Sinful Obsession

16. 16 – Ewan

16 – Ewan

T he day stretches on uneventfully. I keep my eyes on Vienna, watching her as she moves through the bleak monotony of Briarwood like a flicker of light in an abyss. She doesn’t belong here, that much is obvious. She’s too bright, too untainted compared to the shadows that cling to the rest of us. And yet, she’s here, clinging to the idea of Asmodeus like it’s her lifeline.

It’s maddening.

The way she speaks of him, her tone filled with reverence and longing, makes me want to shake her. She doesn’t see the danger, the manipulation, the strings he’s no doubt pulling. She’s precious, pure , and she’s infatuated with the darkest thing she could’ve found.

It doesn’t help that the four of us have become just as obsessed in the brief moments we’ve spent with her, needing to touch her, kiss her, and wrap ourselves around her. I can understand because of my curiosities but even Kaua and Vito can’t seem to part with her.

We return to the rooms as the day comes to end, Vienna staying close to Kaua or Vito, her small frame practically disappearing in their arms whenever she feels Michael’s presence. It’s almost comical, seeing her cling to them for safety when they’re easily two of the deadliest beings here. Aside from me, of course.

The difference is, I’ve learned restraint. I haven’t truly unleashed what I am in years. Mostly because I have absolutely no idea how my gift works. With the others, they push and pull the fabric of life and play with the delicate balance. I destroy it. There is no immediate balance with death. Everyone thinks my balance is life but it isn’t. I have no idea what it is and it’s one of many reasons I haven’t tried to push forward and discover my limits.

I do know that I can coax a soul from its vessel like a lover’s whisper. They’ll thank me for taking their essence as they breathe their last. Their face always lights up as I replace their soul with a sense of peace. They believe I’ve given them a gift and instead, I’ve just claimed their existence. It’s the main reason I’m in here.

We manifested as one of the horsemen but I found my gift before I stepped into Briarwood. It’s a sweet calling, a craving that grows every time I do it which is why I keep from practicing it. There’s a limit to the souls in Briarwood Institute and it would be very obvious after a while who was taking them.

Vienna doesn’t shy away from us—from me—the way most do. It’s fascinating, almost unsettling. I could reach out and take her soul with a thought, yet she looks at me like I’m… human. The others, too. There hasn’t been one moment that I’ve been Death that someone has looked at me as if I’m just a man

She catches me staring as we settle in our room, her brows furrowing. “What?” she asks, curious.

I smirk, leaning back against the wall. “Nothing. Just trying to figure out how someone like you ended up in a place like this.”

Her eyes narrow, and she crosses her arms. “We already went over how I got here.”

“No, princess , I know that. I also know that you’re not as pure or untouched as we previously thought. I know that there’s a reason for you to be here but on the outside, you just look sweet. ”

Her face scrunches up in anger but the only thing I can think to describe her is adorable. “That doesn’t really feel like a compliment, Death .”

My true name on her lips sends a shiver down my spine as I venture closer, needing to be beside her as the others currently are. Kaua selfishly drags her into his lap and sits back against the wall. I sit beside him, ignoring the other two’s grunts of disapproval. “I told you before that no one here professes to be human. Not one person. Everyone here in some part has a part in the apocalypse, aside from the orderlies and the doctors. Except for you.”

She’s even angrier now but doesn’t move from Kaua’s lap, chewing on her bottom lip as she finds the words she wants to throw at me. “Right, because I’m just a human and just seeing a demon.”

Nevan scoots closer, stealing her attention. “That would be it if you hadn’t opened the door. That’s the one step between us and fulfilling our purpose. Sure, there’s other parts that are needed to open the portal but without access, we couldn’t do anything.”

Her emotions soften as she looks between Nevan and then me before settling back into Kaua’s chest. She looks perfect there, her unconscious movements as she accepts our touches more telling than she knows. “Does everyone else know that they’re part of it?”

“Probably not,” Kaua forces out. “The man in line at breakfast, he was a lesser or claims to be. One of the demons that are let out during the apocalypse to spread the mayhem we start. Not all of the players are here but most of them. It’s like we’re being rounded up and locked away and it might have worked if you didn’t show up.”

I scootch a little closer, trying to intimidate her, trying to make her actually see what she’s getting herself into. “And you’re doing all of this for a fucking demon. A demon!” My snarl reverberates through the room, Vienna scrambling from Kaua’s lap. She stands her ground as she points at me, about to speak when one of my many gifts pushes forth.

Unable to understand this woman, I stalk toward her. Smoke begins to seep from my skin, dark and suffocating, and my form shifts. My cloak materializes, the scythe appearing in my hand, its blade gleaming in the dim light. It’s one of the few things that the humans got right. I tower over her, the embodiment of death itself, but she doesn’t even flinch.

Instead, she reaches up, grabs the edge of my hood, and rips it off. “Stop that,” she says firmly, her voice cutting through the silence like a blade. “You’re not allowed to shift when we’re talking.”

I stare at her, stunned. “You’re not scared of me?”

She laughs as I just stand there, unable to make sense of Vienna even more than a second ago. “When I first met Asmodeus, he wasn’t even one form. He was just… darkness. An entity, I guess? And I still wanted to sleep with him.”

For a moment, I’m at a loss for words. Then, slowly, I shift back to my original form, the smoke dissipating. “You’re something else.”

She smirks, her confidence returning. “I’ve been told that before.”

Without thinking, I lean down to kiss her, amazed at the way she so easily melts into my chest. In the day that she’s been here, she’s become something to all of us. I want to know what Asmodeus’ plan for us but now I’m even more intrigued by the anomaly that is Vienna.