“What were you so afraid of?”
“I was so afraid that I would lose my business and I wouldn’t be able to keep up with our lifestyle. I wanted my wife and kids to be comfortable. I don’t… I don’t want to look like a failure in their eyes. I’m the provider! Me!”
“That’s a lot of burden on your shoulders.”
“Then I ran into my ex at the bar. I was so damned drunk… and she offered to drive me back home. I told her to drive me to my office instead and… my wife was there. She thought I had an affair. I tried to explain, but she wouldn’t listen! She took my kids. My kids! She wouldn’t listen at all! I didn’t have an affair! I didn’t cheat! We’ve been married for nine years and she doesn’t believe a word I say. My business… my family… everything I’ve worked so hard to build… to nurture…gone!”
“Did you try to explain to her again?”
He slammed his fists on the table and knocked over the wine glass. The restaurant patron’s eyes were on them, but very briefly. “I did, but she told me to go kill myself! So,” he took in another deep breath. “That’s what I’m going to do.”
“Is this some sort of revenge plot?”
“No!” He snapped. “Why would you say that?”
“Do you want her feeling guilty over this for the rest of her life? You killed yourself because she told you to? Do you want your kids to see your wife as a murderer?”
“No!” He shook his head. “No! No!”
“Calm down a bit,” she patted his hand.
“I don’t want to hurt her! I never wanted to hurt her! I tried so hard to earn money, so she could spend it. I wanted her to be happy more than anything else. I would never hurt her like…” he suddenly abandoned his sentence. His gazed became fixed on the door. “There she is…”
“Who…?”
“My wife,” he replied. “She likes to dine here around this time.”
“You came here because you want to see her for one last time?”
He gave her a tight nod.
“You have nothing to lose right?”
He nodded again.
“Pretend to kiss me.”
“What?”
“I said pretend!”
“But that would…”
Amara swiftly seated herself on his lap in an angle that appeared as if she was kissing him passionately. She wiggled around a little to make it look convincing.
“Adam!” His wife shrieked his name as she made her way through the restaurant.
The man shoved her back. “Dear, this is not what it looks like!” He looked to Amara. “Tell her!”
“Adam, you lied to me!” His wife slapped him across the face.
“Who is this woman?” Amara clung onto his arm. “Why is she such a bitch?”
“I don’t know her, I swear!” The man said to his wife.
“Of all the slimy, indecent…”
“Claire, listen to me!” He grabbed his wife firmly by her shoulders. “Why can’t you trust me? Why won’t you listen to anything I say?”
“Claire…?” Amara shrieked and pointed. “She is Claire?” She turned to the wife. “You are Claire?”
“What about it?” His wife asked, barely masking the anger in her voice.
“You…! You used me!” Amara shouted at the man.
“What?” He stared back at her, dumbfounded.
“You are the lowest of the low! When you said that your business was failing, I comforted you… and all that came out of your lips were, what am I going to tell my wife?”
The man was staring at her as if he was about to commit murder.
“You asshole…!” Amara gave him another insult. “You were pathetic! Even when we made love, you cried out ‘Claire! Claire!’ as if you were worshiping her! I was about to forgive that, but now you are trying to deny our relationship… because you don’t want to hurt her? My god… you used me to forget about her! No, you were pretending that I was her!” She pointed a finger at his wife. “You’ve loved her all along! You never stop loving her! You disgust me!”
Amara grabbed the remaining wine glass on the table and splashed it in his face.
His wife gasped at the revelation. She stared at him, half in tears. She hurriedly grabbed the napkin and helped him wipe the wine from his face.
“Darling, are you alright?”
The man stared at her in confusion, and then he understood. His eyes softened, as if he wanted to show his gratitude.
“The next time you are stressed out or depressed, go to your wife! That’s what she’s there for! I hope I never see you again!” Amara faked a sob and then ran out of the restaurant.
Well done, Amara. Well done.
Reaching the parking garage, she discovered that her car was gone. She heard some loud commotions on the streets and stared down from the garage’s balcony with a sense of dread. Her car was upside down and indented on the road. Someone threw her car off the balcony… at this height?
“I just finished paying for that!” She cried out.
She turned around so that she could run for the stairs, but she slammed into a wall of flesh. She knew who it was. He caught her in one of those romantic tango positions before she fell backward.
“We meet again, mortal.”
“Yeah…” She remembered what happened in the bathroom. “I shouldn’t have been so careless. So how have you been, your eminence? You’re going to pay for my car, right?”
“If anyone is doing any paying around here… it will be you.”
“Is that a hard no or soft no?”
“I must compliment you on your brilliant performance in there. It reminded me of how much I underestimated you.”
She flushed. “Aw, you saw that?”
“Do you do this often?”
“It’s my job.”
His thumb reached for her lower lip, smoothing it. “Two - two.”
