Page 6 of The Devil of London

The woman was sex incarnate, which she’d always been. She was sin in the truest form, bathed in carnal depravity. If there was one being meant to represent the women who refused to cower or bow before petty gods, it was my girl.

“They’re here, Nasir. That was fast,” Merikh stated from where he knelt beside the boy. He forced the sleeve up on the corpse’s left arm until the name and unit he fought within for the House of Herne was revealed. “I thought I recognized this asshole. Why send his son to wed Aderyn?”

“Damn it. I missed the connection. I knew Maxwell was a hunter, but not a descendant of the Herne line. He probably sent him to keep her away from me,” I hissed as I inhaled her sweet, enticing scent. “They’re trying to prevent me from protecting her as I always do. They meant to keep us separated for a reason. We need to figure it out. It could mean they’re intending to make a move for her tonight.”

“That is one way of looking at it, but we’re her swords. We’ve always protected our queen. The Herne’s know that. To go after her is suicide.”

“Which tells me they didn’t know we’d already made contact with her, and they were trying to get to her first. Last time we clashed, I decimated their numbers so fucking hard it’s taken them three generations to rebuild from it. They’ve learned from what we did to them last time, and thought to weaken us by taking her since they know we’re stronger when she’s with us. We must get to Saffron Manor and get everyone out before those marching on it can reach it.”

I nodded, and Malik, D’Arcy, Khair, Ryat, and Rue entered the church, each wearing a dark expression. D’Arcy reached the end of the pews and held up a severed head, which had the runic symbol for hunter scarred on its cheek.

“Found this fucker outside with twenty of his friends. James also arrived with a message from Damaris. It seems there is a large force of puritans and soldiers marching through London, who are currently heading toward the East End under Herne’s flag, as well as the king’s colors.”

“It’s time to burn it all down, gentlemen.” I slid my gaze to Aderyn, who remained oblivious to what was occurring.

“That sounds like a horrible idea, Nasir.” D’Arcy snorted.

“That’s optimistic, D’Arcy,” Merikh muttered. “If they’re here, then we either fight them or deal with the consequences of killing the King of England for aiding them to rise against us.” Merikh paused. “Again. Or we leave with our wealth and family and begin anew. The New World has been growing, and it needs a king. I am done allowing others to pretend they rule over us. This is the second time a king has betrayed us. Let us not allow there to be a third.”

“Agreed. It is time we left London for the New World. I intend to build an empire for her before the curses end. If we slaughter the entire continent, Aderyn might be a little upset about her friends and family. No, we raze London, and send a message to anyone who thinks to fuck with us, we will not tolerate it. Merikh, take Aderyn and guard her with your life. D’Arcy, head to Saffron Manor and inform the women and men we are leaving London tonight.” Pausing, I eyed Merikh knowing he’d sense my urgency and protect Aderyn with his life.

“Aaryn and Rue, you go with Merikh and protect your queen. Take her through the catacombs beneath the city to the Cardinal’s Hat. Young William will meet you outside and show you to the rowboats. Once you have gotten her to the boat, you’ll go up the coastline until you see the ships, Nymeria, Darkest Queen, and The Aderyn.” Kissing her forehead, I exhaled slowly as I stood and then handed her off to Merikh, who cradled her protectively.

“There’s a coach outside with a casket within it,” I stated as I reached into my cloak which she wore and withdrew the injection. “In it, you’ll find plague masks and robes for you to wear. If you are stopped and questioned, you’re taking the body of Lady Elizabeth Cameron to the sick house for an autopsy. Tell them you’re verifying that it is the plague before reporting your findings to the king.”

“And you, Khaos?” Merikh asked.

“Once our people are safely onto the ships, Ryat’s going to help me burn London to the ground. Then, I am going to remind those assholes why no one fucks with us or my girl.” Staring at her soft features pushed into Merikh’s chest, I frowned.

I hated that the moment we’d started bonding, the curses had ignited, and she’d turned against me. No matter how hard I loved her, she pushed away. If I softened against her, everything inside me turned into harsh edges that cut as I pushed her away.

