Steal My Soul

I was walking down the sidewalk enjoying the crisp afternoon breeze that caressed my skin. The sun shone brightly in the sky and, for once, I felt like things were beginning to look up despite having told my parents of my engagement. I adjusted the purse strap on my shoulder; my eyes catching sight of my wedding ring. The fire opal reflected orange and red hues like Luc had found a way to capture fire and contain the flames inside this tiny gem.

I had to hand it to the demon, the ring was breathtakingly beautiful. I released an exhausted sigh as I kept walking forward. Things had been going well between Luc and me lately even though Michael had nearly ruined things for us not too long ago. I felt like we were steadily growing closer especially after our most recent conversation. I smiled and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear as I glided down the sidewalk feeling like a completely new person.

I glanced into a store window and found myself slowing to a stop. In the display window was the figure of an angel. His black wings were spread out around his broken body to lie against the glass mirror base. It was obvious by the scars on the angel’s torso that he had just fought a terrible, long battle. Another angel, a female, kneeled on the ground holding the man’s head in her lap. Her hands were frozen in the motion of sweeping his black locks away from his face as she leant over him; her face was hidden behind the honey brown curtain of her hair. Those pure white wings of hers were tipped red with blood from that battle I presumed.

The glass figurine hit me hard. Not just because the figurine angel looked strikingly like Luc, but because I felt like I could sympathize all too well with that scene. Even though I wasn’t an angel and had never fought the battle in Heaven, I could imagine it must have been brutal if it was anything like the wars we had on Earth. That’s when I knew I had to buy it. Not for me, but for Luc. I wanted it to be a reminder that no matter what may have happened in his or his family’s past, there was always room for forgiveness.

The bell above the door rang as I entered the store.

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I used the power of the ring that Luc had discussed with me not too long ago and created a rip in the brick wall of the alleyway. He had told me that no matter where I was, the ring should cut me a direct access to the mansion so I wouldn’t have to bother with finding my way through the shadow realm. I glanced at the time on my phone realizing I was a little more than a half hour early for our dinner date his parents had set up for us on the spur of the moment. I shrugged figuring it would give me an ample amount of time to give him his gift before dinner.
I entered through the large black doors of the mansion as the butler swung them open for me. I nodded my head at him in thanks as I proceeded to stand there awkwardly. The butler closed the door then promptly disappeared. I had only been here 2 or 3 times previously and each time had been with Luc. He had yet to fully give me a tour of the place since we only ever came here to speak with his parents.

Just as I was about to whistle for a servant, Raphael exited the dining room. He stopped in his tracks upon seeing me, a large malicious grin spreading across his face. I scoffed, my lips curling into a disgusted sneer. I was still trying to figure out what any woman he’d been with saw in him especially Natalie. She hadn’t even met the man and there were days she still pestered me about meeting the demon. Surely she could do so much better than that parasite.

“Hey, Cutie Lee,” Raphael teased using his dreadful nickname for me. My eye twitched in irritation before I regained my composure.

“Greetings, Ass Rape,” I retorted back. His lips curled back in a growl as he threateningly bared his teeth at me.

“Don’t call me that,” he warned.

“Not even when you stop calling me ‘Cutie Lee’,” I reminded him.

“What are you doing here?” he snapped changing topics.

“I’m here to see Luc,” I answered blandly. My fingers tightened around the handles of the bag that contained Luc’s surprise gift when Raphael suddenly smiled. His predatory green eyes lit up with mischief.

“Oh really?”

“Yes. Why?” I asked in suspicion narrowing my eyes at him.

“Allow me to escort you to his room,” he offered beginning to head for the stairs that were off to my right. I flinched slightly as he walked by me. He must have noticed because he turned back to look at me with a satisfied smirk.

“I can just get one of the—”

“You either come with me now or I’ll rip out your jugular with my bare teeth without blinking,” he coolly threatened.

