Chapter 39: Chapter 39

AVA

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t.

His proximity erased all logic, all hate. Only this cursed desire remained.

It was fatal.

He leaned toward me, but I didn’t back away.

I wanted to fight back, attack him, push him away… but all I could do was press my lips against his. The desire was so overwhelming, much stronger than I’d like to admit.

His lips were so soft, so incredibly tender, that a moan escaped me when we touched. He seemed so shy, as if he had never felt tenderness, as if he had never been caressed.

He seemed frozen.

But then his hands slid into my hair, his fingers gently wrapping around the back of my head and pulling me closer to him as he returned the kiss, hesitantly at first and then with sudden intensity. So much desire broke free, as if something inside him was being unleashed.

The kiss deepened, became more passionate, as if he’d just been waiting to finally break free.

A stitch in my chest pulled me out of this state.

What kind of magic was this?

I pushed him back. His eyes were questioning, almost hurt as I broke the kiss.

What had he done to me?

Abbadon’s face became serious again. He pushed me away as he got up from the floor.

He left the cell without a word, slamming the door behind him.

And I was lying on the floor… trying to pull my knees to my chest, trying to find support in my own embrace.

What had he done to me? My eyes fell shut… wishing I was dead.

“Ava…” I heard Bael’s voice.

This had to be a dream. At least here in this dream I heard his voice.

Bael knelt in front of me, and I was looking into his eyes. His eyes were hurt as he looked over my body.

He bit his lip and took me in his arms. Just like when we first met, his manly scent surrounded me.

A mixture of a forest after a rain and a flower meadow surrounded me.

“Tell me where they’re holding you,” I heard him say.

His heart raced, pounding against his chest as he held me. Could that be?

My brain was playing tricks on me.

“Tell me where you are? I was so wrong to push you away from me… The fear that something could happen to you because of me was so big… I thought I was putting you in danger,” he said.

He wanted to save me in my dreams. At least here he loved me… I didn’t want to wake up again. I’d stay here… he loved me here.

“Ava…” his voice reached me again. “This isn’t a dream. I accept the bond, I accept you as my soul mate. Tell me where you are… Jade can’t hold the spell for long.”

If this was not a dream… then…

“There are no windows, I hear water near me and terrible screams from creatures around my cell. When they opened the door, I saw a wildflower meadow with black flowers and burning trees in the background,” I explained to Bael while still hugging him.

“Well done, Ava… I know where you are. I thought having me as your soulmate would only bring you trouble and put you in danger. But I was wrong, Ava! I love you and I’m coming to get you,” Bael said gently.

A smile appeared on my lips when I heard his words.

The bond between us had been nearly broken when he rejected me. My grief for him took me so far away from him that the soul bond started to break.

But now, it seemed to be reaching out to me, embracing me.

“You are just a dream,” I whispered before my eyes opened.

I sighed loudly when I awoke.

The pain in my chest was so awful. Was this what a broken heart felt like?

My hand dropped to my chest and I froze as I looked into Abbadon’s eyes. He gulped, watching me.

“You’ve been rejected by your mate,” he said quietly.

I was still on the floor, hunched over as he knelt in front of me.

“No,” I replied in protest.

“Yes… and because I created him, this connection has come back to me,” he said.

My eyes widened when I heard him. I knew that he was telling the truth; I could feel it.

When the forces of the underworld rearranged themselves, Abbadon tore out part of his own essence and formed a new demon from it… Bael. This division allowed Abbadon to extend his reign without having to be present in every battle.

But it went wrong, because Bael turned his back on him, and faced away from the darkness.

“No,” I said again in shock, but this time much louder.

“I suspected it… since the day the dragon was freed. When I saw you… That’s why I had you brought here, before all of Antaris falls,” he said.

Tears filled my eyes, stinging.

These overwhelming feelings I felt, this desire and pain… these were Abbadon’s feelings. The concern I felt, that was his.

He came back because he felt my desperation. Only to realize that Bael had finally accepted his connection to me.

“Reject him… reject him as a soul mate… and take me,” said Abbadon.

He knelt before me, almost begging. His eyes were desperate, his hands were twitching, the desire to touch me was so huge.

I shook my head. This couldn’t be happening.

“No,” I said.

“Stay here with me…” I heard him say.

I flinched, my back pressing against the cold walls. My eyes were so wide that it hurt.

“No…” I said in disbelief at the words he was telling me.

Abbadon’s hand lifted, slowly, burning with a desire to touch. So strong I could feel it.

It was impossible!

“You’re so confused… I can feel your heart beating,” Abbadon said, his fingertips gliding gently over my lips.

“You would be my favorite weakness in a world I’m going to overpower. My most tender obsession, my queen. When cities fall and kings crawl before me, you would be enthroned at my side… All mine.”

A grin curled his lips as he looked over my face.

“You would reign with me…” he added with a smile.

These feelings… they were his… I could feel his feelings.

I blinked, turning my head to the side at the touch.

“I reject this connection with you,” I cried out.

I felt a sting in my chest, so painful that I winced. And yet I felt released.

The fragile bond between me and Abbadon broke. Whatever it was, it set me free.

But him… Abbadon, it tore him apart.

His face was distorted with pain as he clutched his chest.

A moment ago he had been looking at me gently, but now his dark aura surrounded him again. His eye sockets were black again.

He staggered back a few steps before stopping.

The man who had been so loving toward me was gone.

In front of me was a demon in a rage.

“You…,” he said, his voice cold and unchallenging, “…I will kill him…I will kill them all,” he breathed out.

The coldness in his voice was so heavy that I started to tremble.

With a wave of his hand, he pulled me toward him, my feet hovering above the floor as I struggled for air. I stopped briefly in front of him before he dropped me to the ground.

His voice was merciless as he spoke, cold and painful, just like what happened afterward.

“I am going to break you now, Ava. Not gently. Not slowly. I’m going to rip you open, not just your body, but everything you are. Every fiber, every nerve, every thought will be mine.

“I won’t just take you, I’ll tear you apart. Bit by bit. Every spot that makes you blush, every place that twitches when I touch it…I’m going to find them all. And then I will take them from you. Not gently. Not lovingly. But so that you understand… Your body is mine. Not just for now. Forever.”

I wished I would have died…