Chapter 10 ∣  Reality Bites

-Adrasteia

Groaning, I rubbed my forehead while I tried to sit up. Exhaustion had turned into immense fatigue, as I'd never experienced anything like that in my life. I wasn't talking about almost having sex with the tall drink of water that somehow managed to take me away from Earth and brought me to 'Hell'...

No, whatever he did to me, it felt like he was taking away every bit of energy I had. My will to stay conscious quickly faded, as it wasn't vicious, but almost a peaceful way to disappear.

Why had he come on to me in just the blink of an eye? I didn't even know his name, but I'm one hundred percent sure he was the one I dreamed of that night. Everything I had thought would happen in my life, came crashing down around me. My beloved claiming another, my trust in him was shattered, my faithfulness was rewarded with betrayal.

I don't know what to think anymore.

He saved me?

Why should I be grateful for that?

Now I must live every day with the pain of losing Landon. Your beloved was your other half, someone no one else could compare to...I'd never find someone like him.

It'll be easier if I can just sneak around.

Closing my eyes and sitting completely up, I tried to reach out to the shadows, the one part of me that had always remained loyal to me. However, I winced when I felt something restraining me, keeping me away from my escape. Frustration overtook me...this...thing, couldn't possibly know about what I can do...could he?

"We need to talk," the deep husky voice once again sent shivers down my spine, only this time, the pleasantness remained when I snapped my eyes open. He sat in a chair on the other side of the room, his ebony hair just barely reaching in front of his gray eyes, his sharp features bringing out something in me that was foreign.

Why is he making me feel this way?

He kissed me, so simply and I gave way, allowing myself to lose a part of my control to just taste for a moment...something I should have experienced a long time ago. Landon...kept me from ever feeling any sense of passion or dare I say, love? What he was doing to me...wasn't love. He was selfish and betrayed me, making me look like a fool forever believing in him, forever trusting in him.

His eyes regarded me with curiosity and that's when I felt something around my neck. I slowly brought my right hand up to my neck, my fingertips brushing the cold metal of a silver choker.

More like a collar...

Calling it something different doesn't change the meaning behind it. He trapped me here...I'm a prisoner...but why? If he saved me, why wouldn't he just let me go? Am I his spoils of victory?

"Adrasteia," when he spoke my name it felt so smooth leaving his lips, my eyes drifting from the covers and looking into his.

"How do you know who I am?" I asked, letting my fingertips fall away from the silver, comprehending that this was his way of containing everything that made me who I am...including my inherited gift. "Who are you? No...what are you?"

He crossed his arms and stated, "I expected as much. My name is Keegan and I'm the King of the Dominion Plane, a portion of Hell." He stood from his chair, his dark slacks clinging to his well-built body, his shirt reflected his eyes, only it was a slightly darker shade. "As for what I am," he now stood across from me, leaning against the wall, "I'm an incubus."

"I don't know what that is," I pulled the covers closer to my body, not wanting any part of him to touch me again, afraid of surrendering my control and possibly all of myself to him. In my head, I was still meant for Landon...I couldn't shake the thought away and it was beginning to hurt my heart all over again.

A mental image flashed through my head, Keegan holding me against the wall with his body, only this time, our clothes were nowhere to be found. His strong, but soft hands trailed down the bare skin of my ribs, bringing his hands to rest on the curve of my hips. I felt himself pressed against my abdomen, my heart skipping a beat when I let the air, I had been holding in my lungs escape.

I screamed, holding my head and shaking it, trying to get the image out of my mind. My cheeks were flushed, and I could feel my desire pool in my core.

"Stop!" I growled at him, "Get out of my head!" When the image left, my eyes lifted, and I became angry when I saw the smirk playing across his lips. This was just a game for him. How could he do that to me? Violating something I thought was private. Maybe karma was biting me in the ass for invading other's minds while cloaked within the shadows?

Keegan pushed away from the wall, near me as I moved far enough so that when he knelt next to the bed, we had a good three to five feet between us. He chuckled darkly, his eyes flashing as he said, "I'm a sex demon. I live for steal energy, souls if I wish, and sleeping with women."

"Feeding on humans doesn't sound so bad now," I grumbled to myself, realizing that this creature was on a whole other level than I was. I'd never heard of these types of beings...though there were others that must have, as we're all demons really.

