An Eternity of Dead Sun (An Eternity of Eclipse Novel Book 2) (21 page)

“What . . .” I began cautiously, every part of me aware that it was a mistake to entertain the idea of making a deal with her. This was going to be something I’d regret, but what other options did I have? I didn’t have millenniums to spare when I was doomed to die in this lifetime. My ultimate goal was to die as a human being with her entire soul intact, and Eclipse was the only one who could help me with that. “What is the deal?”

“Do not fall in love with him.”

I had to do a double take because the ludicrousness of her “deal” was too stupid for someone of my intelligence to comprehend. “Excuse me?”

She hurled an annoyed look in my direction. “Did I stutter?”

She did not stutter, but
my
mind was stuttering. I was the six-year-old murderer and a Source with the most coveted soul of the millennium. Instead of forcing me to make some earthshattering deal that would benefit her power-wise, she chose to make this frivolous deal instead?

“What kind of deal is that?” I critiqued, unable to silence my thoughts.

“My deal,” she answered flatly. There was conviction in her eyes, one that told me that she had been wanting to make this deal with me for some time.

“Why would you make a deal like this?”

“Perhaps I’m being altruistic,” she evaded, folding her arms across her chest. “Dark Majesties are the worst ones to fall for. Only a fool would willingly drink their poison.”

Her visage grew serious, warning, and almost . . . regretful? The mysterious relationship between her and Pride slid into my circuit of thoughts. My eyes instinctively floated over the knife scar on her face.

“You’re speaking from experience?” I asked without thinking.

Venom exploded on her face. It scared me so much that I recoiled back in fear. She wasn’t annoyed enough to kill me for threatening her with the knife, but she was certainly annoyed enough to kill me for not knowing my place.

I held both hands up as my way of saying that I wouldn’t ask her any more personal questions.

I immediately went back to what we were talking about.

“Look, I don’t know if you’ve forgotten an important fact, but I’m as selfish and sadistic as they come. My attraction for Eclipse is strictly physical. There’s no possible way I’d fall in love with him.”

“Yes, I am aware of this,” she responded carefully, assessing me from head to toe. “You’re very immune to the typical human emotions. Regardless, you’re still human. This means that the lineage of Adam and Eve is still pumping through you. You’re still a liability.” She smirked. “This deal is merely an insurance policy. I’m sure that your puny brain is intelligent enough to not fall for a Demon. However, just in case you do become stupid, this deal will keep you from performing the moronic act.”

I shot her an inquisitive expression. I was intrigued by the implication behind her words. “What will happen if I break it?”

“I will burn you alive,” she told me impassively, her expression challenging me to fuck around with her. When she detected the doubt in my eyes, she added, “I am powerful enough to bypass your veil without help, Source. Even Eclipse, when he is at his full power, cannot manage such a feat.” She stepped forward, towering over me. I found myself freezing in trepidation as she came closer to me. “I know that you fear me, but your fear will never equate to what you will feel when you break a deal with me. You do not want to know my wrath, I’ll tell you that much.”

I blinked slowly, not understanding why I was stalling on making the deal.

“Why won’t you help him?” I tried to ask instead. “Aren’t you supposed to watch over him?”

“Because I am livid with him and his idiocy on this trip!” she snapped as only an older sister could when pissed off at her younger brother. She took a moment to close her eyes to calm herself down before she opened them again. Her composure regained, she serenely said, “I will deal with him when he wakes up. Since I have you alone, I might as well take out the anger I have for him on you.” She exhaled edgily, her face impatient. “What do you say, little human? Do we have a deal or should I leave and let Eclipse fall deeper into his hibernation?”

“Yeah,” I replied quickly, panicking at the thought of Lyna leaving us. Pushing the apprehensiveness aside, I said, “Yeah, deal. I’m not going to fall for him. If I fall in love with him, then you can burn me alive. ”

She nodded with satisfaction, pleased with my concurrence. “You have no one else to blame but yourself if you do.”

I rolled my eyes. My own impatience was beginning to surface. It was as if she was telling a priest to not have sex with a prostitute. It was idiotic. I knew what was expected of me. I would never fall for a Demon. It was against all the bylaws of nature, as well as my better rationale, to do so.

“How about we start, Lyna?”

She heaved a sigh before a bowl of liquid—that looked suspiciously like oil—appeared in her palm. “Give me your hand.”

I clenched my fists together, keeping them protectively pressed against my chest. “What are you going to do to it?”

