Her Darkest Devils by Ginna Moran
Chapter 8
RAVEN
Soul to Dream
ANDRE SITS IN front of me, his long legs stretching all the way across the summoning circle. Dante brought me home, only to leave again, entrusting me with Andre. Instead of offering to take me to his kingdom, he asked to watch the day break with me like he knew this was what I needed. Just the comfort of his presence and the safety of his protection while the other devils are “handling Lucian,” according to Dante. Whatever that might mean.
Andre reaches out and takes my hands, wrapping his big fingers around mine. “Little Hellion, you’re quiet. I wish there was something I could do. If you don’t want to visit with me, I understand. I know what happened between us—”
I cut off Andre’s words with a kiss, silencing him before he starts filling the air around the summoning circle with assumptions. “I’m sorry, Andre. It’s not you. I just have a lot on my mind. Our time together was incredible. Promise.”
“You know you can tell me anything, Raven. I’m here for you and not going anywhere...quite literally. Andre chuckles with his comment and tugs my hands a little harder until I crawl closer and sit in his lap.
His huge wings enclose around us, shielding me from the world like he wants complete privacy in the yard. Not like we’d get many disruptions. Tamia doesn’t know where I live, and Kase promised she’d get home safely when they called a car service. I just hope Lucian doesn’t continue to fuck with me. Ugh.
I shove the thought away. I want to think about anything else but tonight.
Except now that I try to clear my thoughts, Elias falls front and center.
“I just wish I knew if Elias was okay,” I murmur, blinking the burning tears from my eyes. “I fucked up tonight, and instead of threatening Lucian over returning Elias to me, I fought with him over my cousin. Now he might do something to her. I just wish...I wish you were here all the time instead of him.”
Andre groans and hugs me, his arms feeling like what I’d expect from Heaven and not from one of Hell’s rulers. He strokes his fingers up and down the length of my back and just snuggles with me without getting carried away. “Have the others not told you Elias is hanging in there? I can feel his soul through yours. He’s not in any abnormal pain.”
“So Dante wasn’t only trying to make me feel better?” I ask, lifting my gaze to his coffee-dark depths.
The caramel flecks glow with his hellfire, but he still reminds me of what he had been as an angel. His boner for me and all. I don’t mention it. I’m sure it’s on his mind as much as mine, especially now that I feel the daunting extent of it. And because he ignores it, focusing on me and my need for more than a physical connection, I know things between us will level out. We are capable of more than being locked in his kingdom of Lust.
“I’m nearly certain Dante has other ways to make you feel better than lying to you about your soulmate’s condition,” Andre says, the corner of his mouth curling up with his smirk. “So much so that I question why his power derives from envy instead of lust.”
“Maybe the universe just assumed that he’d become all-powerful if he was. A lifetime of orgasms for all. The masses would idolize him as a false god and worship him.” I can’t stop the smile from crossing my face. “I also think he’d be incapable of properly punishing those souls in your kingdom. I mean, orgy tornadoes? That’s fucking freaky. Poor Zade could barely stand it.”
I wince, wishing I hadn’t brought up Zade.
Andre surprises me by laughing at my comment, easing away to fill me with the sudden warmth buzzing between our bodies. “Good. Serves him right for thinking he had the right to use you as his guide into Hell.”
I scrunch my nose. “I might be overstepping here, and feel free to have Dante spank me later if I am, but Zade...I don’t know how to explain it. He cares about you, even still. He didn’t go into Hell because of me, Andre. He was there because of you.”
Andre sighs and shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. I can hardly stand looking at him in all his divine glory. What’s done is done.”
“And if I make him jump from grace?” I ask, my desire to know more about what is on Andre’s mind to distract me from my own racing thoughts turning all consuming. “What then? Will it change things?”
Andre doesn’t respond immediately, falling silent as he thinks about my question. Finally, after another quiet moment, he says, “I’m not sure what you’re asking, little hellion. Change things between us or me and him?”
“I guess both. I know he loves you. You were his companion for...forever.” I graze my fingers along his cheeks, exploring his handsome features.
“I think you misinterpret that emotion with an angel. It’s not the same as with mortals.” Andre tilts his head back and stares at the sky. I don’t think he does it to watch the stars fade with the coming morning. I think he might be remembering his life on Heaven’s path. It would still be fresh in his mind. “I’m not sure how to explain it really. But, one thing I know for certain is that you’re mine and I’m yours and no one will ever steal me from you. I’ve bound myself to Hell for you, Raven. Everything I’ve done in my existence is what has led me to you, and nothing will change that.”
