Deceived

A black sludge-like substance dripped off the atramentous walls. She scoffed, eyeing the weeping mess from the remnants of the dead. The remaining disposable demons and other beings implored for her mercy as she stepped off the jagged metal throne. She really should have decided on a more comfortable seat, but that was the least of her concerns right now.

Snickering with disgust, she pushed her long, silky, onyx coloured hair over her naked shoulders while her bare feet slapped on the black lava stone floor. She ambled down the narrow vestibule and felt most powerful when she wore nothing but the flesh she lived in; clothes were not required in purgatory. The one thing she refused to remove was the obsidian ring around her finger.

Her consort was leaning on a succubus, causing her jealousy to spike. She had gone through enough shit obtaining the dark angel, not that Kohl would ever remember what transpired. Today was not the day to dwell on that sinister time, though.

Wrenching Kohl off Lilice’s shoulder, she pulled him down nearly a foot so her lips clashed with his full pair. How she loved those fucking lips. He pulled back and smirked at her.

“What is it, my love?” he teased.

She peered into his fierce blue hues filled with curiosity and lust as they blinked back at her. It’s both a blessing and a curse that he will never know who he truly is, she thought to herself. She would do everything in her power to prevent Kohl from finding out because the rift it would cause would be diabolical, not to mention the affliction that would undeniably come along with it. No, this was not something she was ready to deal with, not today, not ever.

Her thoughts returned to the here and now and trepidation bled through her veins at the thought of Kohl in that harlot’s bed entwined and magically bound to the succubus. She wouldn’t have it.

Placating her mind, she replied nonchalantly, “Nothing, Seraph.” She addressed him by his nickname. “I only despise the way that succubus eyes you. You are mine.”

His rough hand reached up, brushing along her jawline whilst he gazed into her dark eyes. “It shall always be you, my love. Always.”

If only that were true, she thought sadly. There was a piece of him inside that was void, a piece that she could never reach. That piece of his soul, his heart was with the one person she abhorred with every molecule of her being. She will never get him back, Neferity bickered with herself internally.

Snapping her out of her tumultuous ruminations, she felt Kohl’s fingers brushing across her peaked nipples. Neferity hissed and leaned into him, unconcerned by the many eyes watching them. It wasn’t the first time they’d fucked in front of an audience, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Kohl was hers and she made sure every single Otherworlder knew that.

“Only you, always you,” he whispered before latching his teeth onto her darken nipple.

Neferity threw her head back, moaning, then reached down to stroke his growing erection. All that stood between them was a pair of jeans he chose to wear daily. She hated those fucking things.

Lilice stood behind Neferity and stroked her long hair. The succubus was feeding off hers and Kohl’s lechery. She could have that, but she would never have her Dark Angel.

Looking at her through hooded eyes, Kohl lowered himself to the floor. Neferity refused to acknowledge or lay eyes upon the branding that was not of her doing. She averted her eyes and pushed his head down lower.

The hall was filled with every Otherworlder imagined, all flocking to watch the spectacle that was their Goddess being fucked. Demons, succubus’s, incubuses, mortals, and every other dark creature that lived in the shadows formed a circle around them so they could leech off of their power and lust.

A cracking sound filed to the left of her, gaining her attention. The breach in the wards was hot and loud as Efah and Gorgon tumbled through the gates of purgatory, flanked with the two mortal demon lackeys. Her eyes landed momentarily on Gorgon’s vibrant red irises before shifting away, focusing on anything but him and the magnetism that thrummed recklessly between them.

Neferity shimmied away from Kohl hoping he couldn’t sense the exchange. The other beings cleared out of her way as she stormed toward the duo that had undeniably snuffed her moment. Whatever it was that brought this pair back, it probably wasn’t good.

No Otherworlder could make their way back to Purgatory once they inhibited a host. They were trapped in whichever realm until their expiration, although Efah and Gorgon were an exception to the rule. Their abilities and sinister edge were welcomed inside the gates of Purgatory.

Efah, for once in her forsaken life, had the decency to bow at her feet. Gorgon on the other hand all but ate her up. She knew what she was getting herself into when she involved him in her little plan without cluing him in on the end game.

Still, he was loyal to her. But Neferity sensed he was anticipating Kohl’s demise. She didn’t blame him. Hell, she teased him and drew him in with every piece of dark magic she possessed. She needed him, and he knew it.

That was a perk of being a Dark Goddess. Neferity could do whatever she liked and no one dared question her. If anyone did, they bled out of their eye sockets, painfully, or something to that extent.

Kohl wasn’t aware of her indiscretions. It was paramount the secret remained exactly that, a secret. Thankfully, Gorgon didn’t question her or allow his tongue to flap around in the decrepit breeze in purgatory. Their agreement was theirs, one only the two of them knew.