Three - two. I am still ahead.
She smiled up at him. “So, did you get laid?”
“Thoroughly,” he said with a slow curl of his tongue.
“Do you still find me attractive?” She asked curiously. She backed off and stared down at the bulge in his pants.
His explanation, “I am very virile.”
She laughed out loud. “You are hysterical! You threw my car down from the third floor garage and I’m still in the mood to laugh my ass off. As soon as I calm down, I will call the insurance company and tell them… a really, really strong wind blew it off a car garage. Will they believe it? No way in Hell. It doesn’t matter. They’ll send me a new car, because I pay a cut-throat premium every single month.”
“Are you mumbling nonsense again, mortal?”
She frowned. “Are we doing the kidnapping thing again?”
“I cannot wait to show you what I have in store for you,” he said in a low and dangerous voice. “I guarantee you will not like it.”
He reached for her and tightened his grip on her shoulder. The scenery around them melted into a dark, spider webbed dungeon. She flinched when she saw that the chamber was filled with medieval torture devices.
She whimpered.
“Look here,” he tapped on a weird looking contraption. Her knees buckled. Her breathing became labored. “You humans have already thought of everything.”
“Are you really going to use those things on me?” She backed against the wall. “Oh god, is that fresh blood leaking out?!”
“I had to test them to see if they function properly. They function very well. Their screams harmonized into a beautiful symphony. Especially hers...” He opened the metal contraption shaped like a female and Amara shrieked when she saw an unconscious bloodied woman inside. He slammed the door closed again.
“Oh my god…” She stared at him in horror. “You … did these things?”
/> “I didn’t even blink.”
He really is a monster!
She whimpered again as she slid down onto the ground.
He shifted in front of her and a hand clutched her chin. “Which do you want to try first?”
She shook her head. “No…”
“Do you want to try the torture rack first or the iron maiden?”
“No…” she shook her head with tears spilling out of her eyes. She winced just from looking at the blood dripping from the spikes of an even stranger looking torture device. “No, please…”
“Are you afraid?”
She nodded. Please tell me I’m on Scare Tactics.
“Will you obey me from now on?”
She nodded again.
“Acknowledge me as your lord and master?”
At this point, she would have agreed to anything.
“Yes,” she breathed, as wicked grin bloomed on his face.
The scenery changed again. They were inside a splendidly beautiful and massive bedroom with colossally high ceiling and gold trimming. He left her side and then seated himself on the enormous carved bed.
“Remove my shoes, mortal,” he instructed.
She stared at him, still having not shaken off the headache.
“Do you want to go back to the torture chamber?”
Horrorstruck, she scrambled to the foot of the bed and removed his shoes.
The girl was positively terrified. He could see the fear on that delicate face of hers and wondered why he hadn’t done this sooner. It would have saved him the time, the efforts, and the headaches. He watched carefully, as her trembling fingers worked to remove his dress shirt. He wanted to invade her mind to see her thoughts, but that would only push him further to the brink of insanity. His mental state would not allow him to absorb anymore, even if the subject in question was a mortal. He was so close to losing his mind and he knew it.
He detected a faint scent of sandalwood on her when she leaned toward him.
“So that’s why…” he said, intrigued. “It’s a nifty little trick. I also have one of my own. So, where did you learn it?”
“A friend,” she replied softly.
“The same one who helped you escaped?”
She was reluctant to meet his eyes, which translated to a yes. He realized she felt the need to protect her friend.
He pulled her closer, her lips only two inches from his. “What a little temptress you are.” His gaze became fixed on her parted lips, trembling with labored breaths. Her body was too stricken with fear to move. The back of his fingers gently stroked her velvety face. “You are being extremely obedient and docile. It will require some getting used to on my part, since I have already familiarized myself to your fierce nature.”
He pressed a light kiss on her lips. She abruptly withdrew and flew a hand across his face. Her strength was a tickle, but like the mortals say, it was the thought that counts.
He grabbed her hand in a blur of motion and pinned her down on the bed. She cried out in pain. “You’ve struck me. What on Earth provoked you to do such a thing?” he intoned.
“I didn’t consent to that kiss!” She shouted back at him.
“So suddenly your courage has flooded back? Another trip to the dungeon is seemingly unavoidable.”
“No!” She cried. “Not there!”
“Will you strike me again, mortal?”
She shook her head.
He released her and then gestured for her to scoot over. She scrambled to the other side of the bed, so close to the edge that she almost fell off.
“Go to sleep,” he commanded.
“With you…here…?”
“I have learned from experience that I cannot leave you unsupervised for very long. You will sleep to recover your mortal body, while I spend some time with my thoughts. How does that sound?” He leaned back against the pillow.
She looked hesitant.
“Or would you rather we do something else that doesn’t involve sleeping?”
