Arianna Rose: The Arrival (Part 4) (26 page)

As soon as his feet hit the
grass, he glanced at the clearing.  No one milled about, but he would be sure to be seen by at least one person when he returned, before he woke Arianna.  But that would be later.  Now, a more pressing matter required his attention.  He closed his eyes and envisioned Agnon’s fortress on the Antarctic Peninsula and felt every cell in his body disperse and fuse with the universe. 

When he opened his eyes, he stood in the slain warlock’s house.  Amitt’s statuesque silhouette was backlit by a raging fire in the hearth.  Her womanly shape made need twist painfully within him.  He longed to walk up behind her, lift the sheer dress she wore and cup her breasts as he thrust his manhood deep inside her.  But he did not have time for play.  He needed her for something else entirely. 

“Amitt!” he called to her without delay.

Midnight-black hair swung like a pendulum when she turned to face him.  “Darius,” she purred in a voice slick with seduction.  “What a pleasant surprise,” she said and ran her tongue across her plump, blood-red lips.  Her lipstick was a fitting shade, bold and bright against her dark, glossy features.  He hardened as he imagined those lips on him.  “What are you doing here?” she asked as she sashayed across the room toward him.  Her nipples were erect, straining against the sheer fabric of her dress.  As sex-starved as he was, he was finding it impossible to concentrate on the task at hand. 

“Where are Abraxas and Baal?” he asked, his mouth parched. 

“In the dungeon,” she said and teased her long fingernails down
the center of her chest, between her full breasts.

The urge for release multiplied tenfold.  “Dammit, woman!” he said through clenched teeth and fondled every part of her with his eyes. 

“Come with me,” she said as if she understood exactly what his predicament was. 

She led the way
, her round backside swishing from side to side.  She was only midway down a dark and dank corridor when his body’s demand to be inside her could no longer be ignored.  He did not say a word of warning to her.  He stormed her suddenly. 

He slammed her
face-first against the stony wall and yanked the hem of her flimsy dress, tearing it.  With his foot, he spread her feet wide while his hands lifted her arms above her head.  He nipped her shoulder, his teeth leaving behind and angry welt.  She cried out in pleasure, arching her back and tilting her supple bottom until it ground against his pelvis.  “Oh Darius,” she crooned, spurring him.  Grateful Amitt was an uncomplicated, perpetually desire-driven creature like him, he slid one hand down her arm and clutched her breast.  He pinched her nipple hard between two fingers and she moaned as she rolled her hips over his.  He unzipped his jeans and maneuvered himself, pressing his eager flesh against her opening, moist and waiting for him.  Amitt inhaled sharply as he thrust his full length inside her.  A loud groan fled her lips, deep and throaty.  “Yes, yes,” she continued in the same, lust-filled tone as he continued to plunge deeper and deeper.  She rocked against him, encouraging him with her husky pants, quickening her pace until he could not differentiate where he ended and she began. 

Not bedding a woman for weeks made completion quicker than usual.  Before long, Darius grunted loudly and climaxed.  He withdrew from Amitt and zipped his pants.  They continued their journey down the rest of the length of the tunnel in satisfied silence. 

He spied Abraxas straddling a wooden chair resting his chin on folded arms.  “Darius, my lord,” he stood quickly and bowed his head.  “You are back.” He looked at Darius quizzically.

“Where is Baal?” Darius asked and did not waste time with banal politeness. 

“He’s in the dungeon,” Abraxas replied. 

“Let’s go,” he ordered and both Amitt and
Abraxas followed. 

When they arrived at a hollow in the rocky channel, he immediately spotted Baal.  His muscles, thick, rippling swells,
convulsed with anticipation and his nostrils flared tightly as he gripped the bars keeping him from Desmond. 

“I have a mission for you,” Darius said by way of greeting. 

Baal snapped his head around toward Darius’ voice with a slight start.  A murderous flicker of excitement flashed in his inky irises. 

“I had to kill the Sola’s friend, Beth.  I led her and the villagers she’d sought shelter with to believe it was one of Beth’s brothers who did it.  The brothers were forced to abandon the camp or they would have been executed by an angry mob.”