"Oh, the things I could show you," he mused to himself and I shot him a nasty glare.

"I want you to show me the way back home," I retorted, brushing the hair that had fallen over both of my shoulders behind my ears.

Keegan shrugged his shoulders, "This is your home."

"No, it isn't...I don't go blind from walking outside. I don't know where you took me...but you need to return me to Lan-"

"What is it with you and that fucking pureblood?" Keegan interrupted me, "He claims someone that isn't his beloved and then when you go to fight for your spot by his side, he doesn't take yours and attempts to kill you. He doesn't love you. He doesn't care about you. He would rather see you dead, then his passive bound would be in the grave and he could move on without a second thought. He'll speak badly about your actions, showing that you betrayed your coven and tried to kill the coven leader. You'll be a rogue and for how long until someone kills you? Probably a werewolf considering this war you've all gotten yourselves into and then you would end up in a different circle of Hell anyways. So, news flash, you'd still end up here in about a week's time anyway. At least this way...you might have a different life."

Tears had formed in my eyes with each word he spoke, like a blade cutting into me deeply and having to face the facts of what cards had been dealt for me...hurt.

"W-Why did you save me?" I whispered, trying to furiously wipe the tears away from my eyes.

Keegan narrowed his eyes and said, "If Landon has no use for you, I do. I'm supposed to take a wife, that's what every demon here wants. They think it'll keep me from going psychotic like my father and making everyone cower in fear. It might stop the rebellion as well, but I'm not even sure about that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Have you not listened to one goddamn word I've said?!" He reached down and wrapped one of his strong hands around my upper arm, dragging me away from the bed and bringing me near him. Picking up what looked like sunglasses from the shelf next to him, he adjusted them on the bridge of my nose, the ends resting on my ears. He pulled me to the window and drew back the curtain.

My heart stopped for a moment. The tears that I had tried to push away, came full force, escaping my eyes and trickling down my cheeks beneath the sunglasses. The sky was a burnt orange color with a sphere in the 'sky' that was very similar to the sun, with a black patch on it. From what level we were on, I could see out and across a lake of lava and fire, the one connection to the kingdom was a very precarious bridge. The ground was also a reddish hue like clay, my heart kick-starting as Keegan's words finally sunk in.

"You can't force me to stay here..." as the words left my lips, his grip became more aggressive. Letting the curtain fall back, shielding the light from the room and removing the sunglasses from my face, he could finally see just how angry I was.

His words were harsh, "I'll do whatever I like. I'm the ruler of the Dominion Plane and if I must take a damn wife, at least I'll have some fun with it. You have to be more entertaining than the run of the mill demons that live here."

"Take me back!" I tried to pull out of his grip, my free hand flying up to his chest as I pressed hard against it. He wouldn't budge. With this silver accessory, it stripped me of everything, making me as weak as an ordinary human being.

"No," he replied.

Glaring at him with hatred I pulled once again hard away, growling, "I will not be your wife. I have a beloved..."

His nostrils flared, throwing me against the wall. My back impacted the hard surface and I immediately fell to my feet. He was in front of me, dragging me back to my feet. Closing my eyes and turning my face away from him, I thought he was going to hit me.

He never did.

Instead, his fingertips touched my chin, bringing my face back to meet his. "You don't have a beloved. Not anymore. You do not belong to him. You are not bound to his coven. You have the chance to start over here, with me, and standby my side to help me rule what apparently everyone can't think I can handle on my own."

"I-I d-don't e-even know you," I cried softly.

"We'll have to change that," he let me go, nodding in the direction of a separate door that led to an en suite. "Go take a long shower, think everything over."

Keegan slowly walked away from me, leaving me on my own. Before he left, I whispered softly, "So...I'm a prisoner."

"Until I can trust you," he turned around just as he reached the door, "Yes. Yes, you are. So, make like a good prisoner and get yourself cleaned up. If you don't do as I say, I'll just have to give you duties that slaves handle."

My cheeks turned red; my hands clenched into fists. When I glared back at him, he just laughed at me, like I was some child.

I've never met anyone who makes me just...mad.

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To Seduce a Vampire by K. A. Young.

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