Tell Me About You

Zayla

Lying my head on Soren’s chest, my body is exhausted and extremely fucking sore. Soren stayed true to his word, fucking me positively senseless.

His hand is currently gliding up and down my spine in soft, slow strokes. His eyes are closed and his face is the epitome of serene.

“Soren, why do you call me Lux?” I can’t help but wonder aloud. My brain uses this moment of silence to overthink.

“Do you not like it?” His voice is deep and scratchy but still holds a beautiful softness to it. You can tell he’s right on the cusp of passing out.

“Well, no, I didn’t say that. You’ve just always called me that,” I sigh as I start to regret my question. “I was just curious, forget I said anything.”

Pushing my face into his chest, it’s silent for a minute before he sighs.

“I call you Lux because it’s what you are. Lux is Latin for light, Zayla, and that’s what you are to me. You’re my light.”

Pulling my face up and resting my chin on his chest, I lock eyes with him.

Soren’s hand comes up and his thumb runs along my bottom lip.

“The day I first saw you I thought I was about to die. You were so bright, your soul was so fucking shiny, I couldn’t think straight.

“It was like having a flashlight being shone an inch away from my eyes. It was so blinding I couldn’t move.”

He continues to rub with his thumb, moving it slightly to my cheek. “You lit up my dark world. That’s why I call you Lux, because even Death needs light to survive, and you are mine.”

Pulling my face to his, he kisses me softly. “My beautiful little Lux.”

Kissing him again quickly, I return my head to his chest, hugging my body to his as he kisses my hair, a permanent smile stuck on my face.

“So tell me about your brothers, what are they like?”

“Well, you have met them.” Soren chuckles slightly at his own joke.

“For all of five minutes, Soren. Please tell me about them.”

“There’s not much to tell. Devlin was the first of us to find his mate, and he has a daughter. She’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”

Listening to him as he speaks about his family has my mind wondering if he and I will ever have children of our own.

Not that I want them any time soon, but is that something he’d like in the future?

“And as for Zennen and Craven, well, they still haven’t found their mates yet, but their wolves are searching.”

Lifting my head again, I ask, “How did you guys get wolves? I mean, when I think of the Horsemen I don’t think of werewolves.”

Soren chuckles like my question is ridiculous.

“When we were born, our father had something of an obsession with his hellhounds.”

Soren rolls his eyes dramatically at the thought. “He had just created the first hound when I was born, and he loved that stupid dog. Still does!”

His chest jerks slightly as a harsh sigh leaves his throat.

“He loved the power his hound held, the way it could siphon Hell’s powers to become stronger. So one night when my mother was sleeping, he came into my nursery and performed the same curse on me as he had on his hound.”

“He turned you into hellhounds?”

“Well he tried. When I’m in a state of pure anger, my wolf takes on the form of a hellhound. Where their flesh is rotted and burns with hellfire, mine is like ash and burns with the lava of Purgatory.”

He starts to run circles along my back again, having abandoned the movement for several minutes as his mind wandered.

“My brothers and I have wolves that have stages of appearance. We can be normal and look like normal wolves, or we can be demonic and look more sinister than a hellhound ever could.”

“Were you born as Death or is that a title you earned?”

“Well kind of both.”

At the shrugging of his shoulders I’m more intrigued than ever. Sitting up, I scoot as close to his body as possible, giving him my sole attention. “What do you mean ‘kind of both’?”

Following my movement, Soren sits up as well, leaning his head back against the headboard. Pulling me back, he turns me around so I’m lying in his lap with my head lying against his chest.

His hand runs through my hair.

“Well, let me start off by saying that I’m not the human Horseman of Death. There are actually two versions of us.”

“So there’s eight Horsemen of the Apocalypse?” I can’t help but let my curiosity shine through. I’ve never heard such a thing.

He just hums a ~mhm~ in my ear before kissing my head.

“Before my father had my brothers and me, he created the original Four Horsemen. Their job is to handle the humans. When my brothers and I were born, we were given Purgatory to maintain our titles for the supernatural world.”

“Do you ever cross paths with the human Horsemen?” I ask innocently, but I know he will scoff before he even answers.

“Mostly their Death. He’s a little fucking weasel of a man! Rarely leaving his throne to do any actual work! Instead he leaves all of the work to his reapers. He acts like he’s a king when really he’s just a reaper himself with a measly little title in Hell.”

“Sounds like you hate him?”

He just chuckles.

“You have no fucking idea. I’ve killed the little cockroach probably a million times, but father always brings him back because he’s efficient with humans.”

I don’t have to be looking at Soren to know he’s rolling his eyes. I can practically hear them rolling in their sockets.

“Have you ever died?” My tone is hesitant but curious. The thought of someone harming him has my wolf on edge and an anger bubbling up inside of me.

“No. My brothers and I can’t die. We were not created like the other Horsemen. We were born in Hell, we are a part of it. As long as Hell exists, then so do we.”

He kisses my head as he finishes talking, trying to reassure me that I don’t have to worry. And I’ll admit the calm that washes over me is fucking nice. It’s nice to know I’ll never have to worry about him dying.

“Since you and your brothers control the supernatural side, what do you do? Is it much different to the human side?”

“It’s not a whole lot different. I control the reapers just like the human version, only my reapers are stronger. Where the human reapers are made from human souls, who their Death has hand-picked, mine are supernatural creatures.

“I have reapers who were once wolves and vampires, I have some that were pixies and witches. Hell, even mermaids.”

Reaching over, I grab his arms, wrapping them around me as I snuggle back into him, ready to hear the rest of his story.

“When a supernatural dies, my reapers are there to take their souls. However! Sometimes, like sneaky weasels, people can slip past my reapers, avoiding their deaths, and that’s when I step in.

“I kill those that think they’re better than my reapers, smarter. But by the time I’m done with them they usually wish my reapers had taken them instead.

“I’m not a kind man, Lux, my job is important to keep balance.”

“What happens after a soul is taken by your reapers?”

My voice is shallow and calm, the slow movements of his breathing, mixed with the warmth of his arms around me, have me drifting slowly. The only thing keeping me awake is my need to hear his voice as he talks to me.

I’ve craved this from him for so fucking long. I’m so bloody scared to fall asleep and lose it. I don’t want this feeling to ever stop! I don’t want to go back to never hearing his voice or seeing his face.

As if he can feel me falling asleep, he wiggles his body into lying down, pulling my body with his. Rolling me over and laying my head on his chest, he kisses my head once more.

“You’re a very curious little thing, Lux.” He brings his hand up to my hair, stroking it softly, allowing his fingers to flow through it.

“When a supernatural dies, they’re taken to Purgatory. It’s there that my brothers and I decide where they go. We can send people to heaven or damn them to Hell.

“But unlike humans, supernaturals have to come through us first. We make the deciding factor on their souls.”

Like mine, Soren’s voice starts to crack, sounding drained. His body is so relaxed that he’s fighting with himself to stay awake.

Pulling me closer to him, he kisses my forehead softly before sighing into my hair.

“Goodnight, my beautiful Zayla.”

Tilting my head slightly, I kiss his chest before snuggling into him more. “Goodnight, Soren. I love you.”

“I love you more.”