Links of a chain rattled and Desmond’s face appeared near the bars.  “Monster!” he spat.  “You killed Beth!” he shouted and had managed to get himself worked up into a considerable tizzy.  Darius had to admit, the condemnation in his little self-righteous flurry was laughable.  “How could you do that?” Desmond hurled a final question incredulously. 

Darius flicked his wrist and sent Desmond flying into the far wall of his cell.  “Quiet down pretentious human.  No one cares to hear what you have to say,” he warned without looking
at the once-powerful warlock then returned his full attention to his soldiers.  “These brothers have to be disposed of because they are going to be trouble.  They will not stop until they clear their names and avenge their sister’s death, blah, blah, blah, same pious nonsense as our annoying guest Desmond here.”  Darius laughed bitterly and glanced at the chamber.  “I need Arianna to believe they killed their sister.  I need them to go away.  So we are going to have to kill them soon.”

“Where are they?”
Abraxas folded his arms across his chest and asked.  His eyes had narrowed to deadly gashes and Darius could see his vicious wheels churning the cruelest scenarios imaginable.  “It will take time to find them, no?”

“
I am confident of their whereabouts,” Darius said.  “They are with their parents, I’m sure of it.  We need to get to them before they turn everyone against me and expose me before it’s time.  We need to kill them all.”

“No!” Desmond’s voice echoed.  “That
camp consists of old people and innocent children.  They are not a threat!  You cannot kill them!”

His pleas were grating on Darius’ nerves.  “They are enemies!” he screamed
and spun to face him, fists clenched and chest heaving.  “Those innocent children will grow into adults,
enemies
, if allowed to live!”  He hated to engage someone as naïve and witless as Desmond, but was loath to listen to another word from his unintelligent mouth.  “Now be silent!”

He turned
back toward Abraxas.  His breathing had calmed considerably. “I need the three of you to go to Balfour, a rural town outside the Halifax Regional Municipality of Nova Scotia, Canada and scout the area,” he instructed.  “As soon as you confirm that Dane and Jason, Beth’s brothers, are there, I want you to attack. I will sense it and join you.”

Abraxas
, Baal and Amitt nodded in agreement. 

“But be aware, I cannot leave for too long.  This
battle must be swift.  My absence will be obvious and raise too many questions,” he added. 

“I understand, my lord,”
Abraxas added and lowered his head in obedience. 

“As do I, my lord,” Amitt said and bowed so deeply Darius was granted a clear view of her bare breasts.  He forced himself to avert his gaze for fear the sight would stimulate him anew.  He did not have time for another romp. 

Baal chuffed and scraped his foot against the ground below, redirecting his focus.  The beast was eager to maim. 

“You can’t do this, Darius!  Please!  They are innocent people!”

Darius faced Desmond again.  “Look into my eyes, Desmond.  Look into my soul.”  Sky-blue eyes bore into his, burrowing, searching their depths for a shred of decency.  When Desmond’s gaze found nothing more than a liquid black abyss, his pale brow creased and his gaze grew wide.  “I can and I will kill them.  They will oppose me soon enough, thereby forfeiting any claim to innocence.”

“No,” Desmond breathed.

“Don’t look so shocked.  You know what I am.  Listen to that voice inside you, it knows what I am,” his voice was a razor blade nicking at Desmond’s spirit.  “Really, do you honestly think I care about women, children or the elderly?”  He laughed sadistically.  “You can’t be that stupid.”

Abraxas
cleared his throat and interrupted his interaction with Desmond, “What do we do with him?” he asked and gestured with the tip of his chin toward Desmond. 

“He is a weak human now.  He isn’t going anywhere.  But to be safe, chain his wrists and ankles.”

“Yes, my lord,” Abraxas replied and set about gathering lengths of chains from just beyond the cavernous cell.  He unlocked the chamber.  Hinges creaked and groaned in protest as he pulled the bars toward him.  He bound Desmond quickly as his prisoner did not resist. 

