Page 36
No one dared to say anything, they just kept watching, taking steps back and moving a safe distance away from my wrath, but I didn’t care.
I put my hands on either side of her, leaning close to her face.
“Careful Reaper,” I muttered, “I have less control of myself around you. I might do something you’ll regret wanting. ”
“But will you regret it?” she asked, amused and excited.
“I don’t feel remorse,” I reminded her.
Her eyes went down to my lips and back up to my eyes, knowing exactly what she was doing. “Then, what are you waiting for? Do it.”
I smirked at the challenge. “You think I won’t? ”
She leaned towards me and whispered, “prove me wrong.” Her lips were so close to mine and I was tempted to close the gap between us, but I also wanted to stab her in the face for humiliating me like that.
“Hey, man.” Someone came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t thin–”
I didn’t hesitate to take my knife out and stab him in the stomach. He wouldn’t die, but I was too heated and pissed off to give him a less painful warning. Celestine was the only person in the room who laughed, everyone else gasped or screamed. She’s as psychotic as I am.
I turned back to Celestine and lifted the bloody knife between us. She grazed her tongue up one side of the blade and I did the other, like we were sharing a lollipop. Our tongue’s never touched. If they did, it would be the end for me. I felt the room shift uncomfortably at our sick intimacy.
When we both reached the tip, I took the knife and stabbed it into the wood right between her thighs. She didn’t even flinch. “If you piss me off anymore, I’m going to put it through you.” I used my thumb to wipe off the bit of blood at the edge of her lips. “Yeah?”
She nodded, unable to help her smile. “Yeah.”
“Good girl.” I yanked the knife out of the bar and shoved it back into my pocket.
Niko took that as his opportunity to get in between us and I took a step back from her. The bar resumed their chatter and I’m certain they were talking about us. “It's late and I doubt Cinth has given you any food.”
“She didn’t want to bloody eat,” I grouched, but was completely ignored.
“Would you like to join us at home for dinner?”
“No,” I objected. “I need to cool off.” And Celestine made me heated in too many ways, but I was once again ignored .
“I’m not sure,” she muttered, hopping off the bar.
“I make a mean steak.”
“Steak?” Her eyes lit up, completely changing demeanour.
He nodded with a smile, knowing he had reeled her in. “Come join us, it’s the least I could do for you to have to put up with Cinth.”
It is quite literally the other way around.
She covered her mouth as she laughed, gracefully. “That would be really nice. Thank you.”
I cursed and Niko shot me a glare, so I let out a sigh of defeat.
Niko went out first and I noticed Celestine had stopped.
I turned around, but her back was facing me.
Did she forget something ? The air shifted, but I couldn’t exactly describe the feeling of it.
Almost like we were slowly going into a dream, but I seemed to be the only one who knew it wasn't real.
Everyone hushed and stared at her with wide eyes.
“I wasn’t here,” she whispered.
Celestine turned back to me, meeting my eyes, but she didn’t say anything. I looked back at the crowd, they all looked like they were in a daze. Just as she disappeared out the door, the entire room went back to what they were doing, as if nothing had happened.
“You don’t know do you?” Grey walked up to me.
I furrowed my brows. “What?”
“What she just did,” he said. “I knew she was going to be powerful, but I didn’t realise…” he paused and met my eyes. “Do you know?”
“Know what, Grey?” I growled, my patience thin.
He chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re going to love it.” And with that he walked towards the bar, ordering another drink. I didn’t want to be forced to talk any more with grotesque, grinning, ghastly, gargoyle Grey so I didn't bother getting it out of him.
Of course I knew, though I had my doubts, there were a lot of signs that confirmed it.
Celestine was a Demon. I just couldn’t believe she was able to do things at her age.
I was already shocked that her powers developed so early, they don't start until they turn twenty. So why did hers come so soon?
There's a reason why I stay away from Bernadette, I don't want her penetrating my mind and I'm a bit surprised Celestine hasn't used it on me—not to my knowledge at least. Though rumour says even Bernadette could hardly control others, let alone alter the memory of an entire bar and she's already past twenty-five, so she wouldn't get any stronger.
The last time a female Demon was this powerful was over a millennium ago.
I wasn't sure who Celestine’s father was.
None of the living Demons could create someone so powerful, maybe Ender, but he’s only ever had Finlay, and he died in the Reckoning.
I would know if Ender had another. Was there another Demon who survived the Reckoning I didn’t know about?