Damn. I don’t know what to say, so I kiss him, showing him the affection that matches my feelings for him. He hums and shifts my body, his cock pressing even harder between my legs, threatening the fabric separating our bodies. I wouldn’t put it past the king of Lust to be capable of ripping through clothes to get to me. His hungry desire lights his eyes, and I brace for what’s to come—surely me, a lot, especially knowing it’s my desire and sexual relief that gives him power.
“Raven, I must stop. If I don’t, I will take you back to my kingdom and I’m not sure I’ll let you go,” Andre murmurs, groaning and shifting me again, lessening the pressure of his hard-on. “Denying myself such pleasure will help desensitize me to my need for you.”
I pant a breath, my body and mind all out of whack. His coconut scent wafts around me, sending goosebumps over my skin. I’m horny as fuck now. I understand his desire to get better control of himself, but damn. My whole body throbs with an ache that can only be cured by him.
I inhale and exhale slowly, shifting off of him before I start dry humping him and grinding my body to his to prove my theory about his cock’s capability to explode through clothing right. “Such torture.”
“Perhaps it’ll help if you let me cuddle you to sleep. That’s where anything can happen.” Andre brushes his lips to mine again.
“Anything?” The word comes softly from my mouth, my body cooling as an idea suppresses the urge to have Hell pounded into me.
He nods. “Being so close to your soul has its benefits.”
My soul. Fuck. That’s it. He mentioned that he could feel Elias through me. What if he can use that with his dream walking? “What about communicating with Elias? We share a soul. Could you use me to reach out to him?”
Andre lowers his brows in thought. “I suppose I could try. You would both have to be asleep.”
Like my body and soul have pity on me, I yawn. “We have to try something.”
Nodding, he gathers power in his palm, setting the world around us aglow with fiery light. “Close your eyes, little hellion. I can put you to sleep.”
***
Whoa. I’ve grown used to Andre sneaking into my dreams almost every night, but this is so strange. I feel as if I’m awake. If the world around me didn’t look like a new twisted level of Hell, I’d think I was.
“Andre? Where are you?” I ask, finding my voice. Fear snakes through my body, tightening around my chest. He somehow used his Hell power to put me to sleep, yet he’s not here.
Silence greets me. What if his power didn’t put me to sleep and sent me to Hell instead? Shit. No wonder I feel as if I’m awake.
“Andre, please. Say something.” My voice rings through the dark world, only lit by streaks of molten lava flowing through veins in onyx rocks of this freaky cave. Darkness shadows everything on both sides of me.
I’m afraid to move.
I’m alone.
No, wait. Someone else is here.
“Shit, Elias.” Like his soul drags me to him by an invisible line, I fly into the darkness and find myself standing over his body.
He curls his knees to his stomach and stares at nothing.
Kneeling beside him, I rest my hand on his shoulder. “Elias.”
Electricity zings from me to him, and he whips upright and meets my gaze. Horror crosses his features, his eyes widening and his mouth falling agape. It looks as if he sees a ghost with his reaction. His sudden fear makes me twist to stare behind me to check for demonic monsters.
“Fuck, darlin’. No. No, no, no. This can’t be happening. This is my fault.” His mouth trembles with his words, and he throws his arms around me, engulfing me in a hug. “Fuck. Please, God. Please. Don’t do this to her.”
I clutch him, rubbing my hand in circles between his shoulder blades. He feels so real and not like a figment of my imagination in this dark nightmare world. “Elias, hey. Take a breath. We’re okay. I’m alive and here with Andre’s help. We’re dream walking in your nightmare.”
Elias heaves a few deep breaths. “What? Fuck really? Why does it feel so real?”
“Because it is real in a way,” Andre says, materializing beside us.
Andre’s presence startles Elias, and he throws himself onto me protectively, using himself to shield my body. Clapping his hands together, Andre transforms the world around us, destroying Elias’s nightmare of Hell and turning it into a field of endless rainbow flowers with pink clouds hanging in an indigo sky. He still hasn’t lost his romantic touch being a devil, and I manage to ease Elias upright to glance around.
“I’m using my power to manipulate Raven’s soul. We’re all on what I can only describe as an alternate plane as if you project from your bodies and merge as one entity.” Andre smirks and ruffles his hand through Elias’s hair as if he’s a scared child. I can’t help but smile. “Your captor can’t keep me out. Never could. Never will be able to now that I’ve got to connect with you on such an intimate level.”
“I swear to fucking Hell, Andre. That better not mean what I think it means with that cock of ass destruction looking like it’s going to swing at me, knock me out, and have its way with my butthole. Raven’s either. We’re not capable of handling that thing in this life.” Elias furrows his brows with his words, looking like he wants to take a swing at Andre’s groin.