“Well, that escalated quickly,” I grumbled under my breath resisting the urge to grab my neck as I slowly nodded. Raphael led me up the stairs and down a hall that seemed to stretch on forever. Finally we reached the end.

“There,” Raphael jerked his thumb at the large pair of double doors at the end of the hall. The doors were slightly ajar allowing light to leak out into the dark hallway.

“Thanks,” I spat between clenched teeth hating the fact that I had to even utter those words at him.

“Oh no, it’s entirely my pleasure,” he replied with an evil, knowing grin. As soon as he had turned the corner after walking down the hallway, I turned back around to face Luc’s bedroom doors. I took a deep breath and slowly pushed open the doors hoping I wouldn’t walk in on him naked or something.

“Hey, Luc, I got you some…thing…” my words slowly trailed off as my eyes took in the scene before me.

Luc was sprawled across his bed on his back wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers with shreds of clothing surrounding his body. His lips were fused together with the mouth of a lithe, voluptuous demoness. His fingers dug into the waist of her forest green gown that had slits up the side to expose her long, lean legs. The entire scene after all he had told me just days before was like a bitch slap to the face along with a blow to my heart leaving me feeling nauseated.

The bag I had been gripping so tightly in my hands now slipped through my trembling fingers. The glass figurine hit the floor, the sound of the shattering glass pierced through the silent, sexual atmosphere of the room.

Luc yanked his lips away from the petite woman’s with a growl.

“Lilitu, I tol—Leighra?!” he gasped eyes widening upon seeing me slumped against the doorframe. The seductress, Lilitu, threw me a disgusted glance as she tossed her long black hair over her shoulder.

“Leighra, this isn’t what you think,” Luc tried to assure me. I could hear the panic in his voice as he spoke. He pushed the small woman off him as he desperately tried to untangle his legs from the bed sheets.

Without saying a word, I turned and ran down the hallway.

“Leighra!” I heard Luc bellow out to me from his bedroom.

I raced down the staircase as I tried to hold back the hot tears that threatened to surface. When my foot hit the bottom step, I heard a low, dark chuckle emit from over by the front doors. I caught Raphael grinning widely and triumphantly when I met his gaze.

“I hope you’re happy now,” I snapped heading for the door. He moved out of the way to stand nonchalantly in the middle of the large foyer.

“Leighra, wait!” I heard Luc call distantly from behind me.

“Immensely,” Raphael answered gleefully. My hand paused on the doorknob of the front door as I considered the consequences of what I did next.

Pivoting on my heel, I marched up to the 6’1” demon. Not giving him the time to duck, let alone blink, I arched my arm back as my fingers curled into a ball. My fist swung through the air connecting with his jawline, a loud crack echoing through the room. Raphael stumbled sideways from the stunning blow clutching the side of his face as I was the one to walk away smiling triumphantly this time.

The smile quickly died from my face when I saw Luc staring down at me from the top of the staircase. He had pulled on a pair of jeans and threw on a white shirt to cover his bare chest. His chest rose and lowered quickly like he had run a mile just to get to the stairs.

“Leighra…please,” he begged taking a cautious step down onto the first stair.

I blinked back the burning sensation that stung the corners of my eyes then I ran out the door. The large, wooden door slammed back on its hinges to bang against the wall before slowly swinging back into place. I tore open a hole using the engagement ring he had given me that led directly into my realm and jumped through breathing hard as it closed behind me. I had entered in the parking garage near my apartment building. I knew I didn’t have a lot of time before Luc caught up to me, so I hurried out of the garage and sprinted down the sidewalk. Somewhere in my head, deep in the back of my mind, I knew I could have gone back to the apartment to get my car so I could drive far away, but driving wouldn’t clear my head the way running would. I could feel my legs begin to grow numb from the jarring motions of my feet pounding hard against the pavement as I pushed myself to keep going. Soon I felt like I was floating along the sidewalk subconsciously dodging all the obstacles that placed themselves in my path.

