I shot him a bored look while being held immobile. I hadn’t given up on busting out my magic, despite what the dark prince had told me about the venom and spells.
“They couldn’t break you after their every effort,” he said. “So I persuaded my father to give you to me so I can bend you for him. I have a reputation, and I plan to maintain it.”
Chills surged up my spine, the iron beneath me turning cold as ice.
“You never awoke in their presence, but you did for me. For the first time in two months, you’ve woken up because they are gone and I’m here. You feel safe with me. Your instincts recognize who I am. Your body knows me.”
I almost laughed. Did he mistakenly think that he could seduce me?
“I woke up to a bad actor in a soap opera,” I said.
He threw his head back and laughed.
“They didn’t break you, and now I can do my job,” he said, his eyes holding dark delight.
I was his job.
My body couldn’t move, yet I shuddered.
He thought he could break me when the devil had failed.
I should zone out again and leave an empty shell for him, but deep in my psyche, I knew I couldn’t escape this time. I’d left the unknown realm I’d fled to, and now the path to it was gone.
I wondered why I hadn’t faded while those assholes mutilated me. When I was on Earth, I’d had to feed from my demigods at least once a week to keep my Titan power from consuming me.
Yet I’d survived in this realm, even while I’d been assaulted and maimed over and over. Was it because I was a native to Hell? Or perhaps the venom and spells the god and the devil had put in me to bind my power were also preventing me from fading.
I prodded my magic again and pushed it to the surface. All I had was a spark stirring in the ash, as insignificant as a speck of dust.
“I’m sorry, Celeste,” Loki said. “I hate to see you suffer, but you’ll have to lie inside this box for a little longer until I’m allowed to come back for you.”
I tried to quench the cold dread seeping through my bones.
His game had started. Lucifer’s heir was pumping terror into my veins by showing me he could and would let me rot in this coffin.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t get my magic out. And I wouldn’t be able to fall back into oblivion anymore. I would have to stay awake, staring at the coffin’s low ceiling, counting every second pass without knowing when or if he’d ever return for me.
I would watch myself be buried alive for eternity.
“You bastard,” I said, my voice bearing the emotion of cold stone. I wouldn’t let him get under my skin. I wouldn’t let the demon prince break me, either. “I told you when I first met you, and I’m telling you again. Don’t return for me. I don’t want to see your fucking face.”
“Shush, cousin,” he said almost fondly, his silken voice caressing me, and I shivered. “I’m not like my father. I won’t discard you. I’ve never forgotten you for a second. The only reason I’ve been avoiding you is to ensure your survival. I need to finalize the contract and protect my interests. When I come back and get you out, I won’t go easy on you. You’ll have to fight for your every breath.”
One could never tell if a demon prince’s words were a promise or a threat.
I’d hold on, no matter how hard it was. And then I’d kill him at the first opportunity, then his father, then the fucking god.
The iron lid to the coffin slid back above my head, isolating and trapping me. I lay in the dark as fear roared in my ear.
Hunger gnawed my insides as pain that I could no longer block out beat vividly in my every cell.
Loki’s footsteps, leather shoes I guessed from the soft sound, retreated.
The door opened with an eerie, creaking groan. It must be heavy. It could be made of iron, like my coffin. The door shut with a sharp click.
“Heir.” A female’s voice rose to greet him.
She sounded human, so she must be the black witch among the three of my jailors. The other two were a level-seven demon and a dark mage.