Dark Souls Academy: The Sacrifice (Hell Dimension #4)

Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BONES

D ex had to peel the blankets off Ivy to prepare her for the potion, which meant two other men’s gazes were fixated on my mate’s body. Fury surged within me. I stepped away from Trigger’s side, grunting in frustration as my demon threatened to shift, and shifting in front of Ivy would only make matters worse. All of it fueled the rage boiling in my gut, though.

I had to release it before my demon took over.

My water magic spilled out of me, splashing the two bastards’. Balthazar and Stanine bent over and screamed. Their hands covering their reddening faces. The temperature might have been a tad bit hot.

I reveled in their screams. They brought a smile that could blind the Earth’s sun. Thankfully, the water washed away some of the angry heat inside of me.

“What the fuck!” Stanine yelled.

Kain cocked his head to the side at me, but I just shrugged.

Their eyes were on my mate, I explained through the bond.

Kain smirked like he understood, which he did. His head jerked to the door. Yes, it was time for them to leave.

Watching my brothers and bond brothers descend on our mate as I shoved the others out of our home felt like those pretty words Dex mumbled to himself when he thought no one was listening. It was a beautiful sight. We were going to fix things with our mate and get to be happy. Fucking finally. I’d waited for this for so long.

My large hand pushed Balthazar out a little harder than necessary. He stumbled into the hallway, whipping around to glare at me.

“Was that necessary?” Tila said. She folded her arms over her chest. She truly was ugly to me after our history.

I didn’t even look at her. All the pain we were in because of her cheating and magically mating other men was gone, so there was no need to. I just wanted to be done with her. I had held out for so long. Helped her with whatever she asked of me. The only time I ever went against her was when she hurt the slaves.

“Out,” was all I said. I rarely used words unless Ivy was involved. My fists were usually more effective communicators.

Stanine scurried out like a good snake, Tila didn’t. The bitch just stood there, staring at me. Why wouldn’t she leave?

“I’m happy for you, Bones.” Her meek voice didn’t even sound like Tila.

My eyes shot to her in surprise. I didn’t even know how to respond to that. Was this just another way to manipulate me?

She rolled her eyes at the shocked expression. “Don’t make me feel like shit. I can be nice.”

I just raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, whatever. I wanted to just say that you deserve this and, uh, thanks, I guess. And sorry.” After that she ran out the door.

I was too shocked to even say anything. In all my years in Hell, demons never apologized. Not like that anyway. Shaking off the brain mush that Tila just gave me, I stomped back into our room. Negotiations had already begun.

“Okay. I’ll stop being so controlling. I know that I’ve been fucking up, but my demon is having a hard time with the change. All I want is for you to be safe, and you acted like your life didn’t matter. I had to watch your body in a coma after the mating. Then, the moment you wake up you get yourself hurt by trying to cling onto a car that was leaving. I can’t constantly watch you suffering, Poison.” Kain’s words were filled with pain and worry. I was glad he finally got his head out of his ass. We needed our mate back.

The guilty expression on her face had all of us relaxing. She was taking this seriously. That was all we wanted.

“Alright. I get that, and I won’t do anything stupid like that again. It was just a lot all at once.”

The pause was heavy in the room as we watched her go from guilty to irritated. Her venomous expression narrowed on Kain. “But that means you fight by my side and watch my back. You don’t lock me away. I’m not a damsel and never will be, but I do need you. I need all of you. Doing all this shit to keep the Academy safe and find answers alone has been so fucking stressful. And that numbness.” Ivy shivered. She was still restrained, but I could see the urge to untie her run through everyone’s solemn faces.

We really had fucked up. Why didn’t we know that she was still running everything by herself? The realization made me feel like gum on the bottom of a shit-covered shoe. We knew she handled a few things because she was the leader of the faction, but we didn’t know she took over our duties as well.

Trigger didn’t want to wait any longer. He scooped up some of the dark red concoction out of the bottle and rubbed it all over Ivy’s smooth skin as they spoke. He mumbled to himself, or maybe he was casting a spell… I couldn’t hear him, but I trusted in his skills to keep her safe.

Kain surprised me when he knelt in front of her. Trigger moved to her backside to give him his time to grovel. We all needed to, but he definitely did. “I can’t promise that I’ll be perfect, but I think we can work on it. Please give me a chance. I’m so sorry, my Poison.”

Ivy scoffed and blew a strand of her hair out of her face. “How are we going to do that? I don’t have time to devote to counseling or some shit. I just had a huge discovery and might have a way to get Lucifer.”

That made everyone freeze. We all wanted to know more, but one thing at a time. Our mate came first.

“Later,” I grumbled out. We needed to stay focus. Thankfully, they listened.

“We can set rules and goals for our relationship.” Every eye turned to me, wide with surprise. I shrugged. I didn’t blame them. None of us have had a healthy relationship, so my answer wasn’t expected. “One of the books in your room had some good advice. Since we liked to use books for the sex scenes, I figured, we might want to use other stuff.” I ran my hand through my long blonde hair. My fingers got caught in a curl. I wish they’d stop staring at me. It made me nervous, and I hated that feeling.