Salty tears ran down my cheeks to cool into sticky trails from the breeze that hit my face as I ran. Trying to keep my thoughts from turning to Luc, I gathered all my strength and pushed myself to run even faster. I was afraid that if I stopped for just one second to look back then my body, along with my heart, just might crumble into a thousand pieces.

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-Luc’s P.O.V~

I nearly tripped over my feet as I raced down the stairs hoping to catch Leighra before she disappeared, but by the time I was able to reach the door…she was gone. My body tensed with anger when a low, dark chuckle sounded out from behind me. I turned on my heel to see Raphael bent over in laughter; a bluish-black bruise blossoming high on his cheekbone. There was a thin trail of blood under his eye from where there had been a cut from her punch that had already healed over. A small part of me was proud of her for having been able to whack my brother hard enough to make him bleed; the other part of me, however, was royally pissed off that she hadn’t made him bleed more.

“You son of a bitch,” I growled stalking toward my brother. He barely had time to raise an arm in defense when my fist swung forward and caught him straight in the nose; blood spurted out from his face to spackle my own. Rafael stumbled back against the wall nothing but laughter emitting from his mouth. I twisted a fist into the collar of his shirt and lifted my younger brother’s feet from the floor as I slammed my fist once more into his cheekbone. I could hear the sickening crack of his bones fracturing beneath the heavy weight of my punch.

Blood, thick and dark red, oozed from the wounds to trickle down his face and seep into the fabric of his shirt.

“It was you who brought Lilitu to my room, wasn’t it?” I accused angrily slamming my fist repeatedly into his face. “You knew tonight was a special night! You knew how much this dinner date meant to me and our parents!”

I slammed his body into the wall causing it to crack around him. Every punch I inflicted on his face; every new cut that was formed, it only made Rafael laugh even louder like he was enjoying himself. Knowing I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him this way, I released my hold on him and let his feet slam to the floor. He swung out a hand to balance himself against the cracked wall as his laughter slowly ceased.

“Why would you do that, Rafe?” I asked feeling betrayed by my own family. I felt breathless like even though Rafael had been the one getting beaten, I was actually the one that had been feeling the pain from the blows.

“Believe what you will, brother, but it wasn’t me that led Lilitu to your room. She found you on her own much like she always does,” he ground out spitting a large ball of saliva and blood to the floor.

“So you didn’t know she was in my room?” I asked somewhat confused. Rafael let his head fall back to rest against the wall as another strangled chuckle emitted from his throat.

“Of course I knew. Shabriri had said something about her being in there trying to seduce you when he had gone back to help you finish with picking out an outfit. Shortly after that bit of news Leighra showed up. I just wanted her to see what kind of demon you really are,” Rafael grinned, blood coating the white of his teeth.

“You had no right, Rafe! Absolutely no right to do what you did! Leighra is a good person with a kind, loving heart! She was content with me! She didn’t even want Michael and now you’ve probably driven her right into his arms like he’s anticipating,” I shouted at him trying to hold back the undeniable urge that told me to basically rip my brother’s head off with my bare hands.

“Listen to yourself, Luc! You don’t even sound like the same brother I had just a few months ago. This…this HUMAN girl has turned you into some giant fluff ball! We are demons. We don’t care about the feelings of others. We don’t love. We use and we abuse. No one has reigns over us, but that is exactly what you have given to Leighra! Reigns over your life,” Rafael spat in disgust wiping the blood away from his eyes now that his wounds had healed.

“She’s different, Rafael. You don’t know what it is like to have that one somebody in your life that can make you feel like a man. Not the disgusting, depraved, soul stealing demon you truly are. Leighra loved me for everything I am and beyond. She took my flaws and turned them into something that made me proud of whom I was. I wasn’t just Satan’s son to her! I was Luc, her fiancé, a man that—”

“That can never love her the way she dreams of because his heart stopped beating centuries ago! Get it through your head, Luc! You and she were never meant for each other. She was specifically designed for that little whiny ass bitch of an angel Michael. Not. You,” Rafael furiously hissed as he came to stand toe to toe with me.

