs, wide hips, soft belly, and full breasts have me ready to explode every time.

I pull her head back further, exposing her neck. Running my tongue up her chin to the corner of her mouth, I stick it inside to tangle with hers.

She fumbles with my belt, trying to free me. Releasing her lips, I step back and flip her around. Her back now against my chest. She grinds her ass against my cock like we’re dancing. She’s teasing me, but she has no idea my darkness is here, and teasing him isn’t a good idea.

I growl as I shove her forward, placing her chest against the mattress. Her ass is poking out. I bring my hand down hard against the flesh. She cries out as it jiggles.

“Spread those legs, Beauty.” My voice is darker and deeper than usual.

Nasiah immediately obeys my command. Widening her stance, she opens herself up to me. Seeing that pretty pink pussy gap open has my mouth watering. She’s so ready for me; her thighs glisten with her wetness.

I drop to my knees behind her, running my tongue up her thigh, cleaning off her essence, to the crease where her legs connect to her pelvis. I lick all her dew off her skin. It’s mine, and I won’t waste any of it.

She moves her hips trying to get my tongue where she wants it. I’ve licked everywhere but at the source of her wetness.

I smack her ass again, loving the way it warms under my touch.

“Please,” she moans.

Hearing her beg for me makes me primal. I want her to cry out, to scream for me to stop. I want her ass so tender the next day from my hand she can’t sit.

I bring my open palm down onto her ass. The sound of my hand hitting wet flesh caused my cock to jump. She flinches, pulling away from me. I smile as her cheek turns bright red.

“I want you to feel me everywhere,” I snarl, spreading her ass apart. I admire that little star, so tight and untouched. Filling my mouth with saliva, I spit it between her ass cheeks and watch as it drips down to her rosette. Using my thumb, I press my spit into her tight hole.

“What are you doing?” She lifts from the bed and looks at me. I smack her ass so hard she cries out.

“Turn back around and put your hands on that bed.”

“Razzy, no. I’ve never been touched there.”

Shooting to my feet, I grab the back of her neck and lift her body off the bed. I bring her up to me.

“Do you think I would hurt you? You own my fucking soul, Nasiah. Do you think I would do anything to harm you?”

“No,” she answers quickly.