Finally, I went through the doors.
“I parked the car nearby,” Niko announced when I finally caught up to them and we followed him to it.
I sat in the passenger seat of the car while Celestine was in the back.
“Did you learn a lot?” Niko glanced at her from the rearview mirror.
She sighed. “Cinth sucks at teaching.”
I scoffed. “Maybe you’re just a bad student.”
“All you do is say ‘you’re in my way’ and cackle.”
Niko burst into laughter. “Yeah, that sounds like him.”
We came to a stop light and Celestine leaned forward in her seat, meeting Niko’s eyes as he turned to face her. “Would you mentor me?”
Niko froze for a good moment, completely struck by her .
Car horns sounded behind us. “Niko,” I snapped him out of his trance, and he turned to face the front, stepping on the throttle. Celestine sat back in her seat again, waiting for his answer, but she already knew she had him wrapped around her finger.
I wondered if she uses her powers on Silias.
Niko cleared his throat. “Cinth is far better than I am,” he admitted. “But you and I can train together if you want, only if that’s okay with Cinth,” he teased me.
“Do whatever you want, I need a break from her,” I muttered, looking out the window.
“I’ll train you, Celestine.” And they set a day to do it without me.
I glanced back at Celestine from the corner of my eyes. I’ve never seen her look so genuinely relaxed before and among the two deadliest people in all of Soulesity. If someone decided to crash this car to kill us, Soulesity would be significantly safer.
“I need to stop for fuel,” Niko announced, turning into a station. “Don’t…” he paused, “don’t kill each other.” Then, he stepped out of the car.
Celestine crawled to the front and into my lap. What is she doing? “I’m stealing Niko from you, are you going to hate me?”
Bless these windows, fully tinted, so Niko couldn’t see this.
“I already hate you.” I avoided her gaze.
She took my hand in hers. “I hate you more.”
“Don’t touch me,” I muttered, but I didn’t pull my hand away.
Celestine ignored me and played with my rings, spinning them around my fingers. She really wasn’t afraid of me. Is she afraid of anything other than bugs and being abandoned? “Did I do well today?” she asked me in a low voice.
I turned to her, but she kept her eyes focused on my hand. “Yeah.”
“I’m sorry.” She spun the rings faster. “For punching you and stuff.”
I didn’t reply .
“I’m sorry,” she said again, pulling my hand closer to her chest and I could feel her heart pounding, “I’m really, really sorry.” Although she pissed me off, I wasn’t going to stop training her over it.
“Drop it,” I told her. “I should’ve stopped him from even talking to you, but don’t ever test me in front of other people again.” If she must do so, she better do it in private.
Celestine nodded and played with my rings again. “Grey was kind of scary,” she admitted in a whisper. “Because he wasn’t scared of you.”
“He’s more annoying than anything,” I muttered, hating myself for not stepping in earlier.
“I will be really offended if you’re actually scared of that guy and not me.
” Though, he was a Demon, so if she was afraid, it wouldn’t be too insulting.
No, it would still be insulting because it's bloody Grey.
She turned up to meet my eyes. “You don’t do anything more than kill people, right?”
“If your asking about my limits, yeah, I keep to torture and murder of adults or people my age. I also don’t hurt animals.”
“Do I need to make limits too?”
Does she not have any?
“If you want, it keeps me human.”
“Are you not human?”
I turned to look out the window and muttered. “I’m sure you have your own theory.”
“I hope you’re not.”
That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that. People either tell me I’m not to ease their own fear or reassure me that I am, and it makes me feel pitied, but they don’t understand that I can’t change, and I don’t want to change. I like how I am.
I locked eyes with her. “Why?”
“Selfish reasons. ”
Bloody hell.
“Why do you try so hard to be the best?”
Her eyes bored into me as if she already knew the answer, but wondered if I knew and the thing is, I didn't know. I didn't know why I had this intense urge, this intense need to be the most powerful person in the Underworld, to control it.
“Power hungry,” I finally replied. Though, if I'm honest, I feel as if there's a stronger reason, something I've been forced to forget, something that happened in the memories I lost.
Her lip twitched. An answer that was wrong to her. “Power hungry,” she repeated with a bit of a laugh.
“You're probably the same, aren't you?”
“I only crave two things,” she whispered, “and it's not power.”
“What is it you want, then?”
“Chaos and calm.”
“Those are two complete opposites.”
Table of Contents
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- Page 36 (Reading here)
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