Breaking away from her deliberation, she stared down at Efah’s dark as night hair and demanded, “What did you do? Where is the girl?”

She lifted her face and Neferity saw her red eyes rimmed in amethyst and black were more prominent than when she left Purgatory. Efah stammered, “They – she got away.”

Frustration and ire poured off her after hearing those words. The waves emitted were full force, causing the others to slink back into the shadows.

“What do you mean she got away? Do you realise what you’ve done? How are we to fulfil…” her sentence ran off and her once honeyed voice altered into one only she’d recognise.

Tied to you, tied to me, our essence eternally bound

The dark, the light, Aliyah, must be found!

Slinking in the shadows, Dark Goddess you must be

proud

Otherworlders, demons, shifters, Gods alike, bend the

knee so we can end this drought…

Neferity closed her eyes and summoned as much magic as possible to push the voice from her mind. When the inflection ceased to exist, she opened her dark, ruby red eyes, only to realise her head was foggy. Neferity peered around the crowded hall and noticed every entity watching on with curiosity.

“LEAVE ME!” she boomed. The hall scattered rapidly, leaving only the company fixed in place she wanted to slowly annihilate. All bar Kohl.

“Tell me everything, and don’t miss a single fucking syllable. Unless you wish to be nothing more than ash by the time this conversation is over.”

~ Draven ~

“He’s not responding!” Draven bellowed out in the back of the car as Dolph took a turn for the worst.

“We need to call on the Warlock, Draven. He is our blood, please!” Laney cried out.

The pain in his side from the diamond dagger was stinging like a bitch and Laney’s words slapped him in the face. He’d forgotten all about the mad Warlock, Reikiki. Draven realised it was their only chance at saving his best friend. He only hoped Jadis and Reikiki could forge their magic and heal Dolph quickly.

“Dany, change of plans. Head to Bienville Street. I’ll direct you from there,” Draven yelled.

Draven turned toward Jadis; he noticed she’d remained quiet since they’d left the fight with Efah and Gorgon. Her hands never wavered from Dolph’s body as she attempted to heal him.

The Bel Air was filled to the brim with melancholy and nervous energy. Aliyah looked forward out the windshield, her body rigid and jaded, the pain and deception she’d recently experienced palpable.

His attention turned back to Jadis. She let out a heavy breath, and said, “He’s stable. I–I can’t reach him though. It’s like, fuck, I don’t know. Just get me to Reikiki now!” She barked out Reikiki’s address in the process.

With a nod of his head, Dany floored the Bel Air. Draven’s mind trailed off, thinking, what has the Mad Warlock been up to lately? He hoped he’d have his wits about him because they were going to need them.

Terracotta coloured stone walls breached his vision as Dany swung the car into the parking spot allocated for Reikiki’s apartment.

Piling out of the 57, Draven wrenched Dolph over his shoulder and took the stairs two at a time, with the rest of the crew following closely behind.

Laney stepped in front of Draven, panting, then opened the door to her uncle’s apartment. Draven knew not to attempt it. If Reikiki’s magic sensed any ill intent or the person trying to enter didn’t bare his blood, the intruder would be set alight, disintegrated at his door step.

Once Laney stepped over the threshold, Draven followed behind her knowing it was safe to do so.

“What is the meaning of this,” the Mad Warlock’s voice rang out.

“Uncle, we need your help. It’s Dolph. He was hit by dark magic and Jadis can’t reverse it.”

Draven placed Dolph on the multi-coloured lounge as Reikiki rounded the corner with an alcoholic beverage in toe. He could smell it from where he stood. It was that potent.

He noticed his tiger coloured eyes manically searching the living room. The beads in his silver tousled hair were recklessly placed all over his scalp as he pulled on his equally silver goatee. He wore similar clothes to the last time Draven saw him: a hippy looking tunic shirt with matching pants, the white breaking up the colours that fiercely matched his eyes.

“I see you’ve brought the whole damn crew, child. Move, all of you. Except you Jadis, I may need you.” He pulled his tunic sleeves up revealing the ink inscribed on his body from the Goddess’s.

Reikiki wasn’t a terrible Otherworlder, although like Draven, Neferity had sunk her claws in a time or two. He shook the thought from his mind and watched on, his anxiety thrumming relentlessly through his veins.

Jadis moved with confidence. Her back was straight and her head held high even though Draven knew she was depleted beyond measure.

Reikiki placed his hands over Dolph’s body and hissed. “Damnation! What have you all been up to? The darkness is burrowing itself deep inside his soul.” His nose screwed up, he coughed then continued. “The stench coming off all of you is deplorable.”

The way Reikiki’s eyes lingered on Aliyah didn’t go unnoticed to Draven. He only hoped it was out of sheer curiosity and not something the Mad Warlock had seen.

He pulled Aliyah under his arm as if to show the man she was his. He smirked before returning to whatever he was doing on Dolph. Asshole.

