Chapter twelve
Madoc
I’mjitteringwithexcitementas my mate and I embark on our first mission, and at last... just the two of us.
I want to sing the cheesy song, but she slaps my shoulder with her hand and stops me. I don’t know why she is so angry with my singing; at least I’m scaring all the scary creatures away (plus, I know where else she can slap me with that hand).
Besides, I sound like a soprano; I could fill up an auditorium.
Alice is safe with Enzo and the others right now, so at least I can embark on this mission with ease. My uncle will not get his hands on the delicate little human. I will slit his throat if he thinks he will get his mangy claws on her.
I never had a younger sibling, being the youngest (and most handsome) out of my four brothers, but I’m starting to see that little teen as my own kid sister.
The way her eyes lit up when I gave her the knife. So precious. She will make a cute psychopath indeed.
“How much farther are we?” Belle gripes. “We’ve been walking for days.”
It’s actually only been several hours, but I don’t bother to tell my mate. Either she’s overexaggerating or the last several hours have felt like days to her.
Is time slowing down for her? Shit. Not a good sign. That’s the effect the Abyss can have on humans. Time can become static, and you feel as if you are trapped, stuck in limbo, with no past, present, or future.
I’m not sure how her eyesight is faring either; she explains that everything still looks a little blurry. But since she swallowed Enzo’s cum, and mine too—and let’s not forget Grey—she appears to be getting better. Her eyes have focus now.
Alice has that unfocused look, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the girl was blind in this world. She does not belong here; she belongs in a different world of talking flowers, smoking caterpillars, and smiling cats.
Her world sounds so much nicer than the Abyss. A land where there is only misery. And temptation too since we’re heading to the Forest of Forbidden Fruit.
We’re just approaching the border. Just on the horizon, I spy that thick cluster of trees, the location of Belle’s first challenge. If she passes today, the king will consider her pleas about stopping the darkness.
I really don’t want to see any more humans succumb. Now that I’m no longer living on the fringes, I can’t be there to help the humans who peek into the Abyss, balancing over its sharp precipice.
There will be no one there to protect them from the wraiths.
The more time we waste, the more humans will succumb, and it’s just not fair; I will personally kill the king myself once all this is over.
We’re going to get our thrones back.
I don’t care what my brothers think; we will not give up. I was always the reckless one, after all.
Finally, we arrive at the border of the Forest of Forbidden Fruit, and already Belle’s eyes are bigger than her belly. Not that she had a big belly to begin with. Hers is small, flat, and perfect.
The forest has no effect on me, but it does have an effect on Belle. We may as well have stumbled onto a goldmine. The trees bear bright, colorful fruit in all shapes and sizes, each one promising a unique temptation. Green is usually money; yellow is an endless supply of happiness, and red is sex (my personal favorite). Pink is love, purple is luxury, and blue is spiritual freedom.
This forest is probably the first splash of color Belle has seen since arriving in the Abyss. Everything so far has been brown, gray, and black, but there’s a whole rainbow in there.
Taste the rainbow, they said. It will befun, they said. Well, I have tasted the rainbow, and it’swaytoo spicy.
“Well, here goes nothing. You ready, my beauty?”
We stop at an inviting footpath. It weaves through the forest of brightly colored fruit, beckoning us inside, but again, it has no effect on me.
Belle’s pupils have blown out, and I’m almost envious of the forest for stealing away my beauty’s attention; I will burn it down to the ground.
She breathes in and nods once. “Yes. Let’s.”
Oh, no. She’s speaking in broken sentences. The forest has already enamored her. This will be hard.
Lucky thing she has me; I’m more tempting than anything in this forest.