Belly of the Beast (COMPLETED)

23

~ Azriephel's POV ~

He doesn't know what came over him, but something primal made him lunge toward Melisande after Eliza and Vanessa had left, but he saw red when she was being basically tortured by Melisande.

He pins her to the wall and snarls at her. His face is inches from hers, and he can smell the fear stinging his tongue. He smiles, showing his canines. The Demon Queen looks at him defiantly, but not without fear.

"Never do that again," he growls.

She narrows her eyes. "Got a soft spot for half-breeds?"

He snarls. She is technically a half-breed, but at the same time, she isn't. She's much, much more than that. And now, he has let Melisande know that he has feelings for her. He is drawn to her. He cannot help it, as it's just something he feels.

"I have a soft spot for people who have been through enough shit in their lives," he says. "And she has been through plenty."

"I don't know, she seemed okay, to me ..." Melisande says. She smiles coyly at Azriephel. "You love her. You're linked to her somehow. She must be your closest soul mate. I thought I had killed all of your soul mates in the past, Azriephel. How'd one slip away?"

"No. You're not going to hurt Eliza again."

She grins. "That's what you think." She turns around and looks at one of her servants. "Find Viktor. Tell him it is time."

"It is time," says that servant. He scurried off. Azriephel looks at Melisande.

"What have you done?"

She grins. "I've activated the Wild Hunt."

His blood goes cold. The Wild Hunt is a rally, a party of sorts for demons and other creatures like them. In it, the most skilled and powerful of their warriors are sent upon the human world and the other more pure beings.

The dark creatures from the Underworld came up to the surface world in order to hunt for two weeks. They find a specific person, or persons, and bring them to the ritual grounds.

Depending on what kind of Wild Hunt is being held, it differs with what can be done to the victims of the Wild Hunt.

If it is a Full Moon Hunt, then it's free reign. They can do whatever they want to the people who they kidnap for the tradition. If it's a Waxing Moon Hunt, then they have to ready themselves to enjoy the sins of the flesh. And if it is a Blood Moon Hunt, they must kill. But there is also a Blue Moon Hunt that combines all of these.

Azriephel has long since stopped praying to the gods and goddesses he learned about growing up, but if he was the praying type, he would pray for a Blue Moon Hunt.

"Which Wild Hunt?" he asks after a moment.

She smiles at him. "You reek of desire for her, Az. But she will never go with you so long as you're a Fallen Angel."

He scowls. She's right of course, but he does not want her to know or acknowledge that. So he does not say anything in response to her.

She frowns, expecting him to be more vocal about this. But he isn't. Because he knows it's a trap.

"You'll be glad to know it's a Blue Moon Hunt."

He looks at her, wondering what has become of her to make her this kind. But he does not ask. Certainly not, as asking would prove his desire to know more about what is happening around Eliza. Will her friends be included in this?

Only time will tell, but time isn't telling.