The Dove & the Darkness (Ceasefire Series book 5) Read online

  I watch a muscle twist in his jaw for several long seconds before he speaks. “No. I forbid you from ever seeing them. Very few know of the gateway to my Kingdom. It is well hidden. Even if I was inclined to permit it Lucifer would never leave us be. He’d be on my doorstep baying for blood.”

  “We can do it anonymously. I won’t mention you or where I am.” Crawling up onto my knees, I hold out my hands in a gesture of supplication. A plea.

  “No.” His expression is closed and cold as stone. Hand tightening around the apple he crushes it with frightening strength. “I wanted revenge on your Father for destroying what was mine and this is fitting for the circumstances.”

  Defeat tastes bitter, but I refuse to give up. “I don’t understand.”

  Shoulders stiff with suppressed emotions, his gaze bored into mine penetrating the recesses of my soul. “He murdered my great Granddaughter, her baby girl and Husband. Destroyed what was left of my bloodline. The Devil will never have you back. He took the last of my children and I will have you in restitution.”

  Jane.

  He’s talking about Jane. The mate of Raziel who I tried to have murdered. She’s the reason I was imprisoned by my father. Fear at exposing that she’s in Hell kept me silent before, but now I know I can’t keep the knowledge quiet any longer.

  “That’s not true.” I cry interrupting him.

  “Don’t try to defend him. There were witnesses.”

  “The stygian witches.” I whisper the full horror of the betrayal he’s lived through coming to light. He’s been mourning the loss of everyone that meant something to him. Thought himself alone when it was never the case.

  Master’s eyes glow the fierce golden I’d witnessed before. “They brought me the bodies to bury. Barely recognizable. Do you know what it feels like to bury your own flesh and blood? Have them die before their time? Watch everything you love rot in the worm-infested ground? I’ve been planning my retribution ever since.”

  “Hades…”

  “You can’t sway me Cassandra. My answer is no.”

  The finality of his decision with no regards to my feelings cuts me to the quick. Nausea rises, but I battle it down. How can he be so cruel? I’m giving myself over to him completely, and he won’t even let me say goodbye.

  “She’s alive. Jane, your great, great Granddaughter is alive, safe and happy. I’ve seen it in a vision.” I don’t dare to tell him the truth. If he finds out she’s mated to Raziel, my Father’s right-hand man, he may react badly.

  Furious roar reverberating from the very depths of his being, he launches what’s left of the mashed fruit at the wall. “You lie. This is just a trick.”

  A buzzing sound breaks the ensuing deafening silence.

  Breathing heavily, anger etched in every line of his frame, Master snatches up his mask from the table and stomps from the room without a backward glance.

  31

  Soren

  Still riding my outburst of rage, I drag the mask on over my head. What does my little Dove know? This is just a ploy to make me let her go. My family are dust and ashes. I need Cassandra to forget these notions of going home. If Lucifer ever discovered her whereabouts, he’d come whether she wished it or not. It’s a risk I won’t take. Cut off from the worlds outside for centuries, I refuse to put this Kingdom at risk. My impulse is to keep her safe and close. It’s taken all my will power to leave her in my room alone. All my instincts scream to protect her. Concerned she’ll be foolish enough to try something else to leave. She consumes me. Ignites cold embers in my heart that should not be there.

  Women like her destroy men like me. She’s changed everything. Made me feel again. Softened me. I won’t let her take anything more, but I will not be parted from her either.

  Laying dozing on her stomach, hair splayed out in a dark fan on the pillow, she’d had no clue I’d watched her innocent slumber. It’s a glaring reminder of her youthfulness. Eighteen. Still a child in some ways. Naive, foolhardy, yet incredibly brave. My anger lessens.

  She’ll understand this is for the best, in time.

  Marching into Kalia’s office, I find her in the middle of painting her nails. Relaxed back in her overly impressive chair, her entire focus is on applying the outrageously purple color in even perfection.