Ivy sighed. “That’s a great idea, but we don’t have time to make a long list and just hope for the best. I agree communication is needed?—"

“You can tie me up and take complete control,” Kain said, his voice barely more than a whisper. “I know that I’m the biggest issue here. I understand the others have their own problems to work through, but I’m the core of the mess. I won’t lie and say it will be easy. Surrendering all my control will be tough, but if we keep at it, I could get used to you leading us.”

“I don’t need to be a dictator. I just need the respect. Don’t keep me out of things or shut me out,” Ivy whispered. The way her eyes moved around but not really seeing anything said she was in a deep thought.

Kain was giving up a lot and I hoped she understood that. He was the oldest son of the Devil, born to lead. He was nearly beaten to death learning how to lead. It went against everything he knew to give control to someone else. Ivy was the stronger demon, though, and our instincts demanded the issue be settled.

She bit her bottom lip, her gaze locking onto Kain’s. “I can do whatever I want?” Her whisper hung in the air, charged with an electric tension. Her demon liked that idea. The lust in the room surged, as if we were ravenous dogs scenting a feast. I couldn’t help but snicker at the thought of us as hungry wolves—except for Alaric, of course, who was already a canine. The white furball was cute, though, I’d never admit it.

Kain gulped. “Yes.” His voice brought me back to the situation.

Ivy opened her mouth, about to say something, but then the energy in the room shifted into something dark and unnatural. It felt like all the air was sucked from our lungs. Ivy’s body jerked as if struck, and a wave of alarm hit me.

I rushed to her, but the look in her eyes changed abruptly. The pain or emotions she had been experiencing evaporated, replaced by a cold, unyielding expression. Black smoke began to seep from her mouth and nose. It lifted into the air, crackling, then evaporating.

She growled as her body flashed from her dark Fae form back to her demon. It almost looked like she was an old television losing its color. The sight was both horrifying and unsettlingly erotic. My body responded with a twitch of desire. I could almost imagine pounding the darkness right out of her.

No one moved for a good five minutes as we watched the curse leave her body. When she sagged as if whatever pulled her strings had let her go, we gulped the air around us. That was a doozy of a curse.

She flipped her sweat-damp hair back, her pink eyes meeting Kain’s once more since he was directly in front of her. Her lust power filled the air and the spell that kept us unaffected was gone. Trigger said it would only last for a short time.

My demon instincts flared, and my form shifted into something primal. I rarely revealed my demon form. No Wrath Demon did.

Even compared to Kain’s eerie shadow beasts, I was spine-chilling. My skin darkened to pitch black, with a faded gray around the edges that made me appear as if I was floating. Spikes erupted from my back, their shadowy tendrils curling upward. My head, too, seemed wreathed in shadow, giving me an almost spectral appearance. The spikes were natural weapons and could shoot out like bullets. My mouth elongated grotesquely, filling with jagged, razor-sharp teeth.

I wasn’t smoke like Kain. I was a Wrath Demon, and my form was as intimidating as it was fearsome.

Tila had taken one look at my demon form and cried for a week. She didn’t want to be near me for a long time after. No one ever did. My brothers were the only exception.

If Ivy feared me like that, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. The shift was happening whether I wanted it to or not. Just like before, it could feel the mating bond needing to be completed. I hadn’t had sex with Ivy since we were mated by the Goddess. My demon demanded we mark her.

She hadn’t noticed my changes and spoke to Kain. “That fucking hurt. Anyway, where were we? Aw, right. Are you sure you want me to have full control? I have grown to enjoy torture in your absence.”

Trigger groaned and dropped to his knees at her side. “Me too!” He lifted his arm in the air as if in class. “I want to be bound and at my mate’s mercy. You can do whatever you want to me. Then next time, I’ll return the favor.”

She bit her lower lip at his words. Surprise widening her eyes slightly. The gunk on her skin hadn’t absorbed completely yet, or we all would have pounced on her by now.

If she thought revealing her darker side would diminish our affection or lust, she was sorely mistaken. We weren’t exactly paragons of virtue, and in a world where torture was routine, it was undeniably alluring that our otherwise kindhearted mate could also possess such brutality. It stirred a savage desire within me to claim what was mine, but I’d hold back. No one would take my mate from me again—not even myself.

Kain remained stone faced, but we all felt his arousal. Even as he spoke. “You don’t have to worry about causing me pain. All I ask is you never make it a spectacle.”

We all knew what that meant. Our father liked to put us on the stage to perform, which meant having the woman that hurt us in every way possible do it in front of an audience. We all hated doing anything in front of a crowd. Except for fighting . My demon feasted on the rage of everyone.

Her face softened. “I don’t want to hurt you, Kain. I can tell you think I need to or have to. I don’t. My demon has no desire to make you submit through pain.”

His shoulders loosened slightly. He nodded but didn’t say anything.

Just as the last of the gunk on her vanished, her eyes moved to me. I had drifted to a dark corner where some of Kain’s shadows were to hide myself, but of course, she found me. My mate was smart. The real question was could she handle the monster I hid? I wasn’t sure if I could keep him restrained, and the thought of her rejection was unbearable.