Page 74 of Burn for the Devil
Julian tilted his head, examining me. Noticing movement in the background, I watched the air change. Ramone placed hisfeet on the floor. His eyes looked black from where I was, and I tried not to react at the sight.
“You remind me of Ramone’s dead wife. Slightly. You may have a piece of her inside you? I shall check.” Julian dipped his head to my neck, and I bent trying to stave off the contact. He snickered and darted for the other side, trailing a sticky tongue along the length. His hair smelled like rotten eggs, despite its luxurious appearance. “Nope. You’re an NPC. Non player character. Useless background waste of our time.”
A shadow fell over the two of us when Ramone reached Julian. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Julian said, warning his son. He didn’t turn around. “My wraiths know what to do. You weren’t born yesterday.” He let out another one of his horrendous laughs.
The beings I now knew as wraiths increased their grip and moved their heads alongside my own, strands of hair brushing my cheeks. I shivered at the contact. Lifting my eyes to Ramone, I waited.
“You do this, you lose both your birthright and the woman you love. The connection between the two of you is sickening. You know very well you can’t kill me, I’ll just come back. I really like my body this time too.”
The man laughed as his face changed. He lost the handsome appearance he’d arrived with and changed into something similar to his goons, only more human in appearance. His eyes weren’t as bulbous and contained more color. It was at this moment that I lost any shade of doubt I’d had over Ramone’s claims to be the devil; there was no other explanation for this father and son.
“I’ve gifted you the opportunity today to redeem yourself and you continue to fail to follow through. This is your last chance, son. Kill her and bring me a source or I will kill you after forcing you to watch me eat her, piece by piece.”
Ramone glanced at me, his eyes flickering back to green for a fraction of a second. He appeared thoughtful before sending me a small smirk and shooting forward. The wraiths curled their steel-like nails into my upper arms and Julian fell on his face, a blade sticking out of his back. Blood bubbled around the entrance wound, the consistency thick and unlike anything I’d ever seen. My head hit the floor when I was released without warning and Ramone grabbed me.
A door slammed open just as I stood up, aided by the man at my side. “Great timing,” Ramone snarled. “We’re leaving.”
“What happened? I’ve been trying to get to you,” I heard Ilya’s voice from the other side of the room.
Ramone pulled me against him. “I have to heal those wounds as soon as possible,” he said to me, running a finger around the punctures in my arm. “We don’t have time for that,” He answered his friend quickly and took my wrists, circling them and holding them between us.
Ilya’s footsteps sounded across the marble flooring and Ramone tightened his hold on me. I peeked over at Julian and saw the blood running down his side and across the floor, small bubbles simmering and popping. “Wait, Ramone.” Ilya said, his voice fading away.
Stumbling over my feet, I grabbed Ramones forearms and looked around. We were suddenly in somebody’s house surrounded by dusty furniture and a breeze was blowing in through an open window. When I glanced at it, we were plunged into darkness. “We’re at that place, aren’t we? Where that castle is.”
“We are,” he replied. He flicked his hand and a fireplace lit up with flames across from us and wall sconces turned on. “Sit down, I need to take care of these.”
Lowering himself beside me on a couch, he took my arm in his hand. “What will happen?” I shook my head, disoriented. “I mean, if you leave it.”
“There could be poison, or a curse. You never know with Julian.” He traced a finger around the red, open wound. The lesion looked like what I imagined a gunshot injury would, but it didn’t feel as painful as what I’d expect that would be like. “Hold still.”
“Sorry. It does hurt a bit.”
Ramone reached over to a side table and grabbed a small wooden box, pulling various items from its depths. He held a small piece of cloth to my arm as he squeezed my skin, causing me to suck in a harsh breath.
“I heard what your dad said,” I started. Ramone’s hand hesitated for a second before he leaned in to get a closer look at the small gash in my flesh. “I’m sorry you lost your birthright. I’ll leave if you want, I don’t want to get in your way. I’ll just go.”
His fingers dug into me. “You’re not going anywhere. If we can’t reign on that earth, you’ll reign by my side here. I’ll throw you in a fucking dungeon. I’ll chain you to my bed. Don’t ever threaten to leave me because the last thing I’ll do is let you go.”
“Ramone...” I sighed and glanced at my arm. There didn’t seem to be anything going on with the injury other than torn skin and blood.
“Don't argue with me, it's pointless." He looked at me, his green eyes glowing and full of confidence I wouldn’t be going anywhere. "Oddly, it appears to be merely a superficial wound. I’ll check your other arm.”
He treated both wounds with a salve from a small jar and immediately any pain I’d been experiencing began to fall away and heal. “Can we talk about this ‘birthright’ thing? What did he mean?” I asked while he put the jar back in the wooden box.
“Well, technically, you’re not in love with the devil anymore. I’ve been downgraded to a mere demon god.” Ramone stood up and started walking around the room. “I was to take his position when he retired or was extinguished—went back to spirit form.”
Downgraded. Didn’t sound like much of a demotion to me if he was a god. “Is that disappointing to you?”
He shook his head. “Not particularly, not anymore. I am quite fond of my life and can do without the added responsibility. The additional magic would’ve been a benefit, but I will figure something out.”
I stood up. “So, what now? We wait? When are we going back? I have to work tomorrow.”
Ramone grinned before he laughed. “We’re not going back. Didn’t you hear what Julian said?”
Horror washed over me before anger clouded my thoughts. “I can’t stay here! Are you crazy?” I rushed up to him, but he caught my wrist when I went to slap him. “You can’t do this to me again, please.” I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. Why would he imprison me all over again? He said he liked his life but he sure as hell didn’t seem to care if I enjoyed my own.
He lowered my arm and dragged me closer, wrapping his arms around me as a tear drifted down my cheek. “Samantha, you heard him. We can’t go back. He’d kill you first chance he got. I wish I could tell you differently and maybe one day I will but right now, we’re both stuck here.”