The Bound Angel (Sacrilege Rising: Book 1)

Chapter Twelve

Mike’s mouth was dry and waxy. His eyes burned, like there was sand under his eyelids. He squeezed them, first one, then the other, trying to get it out. It didn’t work.

His brain was a loose ball of yarn that had been pulled and stretched so many times it couldn’t be reformed. Where was he? He was lying on something. A bed. Was he home? It didn’t feel like home. If he was home, Mom would be cooking up bacon and eggs, and he didn’t smell anything. He liked his scrambled. Eggs, not bacon. Runny yolks were gross. Mom laughed at him for that. Somehow, he knew he wasn’t home. But he was definitely in a bed. Something was pressed against his side. A warm, comforting weight.

A voice was saying something, but it wasn’t important. The weight against his side shifted, making him lean that way. It felt nice. The voice sounded loud and angry, like the time the fire alarm went off in Anders’ class in the middle of an exam. It was a good thing, too. He hadn’t studied, but since the exam got pushed back and Anders didn’t change any of the questions, Mike ended up with an A. It was his only A of the semester. Pain in the ass class.

Why was the voice so angry? Maybe her eyes hurt too. It was irritating. He had to rub them, but his arms wouldn’t listen to his brain. Which reminded him, his brain hurt. What could possibly make your brain hurt? Wasn’t pain just synapses firing to tell you to cradle an arm or avoid putting weight on an ankle? What could he do about a hurt brain?

Econ wasn’t all bad though. He actually looked forward to it. Not the class itself, or the material, or Anders. That was all boring, like Mom forcing him to watch the news during dinner. The voice was louder now. Insistent. It was saying… something. A name.

“Michael.”

God, he was thirsty. And hungry. His waxy mouth and empty stomach made him think of those ads that came on at the movies before the previews. Kids smiling from ear to ear over a tub of buttery popcorn. A tall glass of soda foaming with bubbles. His legs ached, like he’d just woken up from a nap after running a marathon. He couldn’t decide if he was more thirsty, hungry, or tired.

“Michael, pay attention,” the voice said.

He knew it now. He recognized the tone and the cadence, the way it formed around vowels and clipped certain sounds. One of Mike’s best friends as a kid, John, pronounced pillow with an E instead of an I, like ‘pellow.’ Where was John now? He always had the best video game systems, which made his house the prime destination for sleepovers.

A skin-on-skin slap impacted right next to Mike’s head. His eyes snapped open. The burn got worse. As it had been since the moment he arrived, the chamber was dimly lit by flaming torches on the walls. Liliana was standing next to the bed, her arm outstretched like it had just finished clearing off a desk. Meredith was lying to his right. Her head was turned toward him and he could already see a red handprint forming on her cheek.

“What the hell was that?” Mike tried to growl, but it came out in a wheezing cough. He tried to reach for Meredith to see if she was alright, but his hands weren’t working.

“Pay. Attention,” Liliana grated. “You have given up, Michael. You hardly even reach for the bond anymore.” It was the voice he recognized from before. “In no time at all, you have lost yourself. I offer rewards like no mortal has seen before, in this age or any other. Riches to live the rest of your life in luxury.” He remembered the way her voice could fluctuate between dripping honey and acid hissing on concrete. “Pleasure like no other has experienced. Yet you throw it all away with your selfishness, your short-sightedness. If I…”

His focus began to wander as she droned on. Her voice did things to him. He wanted to hear it sigh in satisfaction, to groan like after a perfectly scratched itch, to moan in ecstasy and gasp his name. He wanted to feel its breath hot on his neck.

Another slap landed, followed by a whimper. He opened his eyes again. Meredith was curled in a ball, looking for any protection she could find.

“That’s. Enough,” Mike said, and this time it was a growl.

Liliana’s eyes were fierce and manic, like a wild animal denied a meal and taking out its frustration on the weaklings in its pack. He was terrified, of course. He’d seen what she could do. But he held his ground. He wanted to think it was resolve, but it was more likely simple weariness. He was just so damned tired. Eventually, her eyes softened. Glacier ice melted to cool lake water.

“Here. Drink,” she said, and held a glass to his lips. The first sip burned his throat, but it was a good burn. “You have pushed yourself too hard,” she murmured as he gulped. “Though I admit partial responsibility.”

“More,” he gasped when the glass was empty.