“I can’t just let her go,” I quietly said. “Things can’t end this way with us. She has the right to know the truth. I promised her I would always tell her the truth and I plan on keeping that promise whether she wants to hear it or not. And if she still wants to go with Michael? Fine, but at least she will go with him knowing the truth of what just happened here. So that’s why I have to go after her,” I firmly concluded pivoting on my heel about to chase after Leighra.

“Why? Why can’t you just let her go? There are plenty of demoness’ out there that would kill to be with you and you’re wasting all your time chasing after some weak, naïve, ove—”

“Because I love her!” I growled whipping around to face my brother. Both mine and my brother’s eyes widened at my confession, but as I thought about it…there was no other explanation for why I felt this uncontrollable urge to always be near her. Whenever I got the chance I wanted to see her smile, hear her bubbly laughter, and feel her warm in my embrace. The feeling that stirred inside me each time our lips joined was unlike anything I had ever felt and sparks of electricity shot throughout my body whenever her skin made contact with mine. She made me feel alive and like my heart might have the chance of beating again if only I kept kissing her long enough or held her tight enough.

I opened my mouth to repeat the words, to solidify their meaning even more, when an agony beyond anything I had ever endured overcame my body. I dropped to my knees finding it hard to catch my breath as the pain continued to swim along my veins. Rafael knelt down beside me; it was the first time I had ever seen a look of concern on his uncaring face.

“Brother, what’s wrong? MOM!” Rafe yelled for our mother as he watched my body slowly fall to the ground. My fingers dug into the slick, hard marble floor of the foyer as another wave of pain washed through me.

Our mother, Lily, along with our father came sprinting into the foyer with worry. Khaetys remained in the shadows of the hallway as she watched over the scene playing out; not a single emotion flickered across her pale face. Mother knelt on the opposite side of me as she reached out a hand to touch my face. I could feel the beads of sweat form along my brow and drip down my forehead across my temples.

“Mom,” I groaned ending the word with a yell as I felt my chest heave from an abrupt pound. Lily glanced up at Rafe asking him what had happened. My younger brother recalled the events of what had happening except he skipped over one important part: where I had confessed my love for Leighra.

“Mom…what…is…this?” I ground out through clenched teeth as my chest heaved violently off the floor with another pound. “Why does…everything…hurt…?”

“Rafe are you sure you told your mother everything?” Our father asked threateningly knowing that his youngest son was hiding something.

A muscle ticked in Rafe’s jaw as his gaze met mine silently asking whether he should tell them or not. I gave a short curt nod before screaming out once more in pain causing my mother’s brow to furrow deeper in concern and confusion.

“He…he admitted to…being in love with Leighra,” Rafe answered quietly staring our mom straight in the eye. The look of shock was written on everyone’s face except for my mother’s. Instead a smile broke out across her young face causing her chocolate brown eyes to gleam with happiness.

“I know exactly what Luc is going through. His father went through it as well,” she chuckled merrily brushing aside the hair that had matted against my sweating face.

“What is happening to me?!” I yelled wishing someone would inform me as to why my body was suddenly in immense pain.

Rafe smirked down at me; knowledge and mischief gleaming in his predator green eyes.

“Love is an agony beyond compare.”

This time instead of one pound lifting my chest from the ground, it was two in a row causing me to go breathless for a few minutes. Most of the pain had subsided, but the pounding in my chest refused to subside.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your heart, my son,” Lily smiled taking my hand in hers and placing it over my chest. My eyes widened in disbelief as I felt the subtle feeling of a beating heart; the same rhythm I felt drumming beneath Leighra’s chest. I met the tearful eyes of my mother.

“Your heart is finally beating.”