Her eyes widened when she realized what he meant. She hurriedly crawled under the blanket and lay on her side, facing away from him.
He stared blankly at the ceiling, while listening to her breathing. When it became soft and even, he knew she was drifting into a mystical land that he hadn’t visited in a very long time.
At least you can dream.
Chapter Six
“If I give a mortal man the power of the cosmos and set him above all others, what will he do with it? Will he use that power for the ultimate good or become corrupted with the evil that dwells dormant, deep inside his heart? I can grant you immortality. I can even make you invincible. All I ask in return, and it is not much, is the answer to one question – will you be able to cure my boredom?”
A wry smile curled his lips when he heard Lucifer’s voice inside his head.
Noctis turned to his side, watching the sun as it dawned through the glass window. If he was half-mad, then Lucifer had already gone past the threshold of insanity. The Archangel fears nothing more than boredom and would do anything to quell it. He had even contracted a mortal into becoming a deity for the sake of entertainment.
Madness!
“But you accepted his offer, didn’t you?” he said to himself. He turned to the mortal lying by his side when he heard her uncomfortable moans. She was sweating, twitching, and groaning in her sleep. Her little body coiled up against his side.
Is your mind breaking down already, mortal?
His fingers unconsciously ran through her silken, raven locks as he drowned himself in the memories of the past… back to the day he dreaded to remember.
Amara yelped when she felt a yank on her hair. The sharp pain shocked her from her sleep. Her eyes widened when she saw her hair winding around his fingers. She shot him a firm accusing stare, but her eyes softened when she saw the bewilder expression on his face. He was panting rapidly as his piercing blue eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.
He seemed tormented.
A hand reached for his face, gently patting his cheek to bring him back to reality. His eyes darted to her and sent a shiver down her spine. The memories of the day before rushed back to her. She scrambled back and squealed out, as her hair was still caught in his hand.
He released the locks and then rose from the bed.
“How pathetic,” he said with a degrading look in his eyes. “You can’t decide whether you want to comfort me or fear me.”
“Fear you,” she replied. “Definitely fear you.”
“Is that so?” He turned to her and smiled.
His imposing posture was basking in the morning light.
Amara shook the thought from her head. “What the hell is wrong with me?” She murmured to herself. She grew up surrounded by dazzling fallen angels. Her foster brother, Trent, was the vision of Heaven itself. So, why had she just found herself admiring the physical attributes of this ridiculously cruel and unstable self-proclaimed deity? It didn’t make any sense.
“A number of things from my point of view,” the self-proclaimed deity replied.
“Did I ever tell you that you are one of the most difficult males I have ever had the displeasure of meeting?”
“I will hold the title proudly.” He crooked his finger to call her over. “Now be quiet and help me get dressed. I find the buttons in modern clothing both tedious and frustrating.”
She slipped off the bed and did as he bade.
“Where is this place anyway?” She asked curiously.
“Well, in the four months that you were missing in action, I took the liberty of securing us a home befitting that of a god.”
“Am I going to find more frozen police cars in front of the gates?”
“I obtained this place through legal means.”
“Legal?” She frowned. “Wha
t do you mean?”
“I bought it,” he clarified.
“Where did you get the money? Do you like… blink it out of thin air?”
He scowled. “Again, you have me confused with a character from a ‘television show’.”
“It looks like you’ve been doing a lot of learning these past months.”
“Adapt, acclimate, and assimilate – the triple A’s of evolution.”
“Let’s not stray away from the original topic. Where did you get the money? This place must have cost of several fortunes!”
“I took several treasure chests,” he admitted, “then I sold it for currency.”
Appalled, she asked. “From whom…?”
“Your husband,” he replied.
I have a husband? Oh right, he thinks I’m Kali.
“I was doing him a favor. His treasuries looked as if they were going to explode.”
“He is obscenely rich,” Amara agreed. “No guilt there.”
The self-proclaimed deity nodded. “I consider the chests I took as compensation settlement for all of my time-ravaged temples. Plus interests.”
“You were really serious about the temples?”
He blinked. “Gods are made through worship, I hope you know.”
“Really…?”
“With the exceptions of the creator gods; they are independent from everything.”
She slightly tilted her head in curiosity. “Have you met them?”
“You will have to be disappointed. I’ve never met them and I have a strong feeling that I never will. I don’t know the meaning of life either, so don’t bother to ask.”
“You are not… self-proclaimed?”
“I am revered, or at least, I was. Are you done yet?”
“I’ve been done.”
“Very well, shall we wash up and go to breakfast?”
“Out of curiosity, how long do you intend to keep me here?”
“I will keep you here as long as it takes, until Lucifer decides to rise.”
“And that would mean?”
“It means a decade, a century, or even millennia. We’re going to be each other’s company for a very long time, so I strongly suggest we treat each other civilly. Do not get on my bad side just yet.”