“Dip your hand in oil and then light it.”

I blinked at her, stupefied by what she so casually stated. “Are you serious?”

Her expression turned intolerant. “Do I look like someone who’s capable of joking?”

No, you look like someone who would laugh at me when my body is burning alive
, I wanted to retort.

Had I met her weeks before, I would have run out of the room screaming in fear. Alas, a new era had begun in my life. Unfortunately for me, insanity was the name of this new era.

“I couldn’t wait to get rid of him weeks ago,” I said tightly, finding it ironic that I wanted to save him so much. In resignation, I timidly extended my hand to her.

“Funny,” she murmured as she dipped my hand into the bowl of oil. “Weeks ago, he was saying the same thing about you.” 

She turned my hand palm up, oil dripping freely from it and spilling over the tiles. Before I could properly digest her response, an orb of fire materialized several centimeters above the palm of my oily hand. The orb hovered like a bubble with sparks of red fire spitting out from it. As sounds of crackling fire filled my ears, the fiery orb started to lower itself onto my palm.

Then, something strange happened: my body started to move on its own accord.

While my mind commanded it not to, my palm was seized with the inability to do anything but ease the orb of fire closer and closer to my lips. Next thing I knew, I had tucked the ball of fire into my mouth. The instant I swallowed it, an inferno of fire and light devoured me. The quietness of the hospital room was replaced with the sounds of people chattering, cars whizzing by, horns blaring, and rain sprinkling.

My eyes bloomed when I processed that I was now standing in the middle of a busy sidewalk where people were bumping into me left and right. I looked at the hand that was once immersed with oil and saw that the knife wound on my finger was healed. Still in a slight daze, I surveyed the street and promptly recognized this as the area of the college campus where Sloth resided.

Relief washed over me. I was glad that I didn’t burn alive and thankful that Lyna came through for me.

“Thanks, Lyna,” I whispered to the misty air before I barreled through the crowd.

“And yet when you walk into the room . . .”
15
: Luxuria

With rain trickling over me, I pulled my pink infinity scarf over my head and sped towards the dorm. Other students had unlocked the main entrance, so I was able to slide through the door just as it was about to slam shut. I made a beeline for the stairs, not stopping until I reached the sixth floor. Once the pungent smell of drugs, alcohol, and puke began to bombard my senses from Sloth’s floor, I pushed open the door and hurried down the corridor. My eyes locked on the triple dorm room that was at the end of the hall. 

Fighting past the cloud of smoke, I ran into the room and searched for Sloth. His beanbag chair was empty, but his “friends” were still there, looking as pathetic as ever. They were all lying on the dirty floor, teetering between the realm of consciousness and unconsciousness.

“Ex-excuse me,” I said to the dozen boys and girls in the room. My voice shook with fatigue. I tried to hide my critical judgment of them while I spoke. “Where’s your roommate?”

They did not deign to look at me as they drank their alcohol.

“Out,” they replied sluggishly.

“Where?”

“At a restaurant . . .”

It took all my willpower to not kick them for being unhelpful. Maintaining my poise, I persisted and asked, “Do you know where?”

They fell asleep before they could answer, and I felt the hysteria assail me. If Sloth wasn’t in his dorm, then how on earth was I supposed to find him? I didn’t have his number or any other means of contacting him. The only way was to run into every restaurant on the street until I found him. The ineptitude of this “plan” taunted me. Regardless, desperate times called for desperate measures. Lyna had failed me. It was now up to me to find Sloth.

I burst out of the dorm and darted around town like a wild animal. It was the blindest mission I could ever possibly have gotten. Every failed attempt made me angrier and angrier at Lyna.

“Lyna!” I hissed to the sky after running out of my thirtieth restaurant of the night. “The deal was for you to help me find Sloth. If I can’t find him, then the deal isn’t valid. Now stop slacking and help me!”

I was still running and silently cursing at Lyna when, as if on Lyna’s command, two tall figures jumped out of the corner and blocked my path.

“Hi!”

“Ahhhh!” I shouted instinctively, scuttling to the corner with the fervor of a cockroach. I was shaking, my heart ready to leap out of my chest.

They have found me
, I thought with paranoia.
The Demons from the train have found me.
I was certain that I was going to get abducted and be tortured to death. It was only when I got a good look at their faces that I stopped panicking.

Phix and Coco.

