Void Domain, Book 04 полностью

Ha, as if things could get worse.

Something pressed against her mouth.

Juliana snapped her eyes open, finding herself face to face with two golden orbs.

And a tongue worming its way between her lips.

Pressing her hands against a muscled chest, Juliana pushed as hard as she could.

Two arms wrapped around her body, drawing her in tight and lifting her up off the ground.

His tongue met her teeth. Despite her clenching her jaw as hard as she could, it pried her mouth open with the barest of efforts, moving to wrap itself around her own tongue.

Hot, Juliana thought, too hot. Everywhere his tongue touched felt like it had been coated in hot sauce. The burning did not cause quite the same need to find a carton of cold milk. In fact, the more his tongue moved in her mouth, the less it burned and the more it–

The pressure around her body vanished and Juliana found herself falling. Her body crumpled to the floor.

Juliana stared up at him. His long tongue ran across his own lips before snaking back into his mouth. She found herself mirroring his actions for a split second before she could catch herself.

“Salty,” he said. “Pathetic though you are, your tears are a redeeming factor. Delicious.”

Juliana swallowed. Trying to ignore the burning sensation sliding down her throat, she wiped off her face on the sleeve of her dress. Once finished, she sat there and waited.

He did not move.

“A-aren’t y-you…” Juliana bit down on her lip, she was talking as poorly as a nervous Shalise. “Aren’t you going to t-take your enticement?”

He blinked before bursting into raucous laughter. “If you’re so insistent,” he started.

Juliana involuntarily swallowed again.

“You will have to resign from Brakket Academy.”

It was Juliana’s turn to blink. “What?”

“My current contract includes a clause against, shall we say, ‘laying hands’ upon students. Tempting though you may be, it is currently against my interests to void said contract.”

“So, you’re not going to…”

“Since you are so insistent,” he said with an exaggerated sigh, “I promise to visit you the moment my contract ends. You can wait, yeah?”

“I don’t–”

He clapped his hands together, creating a sound akin to thunder. “You’ve summoned me, Juliana Rivas.

“There are two types of people who summon me. The first foolishly believe that they can command me. ‘Zagan,’ they say, ‘go forth and defeat my enemies.’ I slaughter them for their hubris.

“The second come to me with wishes, as if I were some ill-natured fairy ready to grant their every desire. ‘Great Lord Zagan, with a snap of your magnificent fingers, solve my problems.’ Them, I kill for daring to bother me with petty problems.

“Being the pathetic mortal you are, I suspect you fit within the second category.”

He leaned down. As he did, the lighting in the cell flickered and died. Two glowing gold eyes moved down, just a few inches from her face. This time, he kept his lips off of hers. His hot breath, on the other hand, washed over her face as he spoke.

“Tell me, Juliana Laura Rivas, what makes you better than those that have been felled by my hand?”

“Tell me, Juliana Laura Rivas, what makes you better than those that have been felled by my hand?”

Juliana’s mind raced. This was yet another mistake. Diablery got her into this mess. Whatever could have possessed her to make her think diablery would get her out of it.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! The only bright side to this was the slim chance that Zagan might go kill Willie after he killed Juliana. It was his fault that she had called Zagan here in the first place.

Maybe if she made enough noise, Willie would come back down and they would fight right away.

Hot air curled around her face as Zagan spoke. “Well? I’m waiting.”

No. Whatever fuss she made would get her killed long before Willie could appear.

Juliana blinked. Willie wasn’t already here. Strange. When she had summoned him back on Earth, he had been able to sense Zagan from halfway across the city. Even though he was presumably overhead, he wasn’t rushing down here to eject Zagan from his domain.

A thought crossed her mind, eliciting a short laugh. Maybe he’s already run off, tail between his legs.

“Something funny?”

“N-no,” Juliana said. Her smile vanished from her face in an instant.

Nothing funny at all. Even if he had fled, Juliana still had no idea how to reach her mother.

For that, she would need Zagan’s help.

What, exactly, was Zagan hoping to hear from her?

Probably nothing.

A better line of thought to consider was what she could say that wouldn’t slot her into one of the two categories. Juliana certainly did not believe she could command or control the man. Her case was a whole lot closer to a wish.