BRAVING THE DARKNESS: One Night With The Demon King
BENEATH HER DARKNESS: The Alpha’s Little Demon Book 2
Chapter 16 – Burn It
LUCIUS.
I was still reeling from how her lips tasted so f*uc*king good when my ears heard someone approaching the main door. I already knew who it was and I couldn’t help but mutter a curse under my breath the moment Patrea untangled herself from my grip.
Her face was tainted with red tints as she combed her hair with her fingers before she unwrapped the apron from her body and walked towards the living room. I followed her and leaned on the pillar separating her kitchen from the rest of the house, where I have a view of her and the front door.
She brushed her hands against her pants and t- shirt as if they would whisk away any traces of me, and it irritated me.
“Hey!” Her voice sounded upbeat the moment the f*uc*ker Berner appeared at the door, carrying a basket of different kinds of fruits.
I wanted to suck the life out of these fruits so they would decay and crumble to ashes, but I knew Patrea would know it was me if I did that.
So I contented myself with remaining quiet and listening to their conversation.
“Hi! This is for you and Althea.” He said right away. “Oh, you didn’t have to.” She took it from him, but I was guessing the basket was a bit heavy for her, so the f*uc*ker decided to carry it for a while, while they talked.
“Mom came this morning, and she had too many fruits with her. You know she loves taking many for me, so she suggested I give some to you. You are aware my mother likes you.” I was sure that the last part was spoken louder so I could hear it.
“Tell her I said thank you, but this is too much.”
I saw his arms shake a little and sweat form on his forehead as he looked at the basket and then at Patrea again, smiling. “Maybe I’ll place it here so we can talk better.”
He didn’t wait for Patrea to reply as he bent forward and placed the basket on the floor. I was sure the stones I placed at the bottom in exchange for the fruits were really heavy, but I was disappointed he put the basket down instead of trying to show off he could carry it. 0
“Mom will be staying for a couple of days, so if you’ re free on some days, she would love to have a coffee with you.”
“That sounds fun.”
I cleared my throat because the idea of her spending time with his mother bothered me. For all I know, it was bait to have her for himself.
Both heads turned in my direction, and something on my face must have been showing my displeasure because Patrea’s eyes widened before she glared at me.
But I had no intention of being nice. I was not made for that.
“Hey, man!” He raised his hand to wave at me.
Instead of answering his gesture, I turned around and walked back to the kitchen, leaving them in the living room. But I wasn’t done watching them. I sat at the dining table and put up a hologram so I could see them from the angle I wanted.
“Sorry, he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Patrea chuckled softly.
If the f*uc*ker didn’t interrupt us, I was sure I was in a good mood.
But why the f*uc*k did she need to apologize?
“It’s okay. But are you sure you’re okay here?”
I didn’t like the sound of this.
Patrea smiled and nodded her head. “Of course. All is good. So, thanks for the fruits, and tell your mom I said hello. I guess I’ll see you around.”
Good.
She held the door and was about to close it when he placed his hand on it and pushed it back, making a hiss escape my throat.
“Wait. Will you go to work tomorrow?” He asked. “Yes.”
“Great. I need help with some books, so I’ll drop by tomorrow and maybe you can help me sort and figure them out.”
“Sure. Just drop by any time. And I’ll help you out.”
So the f*uc*ker was allowed to see her at work and I wasn’t.
“Perfect! See you tomorrow then.” He stepped back and bowed down a bit like those I’d seen centuries ago where knights bowed down to their females, and it surged up the anger I had for him.
Where in the world did he not understand that Patrea had a boyfriend? Not that I was real one, but what the f*uc*k? f*uc*k him.
I heard the door close, but I remained seated on the chair, my hand resting on the table and coiling into a fist as my eyes blazed red.
“Lucius, what’s with that att*itude?” Her voice sounded cold. Did she seriously think I was made for pleasantries? To act nice even though I dislike the person?
Patrea was about to say more when someone yelled from the outside, and it caught her attention.
“What the f*uc*k! S*hi*t!” Bauer shouted. A devil’s grin crossed my face. And Patrea saw that.
“What did you do?” She snapped at me.