“Aw, look. She’s so cute. She’s hiding,” Phix cooed as if I were a lost kitten. He was dressed in the same outfit I last saw him in: a leather jacket and dark jeans. There was a goofy and innocent smile plastered over his baby-like face.

Coco, who was also dressed in a black leather jacket and jeans, simply rolled her eyes.

Phix continued to address me, speaking slowly and acting as though my brain was too small to comprehend anything coming from his mouth.

“Wheeere arrre yooou goooing, litttttle huuuman?”

I couldn’t think. All I could remember was that it was all Phix’s fault that Eclipse was in this situation. He fu
c
ked up at the inn and because of that, Eclipse had to show his true form, use up all his powers, and pay for his actions. As a result, I was stuck without a Guardian Demon and forced to make a stupid deal with Lyna in an effort to save him. I was so exhausted with everything and seeing Phix only reminded me that he was the indirect reason why sh
i
t was hitting the fan in my life.

My blood boiled and when I clenched my fists, I lost it.

“This is all your fault!”

Thwack!

Thump!

Enraged, I proceeded to whack at him like he was my personal punching bag. I had no idea what had gotten into me. First, I was crazy enough to threaten Lyna with a knife. Now, I was crazy enough to attack a Demon on the streets. I would normally demonstrate more composed reactions, but worrying about Eclipse had flipped my world upside down. I was pissed at him for leaving me to fend for myself and I wanted the world to know my wrath.

“Owwww!”

It was an understatement to say that Phix was stunned by the violence displayed by this “cute little kitten.” I had no doubt that if this were anyone else, he’d knock them out for touching him. With me, he simply resorted to pathetically crossing his arms over his head.

Unfortunately for Phix, I was relentless with my attack.

Unfortunately for me, he had a backup with him.

“Stop! Stop!” Coco shouted, struggling to yank me away from a whimpering Phix. “Oh my gawd! For such a short girl, you have so much force!”

It was only after my arms were getting sore that I deigned to stop. Pooped out, I allowed Coco to pluck me away while I tried to gather my breath.

“What did I do?!” Phix squeaked out, gaping at me dumbstruck.

Slightly pacified after releasing my aggravation, I told them everything. I told them about Eclipse’s comatose state, about his stay at the hospital, and about my desperate search for Sloth to ask for help.

“You worked for him,” I noted belatedly to Phix, extracting myself from Coco’s hold. I stomped over to him and stabbed an angry finger to his chest. “Hurry up and use your demonic powers to GPS him and find out where he is.”

“We’re not powerful enough to do that,” said an annoyed Coco. She moved beside Phix, her eyes staring me down and daring me to throw another violent tantrum. “We’re still ‘baby Demons.’”

“But,” Phix said slowly, the wheels in his mind turning as he rubbed his head. His eyes brightened when an idea came to him. “If His Dark Majesty is at a restaurant, then I think I might know where he is.”

He locked eyes with me and jerked his head to the side. He began to run through the crowd and motioned for us to follow him. “Let’s go!”

●●●

When Phix took us to the aforementioned restaurant, I initially thought he was taking me somewhere to kill me for assaulting him. Fearing for my life, I made a feeble attempt to run away because I was so terrified. Phix and Coco managed to catch me in time, telling me that it was too late to run away. In this part of the neighborhood, I needed to stay with them or else I
would
get killed.

With their hands securely fastened on my quivering shoulders, they pushed me forward. We eventually wound up in the more economically disadvantaged part of town. There were homeless people lining the streets, gang members hanging around the alleys, and dilapidated buildings that appeared ready to collapse at any given moment.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked uncertainly, avoiding eye contact with gang members who were whistling and shouting jeers at Coco and I.

“If Sloth is at a restaurant, there’s only one place he would be in this city,” replied Phix.

He directed us to the shadowy corners of an alleyway that was filled with homeless people. I could feel their eyes on us as we moved through the alleyway and stopped at a metal door.

Phix stepped over the three brick steps and punched the code into a keypad. A resounding click within the door elicited, granting us access.

The homeless folks in the alley watched us, their eyes tearing up as we walked in. I didn’t understand why they regarded us in such a manner until we strolled through the dark building.

Dawning comprehension slid over me. The first thing that struck me was the warmth of the room and the second thing that caught my attention was the rich scent of cinnamon. We stepped out of the darkness and into a well-lit corridor that led to two polished oak doors.

There was a gold-plated sign atop those two doors that read: Luxuria.