  My lips curl with displeasure. I’m tired of her summoning me like I’m a simpering pet dog. Things around here are going to be different from now on. She’ll have to get used to Cassandra being off limits. Even the Warden won’t be safe from my wraith if she touches my Dove for a second time.

  “The buyer has come for the girl,” she tells me not bothering to look up from her task. “I’ve assigned you to a new slave who’s just come in. A nymph. She’s a fragile looking thing, but I’m sure you can work your magic into molding her into the perfect toy for her new Master.”

  Panic takes a hold of me, but I push it down. It’s too early. This can’t be happening now.

  “I’m not done training her. We have weeks left on the contract…”

  “Oh, you are. The receipt has been paid in full, and she goes to her true Master today.” Finally raising blood red eyes, she takes in my lack of response. “Don’t tell me you’ve become attached to her?”

  She’s somehow responsible for this. If I block the sale, I expose my true identity. Questions will be asked. Everything I’ve worked hard to keep private and obscured will be exposed. The simple life I’ve forged for myself will no longer be reality. Yet Cassandra’s questions ring accusingly in my ears. We’ve abducted innocence from their loved ones. Destroyed lives.

  I’m already as vile as my brother. For so long, I’ve functioned with shutters over my eyes and a steel cage around my heart to all the suffering I’ve allowed to happen in my domain.

  “I want to talk to her purchaser.”

  Tilting her head, Kalia’s observation of me sharpens with a predatory intensity I’m not sure I like. “You know that’s against the rules.”

  “Who’s here to pick her up?” I ask, playing for time.

  “The Fury from the palace. It looks like the girl will be eating pussy rather than sucking cock after all. By the way, leaving me like that was not acceptable, and I’ll be finding a suitable punishment for it later. Also see to Jasper. That blue-haired pixie is complaining about a Wi-Fi connection. I’d have killed him by now if he didn’t have his uses with the electronic security we’re using.”

  Something for her own pleasure. One of her games where she gets what she wants. Me fucking her hard and without care. She’s going to be disappointed when I don’t comply.

  Not bothering allowing her to add anything else, I swivel on my heels hurrying to the waiting rooms. A place where clients wait to collect their new obedient, malleable slaves.

  Breanna? What does the Fury I left in charge to run my Kingdom have to do with this? How does she know of Cassandra?

  Rounding the corner, I peel off my mask with no regard as to who’s in the room.

  “Who is it Breanna? Who arranged to have her taken and brought here?”

  Sitting alone on a leather couch, one leg crossed over the other, her attention shifts from the window where a mating pair of Wyvern’s are swooping and diving in the dark sky beyond.

  “Me.”

  “You?” I don’t bother to disguise my shock.

  Rising she adjusts her long, neat white plait over her shoulder, letting it rest on the metal bodice she wears. “I’ve been aware of your interest in her for years. You’ve kept tabs on all her kin your nephew Apollo cursed, but I could see your infatuation for this Oracle even when she was nothing more than a child. I had this orchestrated to see if my suspicions were correct. You’re in love with her.”

  “No,” I deny but instantly know it’s a lie.

  Love?

  My whole being screeches to a halt for a heartbeat. After such a long immortal life, I should have recognized this feeling. It’s as pure as my little Dove. Fragile as glass yet as fierce as a tempered blade.
She’s woven herself around my heart as surely as the restraints I’ve kept her prisoner in.

  “You keep your heart as closed as the gates of this Kingdom. Admitting you’re in love isn’t a weakness, Hades,” Breanna continues, giving me a smile.

  “What do you intend to do with her?”

  She’s right. Cassandra has resurrected the organ, but it’s taken me until now to realize I do love her.

  “Gift her to you if you come back to the palace and start ruling again like the King you once were. It’s been interesting governing over the Kingdom, but seriously, it’s not for me, and I’m done. I’d rather be knee deep in blood and battle. I’m not a diplomat.”

  Duty and desire war inside me. “My brother…”

  “Let him rot. You don’t deserve to stay here with him. You have a future. One that involves Cassandra. You can live again. Really live. Not this shadow existence you’ve sunken into over the centuries. You’re not a monster. Not yet, but if you carry on this path, one day you won’t be able to turn back.”