The gods had ensured we’d never love one another again, all because she’d gone mad and flaunted her reach over them. Even before humans roamed this word, I’d promised to find her in every rebirth and work to remove the curses the gods had placed on us. Everything I did moved us closer to that end because, if I failed, we’d end up killing one another as the gods wanted us to do. Either way, Aderyn was the other half of my soul, and I would rather die than live without her. It was as simple, and complicated as that.

Chapter Three

Aderyn—Present Day

Sittinginsidemyvehicle,I watched the seemingly never-ending line of people seeking entrance into the exclusive, extravagant club Khaos had built in the center of town. The line of cabs moved forward, more half-dressed girls spilled out of them, and they flirted with the bouncers, who stood like silent sentinels blocking the door. Then they were sent to the back of the line.

The doors opened, spilling the bright rhythm of the flashing strobe lights onto the sidewalk and the reverberating bass of the music into the night air.

My heartbeat was thundering a million beats per minute at just the thought of seeing Khaos again. It had been fifty years since we had parted ways. He hadn’t freed me, of course. No, he’d merely switched our meetings to phone calls and then FaceTime check-ins over the last couple of years. He had become the kingpin who ran the entire population of otherworldly creatures with an iron fist. Khaos Nasir had all but taken over the world, which he’d promised to do. Building his empire left him little time to deal with me, so he had let me leave.

I should’ve been happy he’d pushed me aside, but I’d missed the cold, merciless bastard and those he kept around him. They’d been the only family I’d ever had, even though we’d never be a normal family. I’d become one of them for a little while. The 1920s had been the best time of my entire life.

Khaos had stopped his antics, and we’d had somewhat of a relationship. Until he’d ruined it, and I’d tried to make him jealous. Shit had gone downhill quickly. That fight had ended with me buried in the bayou half-alive, and him and the others fleeing the French Quarter under the cover of night.

I had never forgiven him after ending up locked away in a sanitarium for hysteria. The institution I was in specialized in pleasure from pain, and it was run by demons and other beings who fed off pleasure. I wasn’t a huge fan of unwelcome, forced orgasms that didn’t do a thing to cure us of stress, much less hysteria.

Every morning, they would wake us and shuffle us into the largest room, where the examination tables equipped with stirrups awaited us. They’d placed the tables in a circular pattern so that each one faced a section of seats available to creatures who fed from humans. Those who could afford it, well, they could either be the one to save us from our hysterics or observe and study us during the ‘fits’ as they had called them back in those days.

They strapped us to the tables with our legs spread apart, vulnerable and revealed to the monsters. They would begin each session by massaging our breasts and stomachs. Then, our pussies were caressed, licked, and sucked on until it stretched us enough to allow them to use the electromechanical vibrators. After the machines were used to force us to orgasm, they would then allow the paying monsters to the theater to come down and rape us or feed from our exhausted bodies.

The vampires claimed our blood was sweeter after we’d found release. Incubuses enjoyed inflicting intense pleasure when the clit was swollen, so they’d sucked, licked, and toyed with us until juices squirted onto the floor. The fae enjoyed kissing our lips and breasts, or whispering filthy shit into our ears about how unclean and disgusting we were. All of them fed from us, no one breed less gluttonous than the other.

They had found me in a less than desirable setting. A fae had been kissing my mouth. A demon was sucking my clit as the machine fucked me on the highest, most intense setting. Two vampires had been feasting on my breasts, and trickles of blood ran down my skin from their thirsty mouths.

I had been mid-orgasm when Khaos and Merikh had burst into the room to save me. The looks on their faces were a mixture of shock and curiosity, which had swiftly changed to fury when they’d realized I’d been screaming in agony and begging for death, even as the fae sucked on my tongue. In all our adventures, for a lack of a better description, I’d never begged Khaos to end my life. After a few months in that place, I had gone insane. After a year? I’d just wanted it to end.

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