Page 39 of Stolen By the Gargoyle
Man, this dude had me fucked up.
I tilted my chin up. “First of all, my name is Dolores, asshole.”
Beside me, Nazzar’s body twitched.
Fuck, did I just call the king of hell an asshole?
I was so fucking dumb, but I wasn’t about to back down now that I’d started.
“Secondly, what would you do if I wasn’t here of my free will?”
“I would punish Nazzar for his disobedience, my brother would torture him for hurting you, and then we would kill him.”
Ouch.
What the fuck?
“We do not take lightly to abusers,” the king explained. “Or to those who harm innocents.”
I recalled how disgusted Nazzar was when I thought he would force me. He’d been horrified by the very thought and immediately took me back home to prove himself worthy.
Man, people had a skewed idea of what hell was. They obviously valued consent which was, ya know, cool.
I fucked with it.
“Well, I’m here because I want to be,” I declared with confidence. I slid closer to Nazzar, grasping his hand and threading our fingers together. “Nazzar is my husband. So there’s no need to punish him. So you can… make like a bird and fly away. Shoo shoo, now.” I made a fluttering motion with my other hand…
And the sheet dropped from my body, exposing me to the angel of death.
If this was how I went out, I was gonna be pissed.
I always had this weird fear of dying while naked.
I didn’t need anybody looking at my cookies.
And now, the king of hell was doing just that.
Fuck me.
Nazzar growled and extended a wing in front of my body, shielding me from the king’s view.
“Well, she appears to be telling the truth. Yet, you still disobeyed a direct order and that cannot go unpunished.”
Nazzar inclined his head. “I will gladly take whatever punishment you see fit, my lord.”
There was silence as they stared at one another. Finally, the man nodded. “Kane will see you at a later date to mete out punishment. Perhaps after you’ve settled. Or perhaps in a few years. Whenever Kane sees fit. Happy nuptials.” He turned and started to walk away, but stopped. “Oh, and should you catch wind of your brothers, I have a message for them.”
“Yes, my lord?”
The angel of death turned and smiled. “Tell them to hide well, Commander. Because I will hunt them, and when I find them, leniency will not be given for their disobedience. Unless, of course, they find a willing bride like you have. Then, perhaps, I could find it in me to be merciful.” His wings spread out, wide and majestic. “Oh, and I expect you to return everything you stole from my wife.”
And with that, he vanished in a puff of smoke.
Holy shit.
“That just happened.” I turned to Nazzar. “You stole his wife’s things?”
He appeared bashful. “The gifts in the cave…”
