Sinners' Kingdom #1: The Book of Lust (Complete)

34

Lust's reaction was instantaneous. His tail that had been tormenting me less than a heartbeat ago vanished in a blur so fast I couldn't follow it with my eyes. Only after it stopped, poised in mid-air and pointed at Mammon, did I realize it had changed shape. The pointed arrow-like tip with the flared sides was now scythe-shaped, a deadly black blade that shone with an unnatural sheen. Bone, metal, it could have been both, but it was nothing like what had been twisting and pulling on me before. Now, a single touch of it would maim and kill, not pleasure.

Lust still shielded me with his body, half-turned to keep me out of Mammon's line of sight. His billowing robe had returned, magically materializing as it shimmered and rustled between our squeezed bodies. With a roll of his hips, he slid his softening cock out of me, too, leaving me gasping for breath in mixed fear and exhaustion.

What was happening! What had he done! There was no way this could be an accident. Lust must have planned for this, using me as bait until the other Prince shattered his prison, but why! When Mammon was clearly so dangerous! There was no contract protecting me from Mammon the way mine with Lust did. And if anything happened to me, he could say goodbye to himself, too, thanks to the tabula rasa. So what was Lust thinking!

"Give up, Asmodeus. You knew this was over the second you saw me." An animal growl laced Mammon's voice, as strong as ever. He hadn't lunged yet, but he moved toward us slowly, inexorably. Every barefooted step brought him closer, and there was nowhere for us to go. The locked doors behind us would take all of Lust's strength to open again, leaving me undefended.

Mammon. Lust. Me.

The noose tightened, and I shuddered.

"Oh, you'd do well to watch your step, Mammon. You might have got the better of me last we met, but you had the help of our lovely brothers. How are they, anyway? What a sight it was, our dear Wrath and Envy desperate enough to cooperate with you. So affectionate."

"Don't kid yourself. The only reason I worked with them was to pin you down, not because you're any stronger than me. But now you have nowhere to run. No dreams. No sleep. No mirrors. And you already know..." Mammon flexed one clawed hand, black fur materializing over it with a billowing wave. Then, with a languorous, victorious smirk, he placed the clawed hand over his abdomen. "... you won't be going anywhere without your Shard. Because I've already eaten it."

Eaten it?

What the hell?

He ate Lust's Shard?

So it had been here after all. Mammon, this Prince, had gotten to it long before we did. How long had he been trapped here with it all this time? Was that the real reason Lust had egged him on so recklessly, to break him out? Then, did that mean he had a plan after all to retrieve his Shard from the other demon and get us out of here?

His plan had better be a good one. I was still naked, my clothes torn apart on the ground, and even worse, my come was still so wet between my thighs that with every movement, small noises slicked back and forth, tantalizing, taunting. I wanted to die.

How could Lust have used me like that? But fine, I could get over it if it meant I survived -- if only I knew his fucking plan!

Lust pushed me back, forcing me to move toward the doors. He retreated with me, his tail waving once in a smooth, menacing arc.

"You swallowed it?" Lust asked. He had the audacity to sound amused, maybe even a little delighted at the admission. "I thought so, but it was only a guess. I knew my Shard was near here somewhere, only hidden. I'll be wanting that back now, my sweet brother."

"Call me brother again, Asmodeus. Try it."

"But we are! Blood ties are unnecessary. The covenant that binds us is far more compelling, isn't it?"

"I'll show you how thin that covenant runs."

That was the last warning before the clash. The next thing I knew, I was shoved at the door, my naked body slapping into it with an embarrassing noise. It was cold, too, the stone more frigid than ice, and my nipples decided to try to chisel it, apparently, as they immediately tightened against the cold surface. I cringed away and whirled back around, eyes wide, just in time to see Lust's scythed tail bite and sink into Mammon's arm. But far from stopping him with the gouging strike, it only made the feral demon grin, showing off wolf teeth, fierce canines as lethal as knives. Then his arm was a furred limb, a giant, clawed wolf paw at the end of it, slicing into Lust's side and tearing through the robe. Another sweep of the tail as it wrenched loose from Mammon's arm, sending a spray of darkly glowing red blood all over the walls and ceiling, then the blades tripling, two smaller crescent shaped edges whistling out of the tail to lacerate flesh, carve bone--

The remaining Enochian symbols guarding the chamber finally gave. With a burst of power and a shockwave that knocked me off my feet, every single one of them winked out, plunging us all into darkness. My head must have bashed into the door. I almost toppled, too stunned to stay sitting up, but caught myself with a hasty palm slapped to the ground. Cold! So goddamn cold! And now I couldn't see anything at all in front of my face, what the hell was happening anymore!

Crumbling, that's what.

It took me only half a second to realize what the little pieces of rock sprinkling on my head meant. My brain was already in 'yes, everything could get worse, and I bet I know how' mode, so this made perfect sense. Of course the ceiling would be caving in on me while I was naked, bruised, blind, and my stupid vagina dripping with a gallon of demon come. Because why not? Why the fuck not?

And all the while, the din of the fighting not only continued but intensified. The sound of something stabbing and slicing through flesh, the unmistakable noises of bodies clashing with punches and other blows, the grunts as Lust battled Mammon in the pitch dark somehow. How could they see at all in this! Did all demons have night vision or something?

Wait. That glow. The crumbling of the ceiling above increased, and a shower of bigger pebbles knocked me upside the head, but my vision adjusted to the thickly glowing streaks and spatters of light all over the chamber. Their blood, of course! But what good did that do? There was still no way out even if I could see a little now, and if the ceiling caved, thick slabs of stone would crush me before I ever had a chance of trying to flee upward.

Until I remembered. The mirror!

Shit! Had I dropped it? But even if it had shattered, the reflective shards might be enough if I could just find them. The mirror must have fallen earlier when Lust forced off my clothes, since I had stowed it under my robe by my waist. Was it still there? Could I reach it without being beheaded by Lust's scything tail and Mammon's giant claws?

I had to try. And maybe, just maybe, my insane idea would work.

But I wouldn't know until I had that fucking mirror in my hand. Heedless of the danger, I crawled as fast as I could, groping along the ground. More chunks fell from above, heavier now, so large that when they slammed down, the reverberations warned me: if I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, I'd be lucky to come away with just broken bones. Wasn't the temple above us, though! There shouldn't be so much heavy stone above! But then again, the heavy foundations and wood would do the job of bashing my brains out just fine, too, if I let them.

Not today. Hell, no. I gritted my teeth and surged forward, ignoring the ringing pain in my skull when something cracked right on top of my head. Fuck! Where was it! If I went any closer, I would be right under Lust and Mammon from the sounds of it, and I was not going to end up mincemeat today.

There! Shredded fabric. Was that my underwear? Then my robe must be nearby, and therefore the mirror.

And at last, my fingers skidded across it. Wooden handle. Hard back. Flip it over, still intact? Yes! Fucking yes!

And now the rest was up to Lust. God fucking help me.

"Lust! Do it now!"