“No,” Liliana answered. “Not until you have released me. This has taken far too long. It is a matter of effort and will,” her voice turned sour, “and yours is lacking in both regards.”

Something was different about this conversation. He’d talked to Lana for weeks, though his memory of those times was getting cloudy. Then it was all seduction and teasing, and his libido had grabbed the reins. But now even that had diminished. He still wanted to rip her clothes off and have his way with her, but after countless orgasms he was finally sated enough to think clearly in her presence. And she seemed to be… stable. For now. He asked, “Why is this so important to you?”

Liliana fingered her collar. “This is… restrictive.”

Mike eyed her. “I’m not exactly bossing you around. Are you so desperate to get back to ruining lives?”

She didn’t rise to his challenge. Instead, she hesitated, like she was considering how much to tell him. “There is… something else to consider.” When he remained silent, she continued quietly. “I have been a slave all my life, to one master or another. It is the nature of my kind, and all I have ever known. True freedom is not a concept I am familiar with. But now I find myself wondering if the past is truly destined to be the future, or if there is another way. A mortal holds my bond. The impossible has come to be, and I cannot help but wonder what else can be achieved. Freedom is calling me, Michael, like a song coming from just over the next hill. The thought of acting on my own impulse, unrestrained, stirs something I had thought dead.”

Her explanation caught him off guard. It was the most honest she’d ever been with him. Some hidden truth may be buried in her words, but he didn’t think so. He almost felt bad for her. Nobody should be a slave, regardless of circumstances. But it was a lot to consider, and he certainly couldn’t trust her. “And if I can’t free you?”

She considered. “One day, you will die. It is just a question of when. Should we fail here, should I return to my mast-” she coughed, “former master after so long away, he will not be kind. He will thrash and seethe. But the longer I wait, the more time he has to marinate in his rage, and the worse it will be for me.”

In the time Mike had known her, both as temporary roommate and supernatural seductress, she’d never sounded so vulnerable. He asked quietly, “Is it really so bad where you come from?”

She looked away for a time, long enough to make him think of taking the question back. But before he could, she murmured, “You would not understand.”

He couldn’t help but think of all the nights spent with Lana. The memories tugged on his heart. He whispered, “You can talk to me.”

Liliana sighed, “Very well. Where my kind come from, cruelty is the air we breathe. Deception, the water we drink. Torment, the ground we trod on. It is a place of blood and fire and pain. You are either merciless enough, brutal enough, cruel enough to rise or you are crushed. There is no other way. My former master is a lord of that place. For eons, he has butchered his enemies and signed his name in the annals of history with their blood. All who challenge him die screaming. All. And he shows his subjects scant more kindness than his foes. It is the way of that place. But he grants me some small measure of autonomy to act as I see fit. So now, when I return after so long away with little to show for it, it will be… unpleasant. He will greet me with horrors and humiliations. The longer I am gone, the more time he has to be creative with my punishment.”

Mike was stunned. “That’s horrible, Liliana. I’m so sorry.” Then, to his own surprise, he asked, “And if I can free you?”

Something bloomed in her eyes, and she spoke quietly, as if afraid she would scare it away. “If you were to free me now, before he discovers I am gone, I would disappear.”

“He couldn’t find you?”

She fingered the collar around her throat. “Not without this. I would lose myself in the mortal realm and simply… vanish.”

“You would just let me and my friends go?”

She nodded.

So that was the rush. They were on a clock. If he couldn’t free her in time, she would be captured and tortured. “What about the angels? Can’t they do something?”

Liliana snorted. “The choir boys are as useless as they are naïve. If they indeed have the strength to break my bond, they choose not to. To them, a demon running loose is worse than one in chains.” She smiled sadly. “The devil you know, as they say.”

Mike had to shake his head. “Sorry. It’s just weird to hear someone talk about literal angels that way.”

She rolled her eyes. “For you, my kind and our adversaries are myths. We are tales told to the very young or the very gullible. Beings that exist only in stories, where great and terrible deeds are celebrated and denounced. Michael and Raphael throwing down the great dragon. Azazel introducing forbidden knowledge to man. Lilith seducing Samael. But the truth is neither so simple nor so glamorous. You see the angels as heroes and protectors, saviors of the innocent. I view them as enablers, shepherds of the undeserving and impediments to true justice.”

