Page 28 of True Sacrifice
Honestly, I’ve barely eaten since I got to Hell. Something about it was entirely disturbing to me. I constantly felt hungry, but whenever Hell delivered food to me, I would take a few bites and feel nauseous. It was likely just due to me being still mostly ghost. Liquids were fine though, so I mostly appeased the boys with a semi-liquid diet. I didn’t feel weak like I would have if I was a human, and I had gone this long with barely anything to eat. I really didn’t need to worry about it.
Justice had taken over teaching me just ghost abilities. He said it was my strongest power until I completed my transformation, so for now he wanted me able to use that as my primary source of defense. It came naturally to me, as if my body recognized it as my own. I could go fully invisible and even walk-through objects. Justice said I still needed to work on it a bit because he could still smell me, even when he couldn’t see me.
“Maybe I just need to shower after fire training then?” I huffed, turning myself visible again. I had changed my clothes into ones without holes, but tomorrow I would add a shower into the routine as well.
“No, my fox. It is your scent.” Justice strode up to me, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. His thumb slowly ran behind my ear and down my neck. He leaned in and took a deep smell right from the base of my neck. I felt his tongue as he slid it against my skin there.
“Hey, that tickles.” I squirmed away, wiping my neck dry.
Justice never advanced further than a few touches here or there since that first day. At least he hadn’t grown a stone wall around his heart the way Jax had. Every training session with him was now done via telepathic conversation while we were in separate rooms. Over and over, it was the same thing, try to block him out. I tried every day until my power gave out. Shutting him out felt like trying to take off my arm.
Jax always grumbled that I needed to get this part down. It was vital.
“Well, maybe next week I can train with you first thing in the morning when I have the most power,” I suggested. It always upset him when I ran out of power. He could still talk to me, but I couldn’t reply until I had regenerated some power back. “Or else I’m going to need a midday reading break just to recharge a bit.”
When my power cut out that evening, a knock came at my door a few minutes later. When I opened it no one was there, but a bundle of books was sitting in my doorway. There was a note attached.
Message me once you have enough power. Wasn’t sure what you liked, so blame Hell.
I burst out laughing once I brought the books back into my room, shutting the door with my foot on the way back to my bed. They were all reverse harem books. Some, I’m pretty sure, didn’t even come from Earth, or humans, or whatever they called it.
I read until my power slowly filled up inside me. I hadn’t attempted to masturbate and bring my powers up, not since I had considered it the one night and then Jax came to have a mental chat. Now it terrified me to do anything like that until I at least learned how to shield.
“Did you actually go to the library yourself and pick out these books for me?”The first one on the stack was actually pretty good, and I had let the time get away from me before I realized I had recharged a fair amount of power. I hoped it wasn’t too late, and I hadn’t interrupted Jax while he was sleeping.
“I asked one of the record keepers to get me a stack of fictional books that featured multiple male partners for the mate.”
It slightly disappointed me he had not picked them out himself. “Oh, I was going to compliment you on your choices, but I guess I’ll save that for the record keeper.”
“It couldn’t have been that good to take so long for you to regenerate your power.”He took on a mildly grumpy tone. Someone didn’t like to miss out on praise.
“Oh, Jax. Hurry and get the job done seems to be your idea of a good time. I don’t think you understand it is so much more than that. There’s a buildup, tension, anticipation, discovery, passion, hunger. All that takes time, but it is so worth doing.”Then again, I imagine not being able to stand being touched would leave the romance department in a quick in and out kind of deal. Poor Jax.
He had quickly resorted back to work mode after that and made me practice shielding again until my power ran out. That was how my days had gone until this morning. This morning was apparently a break day. Demons didn’t have days of the week, or even actual days. Today was something like a Sunday, back in the human realm.
I slowly opened my eyes, finally no alarm ringing to tell me it was time to get up. It was hard to get used to the lack of sun. There was a brighter glow from the rings of Hell above us during the day, and a low glow from them at night. During the peak of day, my room was lit with light similar to the golden glow of a fall evening just before the sun traveled beyond the horizon.
I went to grab my phone, a habit I still hadn’t fully broken. There weren’t messages waiting for me or social media notifications to sift through. Usually, I gave it a quick glance, claiming it was to check the time, seeing there were no notifications, and then I would put it back down. Today surprised me with a text message, from a group chat apparently.
Jasper- Let me know when you’re awake, princess.
Jax- Really? A group chat for this. You couldn’t just message her?
Justice- We just like you to feel involved Jaxy.
Jax- Don’t call me that.
I bet they had a group chat of their own with just the three of them in it, and I was dying to get a peek at it and see more of their banter. I had a feeling today was going to be a great day. I messaged Jasper back, but I used a one-on-one message and not the group text. Maybe they would forget that was the chat I was in, and I would get to see more of their messages to each other.
Jasper didn’t respond, so I went about trying to find an outfit for the day. Usually, my closet was filled with an endless supply of black leggings, sports bras, tank tops, t-shirts, everything I could need for training. The burned-up ones would always just disappear when I put them into the hamper. Hell surprised me today with a full wardrobe collection of any type or style I wanted. Today felt like a sundress kind of day.
I finished getting ready in my giant closet, which housed its own lit mirror and vanity full of makeup. I’m not sure why demons would need makeup when they could just change themselves at will, but maybe it was just something to pass the time.
I walked out to find Jasper laying on my bed. He’d stretched out on his back, his head resting on his hands. He wore his typical black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, but today he wore a pair of dark denim jeans. I guess that was casual for a demon. I wondered if a sundress had been a good choice, but that thought evaporated the moment he turned his head toward me and I saw the look in his eyes. He roamed my body with a hungry gaze as his tail twitched back and forth sharply.
“You didn’t tell me much about what I would do today, so I hope this is fine.” My mouth felt dry. It was a strange game to be playing with them, knowing it was only a matter of time before we fell into each other’s beds. I had promised myself I would make them earn it; I was worth that much, at least.
“You look beautiful today, as you do every day, princess.” Then he goes and says shit like that, and I just want to say fuck it.