“Wonderful,” Darius clapped his hands together loudly.  “I will see you soon, when we slaughter those harboring Dane and Jason.  The children are to die slowly,” he said and stared straight at Desmond, smirking. 

“No!  Please no!” Desmond cried and dropped to the hard ground, landing on his knees.  He took his head in his hands, his torment palpable.  Darius enjoyed every agonizing moment of it. 

When finally he tore his eyes from the tortured display, he looked between Amitt,
Abraxas and Baal.  “I have to leave.  I will see the three of you when it begins.”

He closed his eyes and envisioned Arianna’s small cabin and felt his body
scatter into the night like grains of sand carried on a breeze.

Chapter 19

A dreadful feeling clung to Arianna, slimy and stagnant like scum on a pond.  She tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep, tormented by a sinking feeling that niggled at her brain.  It was more than Beth’s death, something baser and far more profound.  Her world felt as if the thin veil between good and evil had become so threadbare it could no longer filter the two realms, and that the latter now seeped through.  She wondered whether her daily existence had been infiltrated by wickedness. 

As soon as the question formed in her mind, the light bulb in the lamp on her nightstand flickered.  She sat up and stared at it, wondering if it were an electrical malfunction, or something more nefarious.  The bulb hissed and sputtered, blinking several times as if in answer to her unspoken question.  She sucked in air sharply, exhaustion and grief jumbling her perception, and a shiver of unease swept over her skin.  She stood and was about to make her way to the bathroom in hopes that a shower would help tidy her thoughts when her front door opened slowly.  Large jade eyes popped against deeply bronzed skin and glowed with a brand of annoyance-tinged shock that did little to calm her unease.

“Why are you still up?” Darius
barked at her, his dark brows forming a ‘v’ just above his eyes.

Briefly taken aback, Arianna felt as if his reaction had been entirely organic, a natural, knee-jerk response.  She did not respond verbally, but furrowed her brow at him, making plain her disapproval of his
attitude.

He saw the effect his tone had on her and his facial expression segued into one of concern.  “Are you okay?” he asked in a voice softened by restraint.  An unnatural smile parted his lips and revealed even white teeth that she noticed for the first time boasted sharp canines. 

For an inexplicable moment, Arianna’s heart rate accelerated and adrenaline saturated her muscles as if in the throes in an acute stress response. 

“Arianna, are you okay?” he asked again and advanced a step. 

She jerked skittishly, involuntarily, physically recoiling from him.  Her movement did not go unnoticed by him and a glacial glint gleamed in his eyes.  For reasons she could not rationalize, she felt as if she were seeing him for the very first time.  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied after a lengthy silence. 

“You don’t seem fine,
” he snapped.  His forced smile remained but did not reach his eyes.  “Why don’t you lie down,” he suggested.

“I’m fine where I am,” she replied perhaps a bit too defensively, for his smile tightened so that his full lips paled and stretched across his teeth.  In him, she saw scarcely bridled rage stewing and wondered why she hadn’t seen it before. 

“Oh Arianna, you poor thing,” he crooned and cocked his head to one side.  His tone of voice was sympathetic, as was his head tilt, but everything about his demeanor was robotic, as if his words were cloying, chafing the very fabric of his being painstakingly. 

“Did you find anything?” she asked to see how he would react to a question that did not relate to their current conversation. 

“There is nothing to find,” he replied sharply then caught himself.  He drew in a long breath and closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.  “I looked,” he said in a more controlled voice, his mask back in place.  “I did not find anything that would implicate anyone else.  It was one of her brothers.  It is the only thing that makes sense. One of them did it.” He spoke with finality, as if his words were law and he somehow governed her thoughts. 

“A loving brother murdering his sister in cold blood does not make sense to me at all.  I know Dane and Jason.  They did not do this,” she matched his certainty and replied. 

Darius pursed his lips then scrunched his features and smiled thinly, his expression condescending.  “You may have thought you knew them,” he addressed her as if she were a mental patient and allowed his sentence to hang in the air unfinished.