Page 8 of The Bell’s Toll (Wanderlust Emporium Presents, Season One)

chapter Four

Raziel

“ Please, Raziel. We were going to pay it back.”

I glare down at the three level two demons kneeling before me. I employ many demons and forsaken in my casinos and clubs. While not as anti-human as Khalid, I still prefer to work with my kind. Usually, I’m a bit more lenient when my workers fuck up, but today I’m not in the mood.

“You think I care about a measly two hundred thousand dollars?” I snarl down at the three. “I can make that money back in the blink of an eye. However, you dumb muthafuckers, broke my trust. I gave you a job on this realm where others wouldn’t, and you steal from me?”

All three whimper. I run my hand through my hair.

“You’re fired.” I say.

They all look at each other and hang their heads.

“We understand.”

“No,” I chuckle. “I don’t think you do.”

Reaching into the dimension between the realms we call the void, I pull my scythe out. The moment they see the weapon, they panic. I slice the blade of the scythe at their knees, opening a gateway to the underworld. The smell of sulfur and the sound of screams greet my ears.

“Enjoy your trip back home,” I snarl as Conah kicks all three demons into the opening. The moment they are through the gateway, I seal it closed. Using my power, I place the scythe back into the void.

Every domini gets a scythe, or key to the underworld. The only person who can open a gateway to the underworld without a key is Khalid.

Unina chuckles as she places a folder down on my desk.

“Your mood has been sour for the last three days. I’m guessing the honeymoon phase isn’t what you thought it would be.”

I cut my eyes at her. She tosses up her hands.

“Damn, tough crowd.”

Conah chuckles. I take a seat behind my desk. It isn’t like I thought getting Nasiah would immediately mean she would comply. I also didn’t think this desire to have her and be near her would be so strong.

I understood what a mate-bond was. I was in one once before, but I thought the person who actually made the bond and was more powerful had more control over this shit. Having Nasiah in the same house as me has been like having the door into heaven wide open but being paralyzed and unable to enter.

“She still not talking to you?” Conah asks, taking a seat in the chair across from my desk.

“No,” I say, leaning back. “I thought this would be a lot easier. I’m sure if we just fuck everything will be fine.”

Conah looks at Unina, and they both laugh.

“If you two shits aren’t going to be helpful, you can leave.”

“Sorry, Boss,” Unina says, wiping the laughter from her face. “How do you plan to get a woman that hates your guts, to allow you to touch her?”

I think this over for a moment before shrugging. “I’ll go into that room and demand she give me what I want.”

This time Conah and Unina burst out laughing.

“Wait, you think you’re going in there and demand that she fucks you and she’s just going to do it?” Conah asks. “You have to be kidding.”

“Seriously, Boss. You act as if you’ve never met a woman before. We’re going to always do the opposite of what you tell us to do. If you want to win over your human, you need to show her kindness. Treat her like you appreciate her. At the least, not try to solve your problems with your dick.”

“First of all, my dick has been the answer to many women’s problems. And second, I’ve tried to be kind. She won’t fucking talk to me.”

When I first thought about doing a mate-bond, it was for my benefit. It had shit to do with falling in love. I needed a bond to keep my past from creeping back up on me. However, the more time has passed, the more obsessed I’ve become with my human.

“Don’t listen to Unina,” Conah says, waving her off.

“If you want Ms. Boss to bend it over for you, you just have to make her realize how much she wants you to fuck her. Women always want to act as if they don’t want sex, but if you let her know it’s okay to desire you, she’ll let you do what you want. ”

I look at both of them. “Neither of you assholes are in a relationship, why the hell would I take advice from you?” Shaking my head, I lean forward in my seat. “Any updates on that contract for the new casino?” I ask Conah, getting back to business.

Even though I wanted nothing more in the world than to get Nasiah to desire me as much as I desire her, I still had a fucking job to do.

Before Conah can answer, Unina’s phone rings.

When I set up my inner circle, I wanted only people I knew and trusted around me.

This is my family. Conah, is a forsaken.

He was lower ranked than me, but he was still once an angel.

Erazel, Hamon, and Unina are all level one demons.

Despite what people think, demons aren’t inherently bad.

Just like humans aren’t inherently good.

Some of those muthafuckers could give a demon a run for their money.

It’s why I don’t like dealing with them often.

That thought brings my little mate to mind. Thinking of her brown skin, thick thighs, and full lips has me hard enough to hammer a hole into the fucking earth.

“What?” Unina’s shout causes me to tune back into her conversation. Her dark blue eyes widen as she looks at me. She hangs up her phone and swallows nervously.

“We have a problem at portal four.”

I stand, not even waiting for her to explain what’s going on. I slip into the void. We use the void like a backdoor through the human realm. It allows us to get from one location to another clear across the country in seconds. It’s another perk of being a forsaken.