I whack Elias with a laugh. “Haven’t you heard? Anything is possible in a dream. What happened to my sexy, brave hunter?”
Andre bellows a laugh at my teasing of Elias. “Anything is possible with the power of lust at my fingertips.” Purposefully leaning closer, Andre grabs Elias’s hair to hold him still to whisper in his ear. “And for the sake of your knowledge, Raven rather enjoyed her time in Hell with me. I’ve officially been corrupted by that mouthwatering pussy of hers.”
Fuck me.
I throw myself between the two of them as Andre’s devilish side peeks through. I both love it and hate it, because he didn’t need to go there and announce our intimate affairs, though I know it was only because he wanted to prove Elias wrong.
“Okay, stop it. No more talking about sex, anal, dream threesomes, or whatever else the fuck Mr. Lust’s power ignites between the three of us.” I turn to Andre. “Please, chill. He’s fragile, even in this dream state.”
“I’m not fragile,” Elias snaps. “I’m trying to protect our assholes.”
Andre massages his fingers into my shoulder like he can’t help touching me anyway he can as all these dirty thoughts cross his mind. “I think he’s more afraid of the pleasure that will occur. Mortality has done a number on him. He just needs—”
“Stop. Seriously. Both of you. I just wanted to come here and see for myself that my soul mate hasn’t keeled over before I could put him out with a bang.” I grab Elias’s face, forcing him to stop glaring at Andre. “Can you tell us where you are? Anything that can help us find you?”
Elias sighs a breath and rests his forehead to mine, enjoying the closeness of my soul while he processes my words. “I was locked in a fourth floor apartment with a view of a city, but Zade and Cassius...I’ve been relocated because they found me. I don’t know where I am now. I was blindfolded and moved into a bathroom with no window.”
I inhale a small breath. “Zade and Cassius? They found you?”
“Days ago, I think. I’m struggling to keep track of time.” Elias shifts his head, closing the space to my lips. He kisses me softly like he was waiting for me to make the move and couldn’t stand that I hadn’t. “It doesn’t really matter. They said they couldn’t help me.”
“Fuck. Zade didn’t tell me any of this. He’s been non-existent until tonight, and even then, he didn’t stay.” I sigh and tilt my head, glancing at Andre. “Why doesn’t he ever do anything? It’s like he wants to but then he doesn’t.”
It’s now that I realize what sin will be his downfall.
Sloth.
Shit.
Now that I realize it, I can piece things together. He struggles with not acting. With blatantly choosing not to do something such as help Elias and me. Sure, he thinks it goes against his divine purpose, and it might, but I can use this information. I need to turn his behavior into not doing things. If I can get him to ignore his duties or neglect them, he could eventually abandon them.
But in this moment, Zade’s jump from grace isn’t important.
Elias is.
“He’s an angel, darlin’. He said he was doing you a favor,” Elias says, pulling me from my thoughts. “I’m sure his dickhead superior who caught him was ensuring he couldn’t get word to you. They couldn’t care less about me. I’m a traitor to them. If I die, it solves their problems.”
I hate that he’s right.
“They’re fucking bastards.” I clench my fingers into fists. “I’m going to tie Zade up and hold him hostage in Dante’s room. Then I’m going to—”
The world quivers around us, stopping me from finishing the start of my torturous plan...though it also could be the start of a good time. Fuck. I need to get my shit together. Andre’s lust seeps into me, making it hard to not turn everything into a fantasy. Usually I’d appreciate it, but something prods at my very being.
“Uh, Andre?” I question, peering around. “What’s happening?”
Andre flickers in and out of existence without responding.
“Raven?” Elias clutches my cheeks and kisses me again. “You keep disappearing. Please don’t leave me. I’m not ready to let you go.”
My heart slides into my stomach at his pleas. Andre materializes again and rests his hands on my shoulders. Elias pulls me closer and hugs me, burying his face into the crook of my neck. His body shudders around me, and I gasp at the heartache suddenly stealing my breath.
“We have to go, little hellion,” Andre says softly. “I’m sorry.”
“Please, stay with me.” Clutching me tighter, Elias tries to keep me with him. “I’m afraid. I’m fucking scared that if you go, I’ll never see you again.”
But I don’t have a choice.
The world fades.
With one more kiss, I pull away and capture Elias’s watery gaze. “You better fucking hang on for me. I mean it. I will find you.”
“Raven, I—I love you, darlin’. More than anything. I’ll do whatever it takes to save you.” Elias fades away with his words.
I open my eyes to a world of flames.