I didn’t answer, so she rushed to the living room, and I saw her from the hologram as she looked out the window.
A fire had broken out on the f*uc*ker’s lawn, and he couldn’t get a pass to go inside his house. But the fire remained in one line, not touching his house or spreading anywhere.
“Mom!” He was beginning to be hysterical.
“Lucius!” Patrea yelled from the living room, but I remained seated. “Stop it! What the hell is wrong with you? His mom is inside!”
When she didn’t get a response from me, she moved her hands up and closed her eyes. She was about to start chanting her spells when my body disappeared from my seat and appeared in front of her, pulling her arm to stop her from calling the spirits.
“Stop,” I told her in a cold voice.
“Let me go,” she glared at me, anger flitting in her eyes.
“No. Don’t you f*uc*king do anything!”
“What is wrong with you? Put out the fire or I will kick you out of this house!”
My eyes darted to the window, and I saw many people rushing in and throwing buckets of water over the fire, but it remained the same.
“Stop it, or I swear to the spirits!” She warned me but she probably realized I would not succumb to her, so she began to prepare her spells again.
“I said, stop!” I hissed at her, and I felt fire forming in my hands and my eyes burning.
“If you think you can scare, well, you can’t!”
I stopped the fire outside immediately, and everyone outside gasped, confused by what happened, but I didn’t have time to look at them as I walked out of the living room.
“What’s wrong with you?” She ran after me, her
hand coiling around my wrist and tugging me back, but I was stronger than her, so I ended up dragging her to the kitchen instead.
“You will not talk to him again,” I told her the moment I stopped walking and turned around to face her.
“What? Who do you think you are, Lucius? Did something happen in Kalmerus?”
“No. I don’t want him around you.”
“I don’t see any point in that. He’s my neighbor, sooner or later I was bound to bump into him.”
“You’re f*uc*king mine, Patrea!” I bellowed at the same moment I placed a barrier around the house so no one could hear our voices on the outside.
She stepped back as her chest began to heave. “You’ re delusional if you think I’m yours. No one owns me…”
My hand cupped her jaws, but she swatted it away, and it made anger surge up inside me.
“If I said you were mine, then you’re f*uc*king mine! Watch me end his life if he ever comes near you.”
“Can you hear yourself? What happened to you? You ’re crazy if you think I will allow you to push me around and do what you want! I’m not yours, and I will never be yours! I didn’t run away from the underworld, from the father, just to run back to his son!”
Hatred and anger were flitting in her eyes as if she were mirroring what I was feeling. I had never felt this rage over just one simple act from any human, and I had no idea how to name the loathing I felt for Barden at the moment.
Patrea was not backing down, even though flames were already burning in my hands. I thought she would shut up and back away, but she didn’t.
“I thought you were different from him, but you’re just as evil as him! You don’t care about other species, just yourself! But why should I expect differently when you’re a demon? And nothing! Nothing can change that!”
A demon.
I would always be a despicable demon in her eyes.
I shut my eyes as I let fire engulf my whole body. “So what are you doing now? You’ll burn my house? ” Her voice lowered as if she were tired of shouting. “Burn it. Burn me too. The hell I care.”
I wanted to see her and looked at her again, but I was not sure I was ready to see more of her eyes.
So for the first time in my life, I cowered and vanished in front of her – before the pain of her hatred for me and my kind, struck and hit me again.
PATREA.
My chest was heaving.
To say that I was upset with Lucius was an understatement.
I was furious at how irrational he was. I was terrified that the fire he made outside would burn the houses around this area, just because he didn’t like Bernard.
“Burn it. Burn me too. The hell I care.” I spoke in a low voice.
I was so tired of shouting, and despite my anger, I didn’t like the confusion that I saw in his eyes, so I was trying to calm myself down. But even before I could calm him as well, Lucius disappeared without saying anything.
“Lucius?” I swiveled my body around the kitchen to look for him before I dashed to the living room.
When I didn’t see him there, I drew the curtains and saw the neighbors still gathered in front of Bernard’s house, discussing the event.
And as much as I didn’t want to deal with it and simply searched for Lucius, I know I should go to them. I must go out and act concerned if I didn’t want any suspicions to befall me or him.