  Is it so simple to break the chains I’ve forged myself through purpose, revenge, and guilt?

  “Persephone would want you to be happy.” Breanna’s fingers touch my muscled bicep squeezing gently, her voice firm. “She loved you so much, but she would never have expected you to manacle yourself to her murderer like this. To punish yourself. Live drenched in blame all these centuries. She’d want you to move on. To carry on living not this existence you’ve carved yourself out of guilt and vengeance. It’s time to heal and let go of the past and build a future.”

  Tears sting my eyes.

  Persephone.

  The love of my life. Gone for so long now I barely remember the sound of her voice. Our children and grandchildren are buried alongside her. Now all that’s left of them is me.

  Cassandra’s peaceful light illuminates my world. She makes me see beauty again. Experience passion. With it, though, comes stark, ugly truths. I’ve gone willingly down this road of self-righteous madness. Used her to satisfy my raw lust. I may be too far gone to be the man she needs. I can barely remember the God I used to be.

  Could she be my salvation? Make me whole? Restore me to what I once was? The thought of her at my side, in my bed as my consort sends a hunger to see it through me. Nothing between us. She would forever be mine. To honor and cherish. To bear me more children.

  “You are wise, Breanna.” My voice is thick with emotion.

  The Fury chuckles in amusement. “So, you admit you're finally going to start listening to me?”

  Distracted with hope and possibilities of a future now open to me, I nod. “For once, yes.”

  “What do you plan to do now?”

  Squishing the mask still gripped in my hand, I drop it into the trash can. I’m a shadow of who I once was, but I can learn to be that leader once again. Right the wrongs I’ve caused. I need more than just Cassandra’s body, the pleasure I take from it. I want her love. It’s time to woo her in the right way.

  Turning I storm for the door with a new purpose and drive coursing through my veins. “First speak to Cassandra. Tell her I love her. All of it and hope she won’t refuse me because there’s no way I’m letting her go. Then forge a new era for all of us.”

  32

  Cassandra

  Sliding down into the water, its heat laps up over my breast. The air is thick with the scent of the oils I doused liberally into the immense sunken bath while I’d been running it. Every scrape and healing cut I’d received last night throbs and stings. Ignoring the discomfort, I reach for the washcloth. The notion to attempt escape again barely enters my mind. In a world of endless night, I know it would be futile.

  I need to convince Master to let me contact Mavi. Trust her to be discreet when telling her I’m safe but not to look for me. The fate of two Kingdoms rests in my hands. Lucifer will never stop looking for me, of that I am certain. He may be ruthless and manipulative, but he weaves his plans as delicately as a spider with its web. Giving up the foresight of an Oracle is not a move he would make.

  Drifting the wet material roughly over my skin, a heavy sigh escapes my lips.

  I don’t want to be the cause of a war. I shudder at the loss of lives that my gift would cause. The things I’ve already seen haunt me. Perhaps I can prevent them? Not all my predictions have been accurate, but the majority have.

  Could I persuade a truce between the Devil and Hades?

  The God of the Underworld can be hard and prickly at times yet also affectionate and gentle. Eventually he might soften enough to trust me. I know he’s never going to let me go.

  He’s damaged.

  A tormented soul.

  Yet I can no longer deny that there’s an irresistible pull between us. We’re both broken in different ways. Scarred. We make a perfect match.

  Master is the anchor in the ocean I’ve been drowning in unwittingly since the day when I was four when my abilities first kicked in. My curse dragging me down. One look and I’m burning up for his touch. He’s enslaved me. Lulled me to his voice until all I want is the pleasure he can give. To let him take control so I can find freedom in my submission now he’s admitted he wants to keep me as his pet. My thoughts are always filled with him. There’s a sensation of elation when he’s with me, anxiety, a million butterflies beating their wings in my stomach. Now he’s comfortable letting me see his face, I can’t stop looking at him. Even with the scars, he’s strikingly handsome. I don’t know if what I’m feeling for him is a deep infatuation or love? Should I be this happy that my captivity will continue?