Aliyah melted into his arms. Her body relaxed while they observed the magic Reikiki elicited with his hands. Beads of sweat trickled down the Warlock’s brow, his body quaking ever so slightly before he reached and grasped Jadis’s hand.

Reikiki’s head flew back, revealing the luminous waxen coloured hue his eyes had taken on. His breathing was ratcheted as he spoke. “I–I need–damn it–I just need a little more magic, Jadis, please. It’s terribly dark in here.”

What was he talking about? Was he inside of Dolph?

Draven wasn’t going to question him; he didn’t want to disturb any progress the Warlock may have made. Jadis’s magic pulsated between her hands to Reikiki’s, the once animated bronze now dull and jaded.

Reikiki chanted, his hands flying rapidly over Dolph’s body as he siphoned as much of Jadis’s magic as he could. Jadis seemed to be in pain as she hunched over holding her hand to her stomach. Draven removed his arm from Aliyah and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Take what you can from me. I fear you’re about to collapse from exhaustion, J.”

She tried to smile up at him. Her green eyes clouded from depletion before she moved her hand from her belly and placed it over Draven’s. As soon as her hand touched his, he knew it wasn’t working.

“Fuck–it’s not… I can’t, D.”

“The boy!” Reikiki’s voice rang out. “You need the boy with the dark hair,” he heaved.

Dany looked confused. “Me? Why do you need me?”

“Get your ass over here now!” Reikiki called out once more.

Draven stepped away as Dany took his place. Jadis’s hand rested on his and then she inhaled deeply. The shock on her face was evident. What. The. Fuck?

Jadis’s skin was no longer pallid. Instantly, her flesh took on that rich chocolate colour and her eyes shined that brilliant forest green. She stared up at Dany in bewilderment. “How?”

“It does not matter, Witch. Focus, we are nearly done,” Reikiki vowed.

Aliyah snatched his hand, and he knew her face mirrored his: shock, curiosity and awe. “What is happening,” she hissed, “how is Dany doing that?”

Draven only had one answer for her question. Dany had to be an Otherworlder. He grounded himself before responding and inhaled harshly, attempting to weed out all the scents in the room. He still couldn’t smell Aliyah and figured she must be ensconcing her scent because Draven figured Jadis’s cloaking spell would have worn off of by now.

His eyebrows pinched together when the dark, earthy undertone slapped him in the face. He grimaced, then drew back. How had he missed it before? Undeniably, Dany was a supernatural being. Exactly what he was, was yet to be determined.

Aliyah tugged on his shirt, imploring that he explain what was going on. This was not the time or space for this conversation. “Snowflake, enough. I’ll tell you later.”

She pouted, crossed her arms across her bosom, and then turned away from him. Draven didn’t have time for her theatrics. For fuck sakes, his best friend was almost fucking dead!

Reikiki fell backward and landed in a heap on his ass. “He’s–how can I say this? He’s stuck.”

“Stuck?” they all said in unison.

“Dolph is in limbo. He’s neither here nor there,” Reikiki responded.

“What does that even mean, Uncle?” Laney questioned.

“It means Dolph is stuck between realms. He’s not dead. However, there is a shit load of unfinished business he’s packing. He’s stranded between this plane, Purgatory and The Enchantment. Something is anchoring him there, a malignant entity of some sort. For the moment he’s safe,” Reikiki assured everyone.

Poignancy engulfed the room as everyone looked down at Dolph, with his black and silver hair hanging messily across his face. Gazing down at his best friend, Draven realised Dolph looked tranquil. He wondered how the fuck that could be possible when he was trapped god knows where.

Turning away, he moped around the Mad Warlock’s home. Draven was irritable and his veins felt as if razor blades were sluicing him from the inside out.

He scratched his arms and walked away from the crew, attempting to focus on anything but the searing pain screaming through his body.

He felt his eyes dilate and his cock harden when the familiar dark truffle chocolate and whiskey scent assaulted his nostrils. Snowflake. Aliyah, mine!

Draven stalked toward her oblivious to the crowd around them. Her lust bloomed and her arousal spilled out. She was turned on.

He felt maddened, reckless. How long has it been since I fed? Wrapping his hand around her wrist, he yanked her toward him and devoured her mouth. She tasted like sin and every damn wet dream you could imagine.

Pulling back from the kiss, he panted, “We must take our leave. Reikiki, I will be in touch. And Jadis, call me if you need anything.”

With that statement hanging in the air, he sped back to the Bel Air, threw her in the car, and gunned it down the street.

Draven was famished, starved like he hadn’t fed and fucked in days. He eyed her from his peripheral and noticed her thighs rubbing together. Instantly, he knew Aliyah was hankering for him, too. She was turned on, and as the recognition bled through his veins, he knew it was time for them to take their fill.

here…