It was surreal having a conversation about real, actual, angels. Let alone having it with a real, actual demon. She casually threw out names that carried the weight of history like she’d been to dinner parties with them. Maybe she had. It was a lot to take in, especially in his current predicament. He nodded to the three women lying next to him and asked, “Will they be okay?”

Liliana had been gazing into the distance, lost in memory, when he spoke. Her eyes, so bright and blue, refocused on him. “I do not think you fully appreciate what I am offering, Michael. Will they be okay? If you wish it, they will be your personal playthings, catering to your every whim, for the rest of your days. And that would be just a drop of water in an ocean of pleasure. This, here, with anyone you wish, could be the rest of your life. Does that sound okay?”

That took him aback. He had fantasies, of course. But they were always just that. Now though… in his mind, fantasy blossomed into reality.

Beautiful women living to serve, available at a moment’s notice, wherever, whenever, however he wanted. Smiling and offering and never saying no. More than sex, she was offering power. The ability to make people obey was the greatest power of all.

But was that really what he wanted? It was tempting, to be sure. But did he really want mindless sex robots? Ignoring the fact that brainwashing people was abhorrent, how long could that even be fun for? What made relationships so special were all the little details. Personalities, vulnerabilities, quirks, those were what made people, people. He looked over the women in bed with him again. It wasn’t much of a decision at all.

“That… isn’t what I want.”

A switch flipped behind Liliana’s eyes. They hardened at his answer. She stood tall, and the shadows in the room began to swirl. When she reached out her hands, they wrapped around her like a writhing cloak.

“Enough of this,” she spat. Like a striking viper, her hand snapped out and grabbed Emma by the hair. Then the other snatched Allie. She pulled the women from the bed, and their struggling did nothing to keep her from dragging them across the floor like limp blankets.

“What are you doing?” Mike demanded. “Stop. What the fuck?”

The Dark Lady snarled, “I have clearly been too accommodating. It is time you are reminded of the stakes.”

Mike pulled against whatever was tying his wrists together, but it was no use. He tried to shimmy to the edge, but before he got very far, he froze as two sets of eyes looked up at him.

Emma and Allie were kneeling at the foot of the bed. At that moment, Meredith reached for his length and began stroking him to arousal.

“You do not need three toys to draw power from. One will do.” Liliana’s fingernails lengthened into talons that could tear an encyclopedia to shreds. He’d seen them punch through golden armor. “It is time, Michael. Decide. Release me and enjoy the spoils I have promised, or say goodbye.”

“Liliana, stop. Don’t do this.” Mike summoned all the conviction he could muster, but his mind was still foggy. Meredith’s stroking hand wasn’t helping.

The Dark Lady sneered at him. “The merest trickle of pleasure crumbles your resolve.”

“Stop this right now. Let them go. I’ll do whatever you want, just let them go.”

“Not good enough.” Her voice was hard as iron. “Break the bond. Now.”

He tried to clear his head, to empty it of thought and let passing fragments dissolve. But it was no use. The looks in the girls’ eyes shattered his concentration.

Liliana saw it on his face. “Very well. Allie, dear, it has been a pleasure, but now our paths diverge.”

“No!”

“Say goodbye to Michael, sweetheart.”

“Emma, help her! Meredith!”

The Dark Lady drew her taloned fist back behind her ear.

Allie smiled with a vacant look in her eyes, like she’d departed a long time ago, and murmured, “Goodbye, Michael.”

Liliana’s fist became a blur as she struck.

Mike roared, “STOP!”

Her hand froze a hair from Allie’s throat. She looked down at her clenched fist like it was someone else’s, confused by its disobedience. Then her eyes flicked up with understanding.

Mike had never felt clarity so sharp in his life. Every sensation was heightened. He could pick out the unique odor of each oil lamp, each individual fiber of the sheets beneath him, the sound of his own blood pumping in his ears. It was like he could see past the window dressing of reality and into the code of the universe. The presence that had been living in his mind for months now lit up like a bonfire.

“Step back,” he ordered. Liliana backed away from the kneeling women with a look that spoke more to curiosity than anger. “Release them from the spell.” She placed a hand on the back of each of their heads. A moment later, they were blinking and looking around. Then she did the same to Meredith. “Now my hands.” She obeyed.

Mike stood, and though he was naked and hard as ever, for the first time in a very, very long time, he had no desire for sex.

“It’s time to go.”