  Closing my eyes, I let myself float, the images I’m damned with struggling to be heard and seen. The insidious voice I’d heard before is silent. I don’t even feel it scratching at the corners of my mind to be heard. Maybe whatever it is has given up tormenting me. The warmth of the oiled water cocoons me, the fragrance relaxing me further.

  A sudden pressure on the top of my head drives me down. The flat of a shoe. Hand reaching jerkily to grab a hold of my attacker's ankle, water surges into my nostrils, bath water filling my lungs. Twisting, writhing I manage to slip free. Head breaking the surface, I heave in a desperate breath.

  “You thought you could take him from me?” A familiar female voice spits with venom close to my ear. “Soren is mine. He doesn’t give a fuck about you. He’s with your new owner now finishing up the details of your purchase.”

  Fingers wind cruelly in my hair. Forced to move, I’m dragged out of the water to kneel shaking and confused.

  “Look at you. You're pathetic.”

  Dazed, shivering in shock, I stare at the pair of studded black high heels. Something brushing my temples shifts me from the fog in my mind into awareness. I feel it move down to stroke my nose. Brows creasing in annoyance, I raise a hand to bat it away.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Tilting my chin up, my gaze clashes with a pair of blood red eyes. Mistress Kalia’s milky white skin is bright in contrast to her black, skin-tight leather dress. She keeps the end of the crop resting against my nose.

  Every stiff muscle tensing, I freeze.

  Waiting only a beat, the crop advances in its journey. Dipping down, she rubs it against my lips.

  “Where did you get that collar?” she questions in bitter annoyance.

  Hand snaking up, I clasp the solid reminder of Master’s promise. “Master Soren gave it to me.”

  Pain streaks through my left buttock as the stick meets my flesh making me yelp.

  “I’m the Warden of this Prison, and you will show respect when I question you. Open your mouth.” It’s an order. One at this point I’m petrified to disobey. Parting my lips, I accept the press of the leather end. “Wider.”

  Screwing my eyes tightly shut, I comply, stretching my mouth as far as it will go. Kalia jams it further inside. The shaft scrapes against my teeth.

  “Suck it.” Her warm breath tickles the shell of my ear. I haven’t sensed her move but know she must have to get so cl
ose. The smell of leather teases my nose. “Suck it like it’s your Master’s fat cock.”

  Taking in a breath, I lick with my tongue. The rawhide is warm from the moisture in my mouth. Swirling the tip, I coat it with saliva as I suck. As she urges it deeper, I gag.

  “Good girl.” Removing it, she strokes the wet surface along the length of my neck. Reaching my bare shoulder, she skims it down toward my breast. “By the time my men are done with you, you’ll fall on any dick presented to you until your pussy aches from pleasing whoever it is who desires to fuck you. Do you think Master Soren will want you then, hmm?”

  A gasp leaves me as she fondles my nipple with the end. She roughly sweeps the crop back and forth until it's tight and beaded. Once she’s achieved her aim, she repeats it with the other tit.

  “You’re nothing but a pretty wanton whore.” Done with teasing, the weapon moves back up. The end presses against the side of my temple. I can feel the pressure she exerts.

  “Now get up. My guards are waiting to defile you thoroughly. By the time Soren returns, you’ll be properly broken in,” she assures me with a malicious laugh. “Showing him the dirty slut you really are.”

  She’s too distracted with me to notice the male moving up behind her. When her senses register a presence and she turns, it’s too late to prevent what happens next. The sharpened end of the stake rams its way through her chest. Skin blacking outward from the protruding shaft of wood that must have pierced her heart, she manages a long-tortured shriek before she crumples into a pile of fine powder.

  “I never liked that bitch,” announces the blue-haired pixie I recognize as one of the men who had fucked my face at the Warden's orders. “Sick of her thinking she can do whatever the hell she wants.”