When I step out of the void and back into the human realm, Conah shows up right beside me. Next, Haman and Unina join us.

Portals are like airports; they're how the demons and forsaken without the ability to walk through the void travel. It’s also how the ones that live in the underworld get to come up to the human realm. As a domini, controlling and maintaining portals is my primary job.

Looking at the way this portal is wavering tells me something is wrong. A few level one demons are freaking out as they stand in line.

“Dominus Raziel,” one demon calls out. “What’s going on? I need to get back today. I have a meeting to get to.” The demon looks panicked.

“Did you not see I just fucking got here? Give me time to figure the shit out,” I snarl. I turn to Unina. “Get Khiva here. Now!” I bark, asking for the druid I used to maintain the maintenance of my portals.

“On it,” she steps away as she makes the call.

Walking over to the portal, I take it in.

When a portal works perfectly, you can’t see it.

All my portals are in the basements of my clubs and casinos.

The room is set up like an actual gate at an airport.

You have several gate workers in the room at all times.

One person works the oncoming traffic and one works the exiting traffic.

The portals themselves are anchored to the back wall and are camouflaged with graffiti. Right now, the graffiti on this wall looks as if someone tossed paint solvent on it and the words are melting.

Placing a hand against the melting colors, the heat from the portal singe my fingers. Although I can feel the power of the portal, the wall is solid brick.

“What the fuck?” I ask out loud.

“What are you thinking?” Conah asks beside me.

“I’ve never had one of my portals go down. I’ve been running this territory for centuries, and this has never happened.”

“You think someone is fucking with you?”

I turn to Conah. His dark brown eyes narrow as he scans the basement.

I follow his lead, taking in all the faces. My workers look confused and terrified. The passengers in the lines look more annoyed than anything.

“Right now, my concern is getting this portal up and working again. As of right now, I’m going to chalk this up to a faulty portal until I know otherwise.”

Conah nods. “I’ll go ask the workers what happened.”

I dip my chin, giving him the go ahead.

Unina comes back over to me just as the void opens in front of me. I can sense Khiva before she steps out.

Her gaze rakes over the wall behind me.

“Can you fix it?” I ask immediately.

“Yeah, give me about twenty minutes.”

I give her permission to get to work. Going over to the crowd of passengers, I give them my full attention.

“My apologies for the inconvenience. My druid will have the portal up and running soon. For those of you who have the time to wait, go upstairs and partake in some of the entertainment and nourishment from the club. Drinks are on me.”

A few passengers cheer as they step out of line and head up the stairs to the main part of the club.

“For all others, Hamon will escort you through the void to one of the other portals.”

I turn to Hamon. “Let the workers know that these people have priority.” He nods his head.

Waving my hand through the air, I cut a line into the human realm, giving access to the void.

Hamon directs those who need to get to the underworld through the openings.

As soon as the last passenger steps through the void, Hamon follows. I close the opening.

“I’ve already sent out a message to the gate workers to let them know to allow these passengers to the front of the line,” Unina says.

Dipping my chin at her, I put my focus on Khiva.

“How’s it looking?”

Already, some of the graffiti has been restored.

“I’ll have it back up in no time.”

“Any idea what happened to it?”

She looks over at me, her hands pausing in the air.

“Not sure if it was an accident, but one of the ruins was smudged. Any powerful druid could have come through and accidentally smudged it, or maybe a level one demon carrying a magical object could have done it. I don’t have enough evidence to suggest it was intentional. ”

I’m going to go with the theory that this was an accident because I know no one is stupid enough to fuck up my shit on purpose.

“Can we figure out a way to make sure this doesn’t happen again?”

She grins. “Of course. In fact, when I’m done here, I’ll go by the other gates and reinforce them.”

“That’s my girl,” I grin. “When you’re done, come by my main office at the casino and Unina will pay you for your services.”

She winks at me. I go back over to Unina and Conah.

“Looks like an accident. Unina cut a check to Khiva for fifty grand. And….” Before I could say anything else, my mental connection with Era crackled.

I hold up a hand to the other two before answering him.

“What’s up, E?”

I left Erazel at home to watch over Nasiah.

“Umm, Boss. She’s refusing to eat. She hasn’t had any food since yesterday.”

Scrubbing a hand down my face, I groan. This fucking human. Part of me wants to tell him to let her ass starve, but this annoying part deep inside me knows I won’t let that happen.

“Fuck.” I snarl. “On my way.”

Turning back to Unina and Conah I say, “I have to handle some business. Make sure the gate gets opened. And Unina, don’t forget to pay Khiva.”

They both nod their heads.

“Go take care of our future Lady Domini,” Conah smirks.

Unina laughs. I roll my eyes as I step into the void heading to my misbehaving mate.