The Devil's Love

Shadow of Death: Chapter 22: Sarah

Jaynda opened her eyes, rubbing them as she frowned.

"Jaynda." Anton began. "We believe you when you spoke of what Michael had told you to do however I have an issue. Your loyalty fell to a level that was insufficient. I accept that Michael or any angel will approach my demons, it is common for it to happen. What I cannot accept is that you did not tell me. You took it upon yourself to believe Michael and keep the secret of the conversation. The reality of it is that you wanted your queen to depart hell, returning things to the way that they were."

Her eyes flicked between Anton and me. The unspoken words of what she really wanted were obvious. She wanted Anton single again.

"But the queen will never depart hell; her place will always be on the throne beside me. I will not have anyone trying to tempt, trying to disrupt our union. So this is where we discuss the future. You know that I cannot have a disloyal demon wandering around hell, showing the other demons that it's okay to do as they please. You have a choice Jaynda; you can go into true hell and live with the damned as one of the damned or you can become one of the outcasts."

Two doors appeared one orange, one black. Jaynda gasped and backed away, shrieking when she hit the menacing man that had moved to behind her.

"Decide for yourself, or I will do it for you, and you won't like what I pick."

The color was dropping from Anton, taking away the soft tan coloring to something that was whiter than I'd ever seen. Jaynda backed away, shaking her head.

"Please my lord; I meant no harm. I am loyal."

"No, you're not. Pick a door and do it before I put you in the lake."

"I am, you know I am. Search me, my Lord, find the truth."

"Oh but I have searched you Jaynda, and I see a lot of things that I do not like. I see a woman who is so blinded by her lust that she cannot even stand to look at her queen. She refuses to address her when she is the only person who could save her from an eternity of pain."

Anton pulled her closer, gripping her arms as he made her look at me.

"Stand before your queen and tell her that you have no personal intention for this whole charade. Tell her that you did not intend to be the first at my door once she was gone. Tell her that if she turned a blind eye to the antics that you did not intend to usurp her position."

What?

"You cannot even look at her and offer an apology for your appalling behavior. Go to the black door before I push you through the orange one."

Her head lowered as she turned, doing as she was told. I was relieved once the door was shut. Anton walked back to me, wrapping his arms around me.

"Another issue dealt with. One by one we're getting there."

The white fell away, returning to the warmth of the underworld. I smiled and looked up at Anton, pulling the lapels of his jacket down so that he'd kiss me. Always compliant to my requests, Anton pressed his lips to mine and ensured that I and those that might be close enough to see, understood that there was no tempting him away.

Brannon shrieked, I looked up at Anton who was just as amused as what I was. We looked down to him, alert and bouncing his limbs. He smiled as his hands went to his mouth.

"I think he likes to be the center of our attention."

"I think you're right," I said, pulling out of his embrace.

Lifting Brannon to my arms, I looked at him with curiosity. He wasn't like a newborn baby; he could contort his facial muscles, he flailed his limbs and chewed on his hands as he was already teething.

"Did anyone ever tell you how adorable you are?"

"I was wondering if you were planning on telling me today," Anton said dryly.

"I wasn't talking to you, smarty pants."

He mocked his hurt before kissing me on my cheek.

"Replaced already. I am offended."

"Of course you are. Now, where are we going to marry?"

Anton surveyed the land and gestured to our right.

"Reasonably flat for an adequate space. As a bonus, it's right beside the office, so it will be easy for everyone to find."

"Or you could invest in some signs for once."

He grinned at me as if I was silly. Of course, why would hell have any signs? It just added to the fun that was this pretty nightmare.

"So aside from there being no signs and generally making life difficult for everyone, what else is there going to be?"

"Lots of things that I'm not going to tell you about."

Anton walked back to me, taking Brannon from my arms and putting him back in his pram. Little man was not impressed. Anton took me into his arms, about to say something when he stopped, looking at me with interest.

"Sarah, you wouldn't be keeping something from me by any chance?"

"Me?" I feigned innocence. "I have no idea what you're talking about Anton."

He chuckled, lowering to my ear.

"You think that you can hide from me." He whispered seductively. "But I am not normal Sarah. I can see things. I can feel things. Hide if you wish but know that one day soon you will beg me and on that day I will tease you, tempt you and make you wish for this moment back."

Anton stood looking rather smug with himself until I yanked his tie back down to me.

"Maybe I wasn't hiding; maybe I was waiting until we were alone, maybe I was waiting for a better moment when I could tell you in a perfect way."

I smiled sweetly as I let go of his tie, flattening my hand to it in a vain attempt to remove the crinkles.

"Maybe you should remember you are in a relationship now Anton. Just because I can doesn't mean that I should. I am not one of your demons so do not treat me as if you can order me around or bully me into giving into you."

Moving away I pushed the pram back to the castle. The entire way back I could hear Anton behind me, silent except for the crunching of leaves under his feet.

As far as fights went, I'd say that this one was pretty bad.