Phix opened the doors, and I understood instantly why those people out there were envious of us. The world in here was Heaven compared to the Hell outside.

The restaurant we were in was one of the most lavish I had ever been in. Its interior was the personification of extravagance. The restaurant had indoor waterfalls as walls, marble tiles, high ceilings adorned with enormous chandeliers, and tables and chairs that seemed to have been made from gold. The restaurant bled of riches and extravagance, and it was not ashamed to gloat.

The scent of delicious food wafted into my nose as I walked in with Phix and Coco. All around us were men and women dressed in posh cocktail attire. They were all dining without a care in the world and the food just kept coming. If I weren’t so focused on helping my Guardian Demon, I would’ve succumbed to my temptations right then and there. I was itching to sit down at a table and set my inner fat kid loose because all the food looked so delicious. I was becoming dizzy with need when I felt Coco push me from behind, as though to throw me out of my daze.

I gave her a timid look and kept following Phix, doing my best to ignore the beckoning food.

We kept striding through the restaurant until we reached another set of doors. Two golden doors segregated the restaurant from whatever lay behind those walls. There was a beautiful hostess standing behind a black marble podium beside the doors—the gatekeeper. 

She had bleached blonde curls and wore a white dress suit that showed off more cleavage than the Grand Canyon. She was admiring her diamond rings while licking a red lollipop. Sensing our presence, her attention maneuvered to us. Her dark gray eyes scanned the three of us from head to toe before her focus rested solely on me. Her glossy pink lips lifted into a snooty smile.

Recognition streamed through her eyes when she gazed at Phix. She didn’t bother to filter herself with her next words. “Only humans of obscene wealth are allowed past these doors.” She glanced pompously at me. “However much this one overindulged while she grew up, she is not allowed to pass these doors.” She gave a slight shrug. “His Dark Majesty’s rules—not mine.”

I frowned.

Even Coco, who normally was offended by the fact that I was breathing the same air as her, looked turned off by how this Demon spoke about me. I was sure we weren’t going to get in, but Phix didn’t look worried.

Undeterred, he simply said, “I need the attention of Room #13.”

The hostess’s eyes lit up in intrigue. Her observant gaze swept us once more. “His Dark Majesty is expecting you and this human?”

“No, but when you tell him that Grace is here, he’ll want to see her. She’s a pretty important human,” Phix bristled like he was talking about a celebrity. “You may have heard of her a little over fifteen years ago.”

The hostess mulled over what Phix was insinuating. Soon after, a knowing smile spread across her face. Her attention returned to me, and there was a star struck look in her eyes.

“The six-year-old murderer,” she marveled, her snootiness melting away. She gasped in amazement, gazing at me like I was a celebrity. “Forgive me. If I had known that you were a human of such notoriety, I would’ve set up a private dining room just for you. In the meantime”—she turned to Phix with a big smile—“you’re right. I’m sure his Dark Majesty would love to see her. Come then. Follow me.”

“Are you trying to get me killed?” I hissed under my breath to Phix, hiding between him and Coco as the hostess rounded past her podium to the doors. “Why did you tell her who I was?”

“Do you think we would’ve gotten in otherwise?” he hissed back, his voice soft enough so that only Coco and I could hear him. “She’s the head hostess of this restaurant. She would’ve sniffed you out as the six-year-old murderer sooner or later. I merely helped her along so we could be granted access.”

He cleared his throat as he exchanged uneasy glances with Coco. He turned back to me with admonishing eyes. “And when we go in, try not to get on their bad sides.”

“Whose?” I asked, worry set within me. “Who is in there besides Sloth?”

My question was left hanging when the doors swept open and we were granted access to another wing of the restaurant. If it were possible, this portion of the restaurant was even more extravagant than the last.

We walked by tables upon tables of fabulous looking people who were covered from head to toe in diamonds. They were the royalty of the world, whether through blood, money, or power, and they relished in it. As the hostess had mentioned, they did looked like humans with obscene wealth.

In wonder, we passed through the palatial room and were at another set of gold doors that led into a private room.

This time, the doors looked bigger. I imagined, with the weight of the door, it would’ve taken several grown men to open it.

To my surprise, all the hostess had to do was stick her lollipop into her mouth, wrap her perfectly manicured fingers over the door knobs, and with a pull that was akin to plucking feathers from a chicken, she yanked the doors open without even breaking a sweat.

I had to hold in my awestruck breath once I peered into the world behind those